View Full Version : How often do you use your lights?
Just thought I would ask the question as I was tought to always ride with the bikes lights on, however I notice that most bikes on the road don't have theirs switched on during the daytime.
Mine come on with the bike starting up.... So anyone with a 53 sv will ride with them on too.
Mine come on with the bike starting up.... So anyone with a 53 sv will ride with them on too.
Ooops, didnt know that sv's lights were automatically turned on, this could prove to be a bit of an obvious poll result then! :D
The pointys come on automatically, but I believe curvys don't.
Even so, I've never switched the lights off on any bike I've ever had.
Always on for me, but I'm sure Pete or Lissa will be along soon with the reason why they have theirs off.
plowsie
18-09-08, 03:19 PM
Never on during day, only when I have forgot to turn them off or dodgy weather conditions, normally if that is the case its just the sidelight on.
I like people to be able to distribute the difference between my tail light on and my brake light, it only takes someone to look away and not see they have changed, what I worry about anyway. The front lights, I sometimes think that
when I am riding along and I hit a pothole or a bump in the road, people may think I am flashing them. Anyway, during the day, if you miss me on a bike, you shouldn't be driving!
Once of the most nasty crashes I have seen was a car pulling out on a bike from a side road......on investigation it turn out that the car had pulled out because when the bike with its light on went over a bump it looked like the bike had actually flashed the car out.
Was nasty.
Sadly my lights are on all the time and I dont have the skills to install a switch.
I ride a pointy, so lights are on all the time.
I find a loud exhaust more of an attention grabber than the lights TBH.
Biker Biggles
18-09-08, 03:41 PM
Didnt used to until I got my ZX9R which has them on all the time.I noticed that other drivers see me better,so I use them most of the time on the old SV as well.
Mr Speirs
18-09-08, 04:06 PM
I was taught to ride with my lights on all the time but only during adverse weather and night time. This is because I was in my car when at a junction the car in front nearly pulled out on a bike because there was a slight bump before the junction which made it look like the bike flashed. Made me think. So changed my habits.
Nicky S
18-09-08, 04:14 PM
allways hav my lights on or if not normall parking light
Dangerous Dave
18-09-08, 04:20 PM
I always ride with the lights on, I have two Curvy's so I switch them on manually.
Only at night or during bad weather conditions & in other particular lighting situations :rolleyes:
Having my lights one when the sun is low and directly in front of me would be a waste, put the sun directly behind and then it makes real sense to run lights on
Always on for me, but I'm sure Pete or Lissa will be along soon with the reason why they have theirs off.
As if by magic!!:D
1) Riding with your lights on can lead to a false impression of security.'I have my lights on, therefore they will see me'. Not true. People still pull out in front of bikes with lights on.
2) Sitting with your headlights blazing into a cars mirrors can come across as agressive and intimidating. Nervous car drivers, or p*ss*d off car drivers do stupid things.
3) Many junctions have rumble strips before then. You hit the strips, your lights dip with the bike, the car driver may assume you are flashing them out. Equally, many people will brake coming up to a junction if they see a car waiting in case it pulls out. Again, the bike dips, car driver may assume you are flashing them out.
Have no choice as i have a modern bike the lights are on from start up.
Have no choice as i have a modern bike the lights are on from start up.
what about the 125?
Biker Biggles
18-09-08, 05:41 PM
The 125 is that old you have to use matches to put the lights on.
Saint Matt
18-09-08, 05:45 PM
I will all the time if riding through traffic (eg to work), I will most of the timewhen on a ride-out etc. I figure if people cant spot a noisy luminous green and white bike then to be honest they are a bit of a lost cause.
what about the 125?
i forget half the time as i am so use to the Kwaks coming on at start. If i remember i will turn them on. But they are about as much use as a candle.
That should make for some interesting winter night commutes LOL
The 125 is that old you have to use matches to put the lights on.
:smt082:smt082 How did you know!!
Once of the most nasty crashes I have seen was a car pulling out on a bike from a side road......on investigation it turn out that the car had pulled out because when the bike with its light on went over a bump it looked like the bike had actually flashed the car out.
Was nasty.
yeah, ive been slightly concerned about this recently. i am very cautious at junctions.
tanis34
18-09-08, 08:10 PM
i would always use the lights for my own safety
Balky001
18-09-08, 08:25 PM
Always on. Loud exhaust, in my experience, can't be heard over traffic unless you are already very close. agree with Lissa that you still need to ride like they can't see you.
Driving on the continent, most drivers (all vehicles) have their lights on all the time. As well as adverse conditions, if you are in bright sunlight and you ride under shaded arears, you can disappear from people's view, the brighter the sun on the road and the denser the shade the harder it is to see you.
The only reason I heard of that can be beneficial turning your lights off was from Superbike magazine, when doing 150 up the motorway turn off lights as rossers wont see you approaching from such distance, which sort of makes the point your less visible
Always on.
But the 675 on dip has only one headlight. It's irritating. I often get people telling me one of the lights has failed. I just say 'oh thanks for telling me' as I can't be arsed to explain.
petevtwin650
18-09-08, 10:04 PM
Obviously Lissa has pointed out the reasons we don't. What is interesting though is that since riding the Duke more vehicles have gone to pull out or actually done so, yet the Duke is bright yellow and the Sv was blue. It's got to be down to the lesser decibels of the new bikes exhaust.
Dangerous Dave
19-09-08, 06:39 AM
the Duke is bright yellow and the Sv was blue. It's got to be down to the lesser decibels of the new bikes exhaust.
Had a guy pull out in front of me on the 800 (750 then) and that is bright yellow with a straight through exhaust. In the little tin bubble it is surprising what can and can't be heard.
lukemillar
19-09-08, 06:44 AM
Always on.
But the 675 on dip has only one headlight. It's irritating. I often get people telling me one of the lights has failed. I just say 'oh thanks for telling me' as I can't be arsed to explain.
I think pretty much all sportbikes have this "feature".
You missed an option
Always - unless the regulator has died again and I'm trying to get home with what power is in the battery only :)
PS I voted always
STRAMASHER
19-09-08, 07:18 AM
SV hard wired on, GSX manual but on all the time on dip. Never ride with full beam anymore. Used to swap headlight 55/65W for a 55/100W neck-frier. Got cars out the road pretty quick unless they wanted a tan on the back of their necks.:p Not (quite) as antisocial nowadays.:rolleyes::)
Don't like not being able to give an easy to see flash of the headlights with the SV to let a driver out.(See, I play nice.;)) Difficult for them to spot when looking for a signal to pull out when both lights are on. Good for looks and I prefer both on at every other situation. I just have to leave a bigger , more obvious gap..........but it still makes them stutter a bit.:(
the_lone_wolf
19-09-08, 07:19 AM
It's got to be down to the lesser decibels of the new bikes exhaust.you heard my SV when it had that little stubby pipe on right?
i followed my mum a while back to somewhere, no idea why i was on the bike, but i left after her, i asked if she'd heard me approaching from behind and she said she noticed my lights from about 5 cars back in a line moving ~40-50mph with me hopping one car at a time, but she didn't hear a thing until i overtook her and was level with the drivers door
loud exhausts don't mean **** for making people aware of you until you're level with them, even my KTM, which is way louder and more offensive than my old SV can and even a 1098R with termis, fails to get people's attention at times, although they tend to back off when they see it spits flames on the overun...:rolleyes:
a false sense of security? nah, they're all out to get you regardless of what you do... if your lights are annoying the driver in front you have your main beam on or they're not adjusted correctly, having headlamps in your RVM is a fact of life and i very much doubt drivers feel at all intimidated by your lights any more than your presence behind them, as for people thinking they're being flashed and pulling out, how many accidents are caused by this compared to how many are from drivers looking and not seeing? very few would be my guess;)
petevtwin650
19-09-08, 07:53 AM
I'm not talking so much about cars hearing you when you are behind , but when they are at junctions waiting to pull out and you may not yet be in view.
Anyway. it's what I do and luckily I have the choice as the Dukes lights aren't hardwired in. :D
Not matter what you do or don't do a small percentage of other road users will not be aware of your presence until the last second. Fact of life.:smt090
Mine come on automatically so just leave em to it, but I seem to remember reading somewhere recently that threre is a train of thought that suggests other road users can become target fixated on your lights and forget there is a bike just behind em, dunno if anyone else has heard the same or posted here even cos I confess I havent read the full thread.
the_lone_wolf
19-09-08, 08:14 AM
I'm not talking so much about cars hearing you when you are behind , but when they are at junctions waiting to pull out and you may not yet be in view.
if you're not in view yet then how is the argument for or against lights valid? by saying you're not in view you make the point about exhausts completely independent and you can't use it as a reason to jusitfy not using your lights surely?
if you are in view you still won't be audible to car drivers as the vast majority of the noise from your bike goes out to the back, unless you take to bouncing it off the limiter at every junction just to get attention you'll be just as invisible, but you'll be lulled into a false sense of security thinking they can hear you;)
dirtydog
19-09-08, 08:17 AM
The Tornado lights are hard wired on but normally have the SV lights on, unless of course i've flattened the battery and am trying to charge it up
petevtwin650
19-09-08, 08:19 AM
if you're not in view yet then how is the argument for or against lights valid? by saying you're not in view you make the point about exhausts completely independent and you can't use it as a reason to jusitfy not using your lights surely?
if you are in view you still won't be audible to car drivers as the vast majority of the noise from your bike goes out to the back, unless you take to bouncing it off the limiter at every junction just to get attention you'll be just as invisible, but you'll be lulled into a false sense of security thinking they can hear you;)
Yes you are correct LW. The argument for lights in a non visible situation is not valid. :oops:
Always on.
But the 675 on dip has only one headlight. It's irritating. I often get people telling me one of the lights has failed. I just say 'oh thanks for telling me' as I can't be arsed to explain.
Same with the Kwak!! even some other bikers have said it to me! :confused:
Same with the Kwak!! even some other bikers have said it to me! :confused:
LMAO yes and one of them was me when you first got it :rolleyes: :D
DanAbnormal
19-09-08, 02:04 PM
Always on, no choice but would have them always on if I had the choice. I was riding home down the M3 last week. There were 3 bikes coming up behind in lane 3. I waited for them all to pass before checking mirrors, indicating, mirrors again and then doing a lifesaver check and then pulling out. As I began to move into lane 3 a Triumph Daytona 955 goes whizzing past me hooting his horn (and doing about 130). I did all the checks so how did I not see him? Simple, he didn't have his lights on (and his speed was a factor). The mirrors on my bike vibrate quite a lot blurring out any thing that is small, fast and not light up. Even with all the checks this can still be a problem.
pencil shavings
19-09-08, 03:41 PM
always, they come on when I turn on the bike!! and the high beems when I see BMWs lol (jokes)
ArtyLady
19-09-08, 03:46 PM
I know there is arguments for and against - but I always have mine on because I was taught too - hubby always has his off and has done for 30+ years!
ArtyLady
19-09-08, 03:49 PM
Once of the most nasty crashes I have seen was a car pulling out on a bike from a side road......on investigation it turn out that the car had pulled out because when the bike with its light on went over a bump it looked like the bike had actually flashed the car out.
...
This is something that worries me so I just try to be aware that this may happen and prepare myself for the best possible escape route :eek:
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