Re: Lighting Upgrade Question
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 11:04 am
I've had headlight modulators for 20+ years now.. and no problem with following other bikes - I never do. I seem to always be the lead bike. I have the Skeen on the back, plus some German LED replacements for the turn signals that include a row of red LED's in the center that are also hooked to the brake light circuit.
With both the headlight modulators and the Skeen lights - I can tell by how vehicles (cages) around me act if they're turned on or not (the Skeen is programmable if you step on the brake pedal within something like 5 seconds of key on - and apparently once in a while I'll accidentally do that and turn the flashing off..)
With the headlight modulator off - cars obviously don't see me as much. They tend to pull out in front of me more. With the modulator on - that rarely ever happens. With the flash mode of the Skeen brake lights off - cars pull up closer to me at stops and lights. With them on, they typically stop about 1 car length behind me. With them off - they pull right up on my tail.
For good conspicuity in the front, along with extending your lighting at night - I would recommend the PIAA LED lights - https://www.autoaccessoriesgarage.com/L ... Fog-Lights. I'd recommend the driving lights. These are different from the lights from other sources that just have LEDs blasting away with no lens or real pattern (aka Clearwater, and others..) These use a focusing reflector to shape the light into a beam, sort of an oval shape. They are quite effective for both being seen and seeing at night. I mounted mine on my fork sliders - and I think I wrote it up here somewhere.
That's my solution. Everything is wired to my FuzeBlock - which has a choice between full time power or relay switched power for any circuit. The PIAA lights come with a harness - only thing is - it's meant for a truck, so the wires are rather long. Mine are wrapped and bundled under the tank so that's not a problem. I didn't have to do any cutting. They draw about 2 AMPS total - so don't overfuse them (which PIAA does..)
With both the headlight modulators and the Skeen lights - I can tell by how vehicles (cages) around me act if they're turned on or not (the Skeen is programmable if you step on the brake pedal within something like 5 seconds of key on - and apparently once in a while I'll accidentally do that and turn the flashing off..)
With the headlight modulator off - cars obviously don't see me as much. They tend to pull out in front of me more. With the modulator on - that rarely ever happens. With the flash mode of the Skeen brake lights off - cars pull up closer to me at stops and lights. With them on, they typically stop about 1 car length behind me. With them off - they pull right up on my tail.
For good conspicuity in the front, along with extending your lighting at night - I would recommend the PIAA LED lights - https://www.autoaccessoriesgarage.com/L ... Fog-Lights. I'd recommend the driving lights. These are different from the lights from other sources that just have LEDs blasting away with no lens or real pattern (aka Clearwater, and others..) These use a focusing reflector to shape the light into a beam, sort of an oval shape. They are quite effective for both being seen and seeing at night. I mounted mine on my fork sliders - and I think I wrote it up here somewhere.
That's my solution. Everything is wired to my FuzeBlock - which has a choice between full time power or relay switched power for any circuit. The PIAA lights come with a harness - only thing is - it's meant for a truck, so the wires are rather long. Mine are wrapped and bundled under the tank so that's not a problem. I didn't have to do any cutting. They draw about 2 AMPS total - so don't overfuse them (which PIAA does..)