Turn your lights off

Paul Young

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If you've got those horrid new daytime running lights and want a switch for them, check here

Hopefully, someone'll find this useful :)
 
Why would you want to turn off a safety device. The lights help the odd stupid motorist to see us



When you've just legged it from the feds and your sitting up a dark ally waiting for them to pass!
 
Re: Why ?

luke scott said:
Why would you want to turn off a safety device. The lights help the odd stupid motorist to see us.

Back in WWII there was a scheme used on tanks and anti-submarine aircraft that involved putting lights on them. Against a light background (such as the sky) it was found that this was good camoflage.
There are times that having the lights off can make you more visible and they're not that uncommon. Mostly they're when the sun is low (so sunrise, sunset) and you're coming over a hill.
Turning the lights off (or at least onto parking light only) would also help with providing some contast so flashing your main beam would be more noticable during daylight hours.
 
Re: Why ?

luke scott said:
Why would you want to turn off a safety device. The lights help the odd stupid motorist to see us.

Luke, some people have complained on this BB about the new switchgear not allowing them the choice. I saw the item on ebay and thought it might be useful to someone. :)

R's
 
Must admit I was grateful for having lights that could be switched off in France last May when three out of our party of six were taken prisoner outside a town called Blain which was held by a battallion (so it seemed at the time) of Gendarmerie.

We were able, using escape and evasion, and switching off headlights, avoiding areas of dense population, and not speaking to locals, to eventually make a break across the Loire and on to the GP at Le Mans without capture. This was followed by a daring daylight dash back across the channel to 'Blighty' and the relative safety of Gatsos and "Blairs Bloody Britain".

Alas my three less fortunate comarades were fined 835 euros a piece and made to feel crap by the enemy.

As for the light switch: Better looking at it than looking for it!
 
I use the headlight at night time, in fog, if the weather is really, really lousy and nowhere else.

When I picked up my new 1100 GS it was ordered with the headlight switch option at a cost of $182.00 which my friends thought was silly.

Every time I see someone servicing their bike and see the bike sometimes with the ignition on for about 10 - 15 minutes with the headlight on, flattening an already old and weak battery, it makes me wonder.

Next time you are stuck in mud, on a hill, in sand with the bike running low revs and not really charging the system, think of a headlight switch!

Mick.
 
I would say "here's my twopence worth" but I got the info from someone else (a MAG source I believe). Anyway the argument goes-The human brain calculates speed by analysing the amount an object increases in apparent size over a given time. With a daytime headlight on, the outline becomes less clear and can cause errors in speed calculation. Also on a more basic level if you hit a bump in the road f***wit car bloke/gurlie thinks you've flashed him/her to let him/her out
 
Duncan said:
I Anyway the argument goes-The human brain calculates speed by analysing the amount an object increases in apparent size over a given time. With a daytime headlight on, the outline becomes less clear and can cause errors in speed calculation. Also on a more basic level if you hit a bump in the road f***wit car bloke/gurlie thinks you've flashed him/her to let him/her out

Agreed...........
 
I ALWAYS ride with my headlamp on...

..but I would like to switch it off if I want to:rolleyes:
 
DRL (Daytime Running Lights) work by sending light into the eyes of the oncoming drivers...
I'd rather have them able to see me clearly rather than as a dazzel 'somewheres about there'. It may increase the level of safety of that particular vehicle by taking some of the attention of oncoming taffic to that vehicle ... if they then hit something else (that they could have noticed if they had less attention on those ruddy DRLs) and slue off into the DRLs ... well so much the better I'd say.

Frank Warner
Much more work clearly put into video clip than song
 
Frank Warner said:
DRL (Daytime Running Lights) work by sending light into the eyes of the oncoming drivers...
I'd rather have them able to see me clearly rather than as a dazzel 'somewheres about there'. It may increase the level of safety of that particular vehicle by taking some of the attention of oncoming taffic to that vehicle ... if they then hit something else (that they could have noticed if they had less attention on those ruddy DRLs) and slue off into the DRLs ... well so much the better I'd say.

Frank Warner
Much more work clearly put into video clip than song
Sorry mate dont understand any of that garbage but You have to aggre with wot Duncan says he is sooo rite and its exzajurated by crapy Uk road repairs every bump/hump/lump/hole/pit/ you ride over to a twat in a car looks like a flash.....
 
i ride with lights off in daytime too....

my reason for this is that car drivers are used to seeing 2 tights and decide the distnce of the oncoming vehicle from that so when they see 1 tifht the think "car long way off.....pull out it's safe"

only to find it's a bike upclose and on thier bonet.

any way making yourself visable only works if the idiots are looking
 
Paul,
I'd be more interested if I spoke German. :confused:

I'm guessing that some Herr has taken the previous switch unit and rewired it to suit the new wiring loom.

I know that more than a couple of you guys might be able to help me out here ...
 
Zebedee said:

I'd be more interested if I spoke German. :confused:

I'm guessing that some Herr has taken the previous switch unit and rewired it to suit the new wiring loom.

I know that more than a couple of you guys might be able to help me out here ...

Try cutting/pasting the German text into Google translator.

My guess is that someone has trashed their pride & joy. The switchgear clusters are interchangeable, I believe.

Does that help at all? ;)
 
Paul Young said:
Try cutting/pasting the German text into Google translator.

My guess is that someone has trashed their pride & joy. The switchgear clusters are interchangeable, I believe.

Does that help at all? ;)
Cheers Paul,

I tried the Google trick to no avail.

As I understand it, the wiring is different on the two different models, presumably just to make it difficult to revert to a switched arrangement.
 


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