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Brights ON, Brights OFF?

19K views 150 replies 66 participants last post by  Jammin'John 
#1 ·
I am interested in the thoughts of forum members, because I have gotten conflicting opinions on this subject.

Do you recommend HIGH Beams ON while daylight riding?

My 1st impression: If it can make me & my bike more visable while riding during daylight hours, why not? So I recently started doing this.

Anyone else? If not, why not?
 
#79 ·
With headlight modulator, yes

If I had a headlight modulator on my Vulcan, I would use high beam during the day. My bike has the "Star Wars" headlamp, so there are three small lenses for the low beam and it has pretty good visibility with the running lights (turn signals).

I do plan to get a modulator and install on this bike. I use one on my ZX9R Ninja.
 
#80 ·
I'm also a big fan of the headlight modulator. It has effectively stopped people from pulling out from a side street into my lane. They stop and wonder what is that's coming at them- like maybe a police motorcade!
 
#85 ·
I was about to ask about hi beams but came across this thread. There are a lot of interesting thoughts both ways. Sometimes when I'm in a situation where I think someone might pull in front of me, I'll flash my high beam once or twice. Do you think this could be interpreted as "go ahead"? Would flashing the high get more attention than constant hi?

I might give the swerving maneuver a try now as well. (post #76)
 
#86 ·
The swerving maneuver is subdued but still gets attention. Flashing the high beams, I'm always concerned people will take that as a 'go ahead'. That's why I'm apprehensive about headlight modulators. Just my $0.02

In the end, the best thing you can do is be prepared in the case the car pulls out in front of you anyway. One of the things I do, is when I see a car at an intersection (especially if the driver looks distracted, is on the phone, etc.) I'll gently ride the front brake. This heats the disc up AND gets my hands on the brake. It can really reduce stopping time. Disc brakes turn several times before becoming effective (they need to heat up), this makes them hot and grippy and ready to go. I also watch their front tires. If they are inching along, not stopped completely, that's a red flag. Another trick I read somewhere that I stick to (and has saved my bacon) is to 'plan escape routes'. Every time I see a car on a side street, in a left turn lane, etc., I take a quick glance around and see what my options are. It becomes second nature after a while. Then, if they DO pull out, you have ALREADY evaluated whether the oncoming lane is safe to swerve into, if there is room on the shoulder, how much time you have to brake, etc.
 
#88 ·
My next door highway patrolman friend told me to always ride with my brights on during the day.
 
#89 ·
I was riding into Anchorage one time years ago. Had a Kawasaki Voyater XII at the time. Had the high beams on. When I stopped at a traffic light, some guy in a cage pulled up and hollered at me that I had my high beams on and that they were bright. I just smiled and replied, "Glad you saw me." Left 'em on, too.
 
#90 ·
I ride with a modulator on the headlight. There have been a couple incorrect references to a "strobe" effect. The modulator alternates between High and Low beam much to slowly for a strobe effect.
The video was pretty good because it identified the three big issues.
Perceived Size - Bikes have small front surface areas and are difficult to see
Difficulty estimating speed and location - a sub-set of the small front surface areas is that it is also difficult for the eye receive information necessary for the brain to calculate location and speed/direction
Potential to be lost in the background - Again contributed to the small front profile.
Most of us have heard the phrase, "Black is a slimming colour"
In fact any dark colour has the effect of some "slimming" because our eyes are designed to pick up light. Dark colours reflect less light and as a result make things seem smaller.
Modulating headlights not only create the perception motion, but they do something else important. Our eyes are better suited for perceiving "Differences" than things that remain the same. Something that changes is more easily noticed. That is why emergency things flash. There was one comment about how emergency vehicles get behind people who don't move out of the way. Don't confuse not being seen with people not knowing how to drive or having common courtesy.
Modulators won't solve all the problems we face as riders, that is why I wear a Hi Viz, bright Green (looks more yellow to me) jacket. Gives me more surface area to reflect light forward. And also ride like they can't see me.
A number of riders have mentioned about the lights being annoying. This is true at close quarters, so I don't ride in groups with them on. The Group gives us all a bigger profile.
Anyway just my thoughts on this topic
 
#93 ·
I ride with a modulator on the headlight. There have been a couple incorrect references to a "strobe" effect. The modulator alternates between High and Low beam much to slowly for a strobe effect...
Modulating headlights not only create the perception motion, but they do something else important. Our eyes are better suited for perceiving "Differences" than things that remain the same. Something that changes is more easily noticed.
I've wondered how effective connecting a modulator to the running lights would be instead of the headlight. I've toyed with the idea of replacing the louvers on my Vaquero with the running lights, have the lights smoke-tinted (bike is black), and hooking a modulator to them. Or perhaps a couple of LED panels built into the louvers?
 
#92 ·
I don't have a problem with being visible at night.

My problem is people tend to slow down, drive next to me (if multiple lanes) and stare. :cool:

True story, while going down I45 (3 lanes each direction) one eve, I was ridding in the middle lane (something I usually do when on the bike). A cager actually circled my bike three different times checking it out...

 
#94 ·
Had a cager ride beside me for a couple miles today. We stopped at several lights together. No worry. Right! WRONG! At some point she thought I disappeared or something because she pulled right over into me. Headlight to headight, tail light to tail light, full length, side to side. Then she looked over right eye to eye and put her phone down. I turned on my overheads and bid her to pull over. Aargh! Did I mention that I was in my squad car? Full size Crown Vic, 28K miles and it's trashed and not driveable. Don't ever get comfortable that your color, lights or size will make you visible! Her comment: "I didn't see you." Now for about 3 hours of reports and then begging the motor pool for a decent car while they evaluate if they are going to fix mine. (Yes, I even had my hat on!)
 
#96 ·
Since adding my HID 9 months ago, I have had no need to use the high beam. Just made sure to adjust it correctly so it lights up the road ahead, but not blind on coming drives. So far so good.
 
#101 ·
I think a lot of it has to do with the type of lamp, how many and how it's aimed. Different things work for different folks and different styles of riding. I haven't had any issues yet with cars pulling out in front of me, but will get out and look at my my lights from different distances to decide if I want to run brights.
 
#103 ·
seems whenever I ride Brights On, my battery drains and wont start again without a boost. Im sure it needs a new battery but I just havent gotten around to getting one. So until I get a new battery, or figure what other than that could be draining my battery so frequently, i will ride on the Low side
 
#104 ·
Check your charging voltage at about 2500 RPM's, also, have your battery load tested. The bike should be able to run brights all day long and still start the next time you take it out.
 
#109 ·
Night Riders

It was mentioned already on this thread that the single lamp on a bike at night is what may hinder auto drivers from recognizing motorcycles, not necessarily its brightness. I believe that this is true. Motorists are looking for two-headlight vehicles having a space between the headlights. The single headlight on bikes can imitate at a glance any other single light such as a street light, house light, etc., and it does not permit an assessment of how far away the bike is. [One gets a rough estimate of how far away an oncoming car is by the distance between the headlights.] The auto driver's awareness is not alerted and his or her attention moves past the bike to other potential dangers. In short the auto driver is briefly conscious of the light but doesn't immediately recognize it as another vehicle and then tunes it out.

Thus I believe that having a light tree in addition to the headlight on a bike is the way to go at night, even though the spacing is not as great as the two headlights on a car. One should use high beams in the normal fashion of a car.

Having one's high beams on all the time at night, or using modulators at night (not recommended anyway), might compensate for the lack of multiple lights to a limited extent but has those negative effects already documented on this thread -- that also create a bad name for bikers in general. Just IMHO.

Regards daytime riding, I am reading and evaluating all of the opinions expressed in this thread to see if I should alter my habit.
 
#111 ·
Again, I always use brights in the daytime only. It is NOT annoying, but helps to be seen. At night I use dims and brights as I would in a car. I do see the importance of multiple lights on the front in day and night. Two or more is always better for being seen. the same goes for the rear. One simple taillight is not as good as two or more. Safe biking to you and yours. Wallacem in Georgia
 
#112 ·
Just a funny recollection about two lights vs. one...... When I was a young guy I was coming home about midnight from a neighboring town on a country road. I saw a car way up ahead of me and suddenly it appeared to getting very close fast !! I jammed on my brakes, and suddenly it was far away again - and kept going back & forth like that. I finally got close enough to realize it was two motorcycles riding side by side and moving close together and then further apart. It really caused a weird effect on my depth perception.
 
#114 ·
Yes, and every single one of them confirmed that they were delighted that I took the time to do the poll, and they also wished they had the time and money to ride a motorcycle too. They also wished me a very merry Christmas!
 
#115 ·
Less anyone think that riding with brights on, flashing modulators and fancy tail lights are going to save your butt ... here is a reality check ... nothing is as good as dilligent, defensive riding.

 
#116 ·
You are EXACTLY right. My sister in law and her husband are both emergency service workers (she's a Paramedic, he's a police officer). They have BOTH been involved in accidents on the side of the road (vehicles hit by unwary drivers) and BOTH have stories about having to dodge cars.

Bright lights and such might help, but you have GOT to take responsibility for your bike. That is YOUR machine. Anything and everything that happens you are completely responsible for. It's right of weight, not right of way. You can be right and dead, or safe and inconvenienced. It doesn't matter if the light is green, the lane is yours, or the cage has a stop sign. You need to be in control of YOUR bike, and be ready to avoid situations. I firmly believe that most accidents could have been avoided with EITHER driver doing something differently. Not all, but most, and that something different is being more defensive.

Whiting aren't you a trucker? I'm sure you've experienced more than once people not seeing you in that big ol' thing. Some people just aren't paying attention, they just will NOT see you. A while back I was behind a girl in a trans am, we were coming up on a spot where the two lane road split into 'three' lanes and the right lane on our side became a turn lane. As I was coming over the hill and up behind her she was moving into the turn lane. Well, then I noticed she wasn't slowing down. Sure enough, BANG, she nailed a concrete median equipped with electrical junction box, telephone pole and stop signs and flipped end over end into the ditch in front of it. Thankfully, despite a horrific accident and absolute damage to her car (only one wheel was still attached and the engine was in the oncoming lane), she didn't have a scratch on her. Come to find out, she though the road had just split and she was moving over into the right lane. If a driver doesn't see a concrete median and the fact that there is no more road left in front of them (she never attempted to brake, she said she didn't know it was there until she hit it) then they won't see you no matter what they do!
 
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