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Lights better than tape
Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 9:56 am
by fish
Having an added row of rear running and brake lights is better than reflective tape IMHO.
You do not have to spend several hundred dollars for a Givi or Shad top case - and then even more $ for the rack, and more $ to fit one of their lighting kits.
My Bestem 929 case has wrap-around running LEDs, the row of lights double when brakes are applied.
Ready to fit with lights installed and rack, with liner, is @ $120.
http://www.bestemusa.com/T-Box-929-46-Ltr_c_1303.html
I've had mine on my Kymco for 3 years - works great. I'm no electrician - but had no trouble mounting and wiring the case.
If you do not like top cases, or mucking with your scoot's wiring - I've used the pulsing halogen tail light/brake bulb from these folks. The halogen bulb is much brighter than an LED or the stock incandescent bulb.
Simply replace your stock bulb with one of these bulbs.
https://kisantech.com/mag/tailblazer.html
Fish
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 10:22 am
by GeorgeSK
I went through the application list, but found neither PCX or Forza. Anybody have a clue as to what other model's taillight is the same as our scoots?
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 12:58 pm
by WhiteNoise
fish, nice idea. Like, and so easy to exchange. However, I followed your link and searched a rear blinker bulb for my scoot. No can find. Wazz up? Can we or can't we use its' flashy brightness on our PCX's?
Help!!!!
P.S. I Like your top case with lights idea too. But...your "Like" is still the one!
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 1:34 pm
by Mel46
I have tailboxes on both of our PCX 150s, and I have extra LED lights that I have installed on them as well. However, I have also installed the Knight Riders tail light/brake light. The light goes back and forth as you ride, and then it goes to bright blinking for 5 seconds before coming on steady, when you press the brake lever.
To me it is very very important to be seen when you are stopping, and reflective tape does not do anything for that situation.
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 2:58 pm
by montliz44
Fish, that looks great -- good prices too. Thanks for the link.
Mel, good idea. That would increase your viz exponentially. Lights are good. Around here I might be a little worried that some of the weekend goofs would fixate on my light show and run over me anyway..
Johnny
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:40 am
by JetPilot
fish wrote:
If you do not like top cases, or mucking with your scoot's wiring - I've used the pulsing halogen tail light/brake bulb from these folks. The halogen bulb is much brighter than an LED or the stock incandescent bulb.
Simply replace your stock bulb with one of these bulbs.
https://kisantech.com/mag/tailblazer.html
Fish
1. Additional tail lights are 100 times better than reflective tape, which is absolutely useless during the daytime... For anyone dim enough to doubt this: Why do you think police use so many lights when they are stopped on the side of the highway ????
2. LED's are superior to any halogen bulb, much less current consumption, less likely to burn out your brake light switch, last 10,000 times longer. There are LED's that are brighter than the halogen bulb you talk about. You just have to do your research and buy the correct ones. I have brake lights on my SH150i, and other bikes that are crazy bright, impossible to miss unless the other driver is just not looking. Nothing is perfect, but I give myself every advantage I can possibly get.
3. For those that do not " LIKE " to mess with their wiring, or like the looks of something, that is just stupidity. How much do you think you will " LIKE " the looks of your scooter after it has been rear ended at 30 MPH ??? Sometimes in life hard choices one does not " LIKE " should be made.
Mike
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 9:42 am
by davenowherejones
If I walk about 100 meters away from my Forza almost all of my silly reflective tape visually disappears. If you are 100 meters away from me you are not a problem but 100 meters disappears really quick.
Some lights are worth having but there is a lot of crap available. The drunk and stoned don't care how many lights you have. Dementia cases are a problem around here also.
I talked to a local police officer about their LED red and blue flashing lights. Some of the new ones are so bright that they blind you. She agreed with me. I would be worried for her in that I can not see her standing at the side of the road trying to get me to pull over.
Some of the officers pull over in bad spots. I had one working on a fast corner where the setting sun was in my eyes. I could barely see the road never mind the officer . We had another officer pull over on a blind corner to help a person with a break down. The officer left his car half on the highway so that people would not hit him. Six cars & big trucks hit his patrol car.
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 2:25 pm
by Bash On!
Similar experience as DNWJ, when I was a fire-fighter. Lights all over the fire engine, siren, air horn, lime green paint, reflective stripes galore, all on an unmistakable large multi-ton vehicle. Doesn't matter. There's always somebody not paying attention. And, my experience was before all the electronic distractions of the last decade or two. Still, a single little scooter taillight doesn't cut it for today's roads.
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 8:44 pm
by fish
WhiteNoise wrote:fish, nice idea. Like, and so easy to exchange. However, I followed your link and searched a rear blinker bulb for my scoot. No can find. Wazz up? Can we or can't we use its' flashy brightness on our PCX's?
Help!!!!
P.S. I Like your top case with lights idea too. But...your "Like" is still the one!
Looked at the web site for the Tailblazer bulbs....seems that most bikes/scoots use the 20W-D bulbs. The Metropolitan does, the Reflex does, my Forza did. A pretty standard brake light bulb it seems.
If you have the 20W push-in-and-twist bulbs in your PCX - think they'll work fine.
The rap on the LED bulbs is that they are almost like a spot light, rather than a flood light - being more unidirectional compared to the wider dispersion of the Halogen bulb. The Halogen bulb
makes use of the reflector in the scooter- as is intended by Honda with the stock incandescent bulb in the reflector- while the LED does not. IDK That may be only an issue with the way these LEDs are set in the base.
But I wanted the action of the bulb, and the extra brightness of the Halogen , so I've purchased these bulbs for all my scooters and my son's CB500X.
I failed to mention that the Halogen Tailblazer comes with a spare Halogen bulb....though in 3 yrs of use I've not had any bulbs burn out.
Not everyone will move to make lighting mods if it involves working in an area they are not comfortable with.
I don't castigate them for this, but only mean to offer a simple solution. If you can change your scoot's bulb, you can install these pulsing & brighter bulbs. Some scoots may be a royal pain - some not so.
Most things on a Burgman are a pain to get at - but tail lights are crazy easy.
A couple pix of the rear running lights, 'at rest'; night time and day time - using the Halogen Tailblazers.
Good visibility from the side as well.
Photos don't work well - but we all know Halogen bulbs are brighter than reg. incandescent bulbs.
Fish
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 11:31 am
by Mel46
My Burgman was not only easy to work on...as apposed to the PCX...but once I installed a tailbox with its lights, and added more lights to it, the Burgmans was quite easy to see. However, it is a lot bigger than the little PCX and that will make another difference in visibility. Thus, for the PCX especially, it is imperative that more lights be added, at minimum to the rear end, but front lights would help as well. I am always looking at ways to make my little bike more visible. In fact, it is torn apart in my basement right now as I added another switch to the handlebar, and I am rerouting the wires from the two sets of small strobe lights I have in the front of the bike to the switch on the handlebar. I still have other lights I want to add to the tail, and this seems like the time to do it. For anyone who is afraid to add lights, if they are LED, don''t worry about whether the circuit can handle it. It can. LED lights pull very little current, but their visibility is well worth it.
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 5:35 am
by JetPilot
Bash On! wrote:Similar experience as DNWJ, when I was a fire-fighter. Lights all over the fire engine, siren, air horn, lime green paint, reflective stripes galore, all on an unmistakable large multi-ton vehicle. Doesn't matter. There's always somebody not paying attention. And, my experience was before all the electronic distractions of the last decade or two. Still, a single little scooter taillight doesn't cut it for today's roads.
Actually, it DOES MATTER !!! Not everyone will see lighting, but MOST will. That increases safety by a HUGE amount... Casinos make billions of dollars by understanding how odds work, it is a pretty simple concept. To dismiss something just because it does not work 100 % the time is utter stupidity... If that were the case you would not bother to wear a helmet, wear a seat belt, etc, because sometimes they do not work...
Being smarter than most, I have a full understanding of these simple concepts, wear my safety gear, put bright LED's all over my bikes, ride like everyone is out to kill me, all of the above. I take every advantage I can get...
Mike
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 9:06 am
by you you
JetPilot wrote:Bash On! wrote:Similar experience as DNWJ, when I was a fire-fighter. Lights all over the fire engine, siren, air horn, lime green paint, reflective stripes galore, all on an unmistakable large multi-ton vehicle. Doesn't matter. There's always somebody not paying attention. And, my experience was before all the electronic distractions of the last decade or two. Still, a single little scooter taillight doesn't cut it for today's roads.
Actually, it DOES MATTER !!! Not everyone will see lighting, but MOST will. That increases safety by a HUGE amount... Casinos make billions of dollars by understanding how odds work, it is a pretty simple concept. To dismiss something just because it does not work 100 % the time is utter stupidity... If that were the case you would not bother to wear a helmet, wear a seat belt, etc, because sometimes they do not work...
Being smarter than most, I have a full understanding of these simple concepts, wear my safety gear, put bright LED's all over my bikes, ride like everyone is out to kill me, all of the above. I take every advantage I can get...
Mike
Smarter than most what?
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 9:35 am
by easyrider
I am more worried about whats in front of me, especially when they cut out in front of you or turn in front of you..So I converted my 2013 front lights to bright LED with modulation added.Can you see me now ????
http://mimed.io/s/fj3mfisr116o976l2o92qgvkqs
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 11:49 am
by GeorgeSK
That is very cool. I'm not sure if it is legal in my state, but worth checking into.
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 7:51 pm
by JohnL
[quote=Smarter than most what?[/quote]
The average bear would be my guess
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 3:02 am
by you you
JohnL wrote:
Very good. I'm clearly boo boo in this relationship...
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 8:23 am
by kramnala58
JetPilot wrote:Actually, it DOES MATTER !!! Not everyone will see lighting, but MOST will. That increases safety by a HUGE amount... Casinos make billions of dollars by understanding how odds work, it is a pretty simple concept. To dismiss something just because it does not work 100 % the time is utter stupidity... If that were the case you would not bother to wear a helmet, wear a seat belt, etc, because sometimes they do not work...
Being smarter than most, I have a full understanding of these simple concepts, wear my safety gear, put bright LED's all over my bikes, ride like everyone is out to kill me, all of the above. I take every advantage I can get...
Mike
Mike, please check your PM's as I sent you one. Thanks
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 10:29 am
by alx123
Re: Lights better than tape
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 2:30 pm
by WhiteNoise
you you wrote:JohnL wrote:
Very good. I'm clearly boo boo in this relationship...
OhMy!....ya think? tooo funny