Being Seen

[HD2Rocket3]

There was a horrific crash in Northern VA over the weekend. Someone made a left turn in front of two HD's, killing the driver of one and seriously injuring two others. After my little incident Memorial Day weekend I have been trying to think of ways to make myself more visable. I would like to put some driving lights on mine. Someone at RAA 6 (Cadfather maybe?) said he had found some pretty inexpensive ones somewhere (Autozone, Wal-Mart, etc.) The ones I see online are very expensive. Anyone have any suggestions of lights that they have added?

 

[tdragger]

I use the $15-$20 lights that you can get at Walmart.





Switch mounted in plastic on right side neck:



I have since replaced the round chrome ones with the rectangular black ones. They are mounted on the lower shroud instead of on the side.

 

[GPMAZ]

I have no scientific evidence to support my choice, but on the last two bikes I've had I've replaced the white bulbs in the driving lights with yellow bulbs. Since I don't rely on the lights for night time riding, I have them aimed a bit high.

My thought being, that in a sea of white lights, the yellow will stand out. Whether or not it really works is hard to say, but I do notice that cars are very quick to move to the right when I come up behind them.

 

[technoguppy]

Just for curiosities sake, what time of day did the incident occur??

 

[HD2Rocket3]

Just for curiosities sake, what time of day did the incident occur??

I believe it was about 7:30 p.m. in Annandale, VA

 

[CADFather]

These are the ones that I was talking about, Walmart.com: Driving Light Kit: Automotive and for their size they do put an amazing amount of light. Anything that you can add to your bike to make your more visible is money well spent to me. I had those driving lights and a headlight modulator on the Rocket and they really seemed to get folks attention. I even had one guy stop in the middle of a one lane road in the Chickamauga National Battlefield and threaten to whip my booty because they annoyed him so much. I told him that on a bike any time you can get extra attention from an oblivi-tard like him it was a good thing. He left as I was stepping off the bike. So they do work.

I had the little lights wired through a relay to work with my highbeams, they did put off a lot more light than my stock headlights did. I then wired them to be on if the bike was through a relay so they were on all the time. It wasn't legal in any city in TN, but I never got stopped for it. (Can't operate a vehicle while utilizing high beam headlights or driving lights inside the city limits of any city in TN.) For the $16.00 I spent on the little lights from Walmart plus tax, I'd say that I got my monies worth out of them. If you go this route, one thing to be aware of, use some clear silicone on the front bezel of the light to glue it in place, they can and do vibrate loose on occasion.

CAD

 

[bertb]

Ditto the Wal-Mart specials. Last time I looked they were up to a whopping $16.95

 

[xhdskip]

Keep advertising the lights guys,
that's job security for me.
Many thanks from WalMart and myself..
Truthfully they aren't that bad and for $16.95,
if you don't like them, you ain't lost much..
Pretty small investment to be visible..

 

[atomsplitter]

+1 the Wally-World lights. They are 55 watt just like your low beams (with Eastern Beaver kit installed, more if you don't have the EB kit). You can also ponder the modulator light modification that causes your headlights to look like oncoming emergency vehicles. I saw an out-of-state driver pull over for an oncoming Goldwing with that mod. I would have laughed except she was in front of me (ding bat).

Back in the 70's it wasn't uncommon to see a bike with a fiberglass pole and flag fluttering going down the road. And of course the old chartreuse vest replete with reflective piping is a must on any military post.

All said and done you can look like a Christmas Tree roaming the highways and it still won't protect you from the brain dead cell phone texting twits of the world. Your best option is a MSF Advanced Rider class and a loud horn.

 

[tdragger]

amen on the loud horn.