[t120rbullet]

If you seriously imagine most or even any car drivers are going to notice hand signals, let alone know what they mean, you must be living in a parallel universe where all other road users are trained and licensed by bikers.
Or you have a death wish.
Or you're simply a whacky dreamer dangerously detached from reality.
As for wiring them so they're permanently on - see above.   

And on the other hand if you think for one minuet that any car drivers are going to notice your turn signals your living in a parallel universe also.
Face it, your invisible to anything but yourself when your on the road and the second you think your not it's not going to matter what kind of signaling you do.
CJ

[2bikebill]

This is more or less true. That I am invisible to many motorists has never been doubted or denied by me. That flashing turn signals more clearly signal my intent than hand signals to those motorists who do see me - this too is true.

[cyrusb]

Yeah, a lot of truth to that. You might as well just wave to people here in the NY metro area. Maybe 1% of the drivers know what a hand signal is.

[2bikebill]

Do they still do hand signals on the motorcycle test? Over forty years since i took my test, we only had hand signals then! Oh, and a bloke walking in front with a red flag of course....
No theory test first either. You got on the bike and rode round a route while a bloke with a clipboard spied on you. At one point he'd jump out in front of you and you had to do an emergency stop.  Silly bugger!  A few questions from the Highway Code and that was it. You were let loose! 
Mind you, some of the twats I see driving cars. Nothing can have changed that much....  Do they have cars in the USA with no reverse gear? Plenty of em round here in summer. City cars far from home.

[1Blackwolf1]

  We had much the same test here in the 70's through 80's.  And we had to use the three major hand signals as part of passing the test.  But agree most "kids" wouldn't have a clue as to what they are.  I've had cagers cut me off no matter what signal I used, hand or blinkers. 

[oldsalt]

If you seriously imagine most or even any car drivers are going to notice hand signals, let alone know what they mean, you must be living in a parallel universe where all other road users are trained and licensed by bikers.
Or you have a death wish.
Or you're simply a whacky dreamer dangerously detached from reality.
As for wiring them so they're permanently on - see above.   

Pretty good rant.  As you added name calling into your rant it should be worth at least 3 extra points, but I'll let ace.cafe make the decision as to actual score. 

Here in the U.S. of A. turn signals on autos were not all that common as standard equipment from the factory until the very early 50s.  My 50 Stude or 40 Ford does not posess them. Sure a 39 Buick or Cad or Packard had them but certinally not common.  I believe most had them by 1953.  When I started riding on the road more than 50 years ago there were few cars with turnsignals.  Bikes?  Seems it was not until the later 70s that they were 'mandated' for all two wheelers.  Maybe earlier, but you get the point.  There were a lot of years that car drivers were useing flashers and bikers were useing hand signals and were sharing the same road.  You may be 100% correct that few drivers, nowadays, would recognise a hand signal.  But I have my reservations based on the fact that I've never owned a bike, until I bought the Bullet, that had flashers.  Have never used them.  Honest, I really believe that IN DAYLIGHT hand signals are better.  If a person really believed that hand signals were safer to use at night he could properly be considered a whacky dreamer.   

In my estimation the only signalling device on a motorcycle that the majority of car drivers will ever pay attention to would be something on the order of exploding flares or or flame thrower.   

[2bikebill]

"....In my estimation the only signalling device on a motorcycle that the majority of car drivers will ever pay attention to would be something on the order of exploding flares or or flame thrower....."

Or as someone has mentioned in another thread - a large caliber handgun  

Early cars here had "idiot sticks"  -  an almost invisible semaphore arm with a cosy 6 volt glow which lifted from out the side of the vehicle, as long as you thumped the door pillar from the inside of the car!

Hand signals in daylight on a quiet road - yes, perhaps a good belt & braces approach. Try it in town......   and the best of luck  

Name calling? I didn't think so. Heavy Irony always a little risky online of course, but I've been running with those Enfield boys. They aint fragile. 

[enfield freddy]

i made one of those kits up , http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=3315 , just set it for 30 seconish , seems to be a good backup incase i forget to turn them off