Starter button to flash headlights

2931 Views 26 Replies 13 Participants Last post by firebrand581, Jul 7, 2011

firebrand581

Discussion Starter · Jul 5, 2011

Every now and again, I'm riding and I see a car trying to turn out in front of me.. you know, you can see it edging forward a little. When I see that, sometimes I flick the starter a few times just in case, cause that blinks the headlights, drawing their attention to me, and thus (hopefully) not pulling out in front of me. Now, the starter probably runs at no higher of an RPM then idle speed, so when I'm in gear, this shouldn't cause any damage to the starter assembly.

I'm just curious if anyone else does this at all

1 - 20 of 27 Posts

PHXRR

· #2 · Jul 5, 2011

opcorn: this thread should get interesting. lol

G

· #3 · Jul 5, 2011

hummmm wear out your starter first.... and keep the headlights in good shape... thats a fail man...... you are going to burn the starter out prematurely... just flash the headlights instead.

Moeman

· #4 · Jul 5, 2011

Asking for some electrical germlins to go in attack mode easier solution
Readjust the beam height of the high beam headlight to match low beam
than ride with both on at all times

TheX

· #5 · Jul 5, 2011

I bump the starter to trip left turn signals all the time, never hurt a thing. The magnetic filed created by the motor trips the loop sensor that normal reads the car being there.

AlanK

· #6 · Jul 5, 2011

My 2c (or 2p over here) worth:

1) If your using the starter to turn your lights of your putting unnecesary strain on the starter motor aswell as the electics flicking on and off (do you think it is a healthy sound you get trying to start something already running!)
2) If you have HIDS turning them off and on again quickly is bad for not just the bulbs but the balast aswell
3) If you flash your lights there is a good chance some drivers will think you are waving them out!!

cooper600

· #7 · Jul 5, 2011

Id agree with the above, if i dont think people have seen me i get on the horn.

Also AlanK, 2p? so where bouts in the uk are you?

Danny

firebrand581

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jul 5, 2011

PHXRR said:
opcorn: this thread should get interesting. lol

indeed.

awd-turbo said:
hummmm wear out your starter first.... and keep the headlights in good shape... thats a fail man...... you are going to burn the starter out prematurely... just flash the headlights instead.

see my explanation.

Moeman said:
Asking for some electrical germlins to go in attack mode easier solution
Readjust the beam height of the high beam headlight to match low beam
than ride with both on at all times

Usually, I ride with both on during the day. If I adjusted my highbeams lower, then i wouldnt have highbeams haha. also, see my explanation

TheX said:
I bump the starter to trip left turn signals all the time, never hurt a thing. The magnetic filed created by the motor trips the loop sensor that normal reads the car being there.

what?

AlanK said:
1) If your using the starter to turn your lights of your putting unnecesary strain on the starter motor aswell as the electics flicking on and off (do you think it is a healthy sound you get trying to start something already running!)
2) If you have HIDS turning them off and on again quickly is bad for not just the bulbs but the balast aswell
3) If you flash your lights there is a good chance some drivers will think you are waving them out!!

see my explanation.

cooper600 said:
Id agree with the above, if i dont think people have seen me i get on the horn.

I feel like people would notice flashing lights easier then hearing the horn, and they see where the lights are coming from directly. cause otherwise they have to interpret where the horn is coming from, which might take up precious seconds if $hit is actually about to hit the fan.. I use the horn when I need to, obv.

The starter shouldn't wear out like you guys say it would, because there isn't the load of cranking the engine on the starter. The starter motor is, after all, just a motor... and the starter clutch wont be damaged because the engine rpm is significantly higher then the starter motor rpm (so its the same circumstance as when the engine is running and the starter is off). I haven't traced it through the wiring diagram, but it would make sense for the headlights and brake light to go off when the starter motor is running because those represent the second highest loads on the battery (other than the starter). The rest of the bike does not switch off when pressing the starter (dash stays on at least, and i don't think the computers shut off) because those circuits don't use enough power to warrant that. Perhaps it is bad for the bulbs and ballast.. but the last two times that I did this, the turning car jerked to a stop, avoiding a potential accident. Id rather they see me, cause if i'm moving at speed and they see me i doubt that they'd pull out in front of me.

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[email protected]

· #9 · Jul 5, 2011

firebrand581 said:
starter clutch

There it is...

Thou if I had HIDs fitted I wouldnt do what your doing. But each to their own.

firebrand581

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 5, 2011

[email protected] said:
There it is...

Thou if I had HIDs fitted I wouldnt do what your doing. But each to their own.

yeah, i dont do this often. When im riding, and my gut tells me that the car ahead is about to pull out, then maybe. I dont have HID's, but i thought that they were worth mentioning in the post before.

so the general consensus is that hitting the starter to flash the lights this should be avoided.. fair enough. I just dont see where/ how harm is done.

SuuScbr

· #11 · Jul 5, 2011 (Edited)

the pin engages, and you can wear the starter clutch gear

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firebrand581

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jul 5, 2011

cagers look for cars when they turn, not bikes. If in a car id just flash the highbeams cause theyre a lot brighter then those on my bike, and there are two of them haha.

mikcbr

· #13 · Jul 5, 2011

I run into a guardrail to scare off deer so I don't hit them.

[email protected]

· #14 · Jul 5, 2011

SuuScbr; would you do it in a car?[/QUOTE said:
I dont know of any cars that have starter clutches fitted.. Do you?

SuuScbr

· #15 · Jul 5, 2011

firebrand581 said:
cagers look for cars when they turn, not bikes. If in a car id just flash the highbeams cause theyre a lot brighter then those on my bike, and there are two of them haha.

so why not flash your highbeam on the bike, if its stock then you dont have anything to worry about, thats the reason for a switch, if you have HID,

you could always get one of those modules that dim your headlights on and off, Ive seen some bikes with those, or get your third eye to flash and make it super bright,

tripage could probably help in that area,

SuuScbr

· #16 · Jul 5, 2011

[email protected] said:
I dont know of any cars that have starter clutches fitted.. Do you?

no my point was, would you turn the key while the car was running,

[email protected]

· #17 · Jul 6, 2011

SuuScbr said:
no my point was, would you turn the key while the car was running,

I thought thats what you where getting at. No I wouldnt do that on a car.. But on the flip side.. if it was fitted with a "One Way Starter Clutch" I wouldnt think too much of it if it did happen.

Does anyone know how the one way starter clutch works?

[email protected]

· #18 · Jul 6, 2011

firebrand581 said:
indeed.

see my explanation.

Usually, I ride with both on during the day. If I adjusted my highbeams lower, then i wouldnt have highbeams haha. also, see my explanation

what?

see my explanation.

I feel like people would notice flashing lights easier then hearing the horn, and they see where the lights are coming from directly. cause otherwise they have to interpret where the horn is coming from, which might take up precious seconds if $hit is actually about to hit the fan.. I use the horn when I need to, obv.

The starter shouldn't wear out like you guys say it would, because there isn't the load of cranking the engine on the starter. The starter motor is, after all, just a motor... and the starter clutch wont be damaged because the engine rpm is significantly higher then the starter motor rpm (so its the same circumstance as when the engine is running and the starter is off). I haven't traced it through the wiring diagram, but it would make sense for the headlights and brake light to go off when the starter motor is running because those represent the second highest loads on the battery (other than the starter). The rest of the bike does not switch off when pressing the starter (dash stays on at least, and i don't think the computers shut off) because those circuits don't use enough power to warrant that. Perhaps it is bad for the bulbs and ballast.. but the last two times that I did this, the turning car jerked to a stop, avoiding a potential accident. Id rather they see me, cause if i'm moving at speed and they see me i doubt that they'd pull out in front of me.

How do you do that ****?

Im on about the multi quote thing:retard::crackup:

sraenn

· #19 · Jul 6, 2011

rotate left hand away from the centerline of the bike

switch lights to high beam and hit horn at same time, leave brights on for several moments

profit.

..with a high beam in someones face, theyre much less likely to just pull out into the road when they cant see well. no one wants to get plowed into by an oncoming vehicle. rock those hi beams as you see fit. who gives a **** if a cager is annoyed by it. your safety and security trumps some cagers inconvenience at all times.

tenjin

· #20 · Jul 6, 2011

[email protected] said:
How do you do that ****?

Im on about the multi quote thing:retard::crackup:

the + to the right of quote, click on that for each thingyou want to quote, last one click quote, and blammo!

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