[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.