Why are motorcycles relegated to less light than cars?

[homie]

Is this over, was the question ever answered? Long read and I admit I didn't go over it thoroughly but was concern enough to get off tonight and have a look at what other drivers see. I don't feel there is a problem being noticed at night so this must be about OUR viability with the motorcycle head lamp... right? As long as they see me I can deal with illumination distance ahead of me the best I can at 45 mph in the city with well lite streets.

[iceman]

Thanks for that Homie. The lights are more glaring due to the camera not liking bright light on the sensor, but it does show no more light is really necessary. When I pull out of the drive and turn the scoot on, I always try and turn the bike at an angle to the houses across the street (smaller dwellings and small width roads compared to the open plains and expanse of the USA) and even then lots of houses and gardens light up with the LED lighting from the scoot.
As to the brake light and running light, if cars get close it's due to them being a-holes and not caring rather than not seeing you.

[sendler2112]

As long as they see me I can deal with illumination distance ahead of me the best I can at 45 mph in the city with well lite streets.

How is your ability to see at 50 mph on back country roads in the rain with oncoming traffic shining in your face?
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The new led headlight in the PCX is cutting edge though. Probably the best motorcycle headlight ever put on the road. But none of my bikes came with LED's. But they all have HID conversions now. The ultra white color temp of LED's and HID's is a big step up in conspicuity for other drivers during the day and their increased output helps a lot at night.
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Your next video should be in bright daylight to see if you still feel that no car will ever pull out in front of you. Then look at other motorcycles with their yellowish halogen bulbs to see the poor conspicuity they were stuck with.

[homie]

The camera doesn't pay justice to the bright LED on high with PCX in daylight. Whereas I might have given you the cell phone camera at night as exaggerating, the Mobius HD action cam tones it way down compared to the naked eye. Anyone with a PCX could get off and walk away and see for themselves. This is acceptable for me and I can't see it getting any better without we are irritating other drivers.

LoL... go full screen settings HD and this looks so fake

[sendler2112]

Keep in mind the LED light in the PCX is the best motorcycle headlight on the road right now. Go look at a busy boulevard as the bikes and cars go by and see how much better the high end cars with their brght white daytime running lights stand out compared to the common motorcycles with their single halogen.

[iceman]

The camera doesn't pay justice to the bright LED on high with PCX in daylight. Whereas I might have given you the cell phone camera at night as exaggerating, the Mobius HD action cam tones it way down compared to the naked eye. Anyone with a PCX could get off and walk away and see for themselves. This is acceptable for me and I can't see it getting any better without we are irritating other drivers.
LoL... go full screen settings HD and this looks so fake

Never appreciated they were this bright - almost think approaching traffic would get annoyed with those lights coming towards you Just watching you YT vid and it came up with CC's and at around '13 where you say 'far better than those old school headlamps' the CC says 'far better animals cool'

[Wulfy]

I have been out a few times in the dark since i got my new pcx last week and 3 instances ive been flashed at by oncoming cars (and a truck) to warn me they think my main beam is on when its not!!! They are really bright and have a good range both sides so im confident I can see any animals or anything lurking on the sides of the roads and still see quiet a distance ahead, switching to main beam makes almost no difference at all in fact i was gonna raise the question with the dealer if this was "the norm".

Overall great lighting and well impressed with it compared to the vision and the kymco agility ive ridden before.

Wulfy

[gn2]

switching to main beam makes almost no difference at all

Sounds like the dip beam is set too high then.

[Wulfy]

switching to main beam makes almost no difference at all

Sounds like the dip beam is set too high then.

Is this user adjustable or should i get them to tweak it at its first service?

[homie]

Overall great lighting and well impressed with it compared to the vision and the kymco agility ive ridden before. Wulfy

In the dark, the distance you get is mostly off reflective materials ONLY (signs, paint, animal eye's) and it's great when you can ride high beam alone on a dark night for the formerly stated. The complaint here is the lack of visibility of anything non-reflective as the PCX LED's don't give the kind of broad spectrum illumination a car does for the cycle rider and that most likely has always been the case with two wheelers. So we don't have any great visibility with non-reflective RANGE in reference to what people expect.

Multiple aspects running in this thread that are getting confusing

1. How well PCX illuminates the road in front of us in all weather conditions IMO;
(A+) for luminous materials even on low beam
(F) for non-luminous materials like a person or pot hole

2. How well other motorist might notice our LED's over everyone else out there;
(A) after dark
(C) in daylight

Effective range of visibility depends on what we are talking about being able to see verses what you can see from a car.

[gn2]

switching to main beam makes almost no difference at all

Sounds like the dip beam is set too high then.

Is this user adjustable or should i get them to tweak it at its first service?

Normally user adjustable, check the user manual.

[sendler2112]

(F) for non-luminous materials like a person or pot hole

Your PCX LED headlights are leagues ahead of any other bike on the road. If you think those are an "F", what grade is less than F?

[homie]

Chief says "don't be one of those people walking along the side of the road at night in dark clothing, a fast moving motorcyclist with LED equipment only isn't getting the full spectrum and range of view" The key words here from Chief were (fast moving)

We are not so fast on PCX

[homie]

(F) for non-luminous materials like a person or pot hole

Your PCX LED headlights are leagues ahead of any other bike on the road. If you think those are an "F", what grade is less than F?

IMO and I don't vouch for Chief it must be pricey to outfit big bikes with quality LED headlamps needed to meet the standard and visibility requirements, give them time.

We are seen but not really seeing at night with PCX and as a night rider I live with that and slow down to compensate.

[Mel46]

I installed extra led front lights in my pcx as well as some red led rear lights and they have helped visibility tremendously. One night I was riding home on a street that had very sparce lighting. I realized that I was "outriding" my lights, so I turned on the extra led headlights and WOW, what a difference!
well, my wife wanted some for her bike but she thought the ones on my bike were too large....I don't think so, but its her bike . I have Kawell lights and love them, so I looked for some more Kawell lights that were a little smaller. I found them on amaxon, as usual. With some engineering I have installed them, and they look great. Here are some pictures.

IMG_20150728_221014.jpg (120.47 KiB) Viewed 1498 times

IMG_20150728_221115.jpg (108.89 KiB) Viewed 1498 times