11-06-2019, 03:21 AM
I'm a firm believer in the "Triangle of Light" in the front of a bike for visibility.
Since much of my riding since returning to work is splitting lanes in heavy traffic, I try to think of the point of view of a driver glancing in his mirror before making a move in traffic. A single headlight in his mirror blends into heavy traffic, and looks like half of a car.
Because of this, I have two small LED lights below and to the sides of my main headlight to distinguish me as a motorcycle. Both bikes have a similar round headlight, and both run the same LED bulb. Both bikes run similar auxiliary single LED floodlights. Both have stock exhausts and I'm riding at relatively low speed, so it would be hard for a driver to hear me approach on either bike.
Here's where they are a bit different, and observing how cars react to me in traffic, I've found something kind of interesting.
On the Bonneville, it was easy to mount the auxiliary lights on an aftermarket turn signal relocation bracket, which puts them just outside the forks about two inches below the headlight.
On the CB, the aux lights are attached to the fender mounts, which put them outside the forks but much lower than the lights on the Bonneville.
Both bikes are about the same size in terms of visible frontal mass, and I wear the same gear regardless of bike. But, on my commute, I've observed something interesting. On the Bonneville, as I approach cars while splitting, a few here and there will make an overt effort to move over to give me more room. But, on the CB, a significantly larger number of cars will move over.
The only view that cars have of me approaching is by looking in their right side view mirrors and seeing my lights. Based on this, I wonder if it would appear that the light pattern of the light triangle being spaced further apart may be more visible as a motorcycle than the more closely spaced lights.
Since much of my riding since returning to work is splitting lanes in heavy traffic, I try to think of the point of view of a driver glancing in his mirror before making a move in traffic. A single headlight in his mirror blends into heavy traffic, and looks like half of a car.
Because of this, I have two small LED lights below and to the sides of my main headlight to distinguish me as a motorcycle. Both bikes have a similar round headlight, and both run the same LED bulb. Both bikes run similar auxiliary single LED floodlights. Both have stock exhausts and I'm riding at relatively low speed, so it would be hard for a driver to hear me approach on either bike.
Here's where they are a bit different, and observing how cars react to me in traffic, I've found something kind of interesting.
On the Bonneville, it was easy to mount the auxiliary lights on an aftermarket turn signal relocation bracket, which puts them just outside the forks about two inches below the headlight.
On the CB, the aux lights are attached to the fender mounts, which put them outside the forks but much lower than the lights on the Bonneville.
Both bikes are about the same size in terms of visible frontal mass, and I wear the same gear regardless of bike. But, on my commute, I've observed something interesting. On the Bonneville, as I approach cars while splitting, a few here and there will make an overt effort to move over to give me more room. But, on the CB, a significantly larger number of cars will move over.
The only view that cars have of me approaching is by looking in their right side view mirrors and seeing my lights. Based on this, I wonder if it would appear that the light pattern of the light triangle being spaced further apart may be more visible as a motorcycle than the more closely spaced lights.