Photon Blaster LEDs: Amber or White?

[dbrick]

Mounted on the fork legs, is one color apt to attract more attention than the other?
Anyone have a pic of them mounted on the plastic fork cover ?

[scooterme]

I'm interested in this too. I'd love to see a close up shot of the lights mounted, but not lit.

[dbrick]

I just emailed the visibility question to Jerry Skene, who replied:

David;

Tests have shown amber lights to be more visible than white.

Jerry Skene

[websterize]

I'd vote amber. The headlight hi-beam is on in this shot.

[dbrick]

Thanks, Bill; that's nice. I did see that shot in my search.
I ordered amber.
Do you have a closeup of the LEDs (side or quarter view) on the fork leg?

[websterize]

For another r1150r.org lifer, yes, I will go out to the garage in my skivvies. Apologies for the cellphone flash, but hope this does the trick.

[dbrick]

You are a gentleman and a scholar, Bill. Thanks.

[deilenberger]

I'll just comment (and mebbe it's just me..) I have led a lot of rides where the riders behind me have the Photon Blasters. They really aren't noticeable in my rear-view mirrors. Much better are some of the new LED driving lights for conspicuity. They don't flash like the Photon Blasters, but it was much easier to keep track of a 5 bike parade when I had a rider doing tail duty who had the LED driving lights. Forget what brand he has - they weren't cheap, and the brightness is adjustable (and can be linked to hi-beam/low-beam use.) The Photon Blasters look bright if you're at the right angle to them - but mounting them that low means the angle/position where they appear bright is very limited.

Just my own thoughts on them.

[dbrick]

Thanks, Don.

I think aiming is critical. I notice in Bill's picture that the LEDs are angled less than the forks, so the light is more (but not completely) horizontal. Mounting the LEDs parallel to the forks would surely put the light up too high; keeping the light horizontal would also be wrong. Something in between should put the light where it oughta go.

I like the flicker idea. The Kisan PathBlazer is >3 years old and failing: it generates "Lamp" errors, and resoldering all the connections I can get to didn't help. I really like how the Skene P3s worked in back, so I ordered a set of the PBs for the front. We'll see how they work.

[dbrick]

Rode yesterday with Rad, my regular riding partner: a many-year MSF instructor and all-around excellent rider. I rode his bike for awhile, and found the PBs on my bike drew my attention very well. He said afterwards that the PBs made the viewer see "motorcycle" very clearly. I asked if he thought they were better at this than the PathBlazer headlight modulator I had previously, and he said "Absolutely."

I imagine their conspicuity is due to some combination of a) bright light, b) unusual color (amber), c) unusual position (pretty low on the fork legs), and d) the flickering.