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FrozenGate by Avery

Motorcycle mounted safety lasers

Being visible on your bike is more about movement than brightness. The night rider strip or any other type of LED system that makes visible movement is what will most likely make you stand out to other drivers. A laser system isn't going to help you any more than an LED system and has potential dangers that come with it including possible jail time as I'm fairly certain it's not legal.

So you want a nice LED system with some good movement in it. I would suggest the color blue for the lights as it appears to be one of the most visible lights without ruining night vision.
 





I don't know about the laws in your country but here, leds that are on all the time are fine but any kind of flashing or movement is deemed a distraction and they WILL give you a fine.
I have super bright headlights on my bike (non-hid) and people still cut me off. A few months ago I merged onto a busy road that I am familiar with and even I cut off a motorcycle. I felt like crap and he just slowed down a bit to avoid me but its still not a good feeling.
When you ride, you ride like no one sees you. If you are in someone's blind spot, you get out of it.
The bonus with bikes is that you can stop SO fast that its usually never an issue if you are paying attention.
I had just gotten my first bike, riding too hard for my experience, a truck cut me off on a 4 lane road. I quickly changed lanes and bliped the throttle but then saw the van that was stalled.
Less than a week on a motorcycle and I did a full brake stand for about 50 yards. As soon as the back tire came off the ground I knew I would be alright, I have ridden mountain bike for years and these road bikes have a similar feel. I stopped well short of the van even though the road had rutted a bit from the big trucks and the bike didn't want to stay in a straight line.
I still say paying attention and "darting" are your best defense against drivers who are asleep at the switch.
 
also i don't know about other states but in Ohio its illegal to have any blinking lights that aren't turn signals on a motor vehicle
 
FYI in most states blue or red flashing lights are illegal.

XX made a good point. No matter what you have on your bike, it gets lost in the blind spots. The blind spots are bigger than you think. Cars are big too, so they are a lot easier see. A bike on average is only 1/4 the size of a car. On a bike you have to drive offensive, not defensively. Meaning that you have to anticipate actions happening, not reacting after the action. Thats how you crash, and burn.

Best advice I could give is put a big air horn on it. People instinctively get out of the way when they hear an air horn. I always thought about it when I drove, just never did it.

BTW If anyone has ever seen Ghost Rider (not the movie), that was me. :eg: Well, not really me personally, but you get the idea.

 
Tech_Junkie said:
My 1978 Honda CBX with NOS used to pull 10.7s @ ~130mph till I detonated the motor, and lifted the head. Speedometer only went to 120mph, but I know it was way faster obviously. Hitting the NOS at 100 almost pulled you off the bike. I was king of white lining.

I've owned a pile of drag cars, but they all were built for bottom end. I used to buy junks, hot rod them, and sell em. My fastest was a pro-street 1980 Z28, with a LS6 454, 4 Speed Muncie, 4:11s, ect. Ran low 12s naturally aspirated.

Always wanted to build a 200mph car, but never had the money.
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My buddy used to have one of those -the NOS it was a nice bike! His had a custom paint job on it, it was black w/red pearl and red striping.
I had a 1981 Yamaha FZR 750 with a Vance & Hines 4-1 header and a stage 2 kit.

My hot rod I still have, it was my first car I bought in 75. I have $11,000 just in parts in the motor not counting the blower, I build my own from Detroit diesel blowers. It has a 671 blower (12 lbs of boost) with 2 Holley 750 dbl pumpers on top of a 327 @ 800hp runs 50/50 gas methanol, ran the 1/4mile in 10.79 sec. at 138 mph.
It is currently in storage, if my other computer wouldn't have died I would have some pics of it with my 86 vette. A lot of my pics are gone after my 2nd divorce, that bitch took everything! That is part of the reason it is in storage and that it needs a new tranny. My scanner is also not working, I will try to find some pics.
 
I moved around a lot, and was in the can for a while so most of my pix are gone too. Majority of my vehicles were not pretty, they just ran really fast. I guess I was a rat rod guy before they termed the name rat rod. I had a duel quad setup, but in the end it was more trouble than what is worth. Most of my builds where missed matched parts. I knew a crew in the junk yard bizz, so I'd rip whatever I could get my hands on. Also I was in it for the money, so turn around was quick. I sold most to a hot rod dealer who would do the body and paint. I'd get word from my connections down south, dive down, and trailer them back. I was averaging ~2K a car, so it was good business. The last car I was working on (and was suppose to keep for myself) was a 49 Dodge Wayfarer convertible. I bought a totaled 89 Pontiac GTA with a fuel infected Chevy LT1 block. I was going to gut the motor, and suspension, and transplant it in the Dodge. Then I got hurt at work, and had to sell everything.

Edit:
00Giorge said:
TJ That guy is F**king nuts!
Loved it!
Click to expand...

He has tons of video. Check the torrent sites for downloads.
 
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@TJ I had a friend from high school that used to race and I was on his pit crew, after seeing the funny cars and rails I wanted a blower on my car and a litle encouragement from John Force and Twig Ziggler ( we were in the pit next to both of them).

Another freind of mine that had a 33 Willey's coupe also ran a blower and told me to go talk to a guy that was into hot rods and also owns a Freigthliner dealership. I told him I wanted a blower. He sold me a 471 core and helped me build my first blower in 83 and I have building them ever since!

I also have done alittle time been there, done that don't ever want to go back!

Wow that's just scary, we have some things common!:eek:
 
Playing the same game, I have an old air cooled RD350 (two stroke street bike). Ported, 34mm carbs, bigger reeds from a banshee, some custom pipes, increased compression, light weight total loss ignition system, welded crank, etc... (blew it up, have the parts to fix it, just haven't) :D fun lil bike but not much compared to the new 4 bangers. Maybe 65 or 70hp, but weighs almost nothing.

Anyhow, if you REALLY do find a way to get people to notice you, let me know. Its like the other guys said, its a psychological thing. They glance and their brain is looking for a certain thing while their thought are elsewhere. Its looking for a car, truck, or cop. Not a bike... and just like they said some cars have huge blind spots (I prefer light trucks, are none).
You're gonna need a hologram of a semi to be seen lol.

In the mean time I'm on dirt toys only (my dirt bike is quicker than my street bike was :D will run with a modern 600 up to about 90mph ).
 
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Do what the aviation guys do on slow moving aircraft. I've also seen it on a few local cycles.

Wig Wag them. Two headlights up front. They never go fully out, but they ramp from half bright to full bright at a moderate rate. Works like a charm as it trips the peripheral vision motion sensing. The rear gets a red LED stoplight that is steady, plus another that blinks on turns and stops. The controllers are out there for led stoplights that blink at different rates as you accel/decel.

Your not the only one with this problem. I'm a bicyclist, I ride in a suburb with no police, state trooper, or county sheriff's speed enforcement. We don't have much crime here at all, but we have a local road/highway death toll that is huge. Crosses and teddy bears everywhere along our local roads. The cops who have seen my LED scheme made it very clear. Fit the leds to the traffic code colors and crank them up/blink them.

The state that really cracks down on illegal lighting is Pennsylvania. Most other places, including Ohio, will let you slide if its tastefully done.

Don't aim for the face, but a 13 amp Phlatlight red LED lighting up a 6x6 foot square on the ground will out perform any laser you can install. Keep it on dim, and then flare up / slowly flash when making changes to the motion.
Since they never fully go out, its hard to argue they are blinking. Its the blinking that is not so legal.

If you wreck, odds are the person who gets the laser in the eye will be you.


Someone texting when driving will be what kills me, not any of the numerous hazards I face working in labs and industry.

Been hit in the rear three times in my car by distracted drivers, one was a eight car pileup, and I got sandwiched in it while stopping for a light. College Girl putting on makeup totaled 8 cars.

Consider a orange pennant on a flexible pole during daylight. I know it sounds like a child's bike, but dammit, it works.

One of my LED systems at the rear is on a flexible mount, aka my rear wheel gear bag. Every bump I hit, scans it around nicely. The second LED system is fixed to the fender below it, and thus I have two arrays for redundancy. I refuse to risk my life based on 3 AAA batteries and a 20$ snap together housing.

Since folks do look down when driving, a big red spot moving on the road helps. The tiny laser beam will get hidden in the road roughness, and thus surface area helps.

I'm just as frustrated as you are, and I'm tired of exercising at O Dark Thirty to avoid traffic. Biking at O dark Thirty really freaks people out, and the dogs have a real stealth advantage in the dark.

If you must build it yourself, you want automotive Piranha package leds or luxeons.

Steve
 
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Even if lasers weren't a stupid idea, they wouldn't work, since they'd only really be noticable when they shone directly in someone's eyes. Good luck getting that to happen.

You're better off with a TRON outfit of flashing EL wire :-)

People might notice that.
 
ok just to properly answer the OP's post:

do not put lasers on a motor vehicle, they wont work
more/brighter lights may help
dont use red or blue flashing lights as they are most likely illegal
get a louder horn to aid in being more noticable
 
Tech_Junkie said:
Wig Wags are illegal in most places. Check your local laws.
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[/I]

I know they are, but 30% wigwag may be acceptable if the beam otherwise stays on.

This is one of those rare times I think the law needs protested.

Nobody has updated the car light science to match the airplane light science. Half hertz to two hertz blinks, flashes, or dims get attention, and they do not match the 18-40 flash per minute blink rates of the law enforcement/fire/warning lights.

My state seems to tolerate subtle blinks, and bike rear turn signals that would make a Knight Industries K2000 or a cylon warrior proud. I've seen some pickup trucks that tow trailers fitted with some wicked red aftermarket stuff. OK, wicked is not a good adverb to use on LPF, but you get my point.

The brake lights that stay mostly steady red and then flash black a few times at a perhaps 5% "off" duty cycle, at a rate proportional to acceleration really catch my eye while staying pretty close to legal.

Just my two cents, and I know I'm pushing it on the law, but using the 1960s DOT lighting scheme is getting lame in the year 2010.

However, I have a friend who does decorative lighting on his car show car who has been fined multiple times in PA, even with the harnesses disconnected in between shows. Because once your in their computer....

Just my opinion, but I think stylish LED tail lights on some production cars are getting far worse in beam shape and brightness then the standardized light designs they replaced.

I am the first to agree any blue or green up front is a no, no, and I hate the dyed or dielectric coated, overdriven halogen bulbs sold on Epay.

This guy has answered some questions on other forums.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/markerflash/markerflash.html

The pseudo wig in the video is nice and gets attention.

Remember, your subconscious system is looking for the slow motion of a predator coming to eat you, and that half hertz-two hertz is the frequency that corresponds to getting eaten. At least the peripheral vision is wired that way.

I can dig up a Navy study to back me up on the flash rates.

Cars got mandated high CHMSLs, what 15 years ago, why cant a bike have a safety boost.

I'll stop ranting now.

Steve
 
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