[Mad4Bullets]

I typically refrain from obvious modern upgrades as I like to keep the stock vintage appearance of my C5 as much as possible. On occasion however I will dive in if I can get the best of both worlds and the upgrade makes sense. This evening I watched a video from Monu Sagar, my Indian RE Guru.  I can't understand a bloody word of it but his videos are typically easy to figure out. I just love this guy.  Today he fitted a red LED tail light that strobes only when the brakes are applied. I thought this was a great idea in the name of safety. We all know the value of being visible.

The replacement LED projector bulb is much brighter and more dependable than the stock incandescent bulb and throws off no appreciable heat which can break down the plastic lens over time. I just ordered a 2 pack in white as I want the light that shines down over my license plate to be white and not red. Basically the same effect as the original bulb. At just over $2.25 American and free shipping from China, what do I have to lose?

I do a fair amount of evening and night riding in season and increasing my visibility on the road seems to be a step in the right direction.  I thought you all might find this of interest and decided to share it with my community.  The links to the video and the LED bulb options are just below.  Enjoy.

Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXpwarkbWyY

White LED - eBay (US)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-1157-2357-White-LED-Projector-Strobe-Flashing-Tail-Brake-Lights-Lamp-Bulbs/273461261509?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Red LED Options - eBay (US)
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=157+2357+Red+LED+Projector+Strobe+Flashing+Tail+Brake+Lights+Lamp+Bulbs&_sacat=0

[Boxerman]

These would not be legal in the UK.
Regs say "Stop lamps must emit a steady red light".

Frank

[9fingers]

But it would be legal in the USA, I think, and a great idea. Thanks for posting. I just ordered 2 white ones, only 7 left.
9fingers


Just got the cofirmation that they should arrive between Mar 27th and May 7th. Shipping to the international space station, then the moon, then Australia, and then to the USA..............and maybe Japan as well.

[Mad4Bullets]

My delivery time is about the same as yours.  That's okay by me.  I'm a patient man.  They get here when they get here.  I just hope the increased intensity of the white LED doesn't wash out the red tail lamp lens cover.  We shall see.

[9fingers]

I just ordered 2 red ones, just in case.

[heloego]

Putting a flasher unit on my Electra and C5 tail lights was one of the first upgrades on either bike.
Combined with LED tail lights I get a nice steady running light and nice bright flashes when braking.

I definitely recommend the upgrade! 

[GlennF]

I am pretty sure that any flashing light other than a turn indicator is illegal under Australian ADRs unless its some sort of emergency vehicle.  This is probably a good thing in rural areas as otherwise every young bloke would be driving a 4WD that lit up like a xmas tree and be distracting as all hell.

That said we do seem to have new Euro vehicles (Mercedes etc) that have some sort of system fitted that flashes the brake lights (under heavy braking only) as a warning.  Not sure how those slip through but presumably if they are built that way from new they gain an exception.

[Boxerman]

It's bad enough being being behind some one who keeps their foot on the brake in slow moving or stopped traffic with normal brake lights.
One of those would be enough to induce an epilectic fit!

[mike_bike_kite]

That said we do seem to have new Euro vehicles (Mercedes etc) that have some sort of system fitted that flashes the brake lights (under heavy braking only) as a warning.  Not sure how those slip through but presumably if they are built that way from new they gain an exception.

These lights don't meet UK specs but they do meet European specs and these rules currently override the UK's.

These brake lights that flash under emergency braking do seem like a good idea to me though, if they do it all the time then I'd say it's just distracting. I'm a bit mixed on all the aftermarket stuff people put on their bikes and cars. I find super bright Xeon and LED lighting simply blinds me - I appreciate that the other driver can now see over the horizon but I can barely see my handlebars after I've had these lights shine in my eyes. Loud horns are another thing I don't like - I live in a city and folk seem to believe that blasting the horn somehow restores their masculinity. I also dislike loud exhausts, something mildly throaty can sound pleasant but the number of riders going around with what sounds like a straight through pipe just indicates a very small penis in my opinion. They usually say they have them for safety but the riders with the loud exhausts tend to be the ones riding like idiots where I live.

[Richard230]

I am pretty sure that any flashing light other than a turn indicator is illegal under Australian ADRs unless its some sort of emergency vehicle.  This is probably a good thing in rural areas as otherwise every young bloke would be driving a 4WD that lit up like a xmas tree and be distracting as all hell.

That said we do seem to have new Euro vehicles (Mercedes etc) that have some sort of system fitted that flashes the brake lights (under heavy braking only) as a warning.  Not sure how those slip through but presumably if they are built that way from new they gain an exception.

As of 2018, some new BMW motorcycles offer a flashing brake light system also, but it is not legal in the U.S., so we don't get it here.  On the other hand, pulsating headlights are legal.  So go figure?   

Also, oddly BMW uses LED front running lights on their motor scooters in the U.S., but does not offer them on their motorcycles as they do in most other market.   

[Bert Remington]

Per CA DMV (thanks to http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/lightslaws.html)

Rules for deceleration flasher (a), amber flashing brake lights (b), red flashing brake light (c)

25251.5. (c) Any stoplamp or supplemental stoplamp required or permitted by Section 24603 may be equipped so as to flash not more than four times within the first four seconds after actuation by application of the brakes.

Riding from Descanso to SD on the raceway known as Mission Gorge Road, I approached a traffic light intersection while in the right lane with a white pickup behind me.  The traffic light turned Yellow, then quickly Red so I stopped.  A white pickup blew through the Red in the left lane.  I looked behind me and there wasn't any white pickup.

I already had Alla Lighting's brightest (1,000 lumens) Red 1157 LED (yeah I know it makes my license plate Red) but I didn't want it to flash so I bought an 24-LED light to be mounted below the license plate together with an apparently non-compliant flasher.  I don't have any pictures because my engine is waiting for springtime in MN.

A flasher is more effective with LEDs due to their fast on/off but will work for incandescents.

I'm adding a similar light and flasher to the MG.

For the BMW I converted both the tail and brake lights to 1157s, with incandescent tail/brake light (to keep BMW electronics happy) and Red LED tail/flashing brake light.

And my riding strategy?  The MG is based in SD for commuting to Descanso on the freeway and the RE is based in Descanso for fun in the mountains.  If I need to drive on Mission Gorge Road, I take the Windstar.

[mike_bike_kite]

I already had Alla Lighting's brightest (1,000 lumens) Red 1157 LED (yeah I know it makes my license plate Red) but I didn't want it to flash so I bought an 24-LED light to be mounted below the license plate together with an apparently non-compliant flasher. 

In the "olden days" people would get upset with other drivers who'd occasionally leave their rear fog lamps on - these lamps were about 500 lumens. For comparison, the full beam in a standard motorcycle headlamp is 1200 lumens. On your bike, you're effectively shining a full beam permanently into the eyes of any following driver with your 1000 lumen rear light. In most countries that light would be illegal but obviously it depends on where you live. Now you're adding an illegal 24 LED flashing brake light. Don't you have any consideration for other drivers? Out of curiosity, can drivers behind see your indicators now or are they just washed out by all your other lights?

[heloego]

The flasher shown is the one I use. I fitted the tail light with an LED unit 1157.
That flasher module allows for 4 flashes, then goes steady.
Before actually using it on the road I tried it in the driveway at night.

Helpful. Noticeable. But not in any way an annoyance to a following driver.

[Bert Remington]

MBK -- let's parse my designs.

First, the RE.  I expect Alla is exaggerating with 1,000 lumens.  Following the 80-20 rule, that's 800 lumens.  As you can see from the bulb shape, most of that light is directed sidewards, let's say 80% leaving 160 lumens directed rearwards.  Unlike a headlight with both a polished forward-directed reflector and associated clear concentrating lens, the RE taillight is a red injection molded diffusing lens.  As I recall the taillight housing doesn't have a reflector but some of those sidewards lumens are going to get reflected rearwards so maybe total rearwards luminous flux is 320 lumens.  And that's only when the brakes are on.

There are two night-time riding scenarios of interest:

Stop-and-go in heavy traffic -- this can be in business districts where there are many other brighter distracting lights (eg, advertising) or open roads where my RE is just one brake light among many.

Continuous-flow traffic: I want my RE brake light to be noticed when that flow is interrupted.

So from my perspective 320 bright Red lumens is about right for the RE tail/brake light.  But I also wanted a flasher brake light.  No matter what your partner tells you, size matters including lens design.  I also wanted something that sorta fit with the RE's rounded looks and chose the SBL PT-R24 with an SAE Code of STIP 03.  SBL doesn't give lumens but it draws 0.31 amps so it's definitely bright.  I only use the brake light function so my RE only has one tail light.

Yep I've got SBL's Amber LED 1156s, 310 lumens at 0.22 amps, for turn signals.  The bulbs are so long I can't quite seal the cover to the housing.  Still working on improving this solution.  They too light sidewards and rearwards into the RE polished reflector housing.  I needed really bright turn signals so they would be seen when the brakes are on.

While the MG has two big bright LED tail/brake lights, they are somewhat shadowed by the top case mounting base so I added the SBL PT-524 below the license plate so my brake light would be seen by the eager driver of the lifted 4x4 with off-road tires 15 feet behind me.  I included the flasher in hopes the driver would also notice my brake light.

To ensure everyone recognizes me for the scofflaw that I am, I included pictures of my front illumination.

WRT my transportation milieu I invite you to SoCal where you can personally observe the awesomeness of vehicle lighting used for daily driving.  I'm not even close to being a contender.

[mike_bike_kite]

I don't think I made any comment on your headlamp, obviously the red and green front lighting is illegal in the states but it wouldn't adversely affect other drivers. Your 1000 lumen tail light plus your LED light array plus your extra bright indicators do affect other drivers though. It obviously doesn't bother you because these lights aren't shining into your eyes at night however many folk in their 50's and above find their eyes don't adapt as quickly as they used to, especially with these intense bright lights. My eyes are fine with normal vehicle lighting but these new aftermarket lights cause me real problems. I had a small incident before Christmas when riding along in nose to tail city traffic, an oncoming car went over a speed bump and it's LED lights caught me full in the face. I was blinded for a moment and unfortunately a guy chose that moment to run across the road in front of me. Fortunately I missed him and rode through his trench coat instead. I didn't see him at all, in fact I couldn't see anything, I just felt the jacket come over my headlamp and heard a loud scream in my ear. I'm sure you feel it's a laugh to ignore the rules on lighting but those laws are actually there for a reason. It might be one of your kids crossing the road ...

In your example above where you chose to stop at a yellow light but the pickup behind overtook you - how did the brighter brake lights help? He obviously saw you because he changed lanes to overtake. Was he was simply tired of being blinded by your lights? And why do you feel it's so bad that this driver ignores the "law" on stopping for a yellow but it's fine for you to ignore the laws on front lighting, rear lighting and the lighting on your reg plate?

[Bert Remington]

MBK -- I'm saddened by your story but pleased there were no injuries to people or property.

I concur nighttime glare from oncoming traffic is a significant problem especially for 50+ drivers.  The best vehicle-oriented response is yearly inspections; and broader law enforcement, neither of which is popular with taxpayers.  The best driver-oriented response is unimpaired and undistracted driving; clean windows as delivered by the vehicle's OEM; yearly ophthalmologic examinations with corrective actions as prescribed; and vision aids as appropriate.

WRT to owners modifying the OEMs lighting design, a major reason is to mitigate the cost-driven and feature-driven options offered by the OEMs.  You can only afford an S model but like the wheels on the SEL model?  Buy the S and drive to Discount Tire for some better wheels.  It's apparent with the UCE models RE really didn't try hard to capture the US market.  If it wasn't for Kevin and like dealers we probably wouldn't be riding UCEs today.  RE's lighting really isn't adequate for a 24-hour riding regime which is why so many of us are improving it with modern technology.  And when you compare our improvements with the two-frontlight, two-rearlight vehicles surrounding us, in most cases we're barely keeping up.  Which we want and need to do so we can keep riding and contributing to this forum.

[mike_bike_kite]

I think I agree with everything you say there. Apologies for pressing the subject but it is something that affects me quite badly. Enjoy your riding.

[Mad4Bullets]

Good evening all. I Just wanted to follow up on the strobing LED tail lamp installation. As you may recall I ordered the white LED option as I wanted the light washing down over the license plate to be be white and not red. So that I could have the best of both worlds I used a red Sharpie to color the majority of the LED's lens red leaving only a small strip along the bottom clear.  You have to do a bit of figuring first as the bulb housing inserts into the lens housing and rotates slightly to lock it is place. It's not difficult really.  It only took about 15 minutes from start to finish and I'm pleased with the results. The LED doesn't wash out the exterior lens at all. It's not at all obnoxiously bright and the strobing action is certainly an attention getter.

[HUdson51]

I tried the strobing led tail light bulbs. They work fine when the bike is not running but they strobe constantly when the bike is running. Law enforcement will take a dim view of that. Anybody have any ideas why they do operate that way? I believe it must be the increased voltage to the bulb when the bike is running.

[Richard230]

BMW has just started to offer a system in the EU on their motorcycles that flashes the brake light when the rider is stopping. The harder the stop, the faster the flashing.  But apparently it is not approved by DOT for usage in the U.S. yet.  However, a letter in my newspaper yesterday mentioned that a motorcycle cop in a local city had such a system installed on his copcycle and thought it was a great safety device.

[Mad4Bullets]

I have not experienced the tail lamp strobing full time as you describe, but my eyes are on the road ahead.  I'll have to ask the wife to follow me around a bit and report back.  Currently, at idle the tail lamp only actuates and strobes when either the front, rear or both brakes are actuated.

[Bert Remington]

The Boys from the Balkans (Slovenia) have a Smart Brake Module (https://safer-turn.com/smart-brake-module/) that flashes brake lamp(s) upon deceleration and would be easy to install in the RE UCEs.  $79 at Amazon.

[suitcasejefferson]

I have both a headlight modulator and brake light modulator on my Kawasaki Vulcan 750. I may put them on some other bikes as well. For decades I have been in the habit of just barely touching the front brake lever over and over again to flash the brake lights. That has to be legal anywhere, because nothing has been done to modify the light. You can also modify your turn signals to function as four way flashers, and in my state, those can be used at any speed below 30 mph. So you can flip them on before coming to a stop, and leave them on until you have reached 30 mph. That tends to stop tailgating. I also have a headlight modulator. In the U.S. you cannot have a headlight that turns completely on and off, but you can have one that goes from high beam to low beam several times a second without ever going completely out. I don't know how the cell phone problem is in the UK, but it is a nightmare in the U.S. Drivers using cell phones kill way more people every year than drunk drivers ever did. And yet they are reluctant to pass laws against using them while driving.

[Bert Remington]

MBK -- hey that's a good thought.  A couple of diodes and the SBM could automatically flash the rear turn lamps as well as the brake lamp(s).  You probably wouldn't be ticketed for the over-30mph limitation.

Do you have an override circuit so the turn signal function takes precedence over the 4-way flasher function?  I think I could create one with a timers.shop programmable relay and a regular DPDT relay.  Just a thought.

The headlight modulators I'm aware of change intensity (eg 100%<=>40%) rather than beams which is why they don't work with most LEDs.  Changing beams would work with LEDs but I'm not sure that would meet the always-on requirement.