And all that has nothing to do with the train's high beam. As a kid we played "chicken" on the tracks in Pa near Pittsburg. At night the trick is to close your eyes and jump when you feel the air pushed by the engine. Trying to gauge distance visually was hard because of the bright light surrounded by pitch dark. When I moved to So Cal I did this one night in Del Mar north of San Diego on the coastal train tracks; true story. There were a bunch of us kids partying and some were on a foot bridge that crossed over the tracks watching. I was the last one on the tracks as the train approached and jumped sideways when I felt the air blast; probably about 20 ft. from the engine. The girls on the bridge were all crying and wailing thinking I was dead. I climbed the bank and snuck up behind them and they had a sh*t when they saw me. Crazy little phok from Pittsburg was what I was.

 

I have been running three lights up front for 20+ years and haven't had someone pull out in front of me since 1983. But I usually run just with, or slightly faster, than traffic around me. Even in LA traffic, I didn't have many issues.

 

Ever been involved in motorcycle rights groups in any state? Those groups were the ones in the 80's and 90's working to update the state motorcycle tests, manuals and riding tests. In LA, FL and NC, ABATE was instrumental in getting MSF recognized and setup. ABATE in FL and NC encouraged and paid for some people to attend MSF instructor courses.

MSF recommended using high beams before halogen lights were common on motorcycles. Today, lights are brighter than those 1980's halogens.

All I'm saying is that a bright light coming towards me takes longer to judge closing speed than a light not directed at eye level. Adding running light on your brake calipers, or equivalent position, is a much better solution.

 

I am amazed at how long this thread is running. Lots of pissed of bikers too. I really like the analogy of taking a flashlight and shining it in your eye during the day. Has any one done that with a newer model headlight? It hurts my eye whether it is night or day. Must be something wrong with me! All these posts and also only one pointing out properly aimed lights!
I have seen people react to my lights when I inadvertently had the high beam on. They have actually stopped in the roadway, which may seem great to some but what about the cage coming up behind the cage that stopped. They pulled out into my path. Evidently they didn't mind staring into a flashlight. My Rushmore lights are plenty bright left well enough alone. I do run my passing light at all times to increase my visual footprint.
As far as D.O.T. and MSF guides recommending high beams.....those are antiquated guides. I train people to pass D.O.T. tests for CDL and we need to talk about wheels that have been illegal for better then 15 years. This got added like two years ago. They simply do not keep up with the times.

 

I don't want to side track this thread but you freaked out the girls, but how do you think the engineer and conductor felt when they saw you on the track knowing they couldn't stop in time even from a mile away?

 

What areas do you live in with so much trouble with cars? I have trouble believing people are more educated here. You do see a great deal of yard signs and bumper sticks with "look twice", but I am not convinced that does any good.




Other day in truck I was going to turn through an intersection after car passed. Hit the brakes, bike was in the cars blindspot. I probably would not have been able to hit them. But I thought it was a good lesson. I have used cars as cover in intersections, but good idea to make sure far enough along.

 

The older engineers believe in the principle of natural selection and only get mad because they did not have time to accelerate.

 

Based on my own experience, uniqueness of light shape or source gets me better noticed than simply intensity of the light. This is especially true during daylight hours.

I first ran into this decades ago with a Honda and an early Vetter fairing that had very large yellow running lights mounted down low. Numerous times other people would tell me how very visible I was because of this configuration. They said I was a very distinctive looking triangle of light.

Similarly I've noticed that people see my Harley more when I have the auxiliary lights on than when I don't. As my wiring is stock, those lights only work when I'm no low beam. Though the yellow lamps work at all times.

When I ride a generic metric bike with nothing to be seen other than the headlight and the small yellow lights, having that headlight on high beam seems to result in people seeing me better than when I have it on low beam. Especially these days with everything on the road having daytime running lights. Back when only a motorcycle had a headlight on, it wasn't such a big deal.

I would also concur that the modern lights, especially the HID types and such, with so much glare, are possibly or even probably a problem with high beams during daylight.

Something I have not tried, but have heard good things about is the use of a bicycle headlight mounted on the helmet. Arguably illegal, but those that ride this way say they have not been pulled over for it. They also say the increase in recognition is dramatic. A few have even mentioned being complimented by a police officer for how very visible they are.

Headlight pulsing units are a thing I cannot decide if I like or not. I do have one, I do not run it at the moment. While it does make you stand out, it also seems to create distraction, irritation and even some intense anger in some drivers, which can result in some darn aggressive action by them.

I've never run a yellow headlight, but I've wondered how well this would improve my being seen by others. Both in daytime and at night. Wouldn't have to be dramatically yellow, just yellow enough to look different than the white or white/blue one sees so much these days.

 

High-beams during the day will never blind oncoming drivers. I say that because no headlights are are anywhere near as bright as the sun. I parked my cycle out in the middle of the day and turn on the bright lights. I stood 30 feet in front of it. I could see the high beam was on but it was no where near blinding or annoying. I also tried low beams.



Notice you can still see all of my cycle and how to get around it.

Why is this? The sun is tremendously bright when compared to even the brightest headlights. Your eyes are adjusted to the bright sunlight during the day.


When a group of cycles are riding during the day and one has high beams on you can tell it's brighter but most people don't even realize they are high beams.
At night it's a different story. Then it is blinding. You can see nothing but the bright light that is drowning out the rest of your view.



At night high beams can blind you. There were times when I could hardly see the road and knew I had to drive just to the right of the headlights. (all the while I am honking and flashing)

This scene could never happen during the day:

As a side note aligning the headlights are for low beams during the night. If they are set right the high beams will surely shine in everyone's eyes. Since high beams are hardly noticeable during the day no one will ever tell you they noticed your headlights were mis-aligned during the day. Adjust them at night.