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  1. #1
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    Default Helmet-mounted 3rd brake light

    I have an RT, so the bike itself has a place to mount an accessory brake light higher up so it's more visible. But, I recently rode with a couple of F3's and realized any accessory brake lights mounted on their bike wouldn't be high enough to have the visibility they should. Then, I looked a little more into the helmet-mounted brake light. This one is a recent startup that's getting some good press. Does anyone have any experience with it, or similar products?

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  2. #2
    Active Member juscuz's Avatar
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    The Brake Free's unit was previously scheduled for an April release but has been moved to November.

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    Very Active Member pegasus1300's Avatar
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    I bought one from Zooz at the Red Rock Spyder Rally.Anyway it works just fine. It blue tooths from the Spyder to the helmet.

    http://www.zoozmc.com/led-helmet-signal-light-c170x

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    Very Active Member Chupaca's Avatar
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    Default I have a Zoozmc.com one.

    Works well. Connected to the brakes, hazard and turn signals wirelessly with a flashing night feature. I changed the stick-on for Velcro as I move it from my helmet to the wife's as needed. Don't know if Sharon still carries them but you can check at zoozmc.com...
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    Very Active Member DGoebel's Avatar
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    Does the Zooz have a decelerometer function like the Brake Free purports to support? I routinely downshift avoiding braking.
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by UtahPete View Post
    I have an RT, so the bike itself has a place to mount an accessory brake light higher up so it's more visible. But, I recently rode with a couple of F3's and realized any accessory brake lights mounted on their bike wouldn't be high enough to have the visibility they should. Then, I looked a little more into the helmet-mounted brake light. This one is a recent startup that's getting some good press. Does anyone have any experience with it, or similar products?

    I've had my eye on this one for months now, but I've seen no progress being made in terms of updating their timeline. That makes wonder about it's ultimate viability. What I like about is that no smartphone or app is necessary and it reacts to engine braking as well as pedal braking.
    Bert


  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chupaca View Post
    Works well. Connected to the brakes, hazard and turn signals wirelessly with a flashing night feature. I changed the stick-on for Velcro as I move it from my helmet to the wife's as needed. Don't know if Sharon still carries them but you can check at zoozmc.com...
    Looks interesting - and much less expensive than BrakeFree's planned product. What exactly does "wirelessly" mean? Do you need a smartphone/app?

    Quote Originally Posted by DGoebel View Post
    Does the Zooz have a decelerometer function like the Brake Free purports to support? I routinely downshift avoiding braking.
    I do too. I'd like that info as well.
    Bert


  8. #8
    Very Active Member Bfromla's Avatar
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    Default See also

    http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...ss-brakelights
    have & used with fair results. My placement however was not on helmet, already have reflective tape on it & just didn't mount there. Did mount a pair on stock rear fender that added good light but were obsolete & damaged in the fender relocation for my hitch. No decelerometer just tapped into brake light. What interested me in the units they offer is 1 transmitter will work any number of lights, in range. I have plans for adding to my saddle bags, that way I can still just take them off with no fuss @ hotels & stuff. They use 4 -2032 size batterys good batt life & will recommend, just try to not remove them if you can.
    Last edited by Bfromla; 02-28-2018 at 12:00 AM. Reason: Details

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  9. #9
    Very Active Member pegasus1300's Avatar
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DGoebel View Post
    Does the Zooz have a decelerometer function like the Brake Free purports to support? I routinely downshift avoiding braking.
    No it does not.

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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by DGoebel View Post
    Does the Zooz have a decelerometer function like the Brake Free purports to support? I routinely downshift avoiding braking.
    Although (or perhaps because) I make frequent use of engine braking and/or downshifting, I'm not really sure that a decelerometer function is a good idea for a brake light.

    My speed constantly fluctuates - especially on rural roads where I ryde thru "twisties". So at what point do I want the brake light to activate? - every time I slow by 1 mph? by 2mph?.....by 5mph? .... I think that you get the idea. If I was a driver following someone who's brake light is coming on with every little deceleration, it's very possible that I'd eventually just ignore it. If that happens, it loses its effectiveness altogether.

    I think that the concept may be one that looks/sounds good at first glance, but may not be after giving it further thought.

    Actually, because of this I'm honestly kind of on the fence about it. I'd love to hear what others think about this.
    Bert


  11. #11
    Very Active Member DGoebel's Avatar
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    Newbert, yep that is a rider preference that should be adjustable, but I'd want it to have some setting, maybe based on time duration of decel. Not just coming on instantly when I back off the throttle for a second.
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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by newbert View Post
    Although (or perhaps because) I make frequent use of engine braking and/or downshifting, I'm not really sure that a decelerometer function is a good idea for a brake light.

    My speed constantly fluctuates - especially on rural roads where I ryde thru "twisties". So at what point do I want the brake light to activate? - every time I slow by 1 mph? by 2mph?.....by 5mph? .... I think that you get the idea. If I was a driver following someone who's brake light is coming on with every little deceleration, it's very possible that I'd eventually just ignore it. If that happens, it loses its effectiveness altogether.

    I think that the concept may be one that looks/sounds good at first glance, but may not be after giving it further thought.

    Actually, because of this I'm honestly kind of on the fence about it. I'd love to hear what others think about this.
    I think the sensitivity on these decelerometer actuated lights is adjustable. I think a bigger issue for me would be weight; I'd have to 'weigh' that drawback against the safety benefit.
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  13. #13
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    Default Nolans Here

    We are opting for the Nolan ESS multi since of course those are the helmets we have and we have the N-coms installed. we were originally looking at the cosmo connected but theirs would not work on our model of helmet and I believe they don't have a distributor here in the states yet .This model will fit on most model of helmets, I have noticed that cost of all of them runs about the same
    Dave




    Quote Originally Posted by UtahPete View Post
    I have an RT, so the bike itself has a place to mount an accessory brake light higher up so it's more visible. But, I recently rode with a couple of F3's and realized any accessory brake lights mounted on their bike wouldn't be high enough to have the visibility they should. Then, I looked a little more into the helmet-mounted brake light. This one is a recent startup that's getting some good press. Does anyone have any experience with it, or similar products?


  14. #14
    Very Active Member SpyderHands's Avatar
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    Question Q & A

    Quote Originally Posted by pegasus1300 View Post
    I bought one from Zooz at the Red Rock Spyder Rally.Anyway it works just fine. It blue tooths from the Spyder to the helmet.

    http://www.zoozmc.com/led-helmet-signal-light-c170x
    I am curious to know the following about this light:

    1.) Generally speaking, how long do the batteries last? I know it varies to some degree depending on usage, etc., but how practical is it if one has to put in new batteries often?

    2.) How well does the adhesive stay adhered to the helmet and when replacing batteries, do you have to "unstick" it from helmet or does it have a removal plate for the battery compartment?

    3.) If utilizing the velcro option, how strong and stable is the velcro to hold and stay in place with the wind and/or weather elements (heat, rain, etc.)?

    4.) How well does the bluetooth sync'ing work? Stay synced up without interruptions from the other wiring components?

    Please share when possible.

    Thanks for your time!!!
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  15. #15
    Very Active Member HayRog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by UtahPete View Post
    I think the sensitivity on these decelerometer actuated lights is adjustable. I think a bigger issue for me would be weight; I'd have to 'weigh' that drawback against the safety benefit.
    Can't imagine it would be real heavy, but weight would be an issue for my wife also.
    Sensible product

  16. #16
    Very Active Member pegasus1300's Avatar
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    I am curious to know the following about this light:

    1.) Generally speaking, how long do the batteries last? I know it varies to some degree depending on usage, etc., but how practical is it if one has to put in new batteries often? At least three months cause that is how long I rode before winter.

    2.) How well does the adhesive stay adhered to the helmet and when replacing batteries, do you have to "unstick" it from helmet or does it have a removal plate for the battery compartment?
    Don't remember

    3.) If utilizing the velcro option, how strong and stable is the velcro to hold and stay in place with the wind and/or weather elements (heat, rain, etc.)? ???

    4.) How well does the bluetooth sync'ing work? Stay synced up without interruptions from the other wiring components? Works well no issues

    Please share when possible.

    Thanks for your time!!!

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    Default "Investor" in Brake Free

    This was the first Farkle my wife and I went for, using the incredibly sophisticated logic of there's no such thing as too much visibility.

    As one of the following posts noted, the schedule shifted on their production, and we're now looking at late 2018 for delivery, so too early to know how well it really works, but I remain optimistic. Among the reasons for the delay was their mounting system, which they altered fairly late in the game to improve stability and coverage, moving from a magnetic option to a mechanical one. I think they made the right choice, and will certainly post on the effectiveness when it finally arrives.

    Quote Originally Posted by UtahPete View Post
    I have an RT, so the bike itself has a place to mount an accessory brake light higher up so it's more visible. But, I recently rode with a couple of F3's and realized any accessory brake lights mounted on their bike wouldn't be high enough to have the visibility they should. Then, I looked a little more into the helmet-mounted brake light. This one is a recent startup that's getting some good press. Does anyone have any experience with it, or similar products?

    Regards,

    Bret



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    Very Active Member youngers's Avatar
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    Default i haf-ta know !

    now with the attachment on the helmet , is the light too bright for the passenger ? blinding light ? ( o-k sorry , but it is funny if you think about it and forget the light is back there ! )

  19. #19
    SpyderLovers Ambassador Little Blue's Avatar
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    Default Helmet Light

    I for one think this could be something very Good. Just curious how this works in Sun Light during the Day. A definite Night Time Help. I hope that this will be available sooner.
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  20. #20
    Active Member juscuz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by youngers View Post
    now with the attachment on the helmet , is the light too bright for the passenger ? blinding light ? ( o-k sorry , but it is funny if you think about it and forget the light is back there ! )
    Great minds think alike. I also had this thought and ordered an additional mounting for the wife's helmet so when riding two up it's only being used on the one helmet. The additional cost was only ten bucks. (Due for release in Nov 2018)

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    I'm curious how these "IndieGoGo" campaigns are supposed to work. Someone posted to this thread that he "ordered" one of the BrakeFree lights. How is that possible, if they're not available yet? What happens if they never go into production?

    Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather wait and see if they're successful before ordering one.
    Bert


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    Quick update on BrakeFree (the helmet-mounted braking/deceleration light crowdfunded through IndieGogo). The project is overdue ("Shocked! Shocked, I tell you!"), but the latest update came today and has some long-awaited good news: the final product should ship in April. For those of you scoring at home, that's about 18 months late.

    Despite the delays, I'm enthusiastic about what is coming out. Part of my enthusiasm is because my only other choice is bitterness and disappointment over the delay, but the footage shared of the final testing before tooling began was very encouraging. To summarize:

    1) The light sensitivity appears to be pretty well dialed in -- it basically nails all braking actions, and does a good job on downshift deceleration (engine braking). The default intent is to avoid false positives to ensure the light is a trustworthy warning. It is wireless/disconnected -- i.e., not wired into your brakes or engine -- so it's doing all of this in a self-contained way. It is not affected by the wearer's head motion (e.g., shifting left and right to view traffic/potential hazards, bobbing up and down when the right song is playing, etc.).

    1a) That said, they are going to be including the ability to adjust sensitivity in the final version.

    2) The light is very nice and bright, even in full sunshine. It will be noticed, but obviously that much more so at night.

    3) The light has a mount that is stuck on the helmet (as opposed to being stuck directly on the helmet), so people will simply purchase an extra mount so that the light can be shifted to the passenger's helmet when riding two-up.

    4) Testers reported that the weight was not an issue -- "hardly noticed" was the most common observation.

    5) Someone asked, "Why invest in something like this before it's been proven?" Part of it is just the fun of participating in the process, but mostly it's due to being able to get a successful product at a sub-market price. The buyer/investor rewards are typically a good deal for products that make it to the market.

    Looking forward to posting my own video when it arrives in 3 months time!
    Regards,

    Bret



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  23. #23
    Active Member viperryder's Avatar
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    Third Eye InView

    There is another vendor out there that has a similar product. I ordered one and found out that the unit has to be tied into the Can-Bus system. Talked with the vendor and at present they have not installed any on any Spyders. There is a lady in New York that is going to have one installed, but not yet. Told vendor I was not confident tying into the Can-Bus, as it is very sensitive to any other electrical interference. Well keep up to dat as they inform me.
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  24. #24
    Very Active Member SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by juscuz View Post
    Great minds think alike. I also had this thought and ordered an additional mounting for the wife's helmet so when riding two up it's only being used on the one helmet. The additional cost was only ten bucks. (Due for release in Nov 2018)
    i too think it might be annoying to passenger but if able to buy 1 & put on passenger helmet when my wife is on would be a problem solver.

  25. #25
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    Gimmicky at best.
    Considering the tiny percent of MC accidents are rear-end collisions this product seems pointless.
    Considering most accidents occur during daylight hours this adds yet another argument to being even more pointless.
    If I plan on riding at night I ride with a reflector vest, its simple, has no failure rate, cheap, storable and if I'm hit by a car they'll easily find my mangled body.

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