Headlight Modulators

[Duezzer]

They are illegal in Alberta

They will pull you over and ream you a new one, make you remove it and then give you a ticket

If they are in a really bad mood they can charge you with impersonating an emergency vehicle

I seen one on a white wing last week - what was everyone doing in the cages - pulling over to the sholders ( I did ) because we all thought it was a Sheriff bike.

We are not riding an emergency vehicle - please don't impersonate one

Don't expect everyone to be a perfect driver - Keep your head up and expect other to make mistakes

Have a fairly nice day

 

[TILAM]

In general, I dont worry as much about people in front of me - I have some control over the direction I am moving.

Um, it's the people in front of them that kill most riders. Crossing the center line, turning left, pulling out from a stop, blah blah blah. All of them "didn't see" the bike, which again means they didn't look. How many drivers have you seen edge through an intersection without stopping, only to stop when they noticed "Oh! It's busy!"

I'm not trying to talk anybody out of modulators as much as I'm trying to point out that personally, I don't think they do all that much good. Granted, changing light sources have a higher reaction than steady light sources. That's why radio towers blink, flashing yellows flash, and emergency vehicle lights cycle through all sorts of patterns.

My problem with modulators is that the uneducated public doesn't know what to do when he sees them. Perhaps if they were standard and thus understood by all it would be different. But the ignorant reaction of most (OMG, wtf do I do?!!?!?!?111) compels me to leave them alone and continue my "I'm invisible - they don't see me" defensive riding, and making sure I see everything out there, and have a way out of it. Why should I actually contribute to the confusion of the drivers around me?

+1

You said it much better than I would have. No modulator for me, thank you. I find them to be extremely annoying when I see them on other bikes, so I assume others would be just as annoyed with me, and that's not a good thing.

I was speaking with an Ex EMS (ambulance) driver who also rides. He said he wouldn't want a modulator as people would mistake it for an emergency vehicle and they do stupid things in front of ambulances. His logic is that without the modulator they are likely to be slightly more predictable. Seems to concurr with the quote above.

Personally I always use my high beam during the daylight hours. Works for me and it's free.

 

[Fred W]

They are illegal in Alberta

Are you sure? This article indicates that as of 2007 modulators are legal in Canada.

 

[bramfrank]

They are illegal in Alberta
They will pull you over and ream you a new one, make you remove it and then give you a ticket

If they are in a really bad mood they can charge you with impersonating an emergency vehicle

I seen one on a white wing last week - what was everyone doing in the cages - pulling over to the sholders ( I did ) because we all thought it was a Sheriff bike.

We are not riding an emergency vehicle - please don't impersonate one

Don't expect everyone to be a perfect driver - Keep your head up and expect other to make mistakes

Have a fairly nice day

Nope. Maybe you are confusing them with radar detectors?

Modulators, so long as they meet the standards (4 fps / cycle between 17% & 100% of voltage / automatic shutoff at dusk and so on) they're legal EVERYWHERE in Canada and the United States by Federal mandate in both countries. I carry a copy of the specification (in a very miniature format, printed with a Canadian flag and such, stuck in a small zip-lock I keep in my glove box) in case I ever have reason to have to prove the legality.

I've had modulators on my bikes for the last 10 or so years and a couple of hundred thousand miles and not one police officer has ever even glanced at that aspect of my rides. Now, speeding? That's quite another matter.

Sounds like you may have had an 'encounter of the ignorant kind' with a police officer who got out of the wrong side of his bed. If true, I hope you fought it, because you'd have won.

 

[dj bill]

good cuz i will be modulating all the way to cfr

 

[FJRmogul]

I use my modulator when I'm sharing lanes here on the freeway in Kalifornia.

All I know is that cagers ahead of me part like the Red Sea. :yahoo: :yahoo:

This is good!

 

[Duezzer]

Phoned the local RCMP the other day and they assured me that they are illegal and you will be ticketed

Don't know if they are just saying so but this is the second cop I talked to in the Hwy patol group and the answer was the same

I have placed another call into the local RCMP requesting under what part of the driving laws would a user of the modulator be charged

Stay tooned and I will post what they tell me

 

[Duezzer]

Could you post a copy of the regulation

If I install a modulator I would like to have it on hand

Don't need a cop low on dougnut sugar going all cranky on me

Thanks

 

[Bungie]

Could you post a copy of the regulation
If I install a modulator I would like to have it on hand

Don't need a cop low on dougnut sugar going all cranky on me

Thanks

Well if you would take the time you spent spouting off about this issue searching for the required document you'd know you and their asses were sucking green mud. Seriously though, a cop will ALWAYS claim something is illegal if they don't know.

Notice this is a FEDERAL document. No provincial law can supersede these laws. The law, as of April 2009

Case close on the legality?

 

[bramfrank]

Phoned the local RCMP the other day and they assured me that they are illegal and you will be ticketed
Don't know if they are just saying so but this is the second cop I talked to in the Hwy patol group and the answer was the same

I have placed another call into the local RCMP requesting under what part of the driving laws would a user of the modulator be charged

Stay tooned and I will post what they tell me

That'll be interesting . . . . I'd record the conversation (it is legal to record your own conversations, by the way - you do NOT need the other party's permission nor do you have to inform them)

DO NOT TELL THEM IT IS LEGAL OR HOW YOU KNOW UNTIL AFTER THEY STICK THEIR FEET DEEP INTO THEIR ASSES.

And once they finish, ask if they consider everything that they don't know squat about to be illegal. Then contact your local newspaper and write a complaint to your MP about the state of policing in Canada.

On the link to the law, click 'motorcycles' and look at S.7.9.4, which is the defining section of the specification . . .

 

[Duezzer]

Bungie

I go to the members here as a sourse of information because of the massive amount of knowledge

Thanks for the link

Really helped

Sill didn't like the reaction of all the vehicles pulling over because they thought the wing was a cop bike

The cops stated that they would charge under sec 1-15(f) - Stunting -

Creating a distraction to other drivers - don't think they will have a chance in court with the documentation that you have directed me to

Thanks again

Now I got to get back to spouting off about something I know nothing about and wait for somebody to get all pissy and inform me that I have been spouting off.

Its my favorite pass time don't ya know

 

[Bungie]

Its my favorite pass time don't ya know

No harm intended, just trying to make a point is all.

I used to have a pro-street style chop. I got pulled over for a sidemounted HORIZONTAL plate 3x. The last time he was writing me up, even though I showed him that it was legal as per statute. Cops will be cops. Nobody is expected to know every law, especially the obscure ones. Lucky for me 3 buddies on rockets went by and had a good laugh at my expense. They turned around and did side by side wheelies past me and the cop. "And your gonna write me up for a sidemount?!". He let me off, telling me to FIX IT.

Sure, it cost me a couple of coffee's later. But it was worth it

Know anything about oil?

 

[Duezzer]

Its not friday is it?

I know oil goes in various parts of my bike and it is slippery

 

[Spook]

Have one. Love it.
Anyone who claims that a regularly pulsing high beam means 'please go ahead of me' is an idiot.

The reality is that you look more like a cop than anything else when it is running. They just didn't look and used the headlight as an excuse - without the modulator they (and more people) would have done the same thing.

We can put that on your tomb stone when one of those idiots hit you.

 

[worney]

Just my $0.02 but driving my dad's FJR with modulators and wearing my Olympia Yellow jacket. Cars were pulling off to the side of the road to let me by. Really would cut down on the commute if I installled them as well.

 

[Geezer]

Just my $0.02 but driving my dad's FJR with modulators and wearing my Olympia Yellow jacket. Cars were pulling off to the side of the road to let me by. Really would cut down on the commute if I installled them as well.

Absolutely. I wear an Olympia Hi-Viz jacket and recently added a headlight modulator. I used it a couple of times when people were starting to pull out in front of me and they took a second look and pulled back over to let me pass. I don't ride with them on, but flip them on for a few seconds when I see a potential situation developing up the road, like a busy intersection or a tourist attraction.

 

[Bungie]

I don't ride with them on, but flip them on for a few seconds when I see a potential situation developing up the road, like a busy intersection or a tourist attraction.

Pretty much the same tactic I use.

Though, something interesting happened last week. Flipped the modulators on and DIDN'T notice the reflection in street signs. Odd. Later on after dark on a deserted stretch I thumbed for my high beams - WOCK! WOCK ! WOCK!, modulator going after pitch black. Looked cool seeing my +80 halogens going on and off. But I wanted my damn highbeams!

Got home, dug out the instructions and did a reset (turn on switch, thumb the high beams 3x within two seconds). Everything back to normal. Not sure how they managed to reset themselves but at least I now know how to set them back to something reasonable.

I was fully expecting to read in the newspaper about mysterious flashing lights out in the bush - attributed to swamp gas...

 

[Mcgyver74]

I have had a signal dynamics back off brake light modulator for 10 years on my old Connie, never even thought about it until i got the Feej and noticed an increase in the number of times I'd be stopped at a light and watching the car behind me get WAY too close for comfort, I stuck a set of hyperlites on the back and things went back to normal

As for the Headlight, I recently installed the Kisan Modulator and I can say I've noticed a decrease in the amount of times I've had to swerve/hard brake to avoid some numbnutz in a cage who was about to cut me off or left turn me etc... If I'm riding on highway for long periods or in packs i turn them off so I'm not annoying other drivers, but in traffic/backroads they stay on!

(Ps, the kisan modulator only modulates when the high beam switch is selected, if you flip back to lows the modulation stops)

As for Cops, please try to keep in mind that no one person can know every single detail of the law, Attorneys have entire libraries dedicated just to law books, Cops are out on the street and have to go with their instincts on how to interpret the training they received about the law when it comes to things like this, especially something as esoteric as legality of a modulator. Now I'm not saying that some cops aren't jerks about it, but keep in mind WHY they may not know....

Just my 0.02..... *Flips modulator on*

 

[Duff]

They are illegal in Alberta

Sorry for you... good to know next time I am up your way.

We are not riding an emergency vehicle - please don't impersonate one

I know I'm not, never would, I DO plan to run my modulator as long as I can. It is legal for a reason... it works.

Don't expect everyone to be a perfect driver - Keep your head up and expect other to make mistakes

If you think a modulator gives the right to relax while you ride, you are sadly mistaken. ALWAYS ride like everyone else is out to kill you... they will, first chance they get.

JMHO...

 

[preacher]

I have them on mine, but keep a copy of the Federal Law which states that they are legal in a ziplock bag with my bike for cops to see if they don't know the law. :blink: