Lighting Upgrade Question

Topics related to the ownership, maintenance, equipping, operation, and riding of the R1200R.

Moderator: Moderators

deilenberger
Honorary Lifer
Posts: 4210
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 9:21 pm
Donating Member #: 0
Location: New Jersey USA
Contact:

Re: Lighting Upgrade Question

Post by deilenberger »

I've had headlight modulators for 20+ years now.. and no problem with following other bikes - I never do. I seem to always be the lead bike. I have the Skeen on the back, plus some German LED replacements for the turn signals that include a row of red LED's in the center that are also hooked to the brake light circuit.

With both the headlight modulators and the Skeen lights - I can tell by how vehicles (cages) around me act if they're turned on or not (the Skeen is programmable if you step on the brake pedal within something like 5 seconds of key on - and apparently once in a while I'll accidentally do that and turn the flashing off..)

With the headlight modulator off - cars obviously don't see me as much. They tend to pull out in front of me more. With the modulator on - that rarely ever happens. With the flash mode of the Skeen brake lights off - cars pull up closer to me at stops and lights. With them on, they typically stop about 1 car length behind me. With them off - they pull right up on my tail.

For good conspicuity in the front, along with extending your lighting at night - I would recommend the PIAA LED lights - https://www.autoaccessoriesgarage.com/L ... Fog-Lights. I'd recommend the driving lights. These are different from the lights from other sources that just have LEDs blasting away with no lens or real pattern (aka Clearwater, and others..) These use a focusing reflector to shape the light into a beam, sort of an oval shape. They are quite effective for both being seen and seeing at night. I mounted mine on my fork sliders - and I think I wrote it up here somewhere.

That's my solution. Everything is wired to my FuzeBlock - which has a choice between full time power or relay switched power for any circuit. The PIAA lights come with a harness - only thing is - it's meant for a truck, so the wires are rather long. Mine are wrapped and bundled under the tank so that's not a problem. I didn't have to do any cutting. They draw about 2 AMPS total - so don't overfuse them (which PIAA does..)
Don Eilenberger - NJ Shore
2012 R1200R - I love this bike!
vroomr
Basic User
Posts: 157
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:34 pm
Donating Member #: 0
Location: Valley of the Sun / Shenandoah Valley

Re: Lighting Upgrade Question

Post by vroomr »

The metric I'm curious about is driver response time: does this nonstandard/unfamiliar stuff cause a momentary "huh?" that delays a driver's reaction? I'll be putting in a research grant application to test this conjecture RSN.
Richard
User avatar
mogu83
Lifer
Posts: 1692
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:40 am
Donating Member #: 0
Location: Harry Costello Jersey Shore, NJ

Re: Lighting Upgrade Question

Post by mogu83 »

I've wondered the same about auxiliary lighting in the rear. I've ridden behind people that if they hit the brakes while making a turn the display of winking and blinking lights didn't exactly scream 'I'm stopping'. My initial reaction was more like ' Wow - look at that'.
Harry Costello -- Jersey Shore
2007 R1200R
1974 + 75 CB125S
1971 R75
2011 Sportster
BMWMOA 57358
Post Reply