The low beam isn't going to be seen at anything other than a hundred feet away, and that is only if the drivers on either side of the highway are below grade... It's just that low beams are exactly that, aimed low so that no light escapes upwards at any appreciable distance to the left or right.
The high beam is the only light which anyone out of the path of travel of the bike is ever going to see. Just because it's aim is outwards.
If it were just a 2 way road, that's one thing, sure I'd turn it off. But we have alot of 5 lane highways, with 2 in either direction, and a middle lane which cars in either direction can use to turn into or get off of temporarily. Alot of what happens is they will swerve across the 2 oncoming lanes and start in the middle most lane, and then because they can't see a low beam on a bike with two dinky amber 5 watt bulbs, they will just veer into me. This has happened on a number of occasions where I lock up the tires and have to kind of swerve around. But it's "no big deal" to them, they feel "justified" because they could not see me. And that is the problem. Almost Everyone in America drives because they're "justified" in doing so... Whether they are stopping in the middle of a highway and putting it in reverse because they missed their exit, or just swerving across 4 lanes to get in a turn lane going the other way.
I don't drive much, but I see one or both of these at least 2-3 times on a half hour drive. It's mind numbing. I wish I could share the experience of seeing a car coming from the left right perpendicular to you, straight at you... locking up the tires to try to get away and have the driver just give a "nod" or hand wave like "sorry, didn't see you! But it's no big deal..." They seriously don't think it matters.
I've mentioned before, where it's courteous, I turn off my high beams. I'm not doing it out of spite... When driving and stopped at a red light, I ALWAYS put on my hand brake to take the beaming red lights off of people's eyes... I rarely see such favor returned.
On these 3-5 lane roads where people are overly aggressive coming into that middle lane, It's necessary to get a wide dispersion so they see my light when their head is turned looking for oncoming traffic. One headlight is not enough to make them recognize a motorcycle is coming, a bright light, albeit not blinding is usually enough for it to job their memory that something is coming... low beams are ineffectual at this because they're just aimed too low.
People don't drive motorcycles in the USA like they do in the UK... and there is no such thing as "pass on the right" like you have in the UK... people drive in any which lane they please, and this often forces people to drive erratic to get out from behind slow moving vehicles. Honestly if you set a number of American drivers out on the UK freeways, it would be like releasing lions into a pack of sheep. It would be an absolute feeding frenzy of mayhem. The brits are such good drivers, I wouldn't feel it necessary to keep my high beam on because from my experience at least they are partially alert to other vehicles around them, especially bikes. I know why they hate bikes, because bikes split lanes, and drive like they own the road there sometimes... Not so much here... well, partially, we have 90% cruisers which make a noise louder than a concord jet taking off... they think that is "safe" because it's loud. That level of noise is rude IMO... My bike is NOT loud like that. Having bright tail lights, and an obnoxious headlight is rude, but it's also effective... they wouldn't require bikes to have their low beams on at all times if it wasn't. This is just the next logical step.
The front and rear colored lights are 2x5watt bulbs... which is imperceptible by most people... it's just not enough light for someone to distinguish what these two little red lights are underneath my tail... There are no parking lights except the two 5w brake lights... that's it... totally unacceptable for a rear light.
Here in the states, so few people drive alternative vehicles it's down right dangerous... nobody expects a bike. People look down on using a bus. Gas is 2.89/gallon, that's like what, .50% a liter? And I should take a picture of my parking lot, 30-40% of the vehicles are over 5 ton gross weight, 10 times what my bike weighs, and they literally buy their vehicles so that THEY don't die. The logic is, in a wreck, the bigger it is, the more likely they are to kill someone ELSE than themselves. It's like being a cat in a human world, everything is 10x your size, 10x your weight, and half of the people hate you just because...
I don't understand it really, I save 45 minutes off my commute every day, and get 40-50mpg... But every day I merge into an 10 lane highway, and if traffic wasn't always at a standstill, it'd be a death trap... I don't know how better to describe to people who haven't had the experience, but like serving tables, everyone should have that experience to know what it's like... Putting yourself in other's shoes is a skill that most American's lack, we're so isolated and individual, we crush each other's spirit because of lack of understanding...
I try to be as respectful as possible, and when I see, or am pointed out that I am wrong, mend my ways, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the right for safety here, although it may be a bit offensive in some situations, mostly it is a life saving device.
The high beam is the only light which anyone out of the path of travel of the bike is ever going to see. Just because it's aim is outwards.
If it were just a 2 way road, that's one thing, sure I'd turn it off. But we have alot of 5 lane highways, with 2 in either direction, and a middle lane which cars in either direction can use to turn into or get off of temporarily. Alot of what happens is they will swerve across the 2 oncoming lanes and start in the middle most lane, and then because they can't see a low beam on a bike with two dinky amber 5 watt bulbs, they will just veer into me. This has happened on a number of occasions where I lock up the tires and have to kind of swerve around. But it's "no big deal" to them, they feel "justified" because they could not see me. And that is the problem. Almost Everyone in America drives because they're "justified" in doing so... Whether they are stopping in the middle of a highway and putting it in reverse because they missed their exit, or just swerving across 4 lanes to get in a turn lane going the other way.
I don't drive much, but I see one or both of these at least 2-3 times on a half hour drive. It's mind numbing. I wish I could share the experience of seeing a car coming from the left right perpendicular to you, straight at you... locking up the tires to try to get away and have the driver just give a "nod" or hand wave like "sorry, didn't see you! But it's no big deal..." They seriously don't think it matters.
I've mentioned before, where it's courteous, I turn off my high beams. I'm not doing it out of spite... When driving and stopped at a red light, I ALWAYS put on my hand brake to take the beaming red lights off of people's eyes... I rarely see such favor returned.
On these 3-5 lane roads where people are overly aggressive coming into that middle lane, It's necessary to get a wide dispersion so they see my light when their head is turned looking for oncoming traffic. One headlight is not enough to make them recognize a motorcycle is coming, a bright light, albeit not blinding is usually enough for it to job their memory that something is coming... low beams are ineffectual at this because they're just aimed too low.
People don't drive motorcycles in the USA like they do in the UK... and there is no such thing as "pass on the right" like you have in the UK... people drive in any which lane they please, and this often forces people to drive erratic to get out from behind slow moving vehicles. Honestly if you set a number of American drivers out on the UK freeways, it would be like releasing lions into a pack of sheep. It would be an absolute feeding frenzy of mayhem. The brits are such good drivers, I wouldn't feel it necessary to keep my high beam on because from my experience at least they are partially alert to other vehicles around them, especially bikes. I know why they hate bikes, because bikes split lanes, and drive like they own the road there sometimes... Not so much here... well, partially, we have 90% cruisers which make a noise louder than a concord jet taking off... they think that is "safe" because it's loud. That level of noise is rude IMO... My bike is NOT loud like that. Having bright tail lights, and an obnoxious headlight is rude, but it's also effective... they wouldn't require bikes to have their low beams on at all times if it wasn't. This is just the next logical step.
The front and rear colored lights are 2x5watt bulbs... which is imperceptible by most people... it's just not enough light for someone to distinguish what these two little red lights are underneath my tail... There are no parking lights except the two 5w brake lights... that's it... totally unacceptable for a rear light.
Here in the states, so few people drive alternative vehicles it's down right dangerous... nobody expects a bike. People look down on using a bus. Gas is 2.89/gallon, that's like what, .50% a liter? And I should take a picture of my parking lot, 30-40% of the vehicles are over 5 ton gross weight, 10 times what my bike weighs, and they literally buy their vehicles so that THEY don't die. The logic is, in a wreck, the bigger it is, the more likely they are to kill someone ELSE than themselves. It's like being a cat in a human world, everything is 10x your size, 10x your weight, and half of the people hate you just because...
I don't understand it really, I save 45 minutes off my commute every day, and get 40-50mpg... But every day I merge into an 10 lane highway, and if traffic wasn't always at a standstill, it'd be a death trap... I don't know how better to describe to people who haven't had the experience, but like serving tables, everyone should have that experience to know what it's like... Putting yourself in other's shoes is a skill that most American's lack, we're so isolated and individual, we crush each other's spirit because of lack of understanding...
I try to be as respectful as possible, and when I see, or am pointed out that I am wrong, mend my ways, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the right for safety here, although it may be a bit offensive in some situations, mostly it is a life saving device.
Last edited:
