High Beam vs. Low Beam...

[Airman]

So do people agree with me about the high beam kinda being weak unless there are alot of trees or above/around coverage?

I do. I put in the Phillips +50 a while back, and I like the reach on the low beam a lot, the high beam seems to create a lot of side scatter without really giving any real additional distance to the beam. This is somewhat off the topic, but every time I see one of those headlight modulators I pull the paintball gun out of my tank pannier and give it a burst. I think they're really irritating.

[riceburner]

Those of you running full beam - how often do you see the moon at midday?

[dnat928]

My riding policy is to run with low beam druing the day. Whenever there is a vehicle ahead - looking to turn left (in front of me???), pulling out from a side street or any other potentially threatening activity, I use the hi-beam flasher toggle. I just keep blasting well before, and until I've passed by them. This way, there is a noticeable difference in the lighting, hopefully eye-catching. Seems to work. At night, I keep the hi-beam on most of the time, only lowering when I'm stopped behind someone. Seems to work.

Also, I've noticed that the movement of the front of the R (or any other motorcycle, for that matter) over road surface irregularities creates enough up-and-down motion of the light to cause modulation - no need to add any.

[Sunbeemer]

Around here flashing your high/low beams tells other drivers to' "Go Ahead", so they would think you were "flashing them in", and they would pull out in front of you.

I use the high beam on busy city streets in the daytime, and have found that people do not pull out in front of me as close as when I don't. The SignalMinder running lights also have helped with this, and added even more conspicuity from behind at night.

While a high beam may make it more difficult for cagers to judge your approach, at least they do see you and most of the time will pause long enough to assess your speed and distance, which is what you want, right?

[CycleRob]

I use the low beam daytime + my pair of 55 Watt driving lites, actuated by an AutoSwitch, that are hanging from the oil coolers.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r87/ ... ob-POW.jpg
At night, the driving lites come on with the high beam (relay + blocking diodes wired in) and provide virtual daylight in front of me.

The driving lites change dramatically how oncoming cars behave, especially those signalling to turn left across my path. They wait. Even when there is plenty of time to make the turn. That gives merit to the "visually disorienting" theory. Seeing the triangle of lites coming at them apparently is perceived as an emergency vehicle, a M/C, or a low flying aircraft. They wait.

Even cars in front of me, usually holding up traffic in the passing lane, do not stay there for long. Anytime Ann is on the back, the driving lites are on. It makes a difference.

.

[beemerboy]

on a side note your bike is super sexy come make mine look that badass

[CycleRob]

beemerboy,

Thanks. It was really just the ideal lighting.

Anybody can duplicate the effort. Do what I did. Install a Buell Blast's FlyScreen, BMW K1200R mirrors, oil cooler mounted driving lites and BMW GS HandGuards. Become tired of owning 3 reddish bikes in a row, totaling 22 years, whose colors were determined by model availability. Find a car color that looks great (to you). Take a daylight picture of that car (a 2000 Mustang in "Sunburst Gold"). Show pic on body shop's computer from your camera (via flashdrive or in my case, a floppy disc). Choose and confirm the paint color. Make the appointment. Take all your painted parts to the paintshop to get them painted.

Coincidentally (or NOT) BMW comes out with a near identical color about 5 months after I attended the "BMW Owners Appreciation Weekend" at the New Jersey Headquarters.

[FloridaBeakster]

I have Hella FF50 driving lights mounted to the headlight bucket (a little lower and more spread apart than the RCU mount) and run them all the time, day or night. They really appear to have reduced the number of people pulling out in front of me.