sharpestjim
Member
And this one’s a real gut buster.
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And this one’s a real gut buster.
"they can't clock a motorcycle from the front"...
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.
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 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.
"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)
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.
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
If they don't work, why are they illegal in some states?
Because they mask the readability of the license plate, especially at night.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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?
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.