Advocacy & Safety - Turn signal lights for bikes

Can anyone recommend signal lights ? Models with front,rear lights,waterproof and brake sensor. Has anyone tried the GD-101R? Can you use 2 GD-101R units on the same bike without signal inference?

I've never seen any that would be more than a toy. For them to really do the job, they need to be daytime-visible from a fairly long range in direct sunlight, and have sufficient distance from the bike's centerline that they're obviously turn signals. You could make your own with some Whelen TIR3s in the steady-flash mode, they're bright enough (and weatherproof, and feature a sync wire so they operate in sync).

I've been intrigued by the idea of turn signal lights worn on a person's hand that would illuminate when a person's arm and fingers were extended as they signaled for a turn while riding along. With super bright LED's, it's possible to do something like that, but can it be practical? Seems difficult to make it so.

Where on the hand is the light going to be located? Back and front would be closest to what motor vehicles have, but how can hands on the bars still be possible with a light at the contact point? Where's the battery and/or power cable going to be? It would not be welcome to have a cable running the length of a riders's arms between light and battery located on the bike or person's body.

An idea I had last year that I kind of liked, would be part of a jacket. Imagine a jacket sleeve with a line of reflective material squares on it...say 2"-3" wide. Additionally imagine technology existed that would allow the reflective squares to sequentially illuminate by battery. When the rider put their arm up to signal, an arrow in the intended direction of travel effect would be created. Sheer popular science fantasy stuff.

The brake light idea is probably the most accessible. In fact, in the 'Electronics, Lighting and Gadgets' category, there's a topic discussing a well known manufacturer's tail light that includes a brake light of sorts, and how effective its performance is. Busch-amp-Muller-Toplight-Line-Brake-Plus (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/788859-Busch-amp-Muller-Toplight-Line-Brake-Plus)

Can anyone recommend signal lights ? Models with front,rear lights,waterproof and brake sensor. Has anyone tried the GD-101R? Can you use 2 GD-101R units on the same bike without signal inference?
While I can't make a recommendation, here is a Google search I did:http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1600&bih=785&q=brooks+saddle&gbv=2&oq=brooks+s&aq=0&aqi=g9g-s1&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=2911l6082l0l11184l8l8l0l0l0l0l104l787l6.2l8l0#hl=en&gbv=2&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=bike+turn+signal+lights&oq=bike+turn+si&aq=1S&aqi=g1g-S3g-msS1g-mS4&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=10282682l10293751l0l10298237l26l21l2l1l0l2l216l2215l0.15.1l18l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=925b9f97b074652&biw=1600&bih=785

The signal lights I bought: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRI7P8j5jdcarAo0g-6sMlJ6-5eS1mDnFNQmx32q86E61NQzy9v, looked very similar to these. But turned out to be cheaply made and the wiring was bad from the start. The GD-101R looks to have the same construction problem.

Look into something better than that model.

I've never seen any that would be more than a toy. For them to really do the job, they need to be daytime-visible from a fairly long range in direct sunlight, and have sufficient distance from the bike's centerline that they're obviously turn signals. You could make your own with some Whelen TIR3s in the steady-flash mode, they're bright enough (and weatherproof, and feature a sync wire so they operate in sync).

I tend to agree. Because, My experience is, that bike signal lights are a piece of junk.

Thank you for the advice. Im going to look into modifying signal lights for motorcycles.

Thank you for the advice. Im going to look into modifying signal lights for motorcycles.

If you can engineer that to work. If you are going to do that, get a little advice from a motorcycle mechanic on how you can engineer that to work.

Wear something bright colored on your arms and wear Glo-Gloves at night.

While I can't make a recommendation, here is a Google search I did:http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1600&bih=785&q=brooks+saddle&gbv=2&oq=brooks+s&aq=0&aqi=g9g-s1&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=2911l6082l0l11184l8l8l0l0l0l0l104l787l6.2l8l0#hl=en&gbv=2&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=bike+turn+signal+lights&oq=bike+turn+si&aq=1S&aqi=g1g-S3g-msS1g-mS4&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=10282682l10293751l0l10298237l26l21l2l1l0l2l216l2215l0.15.1l18l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=925b9f97b074652&biw=1600&bih=785

The signal lights I bought: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRI7P8j5jdcarAo0g-6sMlJ6-5eS1mDnFNQmx32q86E61NQzy9v, looked very similar to these. But turned out to be cheaply made and the wiring was bad from the start. The GD-101R looks to have the same construction problem.

Look into something better than that model.

For anyone to discern that as a turn signal, rather than an amber blinkie, they'd have to be so close that it defeats the purpose. It's a kiddie toy. Mount a couple amber Whelen TIR3s about 30 inches apart, with a red one in the center running steady-on as a centerline reference point, and now you have something people might be able to discern as a turn signal from 100 meters at highway speeds in noon sunlight.

Otherwise, arm signals.

I've never seen any that would be more than a toy. For them to really do the job, they need to be daytime-visible from a fairly long range in direct sunlight, and have sufficient distance from the bike's centerline that they're obviously turn signals.

I'd also caution that if you ever do get in an accident using them, you'd probably be found at fault for failure to signal, no matter how visible they are, because vehicle codes generally only recognize hand signals for bikes.

For anyone to discern that as a turn signal, rather than an amber blinkie, they'd have to be so close that it defeats the purpose. It's a kiddie toy. Mount a couple amber Whelen TIR3s about 30 inches apart, with a red one in the center running steady-on as a centerline reference point, and now you have something people might be able to discern as a turn signal from 100 meters at highway speeds in noon sunlight.

Otherwise, arm signals.

While I can't do arm signals, without throwing my balance, I definitely agree with everything else you said. The lights like the one in my previous post, malfunctioned soon after I got them. My only concern about wearing lights on me, that are not battery operated, is a possible physical shock. I know I am probably being unreasonable in that sense. That is just my concern about wearing lights.