Lunasee Wheel Lighting System?

Lunasee | Active Side Lighting
Has anyone had any experience with these kits? It looks like a really neat concept. They're using phosphorescent rim tape with a high-powered UV LED mounted directly adjacent to the rim to excite the tape as it passes below it. The one problem I can see is that having a 5th gen VFR with a single swingarm, there's no frame or anything near the right side of the rear rim to mount the LED pod, so I might need to fabricate some kind of custom bracket to hold the pod, and making that look seamless with the bike might be hard.

Anyway I'm asking because I want to know if people have tried this, and if they're generally as bright as they make them look on the site, or if it's underwhelming and a waste of $200. I'd also be interested to know if the rim tape 'burns out' after a period of time, or if the LEDs are left on it for too long in one spot.

EDIT: Also if any of the DIYers out there know where I could get orange or red phosphorescent materials to make my own, that would be great too, since I think the turquoise would clash with my red accent lighting a bit much.

 

Check out Reflective Tape IS ReflectivelyYOURS.com - <h1>Reflective Tape Kits - Reflective Tape, reflective decals pinstripes

 

As usual, Youtube to the rescue and on a VFR... Lunasee ASL 1000 - YouTube

 

I actually already have retroreflective red rim tape for my bike (though I haven't applied it yet) which I got on amazon. I really like the photoluminescent idea though because it provides its own light.

Yeah I already saw that, but it's an older model VF750F, not the 5th gen VF800R, so it may be different, plus, you never get a look at the right side of the bike in the video so I have no idea where he's mounting that light.

I was looking more for personal experience about the brightness, people's impressions, since a photo/video of it doesn't tell you much when it comes to lights and such.

 

The peg bracket doesn't come close enough to the wheel to do that stock, but I might be able to fit a piece of sheet metal there or something to extend it. Also maybe make a bracket I can bolt on to the exhaust can bracket and hide it behind there.

Of course one downside of having it in an odd place like that which isn't symmetrical across the middle is that there's nothing on the other side to block the light from passing through and shining out directly.

 

Raw Design LED Rims - YouTube

 

Raw Design's, Power-Puc Lighted Wheel Kits - YouTube

 

What would be really cool is to install one of these gadgets and a cutout switch for the other lights. Starting flying saucer and alien abduction shit is great fun. IMO green would be the best color. The aliens are always green.

 

You want to check the regulations in your area to find out if they are legal equipment. Here, in BC, you can put all the reflectors you want on your vehicle but are required to follow the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations when it comes to lights. Initially I thought that the Lunasee ASL system would be illegal here in BC but after watching those videos, I just don't know. That could be argued both ways unless you were to put amber on the front wheel and red on the rear. Even then, it would be an argument. But I do like them.

Those other lights definitely illegal here. I would also wonder if the shit hole driving next to you would watch your bike instead of where he is driving with all those flashing lights going on. People tend to steer to where they are looking. I would rather people just see me long enough to know I am there, then get their eyes back on the road.

My nickles worth. Canada has dumped the penny so I can't chip in my 2 cents worth anymore.

 

i like that power puc, but i feel like it could be made for a lot cheaper. i'm gonna look into it, i'll let you guys know how it turns out.

 

Anybody can be a mini-tron for less than $24.99 except the aliens from Canada who have to pay $25.00 because the aliens in their government have taken away their pennies.

Google

 

The Lunsee looks like white wall tires on a bike, kind of hokey. The lighted wheels on the other hand looks cool. Though both remind me of the "sex" lights behind grills and in the fender wells of some 50's and 60's car back in the day. How about some fiber optic handle bar streamers flaying around so it looks like flames wafting in the wind..............

 

Just after Christmas when WalMart is blowing decoration out the door and stocking the shelves for the next five holydays, I bought several strings of LED tree lights. Twenty to be specific. This should be plenty to hot glue them to my leathers and the mach 1 91. This and just a few more gadgets strapped on my bike and I can get to an even 600lbs and stop worrying that when ya see that bikes are really weighed without fuel, battery acid and oil, when somebody asks, I can say with certainty, my bike weighs 600 lb even and I can glow in the dark all at once.

Any leads on those fibre optic handlebar streamers would be greatly appreciated. There is no price I would not pay to be really cool so I can stand around at bike nights and be the center of attention with all the chicks.

 

Lol, ok, this thread is officially hilarious.

Those LED kits are garish as all hell. I'm definitely not looking to do something like that.

Admittedly, I did consider for a few fractions of a second buying the LED valve stems when I saw them in a store a while back, but there's 3 problems with this: I don't like them, I already have nice valve stem caps, and wouldn't I need to buy new button batteries daily with the amount of riding I do? thanks but no thanks.

I don't know. My main reason for liking the lunasee system I think is that it's such an elegant design, and a genius solution for what it does. That, IMO, makes it really cool. I'm not a fan of the color though, and would want it in orange/red to match my bike. I know orange phosphorescent pigments exist, but they're also less bright and efficient than the teal ones, which is why, I imagine, that nobody really sells orange phosphorescent vinyl tape (it's only really used in safety applications, where brightness matters most.)

Yes, I'm an engineer. deal with it.

Any color other than blue is, IIRC, legal here in CA. As long as there's no direct glare from the lights or reflectors, they don't need to meet vehicle code. I have red accent lighting on my bike, which I call the "don't hit me lights" when parking in a dark lot at night. They're also legal on the road and I run with them after dark or in the rain to improve my visibility to other drivers.

Direct glare from the UV LEDs for lunasee however might actually be a problem due to the single swingarm: if there's not more frame directly across from the LEDs to block the light (and mount the other LED on) then too much of it might shine out to the sides where it would be a potential legal issue (not to mention obnoxious and/or blinding)

I'm pretty sure the tendency for people to go where they're looking only applies to bikes around here, as most cagers can't even seem to look where they're going. Anyway I'd rather them hit a tree while looking at me than hit me while looking at something else.

 

I'm not an engineer but if I was I would be working on a hydraulics package for bikes to make them bounce up and down like lowriders. This IMO would be the perfect coordinate for any of the aforementioned lighting systems.

A couple of Utubes, or Tweets and some anatomical hydraulics ala Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery pix and this could be the new thing.

 

Some funny shite here!

 

Whilst taking a shite
He turned out the light.

In the darkness he noted,
And was later much quoted,

That readings a bitch in the night.