ryanag
Junior Member
Back Story: On Halloween night my wife was driving behind me when a cager pulls out in front of me, completely oblivious to my presence. She comments that, despite my HighVis green jacket, she couldn’t see me very well at all at night. She gave me the green light to do whatever necessary to fix that problem. So, I started doing a lot of research and settled on a few new items.
1) 3M reflective tape for my helmet
2) BILT reflective vest to wear over jacket
3) White and Red BikeVis Bullets
4) Skene Designs P3 and Photon Blaster lights
I finally got the time this week to install everything and I have to say it’s going to be VERY hard for someone to not see me now.
First came the tape for the helmet. I bought this tape after reading the webbikeworld review here:
Motorcycle Reflective Tape Kit - webBikeWorld
I cut the tape and placed it over the black parts of the helmet so I can keep the cool design from HJC. The helmet looks normal but when light is in line with your line of sight, the tape starts to glow, which is perfect for people sitting in their car behind their headlights. The pictures from the review are spot on.
Next is the BILT reflective vest. It does the same thing as the tape. I didn’t take any pictures but this Youtube video demonstrates it very well.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlzXH9UCXys]BiLT Motorcycle Reflective Vest - YouTube[/ame]
Next came all of the lights. I ordered two sets of BikeVis Bullets; one white, one red. Next came the P3 and Photon Blaster lights from Skene Designs. I planned on putting the Bullet lights under the mirrors so there was as much separation between them and all of the other lights. I placed the P3 lights next to the license plate and lastly, the photon blasters were placed right in front of the brake calipers. I tried to get as much separation between all of the lights as possible to make me look bigger…..the whole light triangle.
First the BikeVis Bullets: I placed the white ones facing forward and the red facing rear under the mirrors. The pictures make the white ones appear more blue than reality. I placed the red ones forward enough so I couldn’t see them when I have to look in the mirrors. Besides the added visibility, both sets of lights give a very cool looking glow to the “****pit.” I wanted to make the install as clean as possible but I couldn’t think of a way to get the wires hidden between the mirrors and the fairing. Nothing too major though.
Then came the Photon Blasters and the P3 lights. The Photon Blasters are simply amber LEDs with the engineered flicker from Skene Designs. They are incredibly bright and the flicker is perfect to not be annoying while being very noticeable. I got the basic version which does not include turn signals which I didn’t want.
Then came the P3 lights. They are identical to the Photon Blasters but are Red. I got one of the upgraded versions which tells me the battery’s voltage when I turn the ignition on. I have my lights set to the default setting which, when the brakes are applied, flash 4 times quickly, then 4 times slower and then a constant on. I wouldn’t want to be behind me in rush hour traffic because these lights might cause epileptic seizures in stop and go traffic.
The whole package:
I made a quick video to try and capture the full brightness and flicker. The camera really doesn’t convey how truly bright everything is and how noticeable the flicker is real life. The flicker is also very exaggerated by the camera in some spots.
Can you see me NOW? - BikeVis Bullets / P3 and Photon Blaster Lights - YouTube
Hope you guys enjoyed this. Let me know if you have any questions.
Oh, and Gig’em Aggies!
1) 3M reflective tape for my helmet
2) BILT reflective vest to wear over jacket
3) White and Red BikeVis Bullets
4) Skene Designs P3 and Photon Blaster lights
I finally got the time this week to install everything and I have to say it’s going to be VERY hard for someone to not see me now.
First came the tape for the helmet. I bought this tape after reading the webbikeworld review here:
Motorcycle Reflective Tape Kit - webBikeWorld
I cut the tape and placed it over the black parts of the helmet so I can keep the cool design from HJC. The helmet looks normal but when light is in line with your line of sight, the tape starts to glow, which is perfect for people sitting in their car behind their headlights. The pictures from the review are spot on.
Next is the BILT reflective vest. It does the same thing as the tape. I didn’t take any pictures but this Youtube video demonstrates it very well.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlzXH9UCXys]BiLT Motorcycle Reflective Vest - YouTube[/ame]
Next came all of the lights. I ordered two sets of BikeVis Bullets; one white, one red. Next came the P3 and Photon Blaster lights from Skene Designs. I planned on putting the Bullet lights under the mirrors so there was as much separation between them and all of the other lights. I placed the P3 lights next to the license plate and lastly, the photon blasters were placed right in front of the brake calipers. I tried to get as much separation between all of the lights as possible to make me look bigger…..the whole light triangle.
First the BikeVis Bullets: I placed the white ones facing forward and the red facing rear under the mirrors. The pictures make the white ones appear more blue than reality. I placed the red ones forward enough so I couldn’t see them when I have to look in the mirrors. Besides the added visibility, both sets of lights give a very cool looking glow to the “****pit.” I wanted to make the install as clean as possible but I couldn’t think of a way to get the wires hidden between the mirrors and the fairing. Nothing too major though.
Then came the Photon Blasters and the P3 lights. The Photon Blasters are simply amber LEDs with the engineered flicker from Skene Designs. They are incredibly bright and the flicker is perfect to not be annoying while being very noticeable. I got the basic version which does not include turn signals which I didn’t want.
Then came the P3 lights. They are identical to the Photon Blasters but are Red. I got one of the upgraded versions which tells me the battery’s voltage when I turn the ignition on. I have my lights set to the default setting which, when the brakes are applied, flash 4 times quickly, then 4 times slower and then a constant on. I wouldn’t want to be behind me in rush hour traffic because these lights might cause epileptic seizures in stop and go traffic.
The whole package:
I made a quick video to try and capture the full brightness and flicker. The camera really doesn’t convey how truly bright everything is and how noticeable the flicker is real life. The flicker is also very exaggerated by the camera in some spots.
Can you see me NOW? - BikeVis Bullets / P3 and Photon Blaster Lights - YouTube
Hope you guys enjoyed this. Let me know if you have any questions.
Oh, and Gig’em Aggies!
