Does anyone swear by headlight modulators here?

[InvisiBill]

I agree that the headlight modulators are a nice idea, but tend to cause confusion in the real world. Even as a biker, whenever I see one, I have to take a bit of time and figure out if I'm seeing a bike with a modulator or half of an emergency vehicle with wig-wag headlights.

It gets your attention, but we all know about looking where you want to go, and I don't want a cager staring at me trying to figure out what he's seeing.

Originally Posted by Motofool

Are brake light modulators legal for cars?

Originally Posted by http://www.sentex.ca/~mec1995/circ/motflash.html

In the USA, the flasher was approved for use in 50 States. In Canada the flasher and headlight modulators were approved in 2002 for use in all provinces, providing the brakelight flasher has a maximum number of flashes of 8 or less. Other than that, there are *NO* regulations for a brakelight flasher at this time (June 2010), not in the USA and not in Canada.

I plan to build that circuit into my new taillight LED boards. A few quick flashes (which is actually often a suggestion to do manually anyway) when you first hit the brake helps to catch someone's eye, without being annoying.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by Motofool

Are brake light modulators legal for cars?

It seems that no cager installs those.

What really is modulation, I mean really? If you get to the guts of what modulation really is, then yes modulators are legal for cages. It's all in what it's packaged as.

Think about the factory installed sequential brake lights on a lot of late model cars.

[TnNinjaGirl]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Think about the factory installed sequential brake lights on a lot of late model cars.

Ugh.. The chevron style on the Mustang drives me freakin' batty!! I guess it gets one's attention...

[Ducati999]

I believe anything that helps other drivers see you is necessary. I have seen a few bikes running the headlight modulator but I do see the point of the people who say "the car driver may believe you are giving them the right of way". I have also seen the brake light modulators and they seem to work well in getting the attention they should. Having said that I believe you cannot depend on the reaction of the "cagers" to the modulators. The best safety equipment is between your ears! YOU MUST ASSUME AT ALL TIMES THAT YOU HAVE NOT BEEN SEEN and ride accordingly! I have had drivers that seemed to be watching me ride towards them pull out at the last second and the only thing that kept me from crashing was that I had varied my speed and line and was anticipating they might pull out and I was able to avoid them. I even will slowly pulse my brake light when stopped behind a car so the upcoming cars might see me sooner/at all and have had cars lock their brakes barely missing crushing me between them and the car infront of me! There is nothing which will MAKE them see you and we all need to ride as though we are invisible and I personnaly cannot afford to rely on technology to cause me to relax my vigilance while I am riding. The modulators may help you get noticed but don't allow them to let you drop you guard even for a second because that is when the worst happens.

[headshrink]

When I had one I'm pretty sure I pissed people off. I had a few people stop at lights to tell me my headlight was malfunctioning, only to give me an annoyed look when I told them it was a safety device. Local PD officer was one of them, but he also had to be *right, so he made up some BS to save face. I rode for a year with it off when driving through my own neighborhood just to avoid this. I prefer to maintain good relationships, so no need to cause unneeded aggravation when it isn't necessary. Although I had started to question if I should remove the modulator, the straw that broke the camels back was when I noticed myself target-fixating on other bikes' headlight modulators.

My current solution for front end visibility are aux lights on my fork. This makes me way more visible, and although I think they are a little too bright, shouldn't piss anyone off any more than a Mercedes with HID lights. I've been very pleased with this solution.

I've had a brake light modulator from the beginning, and I think those are a given. These seem to be very effective, as long as they are designed well. I once was behind a Harley that had a brake light mod that would do a long sequence of flashy dances.... the F'er tried to hypnotize me and I nearly ran into the back of him. I should note, however, that his modulator was NOT California complaint (where we are). If memory serves, CA limits brake light mods to 3 flashes. I think this is effective because it grabs your attention without becoming a distraction. The one I have is technically not compliant, since it flashes 6 or 7 times, but I've never had a problem with it, and although I was pulled over twice, neither officer mentioned it.