Another Radar Detector Thread - Valentine

[sharpestjim]

And this one’s a real gut buster.

You're welcome.

 

[sharpestjim]

"they can't clock a motorcycle from the front"...

He** - they can clock a baseball.

 

[sharpestjim]

Sorry to hear your problems about the Freecom, we take trips with my wife and for years saying the next best thing we got after the bike was the Freecoms. I also often use it to listen to music from my phone with it, yes the speakers make putting the helmet on a bit tighter but I won't complain for the enjoyable ride I get from it with the music and the communication we can have when on trips.

I get it. To each his or her (or its) own. I've listened to Sirius via my phone using the Freecom. It's OK, but not great. Certainly not $200 great. I can't crank it up as loudly as I'd like. Part of that is due to overcoming of wind noise (that's another thread). But, as I mentioned, I seldom ride with others and I never carry a passenger. And I do not even want to make or receive a phone call while on my bike. I ride to get AWAY from my phone. So the Freecom is useless to me. I'll likely list it on the Member Marketplace at a very cheap price.

 

[bhodges]

I get it. To each his or her (or its) own. I've listened to Sirius via my phone using the Freecom. It's OK, but not great. Certainly not $200 great. I can't crank it up as loudly as I'd like. Part of that is due to overcoming of wind noise (that's another thread). But, as I mentioned, I seldom ride with others and I never carry a passenger. And I do not even want to make or receive a phone call while on my bike. I ride to get AWAY from my phone. So the Freecom is useless to me. I'll likely list it on the Member Marketplace at a very cheap price.

Do you wear earplugs? I have a Shoei Neotec II with a Sena SRL. I use earplugs with an NRR of 26. They get rid of almost all the annoying wind noise while affording plenty of volume for music.
I've even listened to music from the fairing speakers on my '13RT w/earplugs and that works great, too. I don't think I could ever go back to the roar of the wind without earplugs.

 

[kbasa]

"they can't clock a motorcycle from the front"... I think our CHP would disagree with that: the headlight reflector makes a GREAT return to the radar receiver (maybe that depends on the transmitter's frequency?), ditto with laser (a good reason to have a plastic headlight protector....).

In this state, the California Vehicle Code states, in Division 12, Article 17, section 28150, paragraph a:
"No vehicle shall be equipped with any device that is designed for, or is capable of, jamming, scrambling, neutralizing, disabling, or otherwise interfering with radar, laser, or any other electronic device used by a law enforcement agency to measure the speed of moving objects."
(and yes I do have a headlight protector)

CHP is mostly using laser up here, so good luck avoiding that. Best idea is to run Waze and a detector, though I've just been using Waze and had great success.

Also, the CHP is nowhere near as aggressive in speed enforcement as many other states, so that has kept me from feeling like I need a detector. When I lived outside Boston? Different story. Every little town has cops hiding in the bushes hoping to catch you over the limits, which are also very low.

 

[kbasa]

Do you wear earplugs? I have a Shoei Neotec II with a Sena SRL. I use earplugs with an NRR of 26. They get rid of almost all the annoying wind noise while affording plenty of volume for music.
I've even listened to music from the fairing speakers on my '13RT w/earplugs and that works great, too. I don't think I could ever go back to the roar of the wind without earplugs.

Rolling down the road with 120db isn't a great recipe for keeping your hearing. Been wearing plugs consistently since the early 90s and can still hear. I play music in my helmet on my Sena/Neotech II and even with plugs I can hear it fine.

Riding without plugs leaves my ears ringing and the rest of me exhausted.

 

[rhbike]

You're correct, we can get some good laughs here especially about people who don't have a clue. These license plate covers don't absorb laser beams, they have tiny prisms built into them stacked right next to each other and if you were not sleeping during physics class you remember prisms break up lights and disperse them in a different direction and that is exactly how these plate covers work. Once your light beam is broken up and dispersed it will never get back to the source and it's not in the same original state either. So thanks for the laughs! Again, I don't have anything on my bike as I am more careful when riding the bike and don't tend to ride over the speed limit anyway. With the cars we are more guilty when traveling somewhere and that's the main reason we have the plate covers. Just saying plate covers are cheaper than detectors and have longer life as well.

Picture: laser beam in, rainbow out
View attachment 93681

Which is it radar or laser beam absorbing/deflecting that these license plates covers supposedly do? Even if the plate covers behaved as a black hole to both, do you honestly think a license plate cover gives the entire back end of your car protection from radar or laser? Not a chance. A laser gun pointed at a car from from 10ft away can easily be pointed only at something like the plate. But aimed from 1/4 or 1/2 a mile away, it is highly unlikely to just bounce off the plate.

Police have no trouble picking up the speed of cars, motorbikes, bicycles, or objects like baseballs, whether they have plates or not, are metallic or not, or have much surface area.

But if you believe in your immunity shield. Have at it.

 

[pglaves]

If they don't work, why are they illegal in some states?

Because they mask the readability of the license plate, especially at night.

 

[rhbike]

Because they mask the readability of the license plate, especially at night.

Exactly. Plate covers and frames of any type, not just those marketed as some sort of invisibilty cloak, are illegal in many states. It doesn't seem to be an overly well enforced law in our state and probably doesn't come with much of a fine.

 

[brownie0486]

Plate covers are illegal in Az. Enforcement seems so so on this here however.

Radar/laser can't pick up a motor rider if blah blah blah is at the front of the bike? Hardly. Headlight cover on the GS and got nailed twice for speeding, once around town, one on the highway.

11RT doesn't have a headlight protector. About 3 months ago, coming from my motor mechanics place. I'm running about 10 over in a 40 on a road that's 3 lanes heading to the highway. I'm nearly on this motor officer before I see him hiding around a corner standing at the bike running a radar/laser gun [ don't know which and don't care ].

I watch the mirrors. 3 lights later he pulls up next to me on his dept RT and tells me to swing into the gas station just past the light. He's not coding with lights. We get off the road into the gas station lot. He walks up and tells me he wants to check the aux lights up front. He does while I'm sitting on the bike bringing out a pad a paper and pen and writing something down.

Comes over to me and says he could see the Denali d2's in a sea of white lights from cagers nearly 1/2 mile away. Nothing about speeding, he just wanted to see what lights I was running. Oh, and btw, I got you on the gun at 9 over in the 40, where I'm coming from. Tell him I was just visiting the bmw mechanic his dept uses fro their motors. Discussed Colin's working on the bikes for a few minutes and then, watch your speed through here. Ride safe, enjoy the day.

 

[cajunrider]

And why do you think a radar detector is more effective? They can clock you with a laser way before your detector start ringing. So if my plate covers are a waste of money your detector is three times the waste.

Radar detectors don't block anything, they detect. It's right there in the name.

What you're HOPING for, is that the detector picks up the signal from OTHER people getting clocked... and it gives you time to slow down before YOU get clocked. That is all.
If there's no one else on the road and you are the only person that gets clocked, the officer knows your speed before you hear the detector alert you.

So basically, it's an early warning device IF there is traffic around you and the officer is actively checking motorists.
If there's no traffic, or you're the only one moving fast, it won't do anything but let you know you're about to see the twirly blue lights.

Is that worth the high $$ you pay for them??? That's up to you to decide.

 

[gregfeeler]

Which is it radar or laser beam absorbing/deflecting that these license plates covers supposedly do? Even if the plate covers behaved as a black hole to both, do you honestly think a license plate cover gives the entire back end of your car protection from radar or laser? Not a chance. A laser gun pointed at a car from from 10ft away can easily be pointed only at something like the plate. But aimed from 1/4 or 1/2 a mile away, it is highly unlikely to just bounce off the plate.

Police have no trouble picking up the speed of cars, motorbikes, bicycles, or objects like baseballs, whether they have plates or not, are metallic or not, or have much surface area.

But if you believe in your immunity shield. Have at it.

Radar is a wide spread beam that works much like you describe, but laser is tightly focused. I've been shot with laser from the front on a couple of occasions without the cop getting an accurate read. I know that because there was no subsequent road side conversation or performance award. Also, the most reflective part of most vehicles is the license plate, hence the interest in preventing reelections.

 

[kbasa]

If they don't work, why are they illegal in some states? Been using them for years, passed police cars clocking people on the interstate, never been pulled over even despite being the fastest traveler just on our last trip few weeks ago. Of course we don't just fly by a police car, we slow down soon as we see them. The plate covers just help buying time to slow down, just as a radar detector does, but for the fraction of the price. And why do you think a radar detector is more effective? They can clock you with a laser way before your detector start ringing. So if my plate covers are a waste of money your detector is three times the waste.

Physics disagrees with almost all of this.

Tactically, if I understand correctly, you're still relying on your eyes as your primary warning system and you're hoping that an illegal license plate cover will save your butt.

Good luck with that, I guess. I wouldn't bet on that to save me. From the rear, the cops have my bags, my body, and the mass of my bike to bounce a signal off of. From the front they have the mass of my bike, my body and the bags, as well, so they can definitely get a signal back from me.

The question is how far away can the cops get a solid lock on my speed? They always can, but our tactical advantage as motorcyclists is that cars and trucks generate a larger radar reflection and we can "hide" behind them easily. We measure the speed of baseballs with radar and I've been clocked on my bicycle on a big descent (54mph!), which has about a square foot of frontal area. They bounced the signal off my body. You can definitely be clocked on a motorcycle with some refractive license plate cover, especially radar.

No shade intended, but the science doesn't support these things.

Good luck.

 

[Omega Man]

My usual response to a radar detector thread is-

Here in Mass, one save of a radar detector, the detector is "free". Between a ticket cost and the possible increases in vehicle insurance, if you go fast or in a locality that is tough on speed detection, it all helps.

OM

 

[gregfeeler]

If they don't work, why are they illegal in some states? Been using them for years, passed police cars clocking people on the interstate, never been pulled over even despite being the fastest traveler just on our last trip few weeks ago. Of course we don't just fly by a police car, we slow down soon as we see them. The plate covers just help buying time to slow down, just as a radar detector does, but for the fraction of the price. And why do you think a radar detector is more effective? They can clock you with a laser way before your detector start ringing. So if my plate covers are a waste of money your detector is three times the waste.

I know from personal experience that a quality radar detector (mine is a Valentine One) used correctly can provide sufficient warning of police radar use to avoid a ticket. This is so because a good detector can pickup a radar signal while you are still out of range for speed detection, and that is true whether the signal is being aimed at you or other vehicles. Radar signals bounce around a lot so provide a warning when you are not the target. Radar detectors are not magic, but they are a tool which used within their limitations can be very effective.

 

[kbasa]

My usual response to a radar detector thread is-

Here in Mass, one save of a radar detector, the detector is "free". Between a ticket cost and the possible increases in vehicle insurance, if you go fast or in a locality that is tough on speed detection, it all helps.

OM

Here in the Golden State, speeding tickets start at $371 before they start adding in the variable fine for your speed.

It makes financial sense to own one and use it. The CHP uses laser a lot, so a good additive to your helmet comm system is employing Waze.

 

[pauls1150]

I've gotten a laser in the face, up there on I-5, so I know he had me... but he didn't come after me.
Dunno why, maybe he saw I was slowing down, maybe he couldn't get a "lock"...

But the reason a radar detector works (some of the time) is that it (hopefully) has a higher Sensitivity than the LEO's unit, and will pick up the signal before it's reflection is strong enough for the LEO to "acquire and lock".

Speaking of CHP, by the way, many of their "New" cars are all white - not the old "black and white" - and also more low-profile, and no lights up top, so they're really harder to spot. I don't recall what they actually are, Dodge Charger maybe?

 

[kbasa]

I've gotten a laser in the face, up there on I-5, so I know he had me... but he didn't come after me.
Dunno why, maybe he saw I was slowing down, maybe he couldn't get a "lock"...

But the reason a radar detector works (some of the time) is that it (hopefully) has a higher Sensitivity than the LEO's unit, and will pick up the signal before it's reflection is strong enough for the LEO to "acquire and lock".

Speaking of CHP, by the way, many of their "New" cars are all white - not the old "black and white" - and also more low-profile, and no lights up top, so they're really harder to spot. I don't recall what they actually are, Dodge Charger maybe?

Yeah, Chargers. We still have SUVs around here, it seems, with some Chargers around.

You've identified exactly why radar detectors work well: they can detect the radar signal well before it's strong enough to be reflected back to the gun for Doppler analysis and speed calculation.

 

[cajunrider]

You've identified exactly why radar detectors work well: they can detect the radar signal well before it's strong enough to be reflected back to the gun for Doppler analysis and speed calculation.

I've always assumed you'd get more stray signal bounce from other drivers getting clocked as opposed to getting a signal before it's strong enough for the gun to work.
Maybe it's a combination of the two??

Either way, it's an early warning that's useful under the right conditions, but not 100% fail-safe.

 

[kbasa]

I've always assumed you'd get more stray signal bounce from other drivers getting clocked as opposed to getting a signal before it's strong enough for the gun to work.
Maybe it's a combination of the two??

Either way, it's an early warning that's useful under the right conditions, but not 100% fail-safe.

Agreed. That's why I layer on Waze. You'll get that scatter that lets you know that there's a radar gun operating nearby, but you'll also have the faint beam that didn't hit anything and is too far to ge reflected back to the gun. I have electronic countermeasures as well as threat information as tools.

Ride safely!