Green Light trigger

[Ride Slow]

2002 R1150 RT-P; won't trigger sensor loops in the areas I ride. What are you doing, besides dragging the centerstand or dropping the kickstand, to get the loop to see you. Looking thru the customer reviews on Amazon for the different devices leads me to believe that most folks think traffic lights are magic, the best one was the guy complaining about the loop not seeing him because he didn't weigh enough. Those pads are all but gone around here. (And I did search thru the site, but I couldn't figure out how to narrow the search terms)

[elkroeger]

I just wait a couple cycles, and then proceed with caution. I consider the light to be malfunctioning if it doesn't see me, and malfunctioning lights are treated as stop signs. There's probably some technical reason I wouldn't win in court, but I don't have to run very many lights like that, so I don't worry about it.

 

btw - welcome to the neighborhood!

[Tri750]

The product sold called Green Light Trigger is a magnet. Pretty small. They make a super dooper one that is bigger for 30 bucks or so.

Go to an animal feed store and buy a cow magnet for maybe 3 bucks. Really troubled? Buy two.

Attach to your centerstand with two quality wire ties or some wire. Avoid the exhaust if you use wire ties.

You can also epoxy them to the chin fairing.

Needs to be as low as possible to trigger the embedded wire in the pavement.

It's not a contact pad, it's a wire in a small channel.

I used to buy them by the box of 12 and package them with 2 wire ties for 5.00 with a label made up on Word or something. Sold a good number. Money back guarantee of it didn't improve waiting at lights.

Never gave a refund.

Most Police Officers won't give you a ticket for going thru if you miss your turn, but really, are you going to go thru the light with an Officer present to begin with ? No, you wait for him to leave. Come on.

 

 

[EffBee]

The mistake that most riders make is positioning themselves in the center of the sensing loop or rectangle. This puts the forward part of the loop under the steering head (which is very far away from the ground) and the rear part of the loop under the rear wheel, which has less metal than the engine does. Pretty much a guaranteed failure.

 

Before you buy anything, try this. Align yourself over the top of the far left or far right edge of the sensing loop or rectangle. This will put the most amount of motorcycle over the greatest length of sensing wire. See how that works. It always worked for me during the 5 years I recently spent up in Olympia. If it doesn't work for you, then you can try magnets. But I've not had a problem with that technique.

[realshelby]

Some of these light triggers are pressure sensitive. Yes, the pavement moves as you roll over it. When coming to a stop I look for the corner of these pressure sensitive pads. When just about stopped, I clamp the front brake on to stop it almost dead near the corner. That transfers a lot of weight to the front tire and that seems to make a difference in getting them to recognize a motorcycle. They are tuned for heavier vehicles obviously.

[greiffster]

the best one was the guy complaining about the loop not seeing him because he didn't weigh enough.

 

When I first got my motorcycle license I used to ride with a friend who rode an EX500. It cracked me up because he used to jump up and down on his bike waiting for left turn arrows. He would complain that his EX was lighter than my Interceptor. I would say "you know that is a magnetic induction loop....you know, a metal detector?" He'd say, "yeah, right". I'd say "you know I work for the DOT right?"

 

 

[Sonor]

There are nine states in which you can legally make left turns etc from a Red Light while riding a motorcycle. The list can be found here - http://vtrc.virginiadot.org/rsb/RSB25.pdf

 

[Ride Slow]

btw - welcome to the neighborhood!

Thanks, & I appreciate the Handyman’s Secret Weapon!

 

The product sold called Green Light Trigger is a magnet. Pretty small. They make a super dooper one that is bigger for 30 bucks or so.

Go to an animal feed store and buy a cow magnet for maybe 3 bucks. Really troubled? Buy two.

Attach to your centerstand with two quality wire ties or some wire. Avoid the exhaust if you use wire ties.

You can also epoxy them to the chin fairing.

Needs to be as low as possible to trigger the embedded wire in the pavement.

It's not a contact pad, it's a wire in a small channel.

I used to buy them by the box of 12 and package them with 2 wire ties for 5.00 with a label made up on Word or something. Sold a good number. Money back guarantee of it didn't improve waiting at lights.

That is a great idea, will be picking some up shortly

 

The mistake that most riders make is positioning themselves in the center of the sensing loop or rectangle. This puts the forward part of the loop under the steering head (which is very far away from the ground) and the rear part of the loop under the rear wheel, which has less metal than the engine does. .

That usually works, but the place I work has an induction loop for entry/exit, and the folks that run it won’t turn up the sensitivity, I was getting tired of getting off to use the key card to exit.

 

Thanks all, appreciate the info.

[lkraus]

The mistake that most riders make is positioning themselves in the center of the sensing loop or rectangle. This puts the forward part of the loop under the steering head (which is very far away from the ground) and the rear part of the loop under the rear wheel, which has less metal than the engine does. .

That usually works, but the place I work has an induction loop for entry/exit, and the folks that run it won’t turn up the sensitivity, I was getting tired of getting off to use the key card to exit.

 

Thanks all, appreciate the info.

 

If you can see the filled cuts where the coil was embedded (usually a rectangle), place your bike so it is aligned directly over a side parallel to the road. Seems to work pretty well for the lights around here (when I remember).

[Fathom]

I thought I'd heard that Virginia passed the "OK to proceed through a red after a respectable period of frustration" law a year or so back -- not certain, but that's my recollection.

 

But what I really want to know is, who is magnetizing cows, and to what nefarious ends?

[greiffster]

Align yourself over the top of the far left or far right edge of the sensing loop or rectangle. This will put the most amount of motorcycle over the greatest length of sensing wire. See how that works.

 

+1

There was a study quite a few years back (Texas, I think) regarding the sensitivity of small vehicles triggering the Inductive Loop Detectors. The sections of wire running parallel to the direction of travel was much more sensitive to that running perpendicular.

 

The trick is it to turn up the sensitivity enough for smaller vehicles to trigger the sensor without any splash-over from larger vehicles in adjacent lanes.

 

[szurszewski]

I thought I'd heard that Virginia passed the "OK to proceed through a red after a respectable period of frustration" law a year or so back -- not certain, but that's my recollection.

 

But what I really want to know is, who is magnetizing cows, and to what nefarious ends?

 

A law professor of mine who had been a DEA agent in the late eighties gave a more nefarious reason, but google says

 

[Ride Slow]

I thought I'd heard that Virginia passed the "OK to proceed through a red after a respectable period of frustration" law a year or so back -- not certain, but that's my recollection.

 

But what I really want to know is, who is magnetizing cows, and to what nefarious ends?

 

A law professor of mine who had been a DEA agent in the late eighties gave a more nefarious reason, but google says

 

Good grief, just spent the last 15 minutes reading all about magnets, and the different stuff you can do with them.

[JWMcDonald]

If there is a regular route that you take, and which has a certain stop that is a problem for you, contact your appropriate public works / highway / etc department that is responsible for that intersection.

 

I've had success with CalTrans sending a technician out to adjust / troubleshoot the sensitivity / performance of the control circuit. In my best example, the responsible CalTrans technician called me to meet me at the intersection so that he could confirm operation with my motorcycle. He was able to see not only a problem with m/c but also small cars - turned out to be a defective controller board that he swapped out on the spot.

 

It's been over two years, and that intersection is still good-to-go for me.

[Ride Slow]

Cow magnet picked up at Coastal Supply & installed. Currently riding the Harley or driving the truck. Next scheduled time on the BMW is mid November, will post results then. Thanks for input.

[EddyQ]

This article is for bicycles, but applies to motorcycles.

 

LINK

 

These things use frequencies in the KHz and will detect any metal, not just steel.

Unfortunately, when they don't work, you are out of luck. Strong magnets, coils and such won't likely help. Best advice is to stop on the edge of the buried wire.

 

I have a light that won't detect my motorcycle on my commute and it is very dangerous to run the light. I avoid the intersection unless someone in a car is already there.

[elkroeger]

I thought I'd heard that Virginia passed the "OK to proceed through a red after a respectable period of frustration" law a year or so back -- not certain, but that's my recollection.

 

But what I really want to know is, who is magnetizing cows, and to what nefarious ends?

 

A law professor of mine who had been a DEA agent in the late eighties gave a more nefarious reason, but google says

 

Good grief, just spent the last 15 minutes reading all about magnets, and the different stuff you can do with them.

 

+1

[Selden]

I won't guarantee this works, but I try to enter the detector box at one corner, and ride diagonally across to the opposite front corner. My reasoning is that somewhere in that line of travel there will be a spot that is triggered by a mass as small as a motorcycle.

[mneblett]

But what I really want to know is, who is magnetizing cows, and to what nefarious ends?

The only reason I know the answer to this Q is my wife is a veterinarian.

 

Cows are stupid. Monumentally. They will eat *anything* they come across, including bolts, nuts, pieces of barbed wire, etc.

 

So cows are fed a "cow magnet" that sits in one of their stomachs, collecting/arresting the movement of whatever ferrous metal bits they swallow.

[PadG]

But what I really want to know is, who is magnetizing cows, and to what nefarious ends?

The only reason I know the answer to this Q is my wife is a veterinarian.

 

Cows are stupid. Monumentally. They will eat *anything* they come across, including bolts, nuts, pieces of barbed wire, etc.

 

So cows are fed a "cow magnet" that sits in one of their stomachs, collecting/arresting the movement of whatever ferrous metal bits they swallow.

.......and then?

[elkroeger]

But what I really want to know is, who is magnetizing cows, and to what nefarious ends?

The only reason I know the answer to this Q is my wife is a veterinarian.

 

Cows are stupid. Monumentally. They will eat *anything* they come across, including bolts, nuts, pieces of barbed wire, etc.

 

So cows are fed a "cow magnet" that sits in one of their stomachs, collecting/arresting the movement of whatever ferrous metal bits they swallow.

.......and then?

 

go to that link above, and read the description. the magnet keeps metal bits from passing further down the digestive tract, and causing problems (a.k.a. "Hardware disease"). Sounds awful. I think my RS has it.

 

Back to the main topic here, regarding magnets and sensors - I had a big idea a few years back. I bought a sheet of that flexible magnetic stuff they signs and bumper stickers out of sometimes. I cut out a couple of insoles, and slipped them into my moto boots. Then I stood out in the street and tried to trip the sensor with them. Of course nothing happened with the streetlight, but I left those magnets in for a few months, and by golly my headaches went away, I felt 20 years younger, and my wife was rather pleased with the effects.

[enfoman]

Cow stomach magnets..... Yeah, I put one on the bike, did not seem to do that much but sure did pick up a bunch of small steel debris along the way. Some of the stuff was very interesting at the time. Commute by 2 scrap yards and supervise a machine shop. Plenty of fuzz to make a beard.

 

[Dave_zoom_zoom]

I bought a sheet of that flexible magnetic stuff they signs and bumper stickers out of sometimes. I cut out a couple of insoles, and slipped them into my moto boots. Then I stood out in the street and tried to trip the sensor with them. Of course nothing happened with the streetlight, but I left those magnets in for a few months, and by golly my headaches went away, I felt 20 years younger, and my wife was rather pleased with the effects.

 

 

I'm cutting me some insoles!

 

Dave

[Semper-Fi-82]

I believe that it is so the aliens have an easier time finding the cows in the fields at night when they want to carve one up to let us know they are still out there ...

[Semper-Fi-82]

Would it work quicker if I make a pair of jockey shorts outta it ??

Should also help keep ne on the seat better..

[Ride Slow]

Good grief. I resemble this place. I started out to learn about triggering a green light, and now have immense useless knowledge about cows, aliens, magnets, and marital enhancement. The cow magnet seems to be working, although I was in the field over the weekend, and never had to return to the home base, to check out that particular sensor.