Headlight Modulator for H2SX?

[mobilemitch]

Has anyone run across a headlight modulator for the H2 SX? The thing where it makes the headlight "flicker" or partial strobe to increase daytime visibility and cut down on people turning left in front of you? The headlight for our bikes is so very small, I fear it makes us even more invisible. It looks like a pinprick of light. Most motorcycle headlights have 4 times the lit surface area and are much more visible during the day.

Like this only for our LED headlamp...
http://www.kriss.com/parts1.htm

And along these lines, anyone tried a setup that flickers the brake light when beginning to slow?
Like this unit. It says it works with LED but...
http://www.signaldynamics.com/backoffxp

[vcyclenut]

have you seen another h2sx coming at you?

I think its very bright and visible

added safety cant hurt but I know the headlight flicker annoys the hell out of me when a bike is behind me with it

[cOoTeR]

I concur with vcyclenut those things are annoying and I think they do more harm than good.

[XcelleraThor]

Gentlemen,
I have been riding a CBR 600 in HRC color for 18 years. I have never been overlooked as much as in the four weeks of riding my H2SXSE compared to years of riding my CBR. The H2 SXSE is probably difficult to spot :-( I am looking into 3M stickers to the black parts of the front).

godspeed
-XcelleraThor

[mobilemitch]

I agree that that tiny pinprick of light is very bright, But... the surface area is very small. Its not 100% relevant but when I studied big words in college like psychometrics and conspicuity... brightness did not make up for smaller size very well. There was a ratio, like... if you half the surface area you have to triple the brightness to have the same conspicuity etc. (No idea if that was the actual ratio, but you get the idea)

And, I agree that it is irritating to have to look at the flicker for long, but... at the same time, that is kind of the point. Flicker and strobe DEMAND your brains attention. Things that DEMAND attention are almost by definition irritating.
You want to get left hand turners to notice you! I am willing to mildly and briefly irritate a driver turning left in front of me because... they noticed me and didn't turn! Most of us are willing to irritate people with pipes that are much louder than allowed on a stock bike, why not a little flicker too? (or instead)(I'm not saying "loud pipes save lives" by the way)

I am going to try these out... Maybe put them on the mirror stalks?
https://www.bikevis.com/product/bikevis ... ng-lights/
with a modulator.....
https://www.bikevis.com/product/bikevis ... modulator/

That way I get some one big bright pin prick (non flickering), and I get a triangle with two other bright points that do flicker. (the triangle is another part of conspicuity) Maybe that would be conspicuous enough? and by not having the main bright light flicker, maybe it won't be as irritating?... I dunno. I'm gonna try it though, I ordered that stuff. I'll make a follow up post sometime if anyone is interested.

[cOoTeR]

I agree that that tiny pinprick of light is very bright, But... the surface area is very small. Its not 100% relevant but when I studied big words in college like psychometrics and conspicuity... brightness did not make up for smaller size very well. There was a ratio, like... if you half the surface area you have to triple the brightness to have the same conspicuity etc. (No idea if that was the actual ratio, but you get the idea)

And, I agree that it is irritating to have to look at the flicker for long, but... at the same time, that is kind of the point. Flicker and strobe DEMAND your brains attention. Things that DEMAND attention are almost by definition irritating.
You want to get left hand turners to notice you! I am willing to mildly and briefly irritate a driver turning left in front of me because... they noticed me and didn't turn! Most of us are willing to irritate people with pipes that are much louder than allowed on a stock bike, why not a little flicker too? (or instead)(I'm not saying "loud pipes save lives" by the way)

I am going to try these out... Maybe put them on the mirror stalks?
https://www.bikevis.com/product/bikevis ... ng-lights/
with a modulator.....
https://www.bikevis.com/product/bikevis ... modulator/

That way I get some one big bright pin prick (non flickering), and I get a triangle with two other bright points that do flicker. (the triangle is another part of conspicuity) Maybe that would be conspicuous enough? and by not having the main bright light flicker, maybe it won't be as irritating?... I dunno. I'm gonna try it though, I ordered that stuff. I'll make a follow up post sometime if anyone is interested.

You're not the only person on the road. Distracting others because you can't ride defensively is irresponsible and can put others at risk. Paying attention to your surroundings will go a lot further than a flashing light will. Hopefully no one runs over a kid in a cross walk because they were watching you trying to annoy them. Hopefully someone doesn't rear end another motorcyclist because they were annoyed with you behind them and not watching the road ahead of them. Hopefully someone doesn't adjust their mirrors so your headlight isn't annoying them then not see you as you try to pass them because their mirrors are pointed another direction. Hopefully some psychopath doesn't snap and decide to run you off of the road because you've annoyed them with your headlight. Just like loud pipes all it is going to do is annoy people and piss them off. There are people out there that already hate motorcyclist there is no need to try make more people hate us. Also your flashing lights are going to make it hard to notice your turn signals.

[XcelleraThor]

After over 30 years of riding bikes without any traffic accident I would consider myself lucky or defensive or both. And, yet, as I stated I have been overlooked more times on the H2SX than on my CBR. And yes, it did have a much larger headlight. The city lights (that's what Kawasaki calls them) next to the headlight are simply not enough. A widespread motorcycle magazine here in Germany interestingly remarked on the H2SXSE, that besides putting signal/turning lights in the mirrors, Kawasaki should have also put LEDs there, too! But there was no word about any flashing.

mobilemitch, you are basically going down that same line and I'd be very interested in your findings. Please keep us posted.

I will be the next one to adopt. But I would probably leave out the flashing part, because of the proximity to the turning lights.

What makes this discussion so difficult is, that I also partially agree with cOoTeR. Yes, my defensive driving helped a lot in those situations, but actually I wouldn't want to have them in the first place. Attracting attention always involves some form of annoyance.

[mobilemitch]

Good gravy Cooter. You are catastrophizing. And you clearly didn't read my full post. If someone is putting thought and effort into just the right safety additions to their bike, is it a stretch to assume that they also put a lot of thought and care into riding defensively as well? I pay attention and ride very defensively and I don't think it is enough. Surely its possible to ride defensively AND have two flickiering (not flashing) lights added to my bike (not have the main light flicker as I already mentioned.) This is a risky activity. Lets reduce the risks in all the ways we can. (but still have fun)

I maintain that this particular bike (and any bike with a similar pinprick of a headlight) is less noticeable. I've given my reasons. Am I wrong? Some car manufacturers have taken to adding accent lighting to cars headlights these days to make them more noticeable. Some bike models have started to do it... Some prototype bikes from manufacturers have started to experiment more with front firing lights to be more conspicuous, (the Livewire comes to mind) To Increase the surface area of the light emission means more conspicuity. Especially in the day.

Sitting in the saddle with the headlight on, I can see just as well with H2's bright pin prick light as my really big double headlight wth rings and other do-dads in them that my k1600 has, the lumen output between the two is negligible. But any oncoming traffic will notice the k1600 (or any other big headlight bike) much better and much sooner than the H2. I have noticed this in my own observation in group rides, at the track and on the street. Personally, I would like to do something about this. If you feel its unnecessary then fine. Don't do it.

[cOoTeR]

Good gravy Cooter. You are catastrophizing. And you clearly didn't read my full post. If someone is putting thought and effort into just the right safety additions to their bike, is it a stretch to assume that they also put a lot of thought and care into riding defensively as well? I pay attention and ride very defensively and I don't think it is enough. Surely its possible to ride defensively AND have two flickiering (not flashing) lights added to my bike (not have the main light flicker as I already mentioned.) This is a risky activity. Lets reduce the risks in all the ways we can. (but still have fun)

I maintain that this particular bike (and any bike with a similar pinprick of a headlight) is less noticeable. I've given my reasons. Am I wrong? Some car manufacturers have taken to adding accent lighting to cars headlights these days to make them more noticeable. Some bike models have started to do it... Some prototype bikes from manufacturers have started to experiment more with front firing lights to be more conspicuous, (the Livewire comes to mind) To Increase the surface area of the light emission means more conspicuity. Especially in the day.

Sitting in the saddle with the headlight on, I can see just as well with H2's bright pin prick light as my really big double headlight wth rings and other do-dads in them that my k1600 has, the lumen output between the two is negligible. But any oncoming traffic will notice the k1600 (or any other big headlight bike) much better and much sooner than the H2. I have noticed this in my own observation in group rides, at the track and on the street. Personally, I would like to do something about this. If you feel its unnecessary then fine. Don't do it.

My response was mainly in regards to the second paragraph of your post I quoted. Annoying people on the roadway isn't the best idea. Road rage incidents involving motorcycles happen way to often. There are people wanting to try to restrict motorcycle traffic through thier town in the United States and they are trying to push for bogus laws against motorcyclists. Intentionally setting your bike up to distract others (such as with a headlight modulator) is reckless.

If you want to make your bike more visible using lights I'm all for it. Add as many lights as you want. What I have an issue with is the flashing lights or the ultra bright lights. It's way more than what's needed.

I saw pictures of a couple of bikes either here or on the Facebook page where someone mounted some auxiliary lights to the forks. It looked very similar to the setups often seen on adventure bikes. Might be a good option to look into for more lighting.

[Naudica]

I am actually shocked you guys are being overlooked on your bikes. I have the complete opposite situation here in my area. I get honked at all the time with a thumbs up and people always checking my bike out when i'm driving. I have been stop by the police a few times just to ask me what kind of bike I have (Scared this shit out of me!) I never thought in different parts of the world the bike could be overlooked. My thoughts are be careful if you put strobe lights on or not you are still going to have a chance that an accident can happen. I am going to put a louder exhaust and LED's through out my bike but I know it's not a deterrent from getting into an accident. I am lucky as well with over 19 years of riding on street and not having an accident. I wouldn't put strobe effect on my bike but I would like to see updates on what you are doing because I think it's cool how everyone is making their bike unique for them!!!