Why do I see so many sport bikes with 1 headlight?

[jschaf]

Well, you told me. Signing off now.

[DAC]

I like the high beams in Baptizo's av.

[max power]

This thread is meant as a joke, right?

[ScubaCinci]

This thread is meant as a joke, right?

Prolly not...it's a common newb question but a simple GOOGLE would answer it.

[max power]

But dude joined in 2009.

[KZ900]

Prolly not...it's a common newb question but a simple GOOGLE would answer it.

My C14 has 2 headlights and 2 highbeams. I had no idea they were right left on other bikes. Sorry for the new question.

[max power]

My C14 has 2 headlights and 2 highbeams. I had no idea they were right left on other bikes. Sorry for the new question.

all good. All the Honda sportbike and I think kawi's and gixxers are that way.

[ScubaCinci]

My C14 has 2 headlights and 2 highbeams. I had no idea they were right left on other bikes. Sorry for the new question.

No worries, when I first got my CBR many years ago, I thought one of the headlights were burnt out at first. We all learn along the way.

[Strawboss]

Interesting, I've never been blinded by high beams during the day, bike or car, never thought about it till now. Maybe a positional thing?

[97af]

Stators are lots smaller in our new, compact, lightweight sportbikes then they were 10 yrs ago. Everything is lighter in these engines and w/reducing stator capacity via making them smaller, they also need to slim down juice requirements in other areas....Starting with our once retina burner output headlights that have been reduced now to barely passable illumination. There ya go.

[Helmutt]

Interesting, I've never been blinded by high beams during the day, bike or car

^^^This. Hard to be blinded in the daytime unless you stare directly into the headlamps or the sun itself

I say if it enables better visibility of your bike to others on the road, have at it. At night is a different ballgame, it's courteous to dim your brights to oncoming traffic.....but if you come at me with brights then you'll get mine right back at ya

[ohdaho]

Who gives a shit if you annoy some driver in a car. I rather have annoyed drivers that see me then content drivers that are oblivious to me.

[SWing'R]

Am I missing something or is it cool to ride around with only one headlight? I would say I see this on one out of three sport bikes.

No trolling I see sportbikes out there everyday with only one of the two headlights on.

[SWing'R]

It's not that cool to ride with only one headlight but it is totally uncool to ride around with your high beams on. As said above, right side= low beam, left side= high beam.

I ride with my high beam on 100% of the time during daylight.

My FZ6R has a single light with dual element bulb.

Edited May 13, 2013 by SWing'R

[SWing'R]

My opinion is neither right or wrong. It is merely my opinion. Poll 100 drivers how they feel about you coming at them with your brights on & see how many have a favorable opinion of you.

I could care less how the other driver "feels" about it, all I care about is that they SEE me.

[NinjaNick]

I'm a dim daylight guy. I'm paying attention and they can see me with my 14's dim lights anyway. I only bright at night.

[Mr Anderson]

I hate when people tell me one of my lights are out.

[Strawboss]

Now, if some one would invent high beams for loud pipes.........

[ScubaCinci]

I could care less how the other driver "feels" about it' date=' all I care about is that they SEE me. [/quote']

Pissing them off doesn't endear them to the rest of us riders. I always hear it at work - "why are you guys always riding around with your brights on? It's annoying".

If they don't see you with the lows on, they won't see you with the brights. But go ahead if it makes you feel better. Don't forget the loud pipe so they hear you too.

[turnone]

Sign me up in the 'brights are best'. No one is blinded by a bright headlight in daytime. The sunlight on the surface of Earth is many times brighter (100,000 Lumens) compared to my headlight on bright (around 1000, 2000 lumens at most)

No one is blinded by a typical motorcycle headlight during the daytime.

They are likely to notice you and question why you would ride around with your brights on, but they just need to be educated.

Something along the line 'Science has shown that people don't notice things that won't kill them as easy as those that will'. IE, you may pull out in front of a bike, but unlikely for an 18 wheeler. Also being thin, etc doesn't help. Therefore the bright light draws attention, even if you think it's rude. It could save both of your days from being ruined by a stupid collision and/or death.

Yes, you could wear bright clothing to also help, but both would still be better.

I do think it's weird to have one headlight on each side. People still tell me about my burnt out light. Plus the aforementioned lack of symmetry.

Chris

[Strawboss]

I agree Chris, so I guess the new BMW's with their different sized/shaped lights really throws you for a loop? Remember when the new type HID lights came out and everyone was complaining, well, they were blue, and different and what happened was folks were staring into them hence the complaints about how they were blinding people.

[ReconRat]

I'm not aware that there is any data to back it up either way.

But I'd say two headlights on are an advantage over one.

edit: But not always, see Yamaha data from Agent3012 below.

Edited May 13, 2013 by ReconRat

[Agent3012]

A more specific question to ask is, “if you’re not going to have one on, why run two separate lights instead of one bigger light?”

Yamaha engineers have stated there are a few reasons for this:

- It is cheaper to produce 2 single focus reflectors than 1 multi-focus reflector

- With two lights, those single reflectors can be better optimized for their specific task

- Better reflector optimization means the bulbs can be cheaper and use less power

They have been asked about running two lights, and have referenced internal safety studies that show two lights being on at the same time can be mistaken for a car by a driver looking to pull onto a road at night. When a driver can only see headlights, they estimate distance based on the distance between the two headlights, misjudging a closer motorcycle for a car further away.

As for the safety factor of running with your hi-beam on, it’s true that a brighter light makes you more visible in many situations, but not all situations. A misaligned hi-beam that is too bright during the day can actually reduce your visibility in certain driving scenarios.

A hi-beam helps when the driver looking at the motorcycle has a darker background, such as when there is a building or trees behind the bike. When a motorcycle has a lighter background, such as the sky when coming over a hill, the hi-beam can actually cause the motorcycle to blend in with that brighter background.

It’s also true that if a hi-beam is misaligned and shining upwards towards a driver’s eyes, the extra light can make it harder for a driver to judge the distance and speed of the motorcycle coming at them.

The problem is that there are so many variables here, it can be shown that while these factors can contribute to specific accidents, when all accidents are considered, the average statistics that lead to one being better than the other can even out in many scenarios.

Speaking of statistics, it is also important to note that most of the studies around hi-beam safety are now 30 years old. Lo-beams have improved with brighter and better bulbs, optimized reflectors and overall technology improvements. I ride with the hi-beam on my 1973 CB350F because it’s actually only as bright as the low-beam on my 2004 FZ6.

In the end, it just means we can find reasons for both hi and low beams to be "the best strategy" in different situations. But they shouldn't be your only strategy, and combined with other factors like lane placement, hi-viz colors, SMIDSY maneuvers, etc, etc.

That said, I did perform the dual-headlight mod on my FZ6 because I hate the asymmetry of having one light off.

Edited May 13, 2013 by Agent3012

[mango_sv]

Just another thing to love about the SV, dual bulbs for high and low beam. And Gixxers have went to stacked lights with the high beam being projector.

Sent from the Crapper via Tapatalk

[OsuMj]

I had a dude jump out of his car one time, run back to me on my bike, and tell me that one of my headlights was out. I sat there confused and told him 'thank you' for the sake of not having to explain it at the red light we were stopped at.