Radar detectors - Yeah right

**Wrestler** · 22nd September 2008, 22:25

Ok so i'm not a tech head and have no intention of buying a radar detector. BUT, i have always wondered what value they are.... If they pick up a radar signal doesnt that mean the radar has actually got You. would love to know how these things are supposed to work. Perhaps what is needed is something that will scramble the radar signal, sort of turn us into stealth bikes...ssshhhhh dont tell the american military.

**captain_andrey** · 22nd September 2008, 22:51

Radar has a limited range, but you can spot it from ages away. Radio waves also tend to bend around things and bounce off things. A copper will need a pretty clear signal to lock on to so line of sight and decent range, but your detector can pick up the frequency from ages away, even over the hill or blind corner.
Pretty sure radar jammers are illegal in NZ but they do exist.

**seens** · 22nd September 2008, 23:00

Yep they do work an save your ass
and Wallet Got a bell xr zaps em from bout 4 to 5 k away on good days
Us bikers need anything possable to even the odds as we seem to be targets

**maybe** · 22nd September 2008, 23:48

Dont speed and you cant be a target

**Tank** · 22nd September 2008, 23:54

Tie a old CD from your mirrors.

The CD reflects the 'ray' back to the radar gun and they get a zero km reading.

Thats true that is. Honest.

**no-coast-punk** · 23rd September 2008, 02:53

*got a good laugh out of the CD thing*

Seriously though. It won't work.

A drinking buddy of mine trains and certifies the pigs here for use on radar equipment.

I have a mount on the tripple tree for a pasport X50 detector. I paid ~$400USD for the thing. It could have cost 15x that much and would have still been a wise investment.

Detectors are a nice tool but not infalible. They WILL let you totally cock about with impunity if you're smart about it though.

Radar bounces around A LOT. Good detectors pick up the scatter from these bouncing beams. The trick is to position yourself in traffic so that somebody ahead of you gets hit with the primary beam and your detectors picks up the scatter. Good detectors like the X50 or Valentine 1 are sensitive enough to pick up the equivalant radar energy of a single candle burning 5-6 miles away.

If you are simply speeding through the middle of nowhere and you are the only vehicle the officer hits with radar... the detector is nothing more than a warning telling you to drop a few gears and grab handfulls of throttle.... or pull over.

One advantage of the very modern sportbikes is that the high percentage of composite/exotic metals makes a good radar return take a few seconds on the detector. This is in addition to being a very small target to begin with. I've had a few close calls where I was the only vehicle in the beam. Detector started crying and I was able to get on the brakes and shed enough speed to get legal before the gun was finally able to resolve the bike.

The jammer thing is a UN deal. Radar works on the same band as lots of other radio equipment. Jammers would play hell with all manner of things. Not to mention that they are worried about guys named Akhmed screwing with expensive military hardware.

**Salival** · 23rd September 2008, 03:52

Friends of mine have had detectors in cars for years and they do work. I also know someone with a laser jammer. It's very, very well concealed - I knew he had it and couldn't find it - and that works a treat also.

I need to get myself a radar detector or prepare to have my licence shredded. Can anyone point me at a good source for detectors for bikes? No idea how to mount one...

**TimeOut** · 23rd September 2008, 04:40

Originally Posted by Salival

Friends of mine have had detectors in cars for years and they do work. I also know someone with a laser jammer. It's very, very well concealed - I knew he had it and couldn't find it - and that works a treat also.

I need to get myself a radar detector or prepare to have my licence shredded. Can anyone point me at a good source for detectors for bikes? No idea how to mount one...

Radar direct have some of the better ones with mounts, covers, hards etc

I've got a Bel Sti and it works very well, had it in the ute the other day and it picked cop up 4-5 km away around 4 bends and two gullies. No false alarms either if it goes off slow down and wait.
Instant on can be a bugger but if there's traffic in front will pick up them getting zapped up to 8 km away

**no-coast-punk** · 23rd September 2008, 05:39

http://www.radarbusters.com/

I'm using a mount from these guys. Love it.

**RantyDave** · 23rd September 2008, 07:17

Originally Posted by no-coast-punk

Not to mention that they are worried about guys named Akhmed screwing with expensive military hardware.

Dirka! Dirka dirka dirka!

Dave

**CookMySock** · 23rd September 2008, 07:38

Originally Posted by Wrestler

If they pick up a radar signal doesnt that mean the radar has actually got You. would love to know how these things are supposed to work.

No. What radar does, is fire out a quite broad signal, like a headlight beam in nature. It illuminates everything very brightly indeed, and then the radar unit looks for reflections from moving objects in this beam. Basically, the moving object being detected has to be quite a bit stronger signal than everything else in the beam, so you need to be quite close. The by-product of all this is, this bright microwave beam is detectable for friggin miles away (think headlight full-beam) and you can "see" it for miles away reflecting off everything and refracting off hilltops.

So yes, you can see them long before they see you.

DB

**Chooky** · 23rd September 2008, 07:48

Yep....detectors will save you from tickets..
Friend of mine got pulled up speeding in his car this side of Tauranga.
Cop looks in and sees a detector on the windscreen.....says to my mate "I give you a choice of a ticket for 20 over or you can chuck your detector into the blackberries"
Mate thinks a bit,unplugs detector and biffs it into the blackberries.
Cop leaves with a smirk on his face...

**BigDave** · 23rd September 2008, 10:08

Originally Posted by Chooky

Friend of mine got pulled up speeding in his car this side of Tauranga.
Cop looks in and sees a detector on the windscreen.....says to my mate "I give you a choice of a ticket for 20 over or you can chuck your detector into the blackberries"
Mate thinks a bit,unplugs detector and biffs it into the blackberries.
Cop leaves with a smirk on his face...

So are radar detectors illegal in this country then? Just out of curiosity really, I don't really push it enough to warrent one

They're very illegal in parts of Europe. My mate got pulled in France and the gendarme actually made him drive over his detector to destroy it. Then they still ticketed him for it too! They're renouned for being bar-stewards though