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Blinking brake light mod?

Sparkynutz

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I test rode a 2020 NC750x manual a few months back and it had some type of aftermarket brake light mod that made the brake flash fast and really bright compared to the bike I ended up buying.
Now I'd like to try and add that to my bike but unsure what was on it.
The only post I'm finding on the subject here was from back in 2013 with most links no longer working.
Google search turned up a few things but I'd like to find something someone actually used and liked if possible.
Does anybody else have this on their bike?
 
I usually install a LED strobe on my street bikes. On the older NCs the light head mounts handily to where the current red reflector resides. Connect to the existing ground and brake light wires and the strobe fires when the brakes are applied. These light heads 'body mount' 3 or 4 LED light clusters like you see on law enforcement and ambulance vehicles. Depending on the unit they have 12 to 30 owner-selected light flash settings. Convention under federal law applicable to motor vehicles has the brake light to flash in some attention-getting sequence for 5 seconds or so then go to steady but I install light heads that do not go to steady red but continue to flash as long as the brake is applied.

I'm not endorsing this company over others but I this is where I have bought with satisfied results. Whelen TIR3 or LIN3 stobes or Whelen knock-offs like the Feniex E3 fit and work well:

 
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I use a Whelen TIR-3 mounted in place of the reflector just below the licence plate.
My jurisdiction does not allow a modulated light of any kind on a non-emergency motor vehicle.
In the past I have used a Kuryakyn 908 pulsing brake light modulator.
Not that expensive, tiny, and easy to install.
 
I use one of these in my other bike that uses a std 1157 tail light bulb (not sure what kind of bulb the NC uses)


about $20 if I remember correctly

when you hit the brakes it flashes 3 times then goes solid brake light. If I stop and see someone coming up behind me I will hit the brake lever 2 or 3 times in a row just to make it flash to try and ensure they see me and stop.

from what I've read the 2021 NC is supposed to come with a flashing tail light bulb if brakes are applied hard.
 
They are a MOT failure in the U.K. When I had my bike tested the engineer told me but turned a blind eye.
 
I know that some people don't care, but I'll post this anyway.
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108 requires that stop lamps (we usually call them brake lights) must be steady-burning. See 49 CFR 571.108 (an easy-to-read and easy-to-search version is at Cornell Law School's page, here: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/571.108 )

IOW, in the United States you're not allowed to flash brake lights. The States adhere to these standards even if they have no explicit statute to duplicate them. That said, Wisconsin (for one) allows _AMBER_ lights to be flashed as a deceleration warning. The (incomplete) reference I can find to their statute is: 347.145 Deceleration warning lights for motorcycles, motor bicycles, mopeds or motor buses.

The last car I bought (used) had a small device installed by the previous owner (or someone) in the power wire to the CHMSL which caused it to flash about 5 times when I pushed on the brakes. The main stop lamps at each rear corner were not made to flash. I removed the device, but looking at it it couldn't possibly have cost more than about $5. It may have sold for $50, though.
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I know that some people don't care, but I'll post this anyway.
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108 requires that stop lamps (we usually call them brake lights) must be steady-burning. See 49 CFR 571.108 (an easy-to-read and easy-to-search version is at Cornell Law School's page, here: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/571.108 )

IOW, in the United States you're not allowed to flash brake lights. The States adhere to these standards even if they have no explicit statute to duplicate them. That said, Wisconsin (for one) allows _AMBER_ lights to be flashed as a deceleration warning. The (incomplete) reference I can find to their statute is: 347.145 Deceleration warning lights for motorcycles, motor bicycles, mopeds or motor buses.

The last car I bought (used) had a small device installed by the previous owner (or someone) in the power wire to the CHMSL which caused it to flash about 5 times when I pushed on the brakes. The main stop lamps at each rear corner were not made to flash. I removed the device, but looking at it it couldn't possibly have cost more than about $5. It may have sold for $50, though.
(-

Is there a law that dictates how an operator should apply their brakes? If not, I‘m guessing one would be within the law if they pulled their brake lever five times very quickly.
 
I know that some people don't care, but I'll post this anyway.
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108 requires that stop lamps (we usually call them brake lights) must be steady-burning. See 49 CFR 571.108 (an easy-to-read and easy-to-search version is at Cornell Law School's page, here: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/571.108 )

IOW, in the United States you're not allowed to flash brake lights. The States adhere to these standards even if they have no explicit statute to duplicate them. That said, Wisconsin (for one) allows _AMBER_ lights to be flashed as a deceleration warning. The (incomplete) reference I can find to their statute is: 347.145 Deceleration warning lights for motorcycles, motor bicycles, mopeds or motor buses.

The last car I bought (used) had a small device installed by the previous owner (or someone) in the power wire to the CHMSL which caused it to flash about 5 times when I pushed on the brakes. The main stop lamps at each rear corner were not made to flash. I removed the device, but looking at it it couldn't possibly have cost more than about $5. It may have sold for $50, though.
(-:
There is nothing saying the brake lights can't flash before going steady. I feel brake light modulators make a huge difference in safety because they do catch the drivers attention.
 
Is there a law that dictates how an operator should apply their brakes? If not, I‘m guessing one would be within the law if they pulled their brake lever five times very quickly.
Sure. I’ve done that.
 
I feel brake light modulators make a huge difference in safety because they do catch the drivers attention.

One of the automakers, maybe M-B, had a special exemption a few years ago to try them on the CHMSL only and gather data for a while. Apparently the feeling of safety was not supported by the data.
 
Against an assanine law or not I'd rather be seen by drivers and stay alive to pay a fine. I've bought new so called safety gas cans and added my own vent and standard spout yet haven't been thrown in jail for it yet. I would sure hope the popo have better things to do or worry about than watching if my brake light blinks or not.
Referring to the bicycle warning light reference. I have never seen a solid red bicycle rear light. They always flash red.
 
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My anecdotal evidence is drivers behind take notice and stop further back from me at traffic lights. The drivers in traffic that follow too close usually fall back or pass me when I activate the strobe. In several hundred thousand miles I’ve had no negative experience or comments from motorists or law enforcement.
 
Is there a law that dictates how an operator should apply their brakes? If not, I‘m guessing one would be within the law if they pulled their brake lever five times very quickly.
There is no comparison with these LED light heads and one or two incandescent brake light bulbs being hand-flashed.
 
There is no comparison with these LED light heads and one or two incandescent brake light bulbs being hand-flashed.
My point was that the law calls for steady burning stop lamps, but may not go as far as to dictate in what fashion the “steady burning” lamp could be manually flashed with the brake lever or pedal.

For the record, I have LED brake light bars with rapid flash for 1 second on every motorcycle and scooter in our fleet. There has been no encounter with law enforcement regarding their usage.
 
My problem in using a brake light modulator in a jurisdiction that doesn’t allow them is not the on-road police issuing a ticket (will never happen), it’s the issue of selling, trading in, or re-registering the bike. We require safety inspections on registering motor vehicles, and a modulated brake light is an immediate fail. When I privately sold my Goldwing, the buyer phoned me in disbelief that the bike failed inspection. I had no idea the modulator was illegal. I walked him through on the phone how to find it and disconnect it.
 
My problem in using a brake light modulator in a jurisdiction that doesn’t allow them is not the on-road police issuing a ticket (will never happen), it’s the issue of selling, trading in, or re-registering the bike. We require safety inspections on registering motor vehicles, and a modulated brake light is an immediate fail. When I privately sold my Goldwing, the buyer phoned me in disbelief that the bike failed inspection. I had no idea the modulator was illegal. I walked him through on the phone how to find it and disconnect it.
All of my bikes have passed their yearly inspection here in NY with modulators installed.
 
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