gary55
Well-Known Member
Cree 15000 lumen with rechargable battery pack 31 bucks on ebay. 4 settings blinding, not as blinding, acceptable, and flash.
I live in the city and it's quite bright here at night. I can see well in the dark so I have enjoyed alot of driving at night with no lights at all. I have put on some lighting systems I made myself, but nothing holds up to the hard shocks and vibration. Batteries go bad pretty fast from the shock and shaking of a bicycle at high speeds on rough roads. Factory made systems arent much better and are very expensive. I like having lights because then I can drive like a motorcyle and be assertive at intersections at night. With no lights, the only given is that they do not see you and dont know you are they until you creep up behind them from the right side and they hear the engine.
For my next build I want to put a pretty strong laser and widen the beam to about 5 to 7 inches wide and have it aiming at the road about 20 - 30 feet in front of me. This way, when I am on the right side of and behind a car, they will understand I am passing them on the right near the curb. I saw a picture of a laser that projects a grid onto the road in front of the bicycle so that any uneven surfaces show up immediately. The product was never completed, but I would like to try to modify a laser to project such a grid.
As far as riding in the dark goes with no lights, the only time I had a problem was when a motorcyclist going really fast with no headlights almost ran me over. I could hear something coming from behind me, and only thanks to his tail light reflecting off of the ground, I saw him coming and quickly moved across the double line into the oncoming lane which was empty. Still yet he brushed my overloaded backpack with tools and a huge grinder as he passed. I didnt even lose control and went up on the sidewalk and was going another way when he circled back to see who he had hit. He didn't find anything, let him have bad dreams about it at night. ;-)
Those lasers are just very underpowered for the use they are meant for, a former friend bought one, and I thought hey cool, but looking at it in real life had me second guessing it, on pavement it was relatively bright, but on black top it's just very dark, and while I haven't seen it from a cars point of view, but I'd assume it will be even less noticeable. And really... Nobody looks at the ground around the object for strange bike Lane markings, they are glancing at the bike animal person and steering either away or towards the bike animal and completes the task as intended.A motorcyclist with no headlight driving at night?! thats just asking for trouble & a bad accident. Its practically suicide if you ask me. I would never get on a motorcycle with a broken or lack of a headlight even durring the day. Motorcycles are actually required by law in pretty much all US states to have a headlight & taillight on night or day so they are more visible to other traffic. With motorized bikes lights are required at night but aren't entirely required during the day but front & back reflectors are a good idea if your lights arent bright enough for daytime use.
I've been getting by with my Topeak Aura light set for nigt time & since they double as reflectors I don't feel guilty about leaving them off during the day. Oh & there are laser lights you can get that project two lines of red on the ground of both sides of the bike about the width of a bike lane to show where cars behind you should pass. I thought about getting those since I ride to the side of the road to let faster traffic pass me.
Those lasers are just very underpowered for the use they are meant for, a former friend bought one, and I thought hey cool, but looking at it in real life had me second guessing it, on pavement it was relatively bright, but on black top it's just very dark, and while I haven't seen it from a cars point of view, but I'd assume it will be even less noticeable. And really... Nobody looks at the ground around the object for strange bike Lane markings, they are glancing at the bike animal person and steering either away or towards the bike animal and completes the task as intended.
I just don't see such an object being an investment anymore, unless it's pitch black outside, and the ground is white concrete, and the driver doesn't use headlights that overcome what light is actually being put on the ground by the laser.
Don't get me wrong, could have been a super cheap China house special, oh wait that's all of them...
A motorcyclist with no headlight driving at night?! thats just asking for trouble & a bad accident. Its practically suicide if you ask me. I would never get on a motorcycle with a broken or lack of a headlight even durring the day. Motorcycles are actually required by law in pretty much all US states to have a headlight & taillight on night or day so they are more visible to other traffic. With motorized bikes lights are required at night but aren't entirely required during the day but front & back reflectors are a good idea if your lights arent bright enough for daytime use.
I've been getting by with my Topeak Aura light set for nigt time & since they double as reflectors I don't feel guilty about leaving them off during the day. Oh & there are laser lights you can get that project two lines of red on the ground of both sides of the bike about the width of a bike lane to show where cars behind you should pass. I thought about getting those since I ride to the side of the road to let faster traffic pass me.
Hey Gary,Cree 15000 lumen with rechargable battery pack 31 bucks on ebay. 4 settings blinding, not as blinding, acceptable, and flash.