Position Lights Purpose

[Ted Gross]

Can anyone explain the purpose of the position light? I research it on the web with out any results.

It seems pointless to me.

 

[Ishrub]

Terms differ but certainly the rear tail lamp seems pretty important to me.

Automotive lighting - Wikipedia

Automotive lighting - Wikipedia

Front position lamps
"Front position lamps",[21] known as "parking lamps" or "parking lights" in the US, Canada[10] and Australia and "front sidelights" in the UK provide nighttime standing-vehicle conspicuity.[25] They were designed to use little electricity, so they could be left on for periods of time while parked. Despite the UK term, these are not the same as the side marker lights described below.

The front position lamps on any vehicle may emit white or amber light in the US, Canada, Mexico, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand and much of the Middle East; elsewhere in the world only motorcycles may have amber front position lamps; all other vehicles must have white ones.[10][21][26][27] Colloquial city light terminology for front position lamps[28] derives from the practice, formerly adhered to in cities like Moscow, London and Paris, of driving at night in built-up areas using these low-intensity lights rather than headlamps.[29]

In Germany, the StVZO (Road Traffic Licensing Regulations) calls for a different function also known as parking lamps: With the vehicle's ignition switched off, the operator may activate a low-intensity light at the front (white) and rear (red) on either the left or the right side of the car. This function is used when parking in narrow unlit streets to provide parked-vehicle conspicuity to approaching drivers.[30] This function, which is optional under UN and US regulations, is served passively and without power consumption in the United States by the mandatory side marker retroreflectors.

Automotive lighting - Wikipedia

Rear position lamps (tail lamps)

Conspicuity for the rear of a vehicle is provided by rear position lamps(also called tail lamps or tail lights). These are required to produce only red light and to be wired such that they are lit whenever the front position lamps are lit, including when the headlamps are on. Rear position lamps may be combined with the vehicle's stop lamps or separate from them. In combined-function installations, the lamps produce brighter red light for the stop lamp function and dimmer red light for the rear position lamp function. Regulations worldwide stipulate minimum intensity ratios between the bright (stop) and dim (rear position) modes, so that a vehicle displaying rear position lamps will not be mistakenly interpreted as showing stop lamps, and vice versa.[10][21]

 

[Fingers]

Ish I think he is talking about the little retarded parking light in the headlight buckets.

 

[Ted Gross]

Retarded is a good word for it. Useless is another. Thanks for the feedback

 

[Ishrub]

Well they help you find your bike in a dark carpark or help prtevent idiots crushing your bike when parked at night. I have used the ring halos on my LED inserts as white parking lights.

 

[TURBO200R4]

tells me that i left the ignition switch on.

 

[Rocket3Pilot]

Well they help you find your bike in a dark carpark or help prtevent idiots crushing your bike when parked at night. I have used the ring halos on my LED inserts as white parking lights.

Are those ring halos separate from your led headlamps and if so where did you find them?

 

[R-III-R Turbo]

They do seem a bit pointless during normal use as the headlight bulbs supersede them.

But position lights are really parking lights - if you push down & turn your ignition key past the steering 'lock' position, to the 'P' position, you can have your position lights and tail light left on without the ignition left on and remove your key.
For any occasion you have to park up somewhere dark and possibly prone to getting crashed into...

I converted mine to LED DRLs back in 2015, and put in a switch (off a 96 Trophy 900) for the headlights where the "dummy" switch is on the RHS handlebar controls;

 

[Starmanut]

Retarded is a good word for it. Useless is another. Thanks for the feedback

I replaced mine with LED license plate bulbs. Whiter light, less watts (1), still retarded.


Got enough for all my cars, too.

 

[Ishrub]

Are those ring halos separate from your led headlamps and if so where did you find them?

My seller on AliExpress went out of stock but the exact same ones have re-emerged in Feb 2018
1PCS 5.75 Inch 50W 5000LM Motorcycle Hi Lo Beam LED Headlight with Angel eyes 5.75" led headlamp for bike harley on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

and are covered in the extensive thread. I provided a fitment and wiring guide in that thread too around post #55 - #65 from memory.

Daymaker Type Headlights (Chinese Copies)

Read the thread and note that when I bought mine you could save a heap by buying each one as a separate transaction and they shipped for free or peanuts. If you bought 2 together you got stung for $50 postage or thereabouts.