[drive1987]

Hello Bhpians!

I've been wondering - Am I the only one who is noticing more and more people purposely driving without their headlights ON at night? Mostly the two wheeler riders. I'm a resident of Bangalore, and on an average, I have been sighting at least 1 rider every kilometer I cover, who thinks that switching on their headlight is unnecessary.

This term this act of carefulness extremely dangerous for both the rider as well as others driving/riding on the roads at night.

Till date, I have lost count of near misses at junctions/cross roads when these guys suddenly pop-up without headlights, more dangerous when they are somewhere in the blind spot (e.g. A pillar). It's extremely difficult to spot them on both IRVMs & ORVMs.

Has anyone else noticed this new "menace"?

[Rehaan]

Where education & common sense can't keep up, legislation must step in.

AHO (Always/Auto Headlamp On) on bikes should greatly reduce this problem in the coming years, as it's been in place on all new bikes since a while now.

Team-BHP discussion (Safety Measure: All bikes to have 'Auto Headlamps On' feature from April 2017)

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

AHO (Always/Auto Headlamp On) on bikes should greatly reduce this problem in the coming years, as it's been in place on all new bikes since a while now.

Team-BHP discussion (Safety Measure: All bikes to have 'Auto Headlamps On' feature from April 2017)

Wish it was that simple. Many people (even bhpians) have started to replace it with an after market switch to remove this feature. We Indians are always good in finding out ways to circumvent the law

[hgps]

Not with bikers but i am tired of these battery powered e-rickshaws driving with their lights off to conserve power. Its outright dangerous.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by drive1987

Has anyone else noticed this new "menace"?

That is an old convention . When the taxis, autos are done for the day, when they are returning home they switch off their headlights.
This custom is now picked by the 2-wheeler delivery riders. After they are done with customer deliveries, when they are returning home they switch off their headlights.

This is the Indian way of signalling a fruitful and fulfilled day

[Mr. Nobody]

Somehow i have not seen this in Gurgaon. Its the opposite infact here with lights and LED lights turned on across 2 wheelers all day. Even delivery boys have LEDs and Led handlebar weights to light up and cause unwanted glare to others.

[IshaanIan]

I highly doubt this is steeped in any tradition other than the age old classic stinginess inherent in our countrymen. Bulb goes out, no one bothers replacing it. Simple. I myself ran for a little over a month without a working low-beam on my bike until I recently gave it to the service center but then again there are drls on my bike which are always on.

[starter]

The policy of Auto HeadLamp On is great. The problem is in the way it gets implemented by auto manufacturers.

• Not all manufacturers have switched to LED head lights. Conventional ones put quite a load on the 12V battery of a motorcycle. Especially in the stop and go traffic in cities.

• Most manufacturers are now doing away with kick start and yet, they do not think of switching the lights off while using the electric starter.

With a new battery, it is all great. But this Auto HeadLamp On is going to be a nuisance for a bike with an aging battery.

PS: I used to ride a bullet for a decade and this is from personal experience

[bigron]

Here the problem is not with bikers who ride with their headlights off at night but with those that have those cheap so called white HID's installed and ride with full beam. It has no spread or visibility for the user and all it does is pierce the eyes of oncoming traffic.

[locusjag]

In Chennai as well, it is a problem of blinding high beams that ails us and in our blindness, binds us together as one smouldering wreckage when we collide.

If there is one suicidal 2 wheeler attribute in Chennai though, it has to be the lack of rearview mirrors. No hindsight, just a huge blindspot behind them.

[nishp]

Bikers here in NCR are using their headlights to fullest. Even adding blinding LEDs for the bling. The problem seem to be with car drivers who do not want to switch on the lights until its pitch dark. Spotting a car can be hard at dawn and dusk, these guys don't want to turn on their headlights as if the headlight run-time amount would be added to their home's electricity bill.

[Chetan_Rao]

Tale of two extremes. You're either blinded by the headlamps, or by the rider conserving them. Disaster waiting to happen in both cases.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by starter

Conventional ones put quite a load on the 12V battery of a motorcycle. Especially in the stop and go traffic in cities.

As for personal experience been riding with my HL ON since the year I got my first motorcycle i.e 2011.

One of my current motorcycles is running higher 80W bulbs for both low and high beams yet with the lights ON all the time I've not faced any drain to speak of and this a pre-AHO motorcycle being used for intra-city bumper to bumper commuting.

So you'll see why my experience has led me to believe that any such reported issues relating to battery drain is purely the fault of the user of the said motorcycle and not the motorcycle itself.

At idle speed a motorcycles charging system churns out 13.x V IIRC which is more than enough to keep the battery fueled to handle whatever a HL can throw at it.

Plus the battery is a consumable that has to be replaced once every 3~4 years IIRC, no point going all Indian on it and trying to extend use and end up inconvenienced.

As for Kicker, its simply there to help the less responsible folk as most motorcycles these days run with a DC CDI and as you might've had experience with the Bullet, a kick-starter turns out to be completely useless with a flat battery on board.

[adi.mariner]

It is very tricky to spot Bike riders who ride without their Headlights on. Specially during the rainy season and when the Rider is trying to overtake you from the right side when you are in the right most lane, a very common phenomenon in Pune. On the other hand, some Riders always use the High Beam which temporarily blinds (specially LED Headlamps) and they are blissfully unaware about the same.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Haven't really found this problem widespread on the streets in Bangalore. Perhaps an occasional biker or two, who would have forgotten to turn on their headlamps?

Most halogen units on two-wheelers are rather useless anyways!