BikeVis Bullets

[Padge]

If they're only 1/3Watt each as advertised, the Canbus may not even register they're there.
Allowing for some losses in the wiring etc a pair should come in at less than 1Watt so I don't see why you don't just run a cable off the Low beam so they're on all the time (put an inline switch if you really need to turn them off).

Like a lot of others, I'm running HID rated for 50W with no problems so adding these inline shouldn't cause any problems. I'll let you know how it pans out.
Anyone had experience to the contrary?

Back on topic please

How do you wire them into a canbus system?

tom

 

[(RIP) ugg]

remember children. that blue lights at the front/rear is an mot failure

What if there is an independent switch to your existing lighting loom, that is fitted to turn them off /on

ie, used for display purposes in a custom show..

 

[D6]

What if there is an independent switch to your existing lighting loom, that is fitted to turn them off /on

ie, used for display purposes in a custom show..

nope,,, fail, if showing to the front or rear

 

[skyenet]

remember children. that blue lights at the front/rear is an mot failure

In the photos I have posted it looks like my LEDs are blue but they are white, must just be my camera.

My install using a relay may seem over complicated but remember I was also wiring in other stuff including auxillary lights, which I had never properly wired since fitting them a few years ago.

I did try to get a BMW GPS lead for the front Canbus socket but dealer wouldn't sell me one. I would have wired the Zumo and LEDS to that but no matter as my Maplins route worked out cheaper anyway and meant I got other stuff wired up as well..

 

[D6]

it was a reference to mr yeomans post
my camera does similar

 

[sanqhar]

Thanks

Thanks Guys.

That has eased my mind.

However I am still interested as to whether the current draw is enough to trigger problems.

tom

 

[Gruffalo]

fitted mine today, spliced into the wires for the pilot light,
havnt used them in anger yet but no problems with starting the bike up, and no warning messages etc on the dash.

dont think that they will effect anything as they are supposed to only draw 0.5amps each, so only 1amp per pair, and the can bus can cope with anything up to 5amps, i think so dont quote me on that!

they look cool and really define the bike, well worth the £25 posted.

jonyboy

 

[GunZenBomZ]

Brief breakdown, i had blue ones mounted under my radiator. The cars would slow to normal road speed & easily let me over-take.

However blue ones are illegal so i've removed them, i cannot afford to be banned.
<a href='http://www.pict.com/'><img src='http://img2.pict.com/9d/b5/8d/2524505/0/800/dsc02196.jpg' /></a>

Now both white sets (which give off a slightly blue-hue) have succumbed to the water/weather effects. Only one LED works which is ashame. I'd buy more but i'm TRONing my F8GS with EL-wire from glowhut.com

<a href='http://www.pict.com/'><img src='http://img2.pict.com/f8/f0/56/2351651/0/800/troneffect.jpg' /></a>

 

[GunZenBomZ]

I'll add, bikevis have great replacement side-light bulbs. Lovely bright white&blue-hue. Although do not bother changing rear number-plate as you get constant warning light. (There's a brilliant storage area under the back of the number-plate *Passes screw-driver*)

I'd advice people to stick a tiny piece of acrylic onto the front of the bullet-led's to help stop the ingress of water. Still highly recommend them people!!!!

 

[GunZenBomZ]

I spliced into the side-light within the main beam. Drilled small hole then using a small gromit to seal the weather out. Even though there are breather ports shaped like upside-down-L's for each headlight.

I'd not recommend not having a switch either as you could in a moment of madness, try flashing them.

 

[digga]

Mine haven't arrived yet

 

[GunZenBomZ]

I'd not recommend not having a switch either as you could in a moment of madness, try flashing them.

To many not's to knot myself up with..you lot understood

 

[Fluke]

Stick with the white ones guys!

The blue ones could be considered to be "A device resembling a Special Warning Lamp" (the blue lamps fitted to the front / rear of emergency vehicles) and the nasty Traffic Copper might give you a ticket or an appointment to see the local Magistrate!

And before anyone starts going on about the blue washer jet LEDs that the Chavs put on their windscreen washer jets (generally referred to a "Wank*r Lights" 'cos they tell everyone you're a Wank*r), they are too small to be considered a special warning lamp.

Also, this "PodMod" gizmo that causes the lights to "Glint" is a no-no for highway use in the UK. "All lamps to show a steady light". So sayeth the Road Vehicle(Lighting) Regulations (obvious exemption for indicators!).

Just coz it "modulates" really fast, doesn't mean it's not a flashing light!

Really gets my goat when people flog stuff without pointing out that it's not legal for highway use. I consider it akin to someone trying to stich me up!

Stay safe.

UPDATE: Just watched the video of the Blue Bullets with the PodMod in operation. DEFINITELY a device resembling a special warning lamp and illegal for highway use in the UK!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Trawling through the sellers website "Forum" which seems to be mainly posted by the seller himself, he was asked a direct question as to whether the blue lights were legal in the UK. His reply was,
"As we ship all over the world we don't state legality of our Blue lights as it varies from country to country. Of course in the UK having a 'Blue' light is not legal, though I've yet to hear of anyone having trouble with Police as you are making a marked effort to get seen better which can only be a good thing."

FFS! If you're based in the UK and selling to customers in the UK, then I think it's only fair and proper to highlight the fact that the stuff isn't UK road legal at the point of sale, not buried in some obscure forum post!

Hi all

This is Dan from BikeVis here, sorry for just jumping in without saying hello first but google alerts pointed me here and felt I should reply to any questions etc people have.

The White (approx 6000k in colour) Bullets Pods and Sidelights are legal in the UK for road use. As the lights are semiconductor based they do not require a approved lens system or have to conform to a particular power consumption limit. (not that you'd ever exceed it with a LED). They are bright enough to get you seen without dazzling or being too expensive to manufacture.

We have a fair few Paramedic bikers running them around the UK

The reason I don't get involved in legal 'do and donts' on our website is I ship these little lights all over the world, and to compile lists of all current customers countrys and legislation would take me several years research. When we ship the lights we add a disclaimer that we are not responsible for legalities... though I see your point that I should say that on the site. (though I don't want to panic people where no panic is needed)

Most of our customers are in the USA

The Blue Bullets we sell very few of, in fact I'd put White to Blue sales at around 200/1. I don't like the Blue LEDs at all but just added them is as some people do request them.

The PodMods are probably not legal in the UK, however, it's a VERY grey area. They don't 'flash' the lights as such, but the glimmer effect looks more akin to having faulty / bad ripple on your electrics.

Rear brake modulators are illegal in the UK, but after being rear ended and pushed into busy roundabouts on bike I'll never ride witout one. I've also stopped with traffic police cars behind and they didn't mind. (I think in general the police appreciate bikers wanting to be seen better on the road)

BikeVis is a little hobby for me, I'm not really in it for the money and as such I just try to keep everyone happy with my products...

The comment about the forum being mainly posts from me I agree with. I just use the forum to generate some dynamic content to a largely static product based website. I post up photos people have sent me of their bikes for others to see, and reply to tech support questions. Good customer service is my priority at all times.

Reply to your UPDATE:

We do not have any videos of Blue Bullets with a PodMod. The White Bullet lights contain a small hint of blue and produce similar light to a 6000k HID / Xenon.

Reply to ANOTHER UPDATE:

So far I have heard of one person being pulled over with our lights. The police biker in question asked where he could buy some

The White Bullets Pods are perfectly MOTable in the UK, stating they are legal is not needed and me as a sole trader getting involved in complex legalitys around the world is a very bad idea. (ie- I don't want to lose my house because someone in Bolivia sues me due to a MOT failiure)

Sorry to come across defensive, I don't mean to... I'm just passionate about biking and just want all my customers to be happy.

My next bike, a F800GS, I'm in love with the things... the ZX10 is going to sports bike heaven soon.

Regards

Dan - BikeVis

 

[jimbo]

I fitted them to my LT and I like the extra 'width' it gives the bike.

Quick photos, but they seem to make the lights look very blue.

 

[Fluke]

Great job on the LT... it's weird how camera optics enhance the blue, I'd describe the colour more as 'cool white' (term used in lighting industry for this colour temp)

My dad has a old K1100LT, and was my first guinea pig when developing the Bullets. We had 10 test bikes running about to test reliability.

 

[Uncle Ricky]

Hi all

This is Dan from BikeVis here, sorry for just jumping in without saying hello first but google alerts pointed me here and felt I should reply to any questions etc people have.

The White (approx 6000k in colour) Bullets Pods and Sidelights are legal in the UK for road use. As the lights are semiconductor based they do not require a approved lens system or have to conform to a particular power consumption limit. (not that you'd ever exceed it with a LED). They are bright enough to get you seen without dazzling or being too expensive to manufacture.

We have a fair few Paramedic bikers running them around the UK

The reason I don't get involved in legal 'do and donts' on our website is I ship these little lights all over the world, and to compile lists of all current customers countrys and legislation would take me several years research. When we ship the lights we add a disclaimer that we are not responsible for legalities... though I see your point that I should say that on the site. (though I don't want to panic people where no panic is needed)

Most of our customers are in the USA

The Blue Bullets we sell very few of, in fact I'd put White to Blue sales at around 200/1. I don't like the Blue LEDs at all but just added them is as some people do request them.

The PodMods are probably not legal in the UK, however, it's a VERY grey area. They don't 'flash' the lights as such, but the glimmer effect looks more akin to having faulty / bad ripple on your electrics.

Rear brake modulators are illegal in the UK, but after being rear ended and pushed into busy roundabouts on bike I'll never ride witout one. I've also stopped with traffic police cars behind and they didn't mind. (I think in general the police appreciate bikers wanting to be seen better on the road)

BikeVis is a little hobby for me, I'm not really in it for the money and as such I just try to keep everyone happy with my products...

The comment about the forum being mainly posts from me I agree with. I just use the forum to generate some dynamic content to a largely static product based website. I post up photos people have sent me of their bikes for others to see, and reply to tech support questions. Good customer service is my priority at all times.

Reply to your UPDATE:

We do not have any videos of Blue Bullets with a PodMod. The White Bullet lights contain a small hint of blue and produce similar light to a 6000k HID / Xenon.

Reply to ANOTHER UPDATE:

So far I have heard of one person being pulled over with our lights. The police biker in question asked where he could buy some

The White Bullets Pods are perfectly MOTable in the UK, stating they are legal is not needed and me as a sole trader getting involved in complex legalitys around the world is a very bad idea. (ie- I don't want to lose my house because someone in Bolivia sues me due to a MOT failiure)

Sorry to come across defensive, I don't mean to... I'm just passionate about biking and just want all my customers to be happy.

My next bike, a F800GS, I'm in love with the things... the ZX10 is going to sports bike heaven soon.

Regards

Dan - BikeVis

Well said Dan

 

[claw]

Just ordered a couple of sets

 

[Surrey Yeoman]

1. The reason I don't get involved in legal 'do and donts' on our website is I ship these little lights all over the world, and to compile lists of all current customers countrys and legislation would take me several years research. When we ship the lights we add a disclaimer that we are not responsible for legalities... though I see your point that I should say that on the site. (though I don't want to panic people where no panic is needed)

2. The PodMods are probably not legal in the UK, however, it's a VERY grey area. They don't 'flash' the lights as such, but the glimmer effect looks more akin to having faulty / bad ripple on your electrics.

3. Rear brake modulators are illegal in the UK, but after being rear ended and pushed into busy roundabouts on bike I'll never ride witout one. I've also stopped with traffic police cars behind and they didn't mind. (I think in general the police appreciate bikers wanting to be seen better on the road)

4. We do not have any videos of Blue Bullets with a PodMod. The White Bullet lights contain a small hint of blue and produce similar light to a 6000k HID / Xenon.

Regards

Dan - BikeVis

Hi Dan and thanks for coming up on the forum - much appreciated!

Not wanting to do this subject to death, but in response to your responses

(I numbered them to save confusion)

1. I still reckon that you (and anyone else - MOTRAX for example) who sells stuff that's not road legal in the UK should state that fact at point of sale. I aprreciate that you sell all over the world, but you're based in the UK and I'd guess that a good few of your products are bought by people in the UK. I for one would be mightly cheesed off if, having parted with my hard earned cash for something, the first indication it might be illegal to use the thing was in a note with the goods AFTER I'd bought it!

2. I can promise you that wired up to the lights, the PodMods ARE illegal in the UK. It's not a "grey area" at all. The lighting regs are very clear on the subject, "All lamps to show a STEADY light." The PodMods may cause the light to "flicker, pulse, modulate, glitter, ripple, glimmer" whatever you want to call it, but it ain't a STEADY light.

3. Having been rear ended in a fully "battenberg" motorway liveried police Range Rover, with blue and red warning lamps going, I know where you're coming from (the pillock responsible claimed he was distracted by the blue lights FFS!), but at the end of the day, you could paint your arse pink and stick an orange flag up it and there's still going to be some blind / inattentive twonk that's not going to see you, or sees you, but is going too fast to stop before stuffing you.

4. I stand corrected about the video - but if the lights in the video are white, they sure look blue on film when they're a flashin'!

Nice to talk buddy.

 

[Fluke]

Hi Dan and thanks for coming up on the forum - much appreciated!

Not wanting to do this subject to death, but in response to your responses

(I numbered them to save confusion)

1. I still reckon that you (and anyone else - MOTRAX for example) who sells stuff that's not road legal in the UK should state that fact at point of sale. I aprreciate that you sell all over the world, but you're based in the UK and I'd guess that a good few of your products are bought by people in the UK. I for one would be mightly cheesed off if, having parted with my hard earned cash for something, the first indication it might be illegal to use the thing was in a note with the goods AFTER I'd bought it!

2. I can promise you that wired up to the lights, the PodMods ARE illegal in the UK. It's not a "grey area" at all. The lighting regs are very clear on the subject, "All lamps to show a STEADY light." The PodMods may cause the light to "flicker, pulse, modulate, glitter, ripple, glimmer" whatever you want to call it, but it ain't a STEADY light.

3. Having been rear ended in a fully "battenberg" motorway liveried police Range Rover, with blue and red warning lamps going, I know where you're coming from (the pillock responsible claimed he was distracted by the blue lights FFS!), but at the end of the day, you could paint your arse pink and stick an orange flag up it and there's still going to be some blind / inattentive twonk that's not going to see you, or sees you, but is going too fast to stop before stuffing you.

4. I stand corrected about the video - but if the lights in the video are white, they sure look blue on film when they're a flashin'!

Nice to talk buddy.

Hiya

Some fair points, I will look at updating the site for UK based people as per your suggestion... My only goal for BikeVis really is to help people get seen.

Been a biker for over 22 years and it's shocking how hard it is to get seen these days.. the more layers of extra protection you can add the more chance of keeping the shiny side up

Thanks for your comments though, I get pretty blinkered sometimes (sat for hours on end over a soldering iron) so it's good to hear

Cheers

Dan

 

[chipsonfriday]

I don't understand this issue with blue lights!

Every day I see lorries and white vans with blue lights on the front. In fact some lorries have four, five or even six blue lights along the front of their cab.

If its illegal why dont the cops pull these guys?

While they're at it why don't they pull the hundreds of cars with defective lights?

Moan, moan, moan...