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Headlight Modulation Tips
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Headlight Modulation / High Beam Wiring

I found that the Schematic in section 22-8 in the service manual reflects the REAL layout of the circuitry for the Headlights. (Unlike the the Electrical Trouble Shooting Section 8-1 & 8-2 which are incorrect) 22-8 clearly shows that what I had surmised, is unfortunately correct. The 2 Hi Beams are on separate circuits. The right Hi Beam is powered from the secondary side of the Hi Beam relay - as one would expect. However, the left one gets it's power from the Hi Beam switch and the primary side of the Hi Beam Relay. Thus, without substantially changing the wiring layout and fuse sizes, etc., the only way for a conventional "single circuit" headlight modulator to control BOTH Hi Beams is by modulating the Primary side of the Hi Beam relay. Although this will work (some are doing it today) it means that the Hi Beam Relay is being activated 240 times a minute - which can't be good for its reliability. The "single circuit" type modulator CAN be used to modulate the LOW beam by tapping into the secondary circuit at the relay. It could also be used to modulate the EC Fog/Driving lights. PS: One potential advantage of the separate Hi Beam Circuits is that they will probably allow a substantial increase in the wattage of the Hi Beams without overloading the wiring. I'd want to do some more analysis before trying this, but I think you could probably double the wattage if you changed the 2 fuses involved from 10W to 15W. The unknown is whether this might overload the Dimmer Switch.

To Modulate or not to modulate

• Concern: Got cut off by a truck turning left. Did the oncoming truck take the modulated headlight as a "go ahead" flash?
  • Counter: Since your hand cannot modulate the headlight as rapidly as the electronic modulator, there is no basis for an assumption that the truck driver may have interpreted it as an intentional 'go ahead' signal.
       
• Concern: There are some reports on object fixation, and police lights on squad cars. It seems that people fixate on the modulated lights (or flashing lights), and may actually swerve to hit you unaware that they are doing so.
  • Counter: I've never heard of this, and it doesn't even make sense. Aren't ALL drivers ALWAYS aware that running into something with lights on it is considered bad form?
           
• I have come across some folks that REALLY DO THINK I AM A COP. Folks coming at me see the modulating light, assume I am a cop, and hit the brakes to let me though. OR, at other times, we are on a two lane back road, and we come upon a slow mover. Now, they are trying to pull to the right to let ME by. What should I do? I choose to keep it on, and work around the "uneducated" with concerns towards modulators on motorcycles.
    
• I normally turn off my headlight modulator in circumstances where I don't think it will do any good
  • when I'm third or further back in a group
  • when I'm stopped at a traffic light
  • when I can see no side roads ahead of me
  • during most of my interstate riding (there are exceptions)
  • and others. In other words
  • if I don't see the threat of someone turning out or across in front of me, I generally turn it off.
         
• Here's a picture to visualize. Say most of us have modulators and a bunch of us are on a chapter ride entering a busy interstate. As we find our place in traffic some drivers are hastily getting off the road as they see the (what they think is an emergency light) and others are not. Now the drivers realize there is no emergency and are trying to get back into traffic. Get the picture!!! Has to be a better way.
     
• One better way, IMHO, is as follows:
  • Sunny Day: High Beam on.
  • Cloudy Day: Low Beam on.
  • Night Time: Low Beam on.
  • This way, you don't confuse auto drivers and you don't antagonize the local constabulary.
       
• The lights do get attention and are very noticeable during the day. I do suggest that you carry a copy of the federal statute with you as I have been stopped by the State Patrol and the only way out of a ticket was to show him my copy.
    
• On the up side, cars get out of the way and it really makes people look. On the "con" side, two or three cage drivers flipped me the bird.
     
• In the new (September, 2001) issue of the AMA magazine, there is a fascinating article about what psychologists call "inattentional blindness". You really need to read this article. I'll try and summarize:

  Two shrinks at Harvard have recently completed a study of "inattentional blindness" which "may help us understand why car drivers often end up causing accidents with motorcycles they "didn't see"". In the study, subjects watched a video of two teams of three people - one team in white shirts, the other wearing black-passing an ordinary basketball among themselves. Some subjects were told to count the number of passes by either the white or the black team (the "easy task"). Others were told to keep separate mental counts of bounce passes and aerial passes (the "hard task").

  During the video, a woman carrying an umbrella walks through the scene. In another version, a woman in a full gorilla suit walks through. In a third video, the gorilla stops in the middle of the scene, thumps its chest, and walks off. Here's the scary part: Forty-six percent of the subjects did not see the umbrella woman or the gorilla in the first two versions. In the third version, 50 percent didn't notice the gorilla.

  The Harvard profs say that people concentrating on one task do not see something unrelated because they are not expecting it. "The intuition people have is that something different like that will jump out at them and they will notice it - but their intuition is wrong." In a sea of cars, a motorcycle could be that "something different" the driver does not expect, and therefore does not see. Some of the subjects in the study did not believe a gorilla walked through the scene until they were shown the tape again.

  Another study shows that the more experienced a driver is, the more likely this "inattentional blindness" is to occur. They suggest that years of driving train someone to look for the expected, not what is actually there.

  The bottom line is to be as conspicuous as possible. They (the Harvard profs) go on to say, "while nothing can guarantee you'll be seen by car drivers, such attention getting equipment as modulating headlights (legal in most states), along with brightly colored clothing and helmets, may help." They close by saying, "just because the driver is looking right at you, that doesn't mean he or she really sees you. After all, half the people never saw the gorilla."