Being conspicuous -- Skene Lights, early morning low light

[kcpcx]

I've noticed that people in cars tend to look right through motorcycle and scooters. To increase my visibility, I installed some Skene Designs LEDs front and rear a while back. Rode home from work in the early morning before the sun was up. The running lights make the PCX a lot more visible to cagers, I think.

[WhiteNoise]

Yes indeed, definitely! great addition kcpcx! If they don't spot you now, they Are Blind!
Got a link to yer bright lights? Easy install?

[SECoda]

Remember, though, they can get you from the side. I had a lady in a pickup truck making a left turn onto my lane. She looked right at me but didn't see me. I was expecting it so no problem but she pulled right out. I laid on the horn and frightened her a bit.

[Mel46]

I have installed lights like the ones Dave put on his. They are LED but still are very bright. I think people notice all of us better with the added lights. In fact, now that i have those other lights on my bike, the regular lights on the bike seem dull.

[homie]

Don't all you members ride high-beam during daylight hours? Low is certainly not noticeable to traffic. I can see the high reflecting off the backs of vehicles in front of me where-as I see nothing like that in low beam during the day.

[you you]

Don't all you members ride high-beam during daylight hours? Low is certainly not noticeable to traffic. I can see the high reflecting off the backs of vehicles in front of me where-as I see nothing like that in low beam during the day.

No.

[kcpcx]

Got a link to yer bright lights? Easy install?

http://www.lights.skenedesign.com/


Install is not difficult. You need to remove the tail body work piece to access the wiring for the rear tail light and turn signals. For the front lights, you need to locate a switched power wire in the cavity behind the headlight, and the turn signal wires.


The key thing I like about the Skene lights is that the front and rear lights are programmable independently. You can set them up so that they have a barely perceptible flicker effect, or to have no flicker. You can set them up as turn signals and running lights or skip the turn signal function. You can select different flash modes or no flash mode for the brake light.

The front lights are programmed by turning the ignition switch on and off a certain number of times. The rear lights are programmed by a series of pulls of the brake lever.

You can even set up the front lights to give a warning flash when you press your horn, if you want to.

You can add additional LED modules to the original pair, if you wish. I may order a second red set to replace the incredibly worthless light inside my GIVI top case.


The downside is the cost. They are fairly expensive. I got lucky and saw them demonstrated at a BMW rally I attended, and got a discount when you bought at the rally. My intent was to install them on my old R100RT, but since I ride the scooter in the city a lot more than I ride the BMW, I installed them on the PCX instead.

I will say that the quality of the components is top notch, and the one time I emailed Skene with a question, I had a helpful response immediately.

You could remove them easily if you sold your bike, and install on another. So the cost is spread out a bit over the long run.

[SECoda]

I like the Knight Rider sequence light I put on the rear plate but I doubt it is really too effective like those lights are. Just no bright enough.

My high beams are always on.

[pcxpower]

They look really bright!! A very good safety measure indeed

Don't all you members ride high-beam during daylight hours? Low is certainly not noticeable to traffic. I can see the high reflecting off the backs of vehicles in front of me where-as I see nothing like that in low beam during the day.

I also ride with the high-beam during daylight hours, and I notice that when I don't do it, other vehicles are less aware of my presence

[homie]

Don't all you members ride high-beam during daylight hours? Low is certainly not noticeable to traffic. I can see the high reflecting off the backs of vehicles in front of me where-as I see nothing like that in low beam during the day.

I also ride with the high-beam during daylight hours, and I notice that when I don't do it, other vehicles are less aware of my presence

If you check the low beam reflection in a store front window it doesn't look good enough for people to notice you. Only on high am I comfortable during the day and sometimes I flash the high-lows when I see someone acting too anxious to pull out.

[WhiteNoise]

Good on you homie, you're a flasher, I do the same I'll toot my horn too. Honda provides these electric devices to be used. Why not use them?

[Bash On!]

"sometimes I flash the high-lows when I see someone acting too anxious to pull out'

Be careful doing that. It's been mentioned before here--a lot of people (me included) flash lights to signal another driver that they can pull in front. It's one thing if you flash, expecting them to pull out but they don't (no harm), and in your case where you expect them to stay and they think you're inviting them to go first.

[homie]

"sometimes I flash the high-lows when I see someone acting too anxious to pull out'
Be careful doing that. It's been mentioned before here--a lot of people (me included) flash lights to signal another driver that they can pull in front.

WHAT! who dose that from an intersection

[WhiteNoise]

I agree with Bash, we must be mindful of that reaction. Opposite's attract. We mean this and they do that.
Don't even go there with them driving, texting while exiting anywhere! Yikes! We're Unseen. We don't exist. Splat! Yeah, be careful with all yer might.

[homie]

I'm guilty of toggling high-low beams to opposing traffic to warn of a police trooper ahead from my car or truck. I never thought someone from a cross street would take that as ok to pull out in front of me on any US road and highway must be a Texas thing.

[Bash On!]

"sometimes I flash the high-lows when I see someone acting too anxious to pull out'
Be careful doing that. It's been mentioned before here--a lot of people (me included) flash lights to signal another driver that they can pull in front.

WHAT! who dose that from an intersection

Might just be a local Texas "drive friendly" deal here, but I think not.

Here's where I've seen it used:
-Truckers will flash lights when other truckers are passing, to signify when it's safe to come back in the original lane. I do it too when trucks pass me (rare!) or need to come in my lane for some reason. I really appreciate it when people do it for me when I'm driving our huge RV.
-4-way stops where another driver has the right of way (there first) but is confused and hesitates
-Traffic is stopping or stopped at a light and another driver is trying to turn from a side street or business exit
-Narrow streets where parked cars have reduced the right of way to one lane and two cars approach bottleneck at the same time