High Beams and Loud Pipes

[trent]

The aiming of your headlight determines whether you blind oncoming drivers. I occasionally do a check by pointing at a wall at night, flashing both beams, and making adjustments accordingly. If you are pointing high and to the left that is not good.

I also try to stay aware as I am riding by noting where my beam is hitting on signs, vehicles I am following, etc. The darker the stretch of road the easier to see your beam.

I don't think the aiming of your headlights is the only determining factor .....

But I do remember drivers Ed teacher telling us if on coming traffic headlights are really bright to look at right side of road, that was you can still see where your going and not get blinded by the lights.

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[argonsagas]

]The aiming of your headlight determines whether you blind oncoming drivers.[/B] I occasionally do a check by pointing at a wall at night, flashing both beams, and making adjustments accordingly. If you are pointing high and to the left that is not good.

I also try to stay aware as I am riding by noting where my beam is hitting on signs, vehicles I am following, etc. The darker the stretch of road the easier to see your beam.

Very true words.

It is also a VERY important factor in road safety as it determines what you see ahead....or do not see until too late.


Most drivers and probably most riders seldom, if ever, have their headlight aim checked and/or corrected.

[trent]

https://www.slashgear.com/1021654/the-real-reason-why-headlights-seem-to-be-getting-brighter/

[oldGSfan]

Sometimes I flash approaching traffic if it looks like they have an opportunity to pull a left turn in front of me. If that doesn't get their attention I flick my high beam on and off real quick.

[limeex2]

I ran my Kaw Z1 exhaust wide open for several years after the baffle ejected itself during a redline run. HOWEVER, I used to push it halfway down the block before starting and then idle away in low gears; no warming up before riding.

On the way home, I'd get it up to 50 mph, kill the engine and coast the last 1/8 mile home. Setting off one car alarm after another might have been fun, but not on my own block. Even a dog knows not to shyte where it eats!

How about all those high mounted "fog" lights on monster truck wannabes? They get behind you in traffic and you wanna be taking off your jacket and hanging it over the rear view mirror. I don't miss driving one bit!

I only wish my assholian neighbor would only cruise through with his open piped American made bike. Why do Harley riders rev the bike between gears while down shifting? Is it in the owners manual? Also, the the people with extremely bright LED lights running on high beam during the day is just as bad as at night.

[argonsagas]

I only wish my assholian neighbor would only cruise through with his open piped American made bike. Why do Harley riders rev the bike between gears while down shifting? Is it in the owners manual? Also, the the people with extremely bright LED lights running on high beam during the day is just as bad as at night.

Other than to make MORE noise?

The answer is simple: matching RPMs to the lower gear position makes for easier shift changes.

This procedure used to be done by most drivers of all types of vehicles, especially heavy trucks, that had manual transmissions.
It often included a release of the clutch while increasing the RPMs.

It is called double-clutching.

It works the other way, too, by momentarily allowing RPMs to drop when up-shifting.

Things got much easier when synchromesh was introduced and mashing gears was greatly reduced





That said, if you develop a good "ear" for your machine, as long as it is in motion.you can shift gears up or down without using the clutch at all.
I still do it occasionally

[bwringer]

Even with LED upgrades and careful attention to beam pattern and aiming, the headlights on my old bikes are pretty much incapable of offending anyone, high beam or no.

My newest bike, a 2015 Yamaha FJ-09, has excellent LED headlights from the factory, and it will indeed cause issues for oncoming drivers. On low beam, only the left headlight illuminates (on high you get both), and I've had several concerned citizens try to tell me one of the headlights is burned out.

All that said, I generally ride with low beam on, which gives me the option to increase my visibility when needed by flipping the high beam on (usually accompanied with a side-to-side weave for more visibility). You just have to be careful with this not to flash the high beam; turn it on and leave it on until you're past the moron in position to murder you. If you flash the high beam, it can often be misinterpreted as "go ahead and do whatever stupid thing you were contemplating". Or sometimes "hey, wanna fight?"

If you turn the high beam on and leave it on, it's usually more like you just appeared in their awareness, if they happen to have any awareness tuned to something besides their phone screen.

[Grimly]

Since I painted the headlight glass yellow, I've noticed drivers definitely pay more attention when I'm approaching.
It used to be not that unusual thirty / forty years ago as several cars would go to France for summer holidays and the yellow was compulsory over there, so headlights got painted or had yellow plastic covers put on them - that, coupled with French cars visiting the UK/Ireland meant that yellow headlights were occasionally seen.
Now, it's most unusual, and definitely gets noticed.
Selective Yellow is the phrase for googling / wikipedia.