I ride with my C14 high-beam on during the day

[stevewfl]

I absolutely love my headlight modulator. I know its only anecdotal evidence but I have not had a cage turn out in front of me in eight monts. They do have some negative side effefts as well... Some people will actually slow down in front of me in the fast lane thinking I'm a LEO and I've actually pulled over 4 cars in the same 8 month period. YMMV :-)

Nice!

[stevewfl]

Steve, I run with my "deer hunting lights on" as well as my high beams.
Motto, "Better to be seen than be hit".

[Zteve]

High beams can and will blind and/or dazzle oncoming traffic in the daytime which is not only annoying, but also potentially dangerous.  It makes it MUCH harder to tell where the bike is/how far it is away, or which lane it is in.  This tends to throw away many possible safety gains.

Ditto

[ZG]

Apologies in advance for the hijack.

The lovely Jo Garcia, that's also known as Playboys Gamernextdoor signed the top, & two of Her Playmate friends signed both sides. I was invited to a party By Jo & had no idea at the time it would be full of Playmates. Jo is a cool Lady, not to mention hot as the dickens.

Ohhhhh, very nice bro! That's the best post in this thread so far IMO! 
 
Are those her low beams or high beams??    Because they would get my attention going down the road for sure! 

[DenverC-14]

I ride with my hi beam on all the time except for at night.

[jamiemac]

Ohhhhh, very nice bro! That's the best post in this thread so far IMO! 
 
Are those her low beams or high beams??    Because they would get my attention going down the road for sure! 

Go to youtube & search gamernextdoor, & watch her video called,"The Evolution Of Gaming". I guarantee You will like it. She loves video games, & it shows in that vid.

On the original topic, I am careful to not leave my brights on when it's overcast, cause I do believe that can blind folks.

[marku8a]

I absolutely love my headlight modulator. I know its only anecdotal evidence but I have not had a cage turn out in front of me in eight monts. They do have some negative side effefts as well... Some people will actually slow down in front of me in the fast lane thinking I'm a LEO and I've actually pulled over 4 cars in the same 8 month period. YMMV :-)

The same experience for me, except the pull overs! There are 2 places on the way to work where people making a right turn into my lane would regularly pull out right in front of me like I wasn't there. With the modulator the problem is almost eliminated. At first I was kind of self conscious about looking like a dork. A fellow biker at work criticized the modulator as a "Look at me" device. I said "Thank you. That's exactly what I wanted to accomplish!"

Mark

[maxtog]

I don't buy into the ideal that bright lights blind people during the daylight hours, I've seen plenty of them and they have never bothered me.

I am not making it up that I am blinded in the daytime by highbeams.  Just because your eyes aren't doesn't mean everyone else is the same.   And as your eyes get older, that problem intensifies (not that I am old or anything).

Do you really want to give up that added visibility?

You many drivers you are trading location awareness for visibility.  It is not a one-sided, only plus equation.  You also have to consider that the Concours has TWO headlights, which is twice the light output of the majority of conventional bike headlights.

[maxtog]

I'm going to ask an advanced MSF instructor friend what he suggests and how he rolls

I would not take that as an authoritative answer any more than the opinion of any other seasoned, sensible bike rider.  Not unless he can point to a modern, scientific study showing that it increases visibility in a *meaningful* way and without giving up those advantages by creating other negatives.  Just being seen is not the same thing as being able to judge what is being seen, where is it in space, and how fast it is moving.

[Fretka]

Like was mentioned already you might think about a France (yellow) bulb, one or both would prolly get noticed.

[maxtog]

Nobody has mentioned the "modulators" yet. Sooo....is that the best of both schools of thought? 

Worst of both worlds:

1) Potentially blind or dazzle oncoming traffic
2) Make it difficult to see where the bike is in space
3) Annoy people even more than before
3) Confuse the s*** out of many drivers, who freak out, thinking it is an emergency vehicle

I know this because I have observed the effects myself.  There are far better options- more/better/contrasting running lights.

[maxtog]

Like was mentioned already you might think about a France (yellow) bulb, one or both would prolly get noticed.

That is actually a good alternative.  My running light project is along the same line of thinking:  http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=2236  the object being:

* More light
* More angle
* More contrast
* Larger apparent size
* More points of triangulation for vehicles to use to judge location and motion

The only thing that would make it better would be even brighter bulbs, but that can only happen with non-incandescent because I am already pushing the heat envelope.  Unfortunately, I um unable to locate anything better (I am sure LED tech will catch up EVENTUALLY).

[maxtog]

Any rider or driver that is bothered by daytime High Beams must have a hell of a time with the SUN. Sunglasses might be an excellent choice for them.

I am not sure that is a valid comparison.  The sun is rarely a few feet off the road, in the direction you must look for driving..... except in conditions where it is reflecting off something... and we all know how that can severely impact driver vision.

[maxtog]

I should also like to point out this excellent link from "Breaker19" in the other thread.  Dazzling traffic in the other lane or in front of you, traveling with you, is rarely valuable.   The time visibility is MOST important are those times when someone wants to pull out in front of you/across you.  And in those times, it is not the amount of light that will help, it is the apparent MOTION and SPEED that are the factors.  See the youtube link in the quote, below...

Finally, here's an interesting video from the UK, I believe, regarding visibility and focal aspects of a motorcycle approaching a 4-wheeled vehicle which isn't moving (i.e. preparing to pull out into the roadway):

Crash Course - The SMIDSY

SMIDSY: "Sorry Mate I Didn't See You"

[Rick Hall]

1) In the Olde days, when "Lucas, the Prince of Darkness" powered many head lamps, running with the high beam was often a wise choice. But now that technology has left Lord Lucas in the dust...

2) I read on the internet (so it must be true) that the military uses powerful light as a method of concealing the size/direction/distance of a moving object.

3) High beams (see #1 and #2) pisses of cagers. Though I'm fairly mellow, I will not look at/near a scooter with his high beams on. Same for the Dique Head on the scooter behind me.

4) The odd ball in the bunch, I'm running the Murphs Hella replacement headlight on Sam. I've found the low beam is adjusted 'just so' that the low pattern flickers to oncoming vehicles. A simple wig-wag if you will.

5) Tons of anecdotal evidence that riders get 'cut off' every day until they install a modulator or run with a high beam. Been riding for 40 some odd years, my direction of travel has been encroached upon three times. Once because I was in a cars blind spot in St. Louis. What am I doing different than everybody else?

Rick

[maxtog]

In the Olde days, when "Lucas, the Prince of Darkness" powered many head lamps, running with the high beam was often a wise choice. But now that technology has left Lord Lucas in the dust...

Yep, outdated advice can live on for many, many years.  As pointed out in other postings, the only one "official" analysis of this that anyone can find is over 31 years old.  And there was NO recommendation to run with daytime high beams, only that it should be examined.  The thrust of the paper was comparing bikes with no day-running lights to those with day-running headlights.  And this was a time when almost all motorcycles on the road came from the factory with no mandatory headlights "on", running a single bulb, using low-tech reflectors, and it wasn't even halogen!  The Concours puts out at least 500% more light than a 1970's bike.

[martin_14]

In Germany it is verboten to activate your high beams withing city limits, and it is verboten to activate your high beams in the presence of other vehicles in front of yours, whether oncoming or traveling in the same direction.
My opinion on the matter, however, is that regardless of the law there are much better alternatives to high beams in order to increase the probabilities of making it from A to your desired B. The best of them is to assume that I am invisible. Under no circumstance I take it for granted that, for example, somebody looking in my direction actually saw me and is going to react in any predictable way, or that somebody is going to glance at the mirrors long enough before changing lanes, or actually care that a bike is there.
Since I adopted this mindset a few years ago I got my self into trouble once: at 10 mph at a junction when I took a chance overtaking a delivery van and the car in front of it didn't see me coming and veered left to avoid a bicycle on his right -> my fault.
There are too many other interesting activities to do while driving (texting, checking make up, picking nose, smoking...) and no extra light will increase the awareness or improve anybody's attitude, focus and commitment to what they are doing (driving)

[ugocon]

In Italy, but I assume in the whole EU, high beams are prohibited when crossing other vehicles and in general when there's enough visibility.
I think this is a right law.
Too often with the excuse of increasing safety I see people justifying loud pipes or lights everywhere.
In my opinion it's just a way to exhibit the inner feeling of the masculine power by driving a big, loud, sparkling bike!

I don't believe at all that our safety is increased by increasing other people's annoyment...

[wendel]

On another motorcycle the high beams probably will not bother a majority of the people because they sit up higher. In most cars, excluding trucks, the driver is at headlight level or close to it. Go ahead and do whatever ya'll can justify in your mind. You may meet the right auto driver who has had enough of the annoyance from the loud pipes and excessive light blinding them and when they react, you will lose. Seems everyone justifies their annoying behavior with the excuse that it makes them safer, in other words it is about me, me, me. Now if someone has a published study on the subject that supports it is safer and a recommended practice, then post a link to it.

[reesedp]

Am I wrong?

If so I've been wrong since July of 1987...