Topic: Be Seen - Headlights

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

So often you hear after accidents, "I didn't see him."

This morning with the sun just breaking the horizon I was driving to work, making a left.  A motorcyclist was coming towards me -- no headlight -- and essentially invisible with the dawn lighting.  I made the left without incident.  It was not close and he didn't have to brake or swerve, but I admit I did NOT see him until I had finished my turn and he was now entering where I had been.  I shuddered thinking about what IF he had been hauling a$$ or been much closer to my path.  And I am a motorcyclist and I do keep an eye out for fellow bikers.  He just blended in with no light on and little ambient light.

Tip for the day: if your headlight turns off (such as mine to make starting easier), keep it ON when you are out on the road.  It's not a bad idea to ride with your high beams on during the day either.  Be seen.  Be safe.

[Duke McDukiedook]

Saw a guy out on his streetfighter Kawa chop with no front headlight on in a decent rainstorm. To be honest it probably didn't work because of the shoddy hack jobs most of these guys do on bikes. Not safe at all. 

[flatlander]

yep i've got them always on.
even with the car. ever noticed how much later you see oncoming vehicles that don't have their headlights on, or turn them on too late when it's bad weather or starts getting dark-ish?

some people seem to think they're there to illuminate the road and as long as they can see what's in front of them they don't need them. that's a misconception.

[flybox1]

Glad your paths didnt meet, CB750. 
It happens all too often here in WA....gray days, slight drizzle/rain, and all those tan/silver/gray cars that blend in

Its against the law here in WA to ride a MC with your headlight off at any time.

[Demon67]

Flybox same as BC if I remember and fog, Your a ghost I think that manufacturers should be mandated to put more powerful lights on bikes.
Bill the demon.

[Retro Rocket]

When riding with the sun at your back, having a headlight on can make you completely invisible from the other direction, I used to ride a 4 lane road in Sydney that in the afternoon, had the sun setting in the middle of the road, straight in your eyes, This was in the 1980's and they had just introduced hard wired headlights for day time riding on all new models, a bike coming at you with its lights on was extremely hard to see...   I think, use your brains and use the lights when deemed necessary, some idiots will NEVER see you because they just don't look. A friend of mine is a tow truck driver, he drives a bloody big, bright yellow flat tray, he was stopped on a huge bridge in Brisbane putting a broken down car on the truck, lights flashing and all and a car ran into the car he was loading, Steve was lucky he wasn't between the two vehicles, anyway, the clown gets out of his car and says, "sorry mate, I didn't see you"...   If they can't see a bloody big tow truck in bright yellow garb with roof top lights flashing, what chance do we have...?      Ride smart boys...

[Demon67]

You know what gets their attention is a snow plow, the bloody great blade on the front makes even the dozziest cage driver wake up and start to think I had a friend that had 3/4 ton pickup with a snow plow on the front that would be put back on when the snow would start, driving in it in summer you see people that wouldn't see the truck, cut in front, stomp on the binders to make a left, the general stupid stuff you see, not so in the winter they would give it lots of room, cut in front, no sir, try and beat you through the corner mr. truck you go right ahead so I asked him about it he said it had nothing to do with winter he said if he didn't take it off in the spring he got the same polite treatment until he did take it off.
Bill the demon.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Be safe out there friends. Ride like others want to kill you. Be seen and don't stay in blind spots.

I'm glad things were uneventful. I don't think the rider was even bothered - it was not a close encounter. I was just bothered at how invisible he was in the gray twilight.  I don't know how I'd face you all if things had been bad.

[70CB750]

Virginia says headlights on with wipers - but exactly my pet peeve. Silver car in fog and no lights whatsaever, idiots.

Glad your paths didnt meet, CB750. 
It happens all too often here in WA....gray days, slight drizzle/rain, and all those tan/silver/gray cars that blend in

Its against the law here in WA to ride a MC with your headlight off at any time.

[MoMo]

Virginia says headlights on with wipers - but exactly my pet peeve. Silver car in fog and no lights whatsaever, idiots.

Glad your paths didnt meet, CB750. 
It happens all too often here in WA....gray days, slight drizzle/rain, and all those tan/silver/gray cars that blend in

Its against the law here in WA to ride a MC with your headlight off at any time.

PA  is the same but it seems that more than half of the drivers with silver/gray cars either don't know it or don't care.  Also, low visibility requires lights to be on at all times-again drivers of silver cars seem to think they're special and don't need their lights on.

[333]

Okay, so the law is the law. But what if your bike can't burn the headlight all the time?  And many of our bikes fall into that category.  Example;

My 350F comes with a 35/35 watt headlight.  Barely enough to be seen at night, much less be able to see anything.  So, the logical step is to upgrade to a decent wattage, say a 55/60 halogen( a common upgrade for back in the day).  Okay enough for running at night, but the charging system won't take running the headlight all day, say doing a poker run or a trip. So by the afternoon, the electric start is useless. Thankfully we still have a kickstarter.  And this is why some have made the change to LEDs for the other lights, to save wattage.

And then there's this. I don't believe the headlight will make us be seen any better.  Many years ago(80s?) I got an insert with my tag renewal.   It was a legal width(8 1/2") piece of paper, folded in half from a 17" piece.  The instructions said to unfold it(a silhouette of a bike on one end, and a dot on the other) and look at the dot.  In 10 or so seconds, the bike fades away.  And sure enough, it did.  My conclusion is that it's not lighting, or the lack thereof making us harder to see, it's the brain playing with us.

[faux fiddy]

Its against the law here in WA to ride a MC with your headlight off at any time.

I think that US DOT mandated that.

I have noticed mine off when passing a cop the other direction, but I don't think it's enforced in the day time.

I did ride headlight off almost a half mile in under street lights tonight when I took off.   Like 333 says, much less being able to see anything.  I hardly noticed it off, but I bet the enforcement guys will notice you at night with the light off.

[BomberMann650]

It happens all too often here in WA....gray days, slight drizzle/rain, and all those tan/silver/gray cars that blend in

gawd i hate that too!

"but insurance companies charge more for hot-colored cars"

maybe so, but how many people "didn't see" the neon green lambhorgini making that turn into mcdonalds?!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Okay, so the law is the law. But what if your bike can't burn the headlight all the time?  And many of our bikes fall into that category.  Example;

My 350F comes with a 35/35 watt headlight.  Barely enough to be seen at night, much less be able to see anything.  So, the logical step is to upgrade to a decent wattage, say a 55/60 halogen( a common upgrade for back in the day).  Okay enough for running at night, but the charging system won't take running the headlight all day, say doing a poker run or a trip. So by the afternoon, the electric start is useless. Thankfully we still have a kickstarter.  And this is why some have made the change to LEDs for the other lights, to save wattage.

And then there's this. I don't believe the headlight will make us be seen any better.  Many years ago(80s?) I got an insert with my tag renewal.   It was a legal width(8 1/2") piece of paper, folded in half from a 17" piece.  The instructions said to unfold it(a silhouette of a bike on one end, and a dot on the other) and look at the dot.  In 10 or so seconds, the bike fades away.  And sure enough, it did.  My conclusion is that it's not lighting, or the lack thereof making us harder to see, it's the brain playing with us.

Not the law in every state and especially as to certain vintage motorcycles.

For you, I would recommend that you switch to a LED bulb. It's much brighter than a Holocene and draws much less current. http://cognitomoto.com/collections/electronics/products/h7-led

[calj737]

And then there's this. I don't believe the headlight will make us be seen any better.  Many years ago(80s?) I got an insert with my tag renewal.   It was a legal width(8 1/2") piece of paper, folded in half from a 17" piece.  The instructions said to unfold it(a silhouette of a bike on one end, and a dot on the other) and look at the dot.  In 10 or so seconds, the bike fades away.  And sure enough, it did.  My conclusion is that it's not lighting, or the lack thereof making us harder to see, it's the brain playing with us.

Your conclusion is incorrect. In a static focus test, true, the brain will begin to ignore its periphery, but that is essentially comparing an Apple to a Chimpanzee. Try the test again with a light source, and your brain virtually can not ignore illumination. This is why Optometrists test your peripheral vision with very minute light flashes well outside your focal plane. Because your brain "sees" light sources faster and more discreetly than color, shape or size.

And, if you're riding a motorcycle then you are moving and a moving light is infinitely more visible than a moving shape that has no illumination. And hopefully you are not "staring for extended periods of time" at traffic when you drive/ride. Scanning is the key for all persons who operate a vehicle.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

How did I gloss over that last paragraph from 333?

I cannot disagree more.  A vehicle in twilight with a headlight is tremendously more visible than an unlit one.

[flybox1]

My H4 HID bulbs (3000K) yellow are bright as heck (Duanob might concur as i rode behind him for much of our last ride), but they also came with a small (fixed) metal shield which prevents the light pattern from being directed upward, allowing for a nice cutoff and fewer blinded cagers

[333]

I don't disagree that lighting has a positive affect at twilight or after, but really, how does a single headlight stand out in broad daylight?  I don't see a headlight first, but then I(like most of us here) know to look out for bikes.  I see the bike. And a bike burning headlight stands out  even less, now that daytime running lights are standard on cages.

Now there is a noticeable difference in a flashing or modulating headlight.  But here in Virginia those are( or were) illegal, as well as flashing brake lights.  Flashing or modulating screams "look at me".  Increased brake lighting reduces rear end collisions in half.  The study for that was done here in Washington D.C. in the early 80s, with the first High Mounted Stop Lights on cars beginning on '85 models.

I've seen those LED headlights, but I will have to wait until I have the cash to get one.  Luckily, I don't have to burn my headlight here in VA all the time.

[calj737]

You can not "see a bike" coming at you head on before you your brain will see the light from it, even in daytime. You may internally recognize the light, then separately identify it as a bike, but not before the light coming from it has alerted you to it. Sorry, your brain works faster than you realize. And the movement of the light is an even greater attractor to its presence.

Whether cars and bikes are running DRLs, they each have improved their own ability to be noticed, not reduced the motorcycle's. Its not about distinguishing a motorcycle from a car, its about noticing the vehicle (of any type).

[faux fiddy]

I've seen those LED headlights, but I will have to wait until I have the cash to get one.  Luckily, I don't have to burn my headlight here in VA all the time.

Here's a head's up.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1PC-Motorcycle-Bike-LED-Cree-Headlight-Hi-Lo-H4-9003-6000K-30W-3000LM-Bulb-/261969580758?hash=item3cfe9a92d6&vxp=mtr

[Duanob]

My H4 HID bulbs (3000K) yellow are bright as heck (Duanob might concur as i rode behind him for much of our last ride), but they also came with a small (fixed) metal shield which prevents the light pattern from being directed upward, allowing for a nice cutoff and fewer blinded cagers

Right back at ya! I ride with my high beams on all the time, especially in the city. It may irritate other drivers but I would rather irritate them then have them not see me. There is another thread about head and brake light modulators, I am seriously looking into a decent quality set of them.

[eigenvector]

How many of you guys actually check the headlight before riding off?

My old Tiger 1050 used to burn out headlights all the time, poor design of the headlight housing (and those H7 bulbs are expensive!), but it's not like I did a full signals and headlight check every time I rode off to go get groceries.  Not to mention the headlight would burn out spontaneously while riding - happened once actually, noticed it because it was 4 in the morning and pitch dark all of the sudden.

So you might want to give some of those 'headlight off' guys a little slack, they might not even know it's not on.

I always check the BMW headlight, it illuminates the garage as I pull out to go to work.

[flybox1]

How many of you guys actually check the headlight before riding off?

Every time! since i wired my H4 HID without using the hi-beam wiring.  Less battery draw on start up and the ferry terminal guys prefer lights off when boarding 
My left thumbswitch is now Hi-beam OFF and LOW

[eigenvector]

That's pretty clever really.  Same with the guards at the gate where I work - headlights off as you pull in.  Except, there's no way for me to actually turn them off.  Using the 'hi beam' switch to act as a kill switch is not a bad idea.

[Bob Wessner]

I've taken up bike riding in my old age. This visibility issue really hits home on two lane rural roads when you "share" a lane with a vehicle doing 50-60 mph.. if you're lucky. Started riding with highly visible helmet and clothing. I was riding on a really nice route along the Huron River between Ann Arbor and Dexter,  a small village west of us. It's a very shaded road with numerous curves and elevation changes. One day I noticed a couple of riders with small, very bright,  modulating head and tail lights. They instantly get your attention. As soon as I got home I researched and picked up the best I could find. Very bright LED and rechargeable. I never leave home without them.