OK - It's R+D time. Lights naturally

So what angle?

  • Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 10º

    Votes: 1 14.3%
  • 15º

    Votes: 5 71.4%
  • 20º

    Votes: 1 14.3%
  • 25º

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    7

barbagris

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Now - I have been reading through the EU regulations regarding single track vehicle lighting and found a rather interesting clause.

CORNERING LIGHTS.

Here's the premise. A normal bike headlight aims left of centre when you bank to the right - actually giving less light than a car which is naturally upright or even leaned over to the left as a result - so the light aims right of straight ahead.

There is legal provision to fit lights to provide supplementary lighting to illuminate the area of the road you're heading into.

OK - so the research part is -

At what bank angle do you feel the lighting needs supplementing?. Development is already well underway. ;)

Dammit - Can a Mod add 20 and 25 to the poll list please. and it should be º not%
 
Very interesting. If I had good weather I'd use my tablet with some sensors to measure out the angles / speed of cornering that I do. I would say any angle more then 10 degrees would be good, that would cover slower riding speed as well if your trying to be careful at night time
 
Very interesting. If I had good weather I'd use my tablet with some sensors to measure out the angles / speed of cornering that I do. I would say any angle more then 10 degrees would be good, that would cover slower riding speed as well if your trying to be careful at night time
25 degrees?? Geez we're mugs. Marquez is doing 64s........ :eek:
 
If you know the hight of the light position and the length in front that you want lit up then the hypotenuse of the triangle would give you an angle of the beam direction.

http://www.endmemo.com/geometry/triangle3060.php

Edit ah? Am I misunderstanding the original post, are you talking of loosing the spread of light as the bike goes into a corner and the headlight leans over closer to the road surface?
 
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Now - I have been reading through the EU regulations regarding single track vehicle lighting and found a rather interesting clause.

CORNERING LIGHTS.

Here's the premise. A normal bike headlight aims left of centre when you bank to the right - actually giving less light than a car which is naturally upright or even leaned over to the left as a result - so the light aims right of straight ahead.

To correct this, wouldn't you need to angle the lights slightly greater than parallel with the ground when riding upright? And wouldn't that be shining in the eyes of other motorists? If true, then skip the math and get some wide angle flood lights. Why not piss off everyone.
 
To correct this, wouldn't you need to angle the lights slightly greater than parallel with the ground when riding upright? And wouldn't that be shining in the eyes of other motorists?
Not if you use a angle sensitive switch.

The point being that when you bank right - you activate a light on the right to illuminate the road along (more or less) the Hypotenuse.

I'm hoping my switch arrives via TNT today. It uses the Earths magnetic field to determine angle changes. I've ordered a programmable one with two relays - one for left and one for right.

My gut tells me between 15 and 25º. I've set the lights at 25º. The lights are LED Fog lights with a sharp cut off. Deliberately fitted with weak LEDs (for now).

Very interesting. If I had good weather I'd use my tablet with some sensors to measure out the angles / speed of cornering that I do. I would say any angle more then 10 degrees would be good, that would cover slower riding speed as well if your trying to be careful at night time
That's exactly the sort of data I'm after.
 
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