Do you use your highbeams during the day?

All bikes that i have (except race ones of course) have pulsating high beams, that are kept on from dawn to dusk while riding.

 

I run the high beam during the day too, always have. Bought a headlight modulator for the mighty VFR, but haven't installed it yet. It is in the "pile".

 

I'd like to have a brake light flasher. Sometimes I will flick the brake light a time or two to say "HEY IDIOT, I'M STOPPIN' UP HERE". I have to turn into a gravel lot at the bottom of a long hill going to work. Those cagers don't want to slow down for a bike with a turn signal flashing.

 

I would use them but I'm not sure the VFRs electrical system is strong enough to run
Hi- Beams all the time without melting some connectors.

 

the modulators flash in a much more rapid pattern, and never completedly off, just from high to low, at least any of the good ones
so it is much more akin to the lights on a cop car/bike than the flash to advise people to pull out
I would never flick my lights to alert someone to my presence, for fear of it being misconstrued, but the modulators are so different.

 

the electrical system is fine to run the high beams on, I have done it for hours and hours and hours in a row on long rides, never ever had even a hint of a problem
the sytem is designed to handle everything that is stock

 

I think most people understand the modulators.

 

I don't but like Reg I have no specific reason why, I have on occasion flicked from low to high repeatedly to get a cagers attention in daylight hours; usually works.

 

You actually can't modulate a ballast system like HID's or mercury vapor warehouse lights, b/c they take too long to come on and will barely light at all with the on/off pulses. It also takes an insane amount of power draw to continually discharge and replenish the ballasts.

You will also burn out the bulbs much faster on a halogen doing this as well, as they vaporize and redeposit a metallic coating on the filament when they turn on and off. If they get turned off before getting fully hot, it dramatically shortens the life of the bulb.

If shorter bulb life = longer rider life, so be it. BUT, I think it is counter-productive. Even as a motorcylist and yes, even when I'm on the bike I point at the light and then throw those guys with the modulators the finger. I'm sure most of them think that I just don't like BMW's and GoldWings, but not only is it annoying, it means I can't judge their distance and speed with that shit going off and I think it's dangerous.

Hi beams in bright daylight I'm all for, gets the attention and it still allows a driver a consistent sight picture to judge your speed and distance with.

(Redneck mode off)

 

I'll put Dale down for a "no" vote on modulators. :nono:

That is due to the excellent technical description of the physics involved :nerd:
which trumped the emotional content which I also enjoyed. :flame:


correct me if I'm wrong on this. :target:

Goldwings and Beemers... that got me laughing.

I've never seen a Harley softtail with a modulator come to think of it.... or anyone under fifty .... or anyone with a full face helmet. hmm. Now I'll have to look.

 

Actually the modulators, again if not all, than at least the good ones, do not turn the light completedly off, part of the reasoning for that, or at least a side benefit of it, is that you don't have the problems with reduced bulb life span.

And it is still difficult for people to judge the speed and distance of a bike, no matter the lighting, it has to do with the frontal area of a bike vs. the normal car. There is less area for the eyes and mind to work with it, making accurate perception tougher. And although I do it, to get noticed, and I do not know for sure, I would guess the highbeam makes things harder to judge as it can overwhelm a person's vision of a larger section of the bike. I could beleive otherwise too, but when I think about it, I think it makes it tougher.

Most "car only" drivers also just have no clue as to the performace envelope of a bike. That when I pull away from a light and hit 45 MPH in 200' or whatever the measurement is, that we are not showing off, or running the engine to redline, that your average bike just has so far superior power to weight numbers, it is incomprehensible to your average person. So while if I was in a car they could have safely pullled out, instead, on a bike, I am there, now.

I really think with a modulator, a lot of people are like "what the heck is that?" and thus don't pull out, because they are waiting to figure out what you are. And I swear, by the way people, or at least some people pull over on the highway, that a lot of them think a bike with a modulator is a police bike. I know when I had my bright red BMW K1200RS, with two big Piaa 910 driving lights under my blinkers, a lot of people thought I was a CHiPie and moved over.

 

I beleive having a brake light modulator, does get you noticed more, and does just grab the eye more when somone is driving on auto pilot, and sometimes, a couple of seconds sooner on the brakes, can make a difference on being rear ended, and not...

 

I'm high beams during day, low beams around cages at night.

Going PIAAs helped a lot, although my buds running HIDs in the ZX-10Rs are BLINDINGLY bright and white on low.

 

Hey Spike, have you installed the modulators yet?

Was looking at this site: http://www.kisantech.com/index.php?cat_id=2 is this what you got?

They recommend the P115W-S-D model for the VFR. They must just connect to the highs and leave the lows out of the picture huh? they even have a daylight sensor which turns the modulation off when it starts to get dark.

I'm all for it, just curious on its install and usability. I sure it will be effective enough. Especially with the VFR High Beams

 

Unquestionably true- earlier today on the interstate a Gold Wing with modulators came up in the #1 lane - the cagers (of which I was one, 41 degrees and raining today) couldn't get out of the way fast enough.

Very effective. And honestly, quite annoying too.

For me, I think the dual lamps on the VFR are sufficient without making the thing look at home in a Vegas casino.

 

It still doesn't help!! I was riding my 919 about 2 years ago with the high beam on(PIAA Bulb and all) and some Grandma pulled out in front of me, she realized what she had done, had a panic attack and stopped in my lane. The next thing I remember was rolling across her trunk!

 

High Beams, thumb on Horn, cognizant of the blindspots, and always watching out for the cager at an intersection with a phone to their ear looking in the opposite direction of me. For some reason their neck quits and they can't turn their head. When I see this I try to focus on their brake lights, if they go out...watch out! When I am commuting to/from work I hit some alternate routes in order to limit my exposure to risk

 

This must be a habit for you guys in the States to do that. It's not technically legal to do that in the UK and you can get some nasty comments from the cops if they see you riding with beams on. I know where you guys are coming from, but i keep mine low, the VFR beams are strong enough as they are already.