(eastern long island's north fork) to do much riding at night. you either hit them or they hit you.
got one of them deer whistles but i guess i put it on backwards. attracted them like ducks on a junebug.
You killed Bambi----I Hate You!
Jack
-
Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password. If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?
-
Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.
The Election forum is here: Election Forum
Bright Lights Lose Rights?
- Thread starter Visian
- Start date
You killed Bambi----I Hate You!
Jack
I'll avoid saying what I think about lights providing enough light to ride 100mph on the desert or fast in the woods with brights but I can say that here in E. KY mtns you don't have stopping distance even in the daytime for deer that pop up in/after a curve or come from the woods. We recently had a deer, same size as the pic shown here, that ran abruptly from roadside toward my PU truck in broad day light, then as I was well into ABS braking & had come to a stop, it leapt from a few feet short of my front bumper (actually seemed to have gone over the rt headlight) & over the bridge side to my right & down into the creek. It was an amazing leap & not a situ. that lighting had a thing to do with avoiding. I'll admit brights help but not a solution that gives one much liberty. We have roads in my area, that at night, you are nuts or have a death wish if you go fast because of deer presence. Many other states have the same situ..
End of curmudgeonly , senior moment...
End of curmudgeonly , senior moment...
rxcrider
New member
That is an expensive lighting upgrade
ka5ysy
2011 R1200RT
42906
Themason
I'll avoid saying what I think about lights providing enough light to ride 100mph on the desert or fast in the woods with brights but I can say that here in E. KY mtns you don't have stopping distance even in the daytime for deer that pop up in/after a curve or come from the woods. We recently had a deer, same size as the pic shown here, that ran abruptly from roadside toward my PU truck in broad day light, then as I was well into ABS braking & had come to a stop, it leapt from a few feet short of my front bumper (actually seemed to have gone over the rt headlight) & over the bridge side to my right & down into the creek. It was an amazing leap & not a situ. that lighting had a thing to do with avoiding. I'll admit brights help but not a solution that gives one much liberty. We have roads in my area, that at night, you are nuts or have a death wish if you go fast because of deer presence. Many other states have the same situ..
End of curmudgeonly , senior moment...
You barely feel a jackrabbit when you hit it. They aren't even worth swerving for. But I dial it back in places where deer or bear are around. The desert isn't one of those places. The nearest anything to where I live is over an hour away, and there is literally nothing between here and there but open, uninhabited desert.
I "hunted " jackrabbits for years, so not much I don't know about them. The 10cents bounty kept me & my buds in .22 shells. I was thinking that deer lived on the desert & coyotes, not bears . Humans live/drive there some too, the times I've crossed which have been several. I'll give that if there's a public road to speed on the desert is it.
beep beep...
greenwald
New member
Night sun group buy?
42906
Themason
Ah, you know how I feel.
Visian
look out!!!
Similar to issues surrounding "excessive sound" (aka: noise) our rights to accessorize our bikes with suitable driving lights could be at risk.
Due to excessive noise, there are now extensive restrictions on aftermarket exhausts in California.
The same thing could happen with lights.
(which leads to the great question: how long will it be before our passion is regulated out of existence?)
Ian
ps => thanks for all the excellent replies in this thread, sorry I haven't revisited here... been out riding!
MOTOR31
New member
You already have regulations regarding lights on motorcycles. As earlier noted more than one state limits the number of lights on bikes as well as cars for that matter. You have other limitations on how you can accessorize your bike. Put some red and or blue lights facing the front (especially flashing ones) and see what happens.
As far as rights are concerned, you do not have a right to drive much less a right to put whatever you want on an motor vehicle operated on public roadways. You only have privileges, authorized by the state you are a resident of and generally recognized by the other states in the union.
Personally I am very much in favor of noise limitations on bikes, cars and even trucks, big and small. Others may enjoy the sound of the exhaust and or stereo but there is absolutely no right to inflict it on others or to disturb the peace of others.
As far as rights are concerned, you do not have a right to drive much less a right to put whatever you want on an motor vehicle operated on public roadways. You only have privileges, authorized by the state you are a resident of and generally recognized by the other states in the union.
Personally I am very much in favor of noise limitations on bikes, cars and even trucks, big and small. Others may enjoy the sound of the exhaust and or stereo but there is absolutely no right to inflict it on others or to disturb the peace of others.
Visian
look out!!!
42906
Themason
What restrictions? You can buy anything you want for your bike in CA. There are no inspections.
A dealer might not legally be permitted to make non-smog legal changes to a vehicle, though plenty do, but that is true all across the US due to Federal regulations. The tuner and software the Harley dealership sold me is "for closed course use only", snicker, but that didn't stop a local dyno shop from plugging it in, putting it on a dyno and re-mapping the excessively lean mixture the bike came with.
A cop in some sensitive beachside cities might cite you for excessive noise based on the vehicle code. Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach are notorious for this. But, as far as what I can buy and hang on my bike, the sky is the limit. Everything out there is available here.
Where do these stories come from?
42906
Themason
whatever....
rather pedantic, methinks.
"Full time RVer"
I wonder how much noise his generator makes? Shouldn't RV drivers be required to have a special license to drive such a big, heavy vehicle? Maybe a commercial license? Hey, just asklng .....................
pglaves
#13338
I have auxiliary lights on a couple of my bikes. On two of them I have two sets of auxiliary lights for different purposes. I'll make two comments about auxiliary lights.
1. Quality matters. You can get a set of H3 driving lights at most mart type stores or auto parts stores for very little money. They have plastic housings, crappy reflectors, and can spread glare all over. And you can get good housings, good reflectors and good light patterns for a bit more money. If you go high tech you can spend hundreds several times.
2. Aim is everything. Know where you want the light to be and what beam pattern you want - buy the lights accordingly - and then aim them properly. Bad aiming of the lights probably accounts for more problems than lights that are too bright.
1. Quality matters. You can get a set of H3 driving lights at most mart type stores or auto parts stores for very little money. They have plastic housings, crappy reflectors, and can spread glare all over. And you can get good housings, good reflectors and good light patterns for a bit more money. If you go high tech you can spend hundreds several times.
2. Aim is everything. Know where you want the light to be and what beam pattern you want - buy the lights accordingly - and then aim them properly. Bad aiming of the lights probably accounts for more problems than lights that are too bright.
Visian
look out!!!
I agree with your point about aim, but I've seen some massively bright units being abused. Even when they're pointed correctly, they're pretty bright... and when mis-aimed they're worse than a bubba-truck in your rearview.
This is not to say that I want high quality and power lights outlawed. To Themason's point, while the reality may be that you can still get what you want, loud pipes caused those communities to crack down. The same could happen with lights if riders aren't considerate. At a minimum, it could be an excuse to pull you over.
btw, Themason, you can add the 17-mile drive at Pebble Beach to your list, where there's an outright ban on all motorcycles. Ditto Big Canoe, a really nice development in the N. Georgia mountains.
Ian
This is not to say that I want high quality and power lights outlawed. To Themason's point, while the reality may be that you can still get what you want, loud pipes caused those communities to crack down. The same could happen with lights if riders aren't considerate. At a minimum, it could be an excuse to pull you over.
btw, Themason, you can add the 17-mile drive at Pebble Beach to your list, where there's an outright ban on all motorcycles. Ditto Big Canoe, a really nice development in the N. Georgia mountains.
Ian
greenwald
New member
I just checked the KY MC manual & the vehicle regs which will get you a few laughs. E.G., you are supposed to honk your horn on a mtn road when visibility is below 200' such as a curve-that ought to win some friends! As to noise it is supposed to be at the minimum(hmm?) & smoke or other disturbances as well. Both are ala 1942. As to lights, a bike must have a HL with high/low beam & otherwise the sky is the limit except cannot have colored lts. such as cops or emergency vehicles.This means for KY we have to do what everybody else will allow as we can do anything that doesn't tick off the leo's.
FWIW, aiming is important but I have often observed that in my 4x4 Tundra with low beams I am blinding the vehicle ahead as late model cars get hit hard by regular HL's. I run hotter but legal bulbs on my bike, shorter life but safer.
FWIW, aiming is important but I have often observed that in my 4x4 Tundra with low beams I am blinding the vehicle ahead as late model cars get hit hard by regular HL's. I run hotter but legal bulbs on my bike, shorter life but safer.
