Lighting safety upgrade
In September 2021 an inexperienced driver turned left in front of me with no warning or blinker and over a double yellow line. She was headed into a dirt driveway located in the middle of a curve and was fixated on that and not what was coming around the corner. My approach from the opposite direction was at about 45mph and I was leaned over a bit. As she came over the double yellow, I applied the brakes chirping the front tire but had no chance and tboned the car at about 25mph. My Triumph Trophy with it's dual headlights was lost. The driver's first words were, "I didn't see you until the last second."
I thought hard about not being seen on a huge touring rig and decided to do something about it. Since then all my bikes (7) have been fitted with running lights. Although this doesn't apply to my accident, when the human brain sees a single light coming it can become confused and think it's a car so distant the lights have fused into a single point. The idea is to give the cages something easier to see.
The pictures below illustrate a running light upgrade to my latest bike - '07 Ninja 650R. The kit is waterproof, cost $12.85 for two lights which are also spliced into the low beam and blinker circuit although you have other options. Mine come on with the headlight after startup and become amber when a blinker is activated. I like the enhanced visibility of two front blinkers when turning through an intersection. The amber side reflectors were removed and lights mounted there. I'll source some stick-on reflectors for the fork legs. Search EBay for "2x 3 LED Car Daytime Running Light DRL Driving Turn Signal Fog Lamp White Amber" if you like this kit.
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I thought hard about not being seen on a huge touring rig and decided to do something about it. Since then all my bikes (7) have been fitted with running lights. Although this doesn't apply to my accident, when the human brain sees a single light coming it can become confused and think it's a car so distant the lights have fused into a single point. The idea is to give the cages something easier to see.
The pictures below illustrate a running light upgrade to my latest bike - '07 Ninja 650R. The kit is waterproof, cost $12.85 for two lights which are also spliced into the low beam and blinker circuit although you have other options. Mine come on with the headlight after startup and become amber when a blinker is activated. I like the enhanced visibility of two front blinkers when turning through an intersection. The amber side reflectors were removed and lights mounted there. I'll source some stick-on reflectors for the fork legs. Search EBay for "2x 3 LED Car Daytime Running Light DRL Driving Turn Signal Fog Lamp White Amber" if you like this kit.
