Pulsating lights

[Biffa]

Hi apart from when I first joined this forum this will be my first post
I have recently acquired a 2011 Spyder RS
Very happy with my purchase and loving the ryde
However my Spyder has a headlight fault
It appears that my headlights FLASH when I get upto speed
A mate of mine on his Ryker keeps thinking I’m trying to get him to pull over
Worse still I had a large lorry pull out on me to overtake another lorry because he thought I had flashed him out
He even thanked me as I got past him
Obviously I don’t want everyone thinking I’m being courteous and giving them the signal to pull out on me and cut me off especially at speed as with the lorry driver
So I’m wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what was the cure?
Charging rate is 13.8v and I have changed one bulb even though it was still working but had a milky appearance on part of the glass
I’ve now got the plastics off and I’m checking all the earths I can find
But so far haven’t found anything amiss
Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Cheers
BIFFA

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Hi apart from when I first joined this forum this will be my first post
I have recently acquired a 2011 Spyder RS
Very happy with my purchase and loving the ryde
However my Spyder has a headlight fault
It appears that my headlights FLASH when I get upto speed
A mate of mine on his Ryker keeps thinking I’m trying to get him to pull over
Worse still I had a large lorry pull out on me to overtake another lorry because he thought I had flashed him out
He even thanked me as I got past him
Obviously I don’t want everyone thinking I’m being courteous and giving them the signal to pull out on me and cut me off especially at speed as with the lorry driver
So I’m wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what was the cure?
Charging rate is 13.8v and I have changed one bulb even though it was still working but had a milky appearance on part of the glass
I’ve now got the plastics off and I’m checking all the earths I can find
But so far haven’t found anything amiss
Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Cheers
BIFFA

The Spyders in the US and Canada ( until recently ) had a shutter system for the high & low beams. It could bounce and give that impression .... I'm not sure the Spyders shipped to Britain had the same system , but if it does this might be the cause ..... good luck .... Mike :thumbup:

 

[ARtraveler]

The Spyders in the US and Canada ( until recently ) had a shutter system for the high & low beams. It could bounce and give that impression .... I'm not sure the Spyders shipped to Britain had the same system , but if it does this might be the cause ..... good luck .... Mike :thumbup:

:agree: x 2

 

[Biffa]

Cheers and thanks for the quick reply
The low beams on my Spyder are the lower lights either side of the frunk
The high beam lights are the upper two close together in front of the dashboard
When I select high beams the upper two come on and the lower two switch off so I don’t think it has the shutter system
It’s the low beam which gives the impression that I’m flashing at other road user’s
I can’t get it to do it in my garage by revving the engine but on the road it’s doing it all the time
Cheers
BIFFA

 

[bigbadbrucie]

The only thing that comes to my mind is a headlight modulator, but....... I know absolutely nothing about modulators, but someone should chime in. Good luck with the pronlem!

 

[Bfromla]

The only thing that comes to my mind is a headlight modulator, but....... I know absolutely nothing about modulators, but someone should chime in. Good luck with the pronlem!

Understanding is that head light modulators only supposed to work on high beams & only in daylight <photo cell required> (US):welcome::congrats: Sounds like loose or connections somewhere possibly even the switch or even a wonky fuse. Good checking charging rate ,but maybe some extra load occurs like DPS (Dynamic power steering) has major load draw :sour:

 

[Peter Aawen]

Cheers and thanks for the quick reply
The low beams on my Spyder are the lower lights either side of the frunk
The high beam lights are the upper two close together in front of the dashboard
When I select high beams the upper two come on and the lower two switch off so I don’t think it has the shutter system
It’s the low beam which gives the impression that I’m flashing at other road user’s
I can’t get it to do it in my garage by revving the engine but on the road it’s doing it all the time
Cheers
BIFFA

Hi BIFFA, just about every Aussie Spyder Ryder (we have the same light configuration as you) that I know has EXACTLY the same 'you're flashing your lights' problem! :gaah:

It's simply that our low beam lights are so low (as in height off the ground) & the suspension so bouncy that every little ripple or undulation in the road surface (& there's waaaayyy more than you might think!) makes the light beam LOOK as tho it's flashing, when it's really only the front end bouncing so the projector lenses projecting the beam in a line straight out in front of the Spyder makes it seem as tho you are flashing people ahead when you're not at all! :yikes:

Solution?? :dontknow: Some ryde around in daylight hours with their lights on Hi beam all the time - there are States here that encourage motorcyclists to do this. Others adjust their Lo beam lights down even more, so that it takes a massive bump to lift the projected beam up enough for a vehicle ahead to see it & think it's a flash - but if you do that & ever ryde at night, low beam is useless! A few of us have modified our lights so that the top lights, formerly just the Hi beam lights, now serve as both Hi & Lo, leaving the former Lo beam lights as fogs or not lighting at all; while others have fiddled with the suspension/ride height either making it rock hard but higher, or really soft & even lower - in both cases pretty much stuffing up the handling dynamics of the Spyder! Others just live with it &/or adjust their ryding to compensate for other road users thinking they're being flashed by some idiot on a Spyder!

In your case, with a 2011 & probably aging front shocks, it MIGHT be being made worse by your shocks &/or springs being a bit tired, so replacing them may help reduce the effect, but it won't remove it entirely!! If you have adjustable shocks on your Spyder, front &/or rear, it might pay to try adding a bit of preload up front &/or reducing it a bit on the rear, but again, that'll only reduce the effect, not eliminate it! :dontknow:

Over to you! :cheers:

 

[Snowbelt Spyder]

Well, I believe Peter is exactly right. This same effect occurs on systems with shutters and without shutters. It's just the change of intensity as the beam angle changes to your eyes as the front end bounces along the road surface, because of the projector type lens. You can even see this effect from passenger vehicles with the same type of lights when they are coming towards you. Now, here in the States, some blame this effect on the shutters bouncing. If you've ever taken a headlight assembly apart and felt the strength of that shutter spring, I think that you would agree that the shutters aren't bouncing here, either. It's the same thing - just this projector lens effect. An unintended consequence of having high end headlights.

 

[Biffa]

Hi BIFFA, just about every Aussie Spyder Ryder (we have the same light configuration as you) that I know has EXACTLY the same 'you're flashing your lights' problem! :gaah:

It's simply that our low beam lights are so low (as in height off the ground) & the suspension so bouncy that every little ripple or undulation in the road surface (& there's waaaayyy more than you might think!) makes the light beam LOOK as tho it's flashing, when it's really only the front end bouncing so the projector lenses projecting the beam in a line straight out in front of the Spyder makes it seem as tho you are flashing people ahead when you're not at all! :yikes:

Solution?? :dontknow: Some ryde around in daylight hours with their lights on Hi beam all the time - there are States here that encourage motorcyclists to do this. Others adjust their Lo beam lights down even more, so that it takes a massive bump to lift the projected beam up enough for a vehicle ahead to see it & think it's a flash - but if you do that & ever ryde at night, low beam is useless! A few of us have modified our lights so that the top lights, formerly just the Hi beam lights, now serve as both Hi & Lo, leaving the former Lo beam lights as fogs or not lighting at all; while others have fiddled with the suspension/ride height either making it rock hard but higher, or really soft & even lower - in both cases pretty much stuffing up the handling dynamics of the Spyder! Others just live with it &/or adjust their ryding to compensate for other road users thinking they're being flashed by some idiot on a Spyder!

In your case, with a 2011 & probably aging front shocks, it MIGHT be being made worse by your shocks &/or springs being a bit tired, so replacing them may help reduce the effect, but it won't remove it entirely!! If you have adjustable shocks on your Spyder, front &/or rear, it might pay to try adding a bit of preload up front &/or reducing it a bit on the rear, but again, that'll only reduce the effect, not eliminate it! :dontknow:

Over to you! :cheers:

Cheers Peter
Yeah it doesn’t look like theirs much I can do about this
So I’ve decided that as I only ride my Spyder during the day I’m going to adjust the lights down and see if that makes a difference
New shocks are on the cards along with a sway bar
Maybe I should save up for an F3

 

[Peter Aawen]

Cheers Peter
Yeah it doesn’t look like theirs much I can do about this
So I’ve decided that as I only ride my Spyder during the day I’m going to adjust the lights down and see if that makes a difference
New shocks are on the cards along with a sway bar
Maybe I should save up for an F3

Aussie Spec F3's still have the same problem, so that might not be a complete solution for you! . Even the F3's with their 'higher than the RT's but still lower than the Hi-beam lights' with semi-outrigger style Lo-beam lights have people flash back at them or get stroppy cos they think the ryder is flashing them... :cus:

Most State Authorities here in Oz actually encourage ALL motorcyclists to use Hi-beam at all times during daylight hours (officially from 30 mins after Sunrise to 30 mins before Sunset ) in order to increase their visibility to other road users & at least partially to alleviate this 'perceived flashing' problem; and most other road users don't seem to have much in the way of issues with motorcyclists this.... In fact, I get waaay more aggro from vehicles I'm following &/or 'irate flashing' from oncoming traffic upset with my lights when I'm running on Lo-beam than I ever do when I've already got Hi-beam selected! Of course, the downside of running on Hi-beam during the day when there's already a fair bit of daylight around, is that since you're already on Hi-beam, you can't readily flash your headlights at anyone/for anything... and there are times that can be a bit of an issue! :banghead:

Maybe you should adjust your Lo-beams UP a bit instead, &/or possibly add another set of 'always on' day-time running lights??:dontknow: There again, adding a set of really bright spot lights that are switched & wired to operate in tandem with your Hi-beams & the brights flasher and mounted on top of the RT's mirrors/outboard of the little side wings at the base of the windscreen so they'll improve your dark road/nighttime visibility as well as allowing for a quick & really bright flash as & when necessary at other times could be a lot more effective at letting them know you weren't actually flashing your Lo-beams at them earlier and doing that juust might be somewhat more satisfying too??? :dontknow:

Over to you! :cheers:

 

[Steve W.]

Understanding is that head light modulators only supposed to work on high beams & only in daylight <photo cell required> (US)

In the US, modulators are allowed on either beam, but must be installed on the power wire, not the ground (earth) wire, so there is no possibility of modulating BOTH beams. Yes, they are also required to have a photocell to prevent operation at night.

Modulators also have a few more criteria that need to be met, and if they meet them all, they are legal in all 50 states and Canada. I have no idea whether they are allowed (or used) anywhere else.

.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Cheers Peter
Yeah it doesn’t look like theirs much I can do about this
So I’ve decided that as I only ride my Spyder during the day I’m going to adjust the lights down and see if that makes a difference
New shocks are on the cards along with a sway bar
Maybe I should save up for an F3

Yep that should work ..... However if you MUST continue a ride and it gets dark .... you will have serious problem ..... jmho .... Mike :thumbup: