On the first Monday of the month, the Airheads group meets at the Silver Gulch microbrewery. If I happen to be in town, I generally try to make it out there for the get together. During the Summer, we get visitors at the meeting who are passing through town usually on there way to/from Prudhoe Bay along the haul road. Not many riders going through town these days. On the way back, I stopped on Skyridge Drive which follows the ridgeline between the Tanana Valley and Goldstream Valley. It is near sunset but I couldn't get a good view to the west. Too many trees. This is the view looking north into the Goldstream Valley towards Fox.
This road used to be one of my favorite routes and part of my "scenic route" during the warmer months. There has been quite a bit of road construction lately resulting in this nice pavement. This road is pretty treacherous during the winter and even the AWD cars with studded tires have issues with this road going downhill.
After looking at this photo, I'm more convinced that I want to add yet another light to the side car near the front of the fender for more visibility. I will probably remove the small white LED lights on the side car as they don't seem to help much.
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Richard, I agree with getting more light on to the sidecar to increase your visibility.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways your pics already look like fall is in full force, while we had an unusual gossamer with incredible warm temperatures.
Fall is in full force though the leaves haven't changed fully yet. The mornings are cool (~40°F) though the days are still venturing into the low 70s (°F) when the sun peeks through the clouds.
DeleteGorgeous! I am mixed on LEDS, yup they don't draw much power, but I sometimes think they don't throw enough light. When it comes to bike lighting 'bigger' is better.
ReplyDeleteI think that the LEDs on the fork lights and in the front turn signal housing seem pretty visible. In fact, the fork ones are even more visible to than the headlight. I've gotten unsolicited comments from drivers when stopped saying how they attract attention.
DeleteThe problem on an airhead BMW is the relatively anemic charging system. At 280 watts (theoretical max when new), you don't want to add too many power hungry accessories.
I think you went LED due to the meager output of the alternator right? I have seen LED headlights which put out copious lumens but they're pricey.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about LED due to the anemic charging system. I was looking at the Denali lights from Twisted Throttle though Fuzzy mentioned in a blog post on problems they had with them. I was also thinking about the Piaa 530 LED fog lights at about half the price of the Denali lights. At only 6 watts per light, even an airhead can use them. The only problem is the high color temperature. At 6000K, they are more on the blue side of the spectrum. Odd as they are marketing them as "fog lights"...
DeleteRichard:
ReplyDeleteI like your Fork Lights, perhaps another set for your sidecar.
how about white reflector tape ? The stuff I use is very bright when light hits it, and not that noticeable during the daytime
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
The fork lights and now the stock front turn signals are LED and tied to the Skene Designs controller which causes them to flicker in your peripheral vision. Supposedly, to make them more visible. The flickering seems to stop when you look directly at them.
DeleteI like the white reflector tape idea, thank you! I hadn't thought of that.
Some of those beers look interesting. I love how some hops smell and taste just like pine needles! The Lowbush sounds good. It's football season so I guess I'll have a few unique beers on hand. It's been about 8 months since my last beer so it might be time to enjoy some of the best seasonals I can find.
ReplyDeleteDoes the range in your first photo have a name? Very pretty indeed. And I agree that you be as illuminated as possible!
The range just barely visible behind the hills are the White Mountains. Not very high but lots of trails. There are even a couple of forest service cabins available for rent. I haven't tried very many of the beers they make. I like the porter and will have one every couple of months. This is the only microbrewery in the area and they have a couple of restaurants around the state including one at the Anchorage airport. I hear it's doing really well.
DeleteTo add to Bob's tape idea, though you may not be as concerned about the contrast of white tape on your black bike as I was on the Ducati, there was a source for tape somewhere that reflects but comes in many colors. I have a bunch of small black strips that hides quite well and yet reflects. Don't remember what the site's name was but a search should bring it up.
ReplyDeleteJust another idea for a passive improvement, maybe in addition to some LED's
I'm thinking that the white reflective tape on the sidecar would work great. Especially on the front and back of the fender and on the right side of the sidecar. Until last winter, riding in the dark never really happened. Now, it has become a concern.
DeleteThanks for the tip on the black reflective tape. It would be a good addition to the left case.
Maybe just put one big headlight on the front of the sidecar. If people couldn't see you then they're blind. Of course if you need something to help your vision when driving at night that might not be the best solution.
ReplyDeleteI second the reflector tape. Brad put some on the front and back of his helmet and when the lights hit it, it really reflects back.
I thought about removing the rusting, pitted chrome disc from the nose of the sidecar and replacing it with some sort of light but thought that installing a light on the right side of the sidecar made more sense since it would also show the width better. And, possibly, make it easier to for other drivers to determine distance since the distance between the lights would be closer to that of a car.
DeleteWhat brand of reflective tape did he use on his helmet? I was looking at different offerings and most mentioned that the mounting surface needs to be flat.
Richard:
DeleteI think I still have two rolls of white reflective tape, new in packages which I can mail up there. I bought them from Princess Auto, they run out of stock often so I buy them when I see them.
http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/
sort of like a Harbor freight, which we don't have here
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Thank you for the offer but Amazon has free shipping w/Prime. Too good to pass up. If I can't find any I'll let you know...
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