High beams

[Mark Walker]

I think this has been discussed before but I was just wondering what people's opinions were about high beams? I only ask as, while filtering (legally) between some traffic yesterday afteroon (in daylight) a kind motorist tried to deliberately block my passage and knock me off my bike by driving at me.....when I went back to his window to inquire as to his actions he shouted at me for having my high beams on......I told him that it was to ensure people like him saw me although perhaps it didn't worked as he had tried to ram me.....he then just started shouting at me about having my highbeams on, so I took the moral high ground ( :rolleyes: ), called him a f*cking pr*ck and when on my merry way.........

Am I being a knob having my highbeams on or does everyone else do it to ensure their visibility........I generally turn them off at night though....I'm not that stupid...... ;)

[Paranoid Dave]

some idiots will try to block because they can or because you are a bike. coming down the A12 a while back with nonnie, traffic had stopped for an accident and both lanes were still and drivers had got out as miles of jam. We filtered through the middle (because we could) and one idiot on his mobile stood beside his car with the door open blocking the middle of the road, he saw us and did nothing, only after shouting our intentions to get though several times and very loudly did he finally move and he didn't look happy about doing that.

Yes your lights will make you more visable in daylight but also harder to judge your speed. Next time you are at a junction waiting to pull out and see a vehicle coming with lights on, notice how much harder it is to guess the speed compared to normal vehicles. Personally i don't put lights on until night as i'd rather be seen than seen in the assumption "i can pull out before he gets here" by some idiot in a metal box.

[paul620sie]

IMO high beams can be a problem in daylight so i stick to low beam.

The biggest problem is with older people, as you age your reaction time slow including pupil dialation i'm told. So an older person can be dazzeled in daylight by a high beam where as younger people arn't as thier pupils react quicker.

Soon, legilation, will force all cars to have daytime running lights so all cars and bikes will be running about with thier low beam lights on regardless of day or night.

[Mark Walker]

perhaps from now on i should use my low beams then to avoid upsetting the inbred retards that drive around the back streets of Gloucester......although I still don't think it is a good enough reason to try and ram someone......

[slob]

If he doesn't use his mirrors he might lose them, would be my guess.
The thing about headlights is that when you fill in the insurance form after the prick has knocked you off, it asks what lights were showing on your vehicle. 'My headlight was on dip beam(as recommended for motorcyles in the Highway Code) The car driver did not indicate and clearly failed to check his mirrors'
As a result I almost always ride with my lights on, except when the Sun is very low in the sky and behind me(The US military experimented with putting spot lights on the wings of aircraft during WW2, to make them 'disappear')

[Chappers]

I always have my low beams on during the day as I don't wish to take the risk of some other roaduser not seeing me - you can't always predict what another roaduser is going to do.

There's no harm in having them on and it may just be the flicker of my lights that catches the eye of some roaduser who's not really concentrating or is tired and bored of their journey - better to be safe than sorry :)

[MotoNik]

I always use main if I'm filtering between two lanes of traffic, but I tend not to if I'm filtering where there's on-coming traffic. Helps avoid idiots pulling in to gaps as you ride alongside them.

As for pulling out to obstruct your path, last time someone did that to me they got a large carbon-knuckled Belstaff swung in their general direction. I would personally view that as using a motor vehicle as an offensive weapon and take that sort of driving as being a personal threat to my safety and well-being. Not to be taken lightly IMO.

If I were you I'd carry on with main beam regardless - too many mypoic idiots out there, you've got to give yourself the best chance you can.

Nik
Grrrrrr :twisted:

[The Kevlar Kid]

Where your approaching from behind traffic only (eg motorways / dual carriageways) main beam all the time...

Only way to get them to see you - never even have a near miss when I'm on mains....

When you've got traffic coming towards you..... obviously dipped beam..

[cerebus]

I always have dipped beam on, never full, but then I do have a foglight either side of my headlight as well :D They are set at roughly car mirror height to aid filtering. Seem to work quite well, though people in black porsches seem to be drawn like moths to the beams and try to kill me quite often.

Cerebus the illuminated

[sjr999r]

low beam for me............Roof R010 helmet with black visor,loud race cans and loadsa revs...........does the trick.....plus it looks and sound the mutts nuts....even if i sayso myself,hehehehe

[Zimbo]

Low beam for me, full beam will get you noticed but it's almost impossible to judge the approach speed and distance of a bike on full beam so you're actually more likely to be knocked off I reckon!
Having said that, i have in the past used high beam when filtering between lanes on a slow motorway in very bright sunlight, but that I'd only do in very exceptional circumstances!

[Fosse Foxfight]

Where your approaching from behind traffic only (eg motorways / dual carriageways) main beam all the time...

Only way to get them to see you - never even have a near miss when I'm on mains....

When you've got traffic coming towards you..... obviously dipped beam..
Full beam approaching vehicles from behind is inconsiderate and stupid. As somebody pointed out earlier all your doing is causing over dilation of the person in fronts pupils. This will either have the effect of making them less able to see ahead and thus cause danger to them and other road users or else they'll stick their rear view mirror on night dimmer setting and then lose track of where you are. It serves no purpose apart from being a tad of an arse...and gives bikers a bad name fro not observing correct highway procedures.........just like the pushbike Nazis!!

ta ra

[claicerrig]

Never ever ride withy my lights on................

Ever since on a ride out where we had lights, on a car driver turned right :eek: :eek: straight across our path taking my mate out and nearly me

When asked by the police whay she turned Her words were " the Bikes flashed me so i thought they were letting me turn".

Neither of us had flashed but the road surface was a little bummpy so the lights moving up and down gave her the impression of flashing :confused:

That my reason why i never ride wth lights on Dipped or full unless its Dark :cool:

[Zimbo]

On the other hand, I never ride with my light OFF. Last time I did so, in Scotland on the banks of Loch Ness, doing a steady ton and a BMW (car)decided to overtake two other cars heading directly for me. It isn't a wide road, but we passed each other 3 abreast somehow. Didn't throttle off though, so we passed at around 170mph, i had a vid camera on my tank and captured the scene nicely. He simply hadn't seen me when he made his overtake, by the time he did he was totally comitted.
I'll never ride with lights off again.

[Scotty]

ive clearly had ebough to drin kto try and insult everyone now like , so i though id have a go on this thread an all

where to being

oooh errm yeah tend t ride wi just side lights most of the time but thank god (whoever he is or is it she, how very pc) i have the option to turn em off nanny running lights idea , recently i was rideing in a group ( i know this is a rare'ty especially in the north east since nobody can be arsed (me included) t be a rep) and id turned side lights off an all but our glorious leader couldnt keep tabs on us slow uns like , however i remember the monsterous monster rideout of nationalness which ahd a lot like everyone on dip beam
ii would have like to think in that situation that every-one was super aware of everyone around em on that sort of toole aboot

umm anyway filterig yeah dip beam is the way forward in daylight no i mean side light and dip beam for filtering

[spacemonkey]

Right, my turn.

When sat in my car in the London traffic, I have been amazed by the sudden appearance of bikes in the filtering lane. Quite simply, even with low bbeams i can't see them, especially the quiet ones, and i normally drive with the roof down so am more in touch with my surroundings than most morons. When they are on high beam, the flash catches my mirrors and then my eyes, so you can't miss it. I know they are there. The approach speed in this situation doesn't mean squat as the cars are crawling along and the bikes aren't much faster. At no time am I ever blinded by the light and go careering into a bus stop full of schoolies and nuns. Last time i looked there was a big yellow ligh tin the sky far brighter and dazzling than any 60W main beam and nobody objects to that!!

Now, when I'm on the bike I always ride full beam in the daylight as I want to be noticed. If they see me by the light, then at least they know I'm there. I have never seen any sudden blindness cases occuring in front of me... Some situations I flick on to low beam, but always wack it on high when filtering. When filtering through a prticularily tight traffic queue I aim the light at the mirrors and they get the message and most non-comatose drivers move aside slightly which I ALWAYS acknowledge with a nod etc. This I believe might encourage them to let other bikers through on other occasions. The trouble though is that there are a heck of a lot of cars in London driving around without side mirrors, or just stubs of shattered plastic hanging off, or those that are simply aimed at the driver for applying makeup or doing hair etc. For these I have my loud exhaust. The result of all this is that I have never been knocked off my bike. There have been a few close shaves with the terminally cretinous which wouldn't even see me I was waving a flag under their noses. They even try to get me when I'm in my car, so it's not just an anti biker thing, it's just a case of they shouldn't be anywhere near a road. However, when I'm out of london, down in Christchurch for example, they aren't as used to bikers filtering past as much, so I use my main beam to draw attention again. So far, it's worked....

But heck, if you don't agree with main beams or day lights, then don't do it, but don't tell me off for using everything at my disposal to stay alive during my 75 mile a day trip around London. Thankyou and goodnight.

[Scotty]

urgh lowd pipes are the way forward then

i do live in a different world up in the north east like, with less rarrrrr i would like to think

[Nonnie]

I can't turn my lights off. I've never thought of using main beam in daylight though. When filtering in slow traffic I think the sound of a little revving on my termies is enough for them to notice. I get just behind then if I haven't caught their eye in the mirror, it's a fist full of rev just so they get the message. Saying this, ED on the 999 with his exhaust in traffic? It's like Moses parting the Red Sea!