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Added passing lamps on front and have them wired so they are on all the time - high and low beam. Installed quality LED's (custom dynamic clusters - they are truly blinding!) in the rear turn signal housings with a run, turn, brake module. Wired the tail lamp so it is no longer a running light, and goes on only when brakes are applied. The LED's are plenty bright when acting as running lights. Much more contrast this way when braking as the LED's go from a running light to a brighter brake light and the tail light goes from off to on. Thought about adding an LED brake light license plate frame also. Dont really care for the looks and dont think it will add much now...
fwiw - the best thing is to ride defensively and pay attention
The military makes me wear a gay orange vest.
Other than that, i swapped the rear brake bulb with a kissan unit that flashes when I put the brake on. If you have ever ridden or driven behind someone with a kissan, you can see how effective they are. You would have to be passed out drunk not to notice my brake light.
Apes, with 16" apes, my bike is taller than most cars here in Okinawa.
Surprising how well other see me now.
S/F
Freefall
Freefall, Do you think you will have to pull the apes off to get through JCI inspection? I'm dreading the first JCI renewal in April.. After I get through inspection, I'm thinking about trying apes.
I wear an orange hi-viz vest at dusk, overnight, and at dawn. My raingear is high-viz as well. The bike is almost completely black, and I'm not going to change that, so I make myself visible.
I use a headlight modulator during the day. I live in a very highly populated area, with a lot of cell phone talking, soccer moms in mini vans. It is very effective. People used to always make lefts right in front of me. That has virtually stopped. People that dont pay attention, get the message when they see the flashing light, and even people that do pay attention, but just dont care, think I am a cop, and noone wants to pull out in front of a cop.
Negatives:
1. Doesn't necessarily look cool. But I look cooler alive with a flashing light, than dead without one. And hell, I'm not at a rally, I'm just trying to get home from work. I just turn it off when riding into the rally.
2. At red lights people sometimes ask me if I know that my headlight is flashing. (A small price to pay, and besides, sometimes it's a hot chick.)
3. If I am riding behind someone and I forget to turn it off, they either slow down to the speed limit, so I am stuck slowing down too, OR they pull over to the side of the road. (The second one is sometimes a good thing.)
the only thing that scares me with a headlight modulator....some oncoming drivers take the "blinking headlight" as a sign you are letting them make a turn and you are slowing down..when in fact you are not.....
the only thing that scares me with a headlight modulator....some oncoming drivers take the "blinking headlight" as a sign you are letting them make a turn and you are slowing down..when in fact you are not.....
The flash is pulsatile, so it's a little to uniform for that. I haven't run into that problem (knock wood). If anything it causes confusion, which will stop most people in their tracks until they figure it out. Besides, someone in Jersey slowing down to let others make a left turn would cause MORE confusion than anything. It's just not something we do.
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