Sun Safety Issue

[ST13Fred]

After 50+ years of riding I've started using hi beam on sunny days and lo on more overcast days.
On such days shadows from trees etc onto the roadway adds to the visibility issue.

 

[670cc]

Good point. I remember using the high beam at times for added conspicuity during the day since back in the 1970s. Nowadays I have a modulator on all my high beams and I use it when appropriate for the situation during the day.

Auxiliary lights of various brightness and beam spread have become today's common daytime lights for adding visibility. I have to remember that when I turn my high beam on, my auxiliary lights go to full bright. Then there's a lot of light output up front that I'm presenting to other drivers, and at times it could be annoying.

 

[melensdad]

High beam all the time during daylight hours. 2 additional Denali DRL LED conspicuity lights, also on High beam all the time (they are designed to spread the light without glare to oncoming drivers)

Switch to low beam at the later part of dusk. FWIW, I took a H-D riding refresher course 3 years ago, they taught us to keep the lights on HIGH bead during daylight hours.

Honestly I'd rather not ride at dawn/dusk when the sun is low & the shadows long because at that time of day the bikes become invisible if the a driver is looking into the RISING or SETTING sun.

My bikes are pretty much set up to be seen with added LED tail lights and added front running lights. They stand out at night and they stand out in the middle of the day. Not sure ANY bike stands out when the sun is in the eyes of a driver.

 

[ST13Fred]

Drivers can become agitated more quickly than most realize. High beams on overcast days is inviting hostilities, IMO. This may appear trivial.
I have thin line LED marker lights low on the forks on both bikes. The C125A Cub has 10 LEDs in the headlight, upper half lo and lower half high beam.
There's a narrow plastic yellow looking diffuser across the center that is on at start up only.

 

[Deleted member 8387]

Good point. I remember using the high beam at times for added conspicuity during the day since back in the 1970s. Nowadays I have a modulator on all my high beams and I use it when appropriate for the situation during the day.

Auxiliary lights of various brightness and beam spread have become today's common daytime lights for adding visibility. I have to remember that when I turn my high beam on, my auxiliary lights go to full bright. Then there's a lot of light output up front that I'm presenting to other drivers, and at times it could be annoying.

I too have Denali lights, in my case D4s, installed on my bike. I have a toggle switch that allows me to turn them off or turn them on, however I always leave it on. Those suckers are bright! But I don't run them full power except at night because they are so bright that I don't want to get into an encounter down here in Texas. I think the 50% brightness, or whatever the percentage is when on low-beam is bright enough with the headlight. Just my $.02

 

[melensdad]

I too have Denali lights, in my case D4s...

Different lights for different purposes.

Denali D4 lights are driving lights, they have a focused beam.

Denali DRL lights are specifically made to be DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS for conspicuity.

There are lots of different lights designed for lots of different purposes.

Any focused beam light can become very distracting in the wrong light condition if the brightness is set too high. Most of the better daytime running light products don't have a focused beam and designed to have a widely spread light that actually doesn't do a good job of lighting the roadway. Fog lights spread a wide beam low along the roadway to light the edges of the roadway. Driving lights have a narrow focus aimed far ahead of the bike. Daytime running lights have a 180 degree light spread left to right and up to down. They don't create glare in the eyes of oncoming drivers, even on high at night, but they do a poor job of lighting the area in front of the bike for the rider. If someone wanted a more useful light that is dual purpose for that also served as a conspicuity light, a Fog light probably would be a good choice.

 

[Deleted member 8387]

Different lights for different purposes.

Denali D4 lights are driving lights, they have a focused beam.

Denali DRL lights are specifically made to be DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS for conspicuity.

There are lots of different lights designed for lots of different purposes.

Any focused beam light can become very distracting in the wrong light condition if the brightness is set too high. Most of the better daytime running light products don't have a focused beam and designed to have a widely spread light that actually doesn't do a good job of lighting the roadway. Fog lights spread a wide beam low along the roadway to light the edges of the roadway. Driving lights have a narrow focus aimed far ahead of the bike. Daytime running lights have a 180 degree light spread left to right and up to down. They don't create glare in the eyes of oncoming drivers, even on high at night, but they do a poor job of lighting the area in front of the bike for the rider. If someone wanted a more useful light that is dual purpose for that also served as a conspicuity light, a Fog light probably would be a good choice.

Actually I have the two filter caps on two of the four LEDs on each D4, so two are for distance and two are for width.

 

[Skinnymoss]

Actually I have the two filter caps on two of the four LEDs on each D4, so two are for distance and two are for width.

What do you mean by filter caps! I just installed my D4’s so I’m new to this. Am I missing something?

 

[Deleted member 8387]

What do you mean by filter caps! I just installed my D4’s so I’m new to this. Am I missing something?

@Skinnymoss - Yes, when you get your D4s, you can modify some, none, or all of the lights. There are lense inserts you can use to modify some of the beams. So on each side, I have two of the lights set for distance, while two on each bike have the lense inserts (replacement covers) that diffuse the beam across a wider area, so I can see more on the sides of the road (sacrificing distance on those with the filters). It's a good combination for me.