HIDs - Now bikes are at it!

[Llanigraham]

Quite!!

[Ootohere]

good to know your highway code when its cars or bikes.

Even when some of it could do with bringing up to date like Road Traffic acts could IMO.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/travelandtransport/highwaycode/dg_070302

I had one bike, a Yamaha Tricker 250,(Import) that actually had the Running light on (hopless for starting with just a small battery)

and lit up the Clocks and the Headlight was wired back to front and when on Headlight, Dipped showed as blue on the dash clock light and Full beam showed Green.

I went to change it and then read the book and it was shown in the Owners Manual as being correct.

george

[silver1011]

I wonder if HID's are eventually fitted to motorbikes whether they too will require headlight washers and self levelling?

I imagine if the wife regularly rides pillion and she puts on some chunk then the headlight will be aimed high.

Similarly I guess the front of a bike is equally as susceptible to collecting dirt / road grime as other vehicles and therefore the benefits offered by headlight washers apply? (Just remember to close your visor!).

[FUBAR]

Well, I'm confused.

In my world main beam = the brightest mode (blue light on the dash) and should never be used when other road users are in view regardless of whether your are riding a bike or driving a car.

Dipped headlights used as DRL's on a motorbike makes sense to me. As a biker I'm all too aware of how vulnerable we are, when driving my car I make an extra effort to look out for other road users regardless of what they are driving / riding but I am only human. Bikes are harder to see and anything the rider can do to make themselves more visible (without dazzling / distracting) is welcome.

We are all responsible for the road worthiness of our own vehicles, if you are riding a bike or driving a car with improperly aligned / adjusted headlights or illeagal HID's then you are a danger to yourself and others.

Some do some don't. Ironically after the length of this topic I do not use main beam on bike during day as current bike its bright enough. I have lived all over the UK and it seems to vary vastly by region some areas you see 1 bike in 50 with it on some its the other way around.

[Anzio]

I have a great LED front light for my bicycle. When on the road i set it to flash - battery lasts forever, but when offroad I have it on full. When on road I generally point mine down so as not to blind drivers - unless they annoy me that is

You are not supposed to have any flashing lights, ( other than indicators, or if an emergency vehicle ) facing forward. A bright LED is bad enough, yet alone a flashing one !!

[Anzio]

What a load of tosh i just read about Police Motorcycle riders safe riding.

Maybe the Majority do.

Not the 2 tw4ts around my way, or the one **** that rides with other riders.

Lane disipline, changing lane and peeling off at junctions, indication or lack of, tailgating, overtaking without indication after coming close onto your rear at speed, lights not on in poor light.

He or she or several of Taysides finest appear to practices doing just about everything that would get a civilian rider pulled or dead,

just about everything wrong on a daily basis and so much that it makes you wonder if he is showing how not to ride to the partner he is out with.

george

If you see them on a regular basis, please get someone to go with you with a camera and photograph or video them. I can assure you they will be back on the beat in no time.

[Anzio]

good to know your highway code when its cars or bikes.

Even when some of it could do with bringing up to date like Road Traffic acts could IMO.

http://www.direct.go...ycode/dg_070302

I had one bike, a Yamaha Tricker 250,(Import) that actually had the Running light on (hopless for starting with just a small battery)

and lit up the Clocks and the Headlight was wired back to front and when on Headlight, Dipped showed as blue on the dash clock light and Full beam showed Green.

I went to change it and then read the book and it was shown in the Owners Manual as being correct.

george

Sorry, can't believe that.

[RainbowFire]

The use of Green lights for Doctors is in the RVLR, but I'm stuck at work and can't get into them at the moment, but like Blue lights for the other Emergency Services, I can't see that changing just so that bike DRL's are more "obvious".

RVLR refers to the green lights for doctors as "beacons". It would appear that their definition of "beacon" is a light that flashes.

DRLs don't flash. So, unless "beacon" is just a another word for "light" (static or flashing), green DRLs would be legal.

Mind you, given the trend for HIDs to be a higher temperature, and the higher the temperature the bluer the colour, it won't be long before someone realises that contravenes the "no blue" law any way, regardless of flashing or static. :)

[jonny boy]

Instead of moaning about cyclists / motorbikes being too 'bright' on the road, spare the thought for the countless riders who lose their lives from NOT being seen by idiot drivers with fogged up glass, illegally tinted windows, countless gadget distractions and constant mobile phone useage despite the law.

Also the massive loss to their loved ones. I think that they should be very bright indeed.

Some motorists just want to go about their business without any inconvenience whatsoever in a very selfish way. If a bike has a light that's too bright in your opinion, dip your mirror and think about road safety.

[silver1011]

If a bike has a light that's too bright in your opinion, dip your mirror and think about road safety.

That's all good and well if the bike is behind you, if it's coming towards you then you don't really have much choice but to slow down or stop.

Being seen is great but blinding or dazzling other road users is as equally dangerous as not being seen.

[jonny boy]

That's all good and well if the bike is behind you, if it's coming towards you then you don't really have much choice but to slow down or stop.

Being seen is great but blinding or dazzling other road users is as equally dangerous as not being seen.

Cars have the advantage of 2 carefully directed beams.

What a load of rubbish about slowing or stopping ? Just how many seconds are you staring into a overly bright light. Just look towards the kerbside and you are not blinded. I'm not condoning stupid silly HIDs with scattered light that does annoy, but let's not pin the blame on bikers having HIDs. A bike with a 'normal' halogen beam is half as visible as a car, then there's lots of cars with LED auxiliary lights or 'fogs' that make them VERY bright & visible. This seems to be perfectly acceptable to most road users.

I can't remember the last time an evil biker blinded me ..... ? :think:

I can however remember plenty of cars, including tonight, yesterday, the day before blah, blah,blah.

[RainbowFire]

On my way home along the M2 in the early hours of this morning, I experimented by repaying the compliment to the 4 bikes I encountered coming the other way with main-beam on.

3 of them found the switch to return to dip-beam.

So maybe it's not a safety issue after all..........maybe it's just plain old "forgetfulness".

Although I have noticed is that those with "proper big bikes" (like Harleys, those big-ass Goldwings and such) don't seem to suffer from this "forgetfulness". But then again they've usually not forgotten lane-discipline or the speed limit either.

Edited 26 July, 2012 by RainbowFore

[silver1011]

What a load of rubbish about slowing or stopping ? Just how many seconds are you staring into a overly bright light. Just look towards the kerbside and you are not blinded.

You obviously haven't experienced the same LED bike lights I have.

You obviously haven't driven down the same long country roads in the pitch black that I do.

Let's hope that continues too if you feel looking at the kerb is a better solution than slowing down.

[Skodaniel]

Love how this has become another chance to slag off bikers and pick up every fault and law breaking moment they have. Remember when you broke the speed limit by a few miles an hour the other day? Accidentally left your full beam on and couldn't be bothered to indicate? Why?, because everyone is as bad as the next person, get over the bright light bulb ffs and stop comparing tell tale stories about What you Did and What someone else Did on a road that no one gives a **** about!

[gadgetman]

Yes car drivers don't see bikers, but equally some on 2 wheels misjudge their abilities and perform stupid maneuvers.

Neither side is blame free. I would like to see the stats relating to the 30 bikers & the cyclists injured or killed each day and where blame lies with these.

[silver1011]

Love how this has become another chance to slag off bikers and pick up every fault and law breaking moment they have. Remember when you broke the speed limit by a few miles an hour the other day? Accidentally left your full beam on and couldn't be bothered to indicate? Why?, because everyone is as bad as the next person, get over the bright light bulb ffs and stop comparing tell tale stories about What you Did and What someone else Did on a road that no one gives a **** about!

I think you'd better give motoring forums a miss, they'd be very quiet if everyone agreed, you are going to burst a blood vessel.

[FabiaTom]

I ride a motorcycle and drive a car.

Fact of the matter is on 99% of routes 99% of the time in GB there are too many cars on the roads!

If a motorcyclist chooses to have, or in fact has no choice to have a dipped beam on whilst riding then that is in my eyes is a good thing.

There are far too many car drivers out there as mentioned previously, that are in cookoo land and are not watching what they are doing.

Whenever I travel to work on my bike I am horrified by the number of drivers who have no idea of surrounding dangers/hazards when pulling out of junctions, changing lanes or overtaking.

To my horror, only last week I was overtaken by a transit van whilst I was turning right on my bike. Luckily this time I had performed the "life saver" check before making the turn.

There are some very good drivers out there, its a shame that there are a higher number of dreadful, incompetent, and ignorant foolish drivers on top.

.................. Mobile phones thats for another night, my blood is already bubbling.

[MartynVRS]

I've just passed my bike test because for one I've wanted to do it for a while to see what the other side of the fence is like and secondly to improve my awareness and forward planning. It was good before but when with the bike the risks are higher so it forces you to do it automatically. I'm not say all bikers are respectful but there are plenty of car drivers who take the ****. Just this week I've had cars cut me up on roundabouts (all on camera) and if I'd have been on the bike it would have been trickier. They didn't even look and all to save a tenth or two by taking a straighter line. Then proceed to do 25 in a 40. Even when I was learning I had drivers not giving way to me on mini roundabouts when I had priority. Now I've passed and slowly learning what the bike can do I still have cars almost touching my back wheel to go quicker when I'm doing the limit. It's silly.

I've never been blinded by bike lights or many others. It's like those who don't like seeing brake lights on stop. It's never bothered me. It says in the highway code if you get dazzled you should slow down or even pull over if it's that bad.

[FabiaTom]

We are all guilty of travelling at pace on occasion. Whether on 2 wheels or 4.

THINK BIKE has been a good campaign from the government.

I hope there is more on the way!

[hutchysrs50]

At least if you see the light you won't pull out and hit him, other than that... I dono! If they don't put them on their bikes it will only be in his car so either way your gonna get blinded?

[RainbowFire]

We are all guilty of travelling at pace on occasion. Whether on 2 wheels or 4.

THINK BIKE has been a good campaign from the government.

I hope there is more on the way!

Yeah, a very small change:

"Think, Bike."

[Kevsta]

At least if you see the light you won't pull out and hit him, other than that... I dono! If they don't put them on their bikes it will only be in his car so either way your gonna get blinded?

Happened to someone I know yesterday, don't know the full details yet but a 4x4 pulled out straight into him, from what I can gather it's a classic smidsy. He spent 8 hours in surgery. This is gory:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/563658_10200775739373564_1253300787_n.jpg

But as for HIDs lots of cars and bikes have them with reflectors, and badly adjusted. Illegal, but enforcement is the problem, as most MOT testers don't care, and the police don't police the roads like they used to.

Motorbikes are required to have the dipped beam hardwared on, this has been the case since 2004 I think.

Cruisers tend to have very old style round head lights that reflect very poorly, and aren't much better when on full beam.

Most people that I have met who have fitted HIDs on bikes have them properly adjusted so they don't dazzle. The few that didn't had done it deliberately, and didn't care. But then again they were selfish drivers with dangerous cars.

[Coffin Dodger]

On my bike I have a very bright 100 watt industrial laser front light. Well I say light, actually deadly cutting tool to be more accurate.

Some people flash other road users to let them through. I flash other road users to let me through by cutting them in two.

They cut me up, I cut them up.

As the two smoking halves of their vehicle fall apart, I ride through the gap with a cheery "Coming through!"

It goes through a few batteries though.

Where can I get one?

[Turkish]

You can't physically turn the headlights off on my GSXR. I'd rather be seen than be sorry!

Sounds like you just have an issue with bikers in general rather than just the fact that some are using HIDs. "Swerving through traffic and speed limits don't apply"? Not all bikers are that way, so don't be tarring the whole crowd with the same brush.

And I can probably count on one hand how many bikes I've seen around my area with HIDs in the last few years. It isn't that common, and now that the MOT test is basically banning them, they probably won't be around for much longer so stop crying about it.

EDIT - And I drive around 24/7 with my headlights on in my car, just out of habit from being on the bikes. Being more visible, car or motorcycle is never a bad thing.

Edited 14 April, 2013 by Turkish

[FUBAR]

Yes car drivers don't see bikers, but equally some on 2 wheels misjudge their abilities and perform stupid maneuvers.

Neither side is blame free. I would like to see the stats relating to the 30 bikers & the cyclists injured or killed each day and where blame lies with these.

Im on it boss!

In accidents involving a motorcycle and another vehicle, the rider was at fault 21.9% of the time.

Also

Motorcyclists make up only 1% of motor traffic, but account for 21% of all deaths on British roads.

Also

In 2008, a motorcycle rider had a relative risk of being killed or seriously injured per km driven that was 57 times higher than for car drivers.

Comfortable facts or not, the biggest killer of bikers is and unfortunately looks set to continue to be car drivers.