Gentlefolk...this past sunday was O-Ren Ishii and i's maiden voyage on a group ride utilizing my newly installed...
"Clear-alternatives Tail-Light w/ Integrated Directionals"
Subsequently?...afterwards i queired several riders to get their opines of wether or not the unit was bright enough to be safe & functional.
Now...that said?...my first encounter with a CA Tail/Directional was witnessing the old original first run stlye non-ribbed "CLEAR" lens versions of these units and while not quite as bright as stock oem red lens w/1157's?....they were damn close to it...and then CA came out with a "Ribbed Version" lens...available in both clear and smoke....I ordered the smoke..and one of my fellow riders was on a red busa with the clear ribbed version..annnnd?...both were about the same...no big or even small losses of brightness with either..however...both could get washed out by the sun at certain angles annnnd?....if you were following the CA euipped bike closely?...like a bike length or two?...the tail-light would go flat dull...not very bright at all...like the rib angles were screwing with the light refraction/reflection...and several of us agreed that.....they were okay at a distance as long as the sun wasn't shining right on'em and washing them out or?...if you were following the bike closely...sooo....i got to thinking and here's what i did...just fer shids and giggles?...I removed my smoke (non-DOT certified) CA tail-light lens and put the stock oem (Dot Certified) red lenns back on....OVER...the CA L.E.D. board annd?..to me?...the results were startling...and unless it's my imagination?...both the tail-light and brake-light were far far brighter...from all angles....and while only slightly muted?..you can even disconcern the AMBER turn signaling through the stock oem red lens...as they are brighter as well...again...from all angles.
Upon closer observation?...I can see why this is...as follows...
1. There are about 1/2 as many "ribs" in the stock red oem tail-light lens as there are in the CA lens...and this feature alone seems to greatly increase the "All Angles" light visibility and seems to drastically increase the brightness as well and..
2. For bonus points?...the stock red oem lens is D.O.T. approved while the CA lens apparently isn't...and i suspect the reflector portion is far brighter as well as that too meets some sort of SAE spec.
But for those of you who may've been wondering if you could get a brighter CA unit and still have adquate AMBER directionals by simply re-using the stock red oem lens with the Clear Alternatives LED Light-Board?...imnsho?...the unwaiving answer is..
"Yes....You Can"
3 minutes and a phillips head screwdriver is all it takes to find out folks...and might very well save yer azz from a ramming one day.
I know this...despite how cool that smoke ribbed CA lens looks on my SLVR/Graphite '03 Busa?...the D.O.T. certified stock oem red lens is staying on...and it's still nice and far brighter than the CA lens.
You may wanna do the same and....L8R, Bill.
"Clear-alternatives Tail-Light w/ Integrated Directionals"
Subsequently?...afterwards i queired several riders to get their opines of wether or not the unit was bright enough to be safe & functional.
Now...that said?...my first encounter with a CA Tail/Directional was witnessing the old original first run stlye non-ribbed "CLEAR" lens versions of these units and while not quite as bright as stock oem red lens w/1157's?....they were damn close to it...and then CA came out with a "Ribbed Version" lens...available in both clear and smoke....I ordered the smoke..and one of my fellow riders was on a red busa with the clear ribbed version..annnnd?...both were about the same...no big or even small losses of brightness with either..however...both could get washed out by the sun at certain angles annnnd?....if you were following the CA euipped bike closely?...like a bike length or two?...the tail-light would go flat dull...not very bright at all...like the rib angles were screwing with the light refraction/reflection...and several of us agreed that.....they were okay at a distance as long as the sun wasn't shining right on'em and washing them out or?...if you were following the bike closely...sooo....i got to thinking and here's what i did...just fer shids and giggles?...I removed my smoke (non-DOT certified) CA tail-light lens and put the stock oem (Dot Certified) red lenns back on....OVER...the CA L.E.D. board annd?..to me?...the results were startling...and unless it's my imagination?...both the tail-light and brake-light were far far brighter...from all angles....and while only slightly muted?..you can even disconcern the AMBER turn signaling through the stock oem red lens...as they are brighter as well...again...from all angles.
Upon closer observation?...I can see why this is...as follows...
1. There are about 1/2 as many "ribs" in the stock red oem tail-light lens as there are in the CA lens...and this feature alone seems to greatly increase the "All Angles" light visibility and seems to drastically increase the brightness as well and..
2. For bonus points?...the stock red oem lens is D.O.T. approved while the CA lens apparently isn't...and i suspect the reflector portion is far brighter as well as that too meets some sort of SAE spec.
But for those of you who may've been wondering if you could get a brighter CA unit and still have adquate AMBER directionals by simply re-using the stock red oem lens with the Clear Alternatives LED Light-Board?...imnsho?...the unwaiving answer is..
"Yes....You Can"
3 minutes and a phillips head screwdriver is all it takes to find out folks...and might very well save yer azz from a ramming one day.
I know this...despite how cool that smoke ribbed CA lens looks on my SLVR/Graphite '03 Busa?...the D.O.T. certified stock oem red lens is staying on...and it's still nice and far brighter than the CA lens.
You may wanna do the same and....L8R, Bill.
