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My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

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Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#81

Post by subscribed »

bartread wrote: post #75
braunshedd wrote: post #71

When I was commuting daily in the SF fog, I discovered that putting on of these [1] on my helmet did wonders to keep cars further off my tail. It moves the brake light up to eye level for people in SUVs and also triggers on engine braking. Wish it were cheaper, but was a worthwhile investment for me. Also, consider looking into airbag vests if you ride regularly. Also expensive but (supposedly) make a huge difference…

That is a great tip. Thank you! I wonder if they’ll ship to the UK?

I've seen several of these on the few riders down here, so I guess yes, one way or another.

Also a helmet cam does wonders for wannabe-tailgaters

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#82

Post by SequoiaHope »

braunshedd wrote: post #71

When I was commuting daily in the SF fog, I discovered that putting on of these [1] on my helmet did wonders to keep cars further off my tail. It moves the brake light up to eye level for people in SUVs and also triggers on engine braking. Wish it were cheaper, but was a worthwhile investment for me. Also, consider looking into airbag vests if you ride regularly. Also expensive but (supposedly) make a huge difference…

I helped Alex invent that product! I built the first prototype that helped him get funding and hand assembled some of the first PCB designs. My (old) name is on the patent.

I’m glad to see this was already posted. I wear mine when I ride my 1500w ebike around and I feel so much safer with it. It’s really bright too!

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#83

Post by topsecret »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #66
Reason077 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is mandatory in many countries, not just Australia. Europe, Japan, Brazil, etc, all require ABS on new motorcyles.

"Europe" is not and never has been a country to my knowledge.

Would you prefer to read a full list of EU member countries instead? As well as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, ABS is also required in the UK.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#84

Post by vzaliva »

tiew9Vii wrote: post #77
Glyptodon wrote: post #70

My motorcycle pet peeve is that if you ride bicycles routinely the control differences between bikes and motorcycles become potentially dangerous, especially while riding the motorcycle. I'm not sure how to align their controls more, but if your bike has a rotary handle shifter and one day on the motorcycle you "shift" with the throttle, it's not going to go well. There are a number of other possible control goofs yo…

I regularly swap between a scooter and motorcycle, owning both. The big difference being left hand leaver on a motorcycle is the clutch, rear brake is right foot, on a scooter, no clutch so the left hand leaver is the rear break. When I first got the scooter I was expecting the obvious accidental muscle memory confusion with the left leaver when swapping vehicles. For some reason it just never happened, never acciden…

Another problem is that on most bycicles right leaver is the REAR brake, while on motoryclces it FRONT. It make difference when braking in turns. I was actually considering swapping my bike brakes left to right but it turns out one of the cables is too short. :(

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#85

Post by progman32 »

Glyptodon wrote: post #70

My motorcycle pet peeve is that if you ride bicycles routinely the control differences between bikes and motorcycles become potentially dangerous, especially while riding the motorcycle. I'm not sure how to align their controls more, but if your bike has a rotary handle shifter and one day on the motorcycle you "shift" with the throttle, it's not going to go well. There are a number of other possible control goofs yo…

I standardize all my two wheeled vehicles to the motorcycle layout for this reason. It bothers my push bike friends to an amusing degree but it's much safer for me. Plus I feel I have greater control of the critical front brake with my most dextrous and strong hand.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#86

Post by jajko »

mygnu wrote: post #46
OptionOfT wrote: post #43

> BMW’s dynamic brake light, for example, flashes during emergency braking to alert trailing drivers, greatly enhancing road safety. Mind you, that this is not enabled in all countries. In the USA the rear fog lights turn on in addition to the brake lights under heavy braking, as flashing the lights weren't allowed. They remain on until you no longer depress the brakes. Unsure if they're allowed right now, or whether…

only flashes on heavy braking, normal use is not affected

I dont understand why exactly this isnt mandatory for past 2 decades in regulated markets like EU.

Over easter I had the displeasure of driving cca 1500km road with family and we experienced quite a few 130kmh -> full stop without warning situations that one barely manages even when breaking full and heavily relies on all others doing the same. In one of the situations a car right in front of us didnt manage and hit already-crashed cars in front of it in billiard style, plastics and glass flying everywhere, luckily nobody was injured but cars were in pieces.

Second case next day - again full stop out of blue, ahead, we & after us managed within 3-4m of each other, but cars after that didnt, again billiard that travelled all the way up to us (we ended up with few scratches on back spoiler, I moved our car a bit ahead when I heard big bangs behind, avoiding bigger damage to us).

One only has a split second to realize how quickly that car ahead is closing in in such scenarios if you dont have other info. Could save hundreds of lives each year easily and easy to implement.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#87

Post by Etheryte »

mygnu wrote: post #12
Etheryte wrote: post #8

Out of curiosity, wouldn't an accelerometer alone not work for this purpose? I see you've hooked it up with engine RPM as well, but realistically you want to indicate when you're slowing down, no matter the reason, right? Is there something I'm fundamentally missing here? This is a great idea though, and definitely something that more bikes should come stock with. There's a very clear benefit for safety.

Thank you for your question, it does not hook with the engine RPM, but I did have an issue with the sample rate syncing with the engine rpm therefore picking up noise, I solved that issue with randomizing the sample interval with pseudo random numbers.

Ah okay, I thought I must be missing something. Cool product, I hope it does well.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#88

Post by Muromec »

wolrah wrote: post #73
abfan1127 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my US mazda cx5 center brake light flashes when you press the brakes.

> my US mazda cx5 center brake light flashes when you press the brakes. That is not a factory feature, it's almost certainly a dealer-installed piece of junk like this ( https://pulseprotects.com/product-info/ ) which the dealer almost certainly charged a stupid amount of money for, and as noted it's not actually legal in the US. Around me the local Hyundai/Kia chain loves to install those, and I hate them.

Doesn't seem to be illegal enough if dealers are installing them

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#89

Post by bell-cot »

foobarian wrote: post #56
bell-cot wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you drive a manual in a hilly area, or a city with poorly-coordinated traffic lights, it can be an extremely frequent event. Not that trying to shed tailgaters or trigger-happy brake lights are foolproof. A couple decades ago, my car was totaled by a rear-end collision. I was stopped and stuck in the traffic at a red light. The at-fault driver popped over a little hill with her nose stuck in a map - failing to not…

Tbh I find my manual gearbox car not able to slow very hard at all with engine braking. However it's admittedly not a Diesel engine.

Having driven (and engine braked) both diesel and gas manuals - yes, a diesel is much better at slowing "very hard". Beware of doing that if someone is close or inattentive behind you.

With either one, any need-to-brake situation gets more complex - you need to decide "brake pedal, engine, or both?". But I'm not driving manuals because I want driving to be super-simple.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#90

Post by beloch »

braunshedd wrote: post #71

When I was commuting daily in the SF fog, I discovered that putting on of these [1] on my helmet did wonders to keep cars further off my tail. It moves the brake light up to eye level for people in SUVs and also triggers on engine braking. Wish it were cheaper, but was a worthwhile investment for me. Also, consider looking into airbag vests if you ride regularly. Also expensive but (supposedly) make a huge difference…

Motorcycle fatality rates have been trending upwards, not downwards[1]. Brake lights on helmets may illuminate one of the culprits: An ever increasing number of American trucks with poor visibility. Sitting on a bike, you're even shorter than a pedestrian and more likely to be completely out of sight. Perhaps its time to start regulating for better visibility, as Europe has done.

[1]https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-motorcyc...

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