Saved by the lights

The wife arrived Thrusday afternoon and announced that she had left some meds at the house. Knowing that I would not be riding most of the weekend I looked at this as an opportunity to get in a few miles the next day. So Friday morning at 3am I set off on the RT planning to beat the Houston rush hour traffic with a quick 230 miles round trip.

Most of the way I was going down I10 with my PIAA lights and low beams on. I prefer the interstate at night when the traffic is light and the secondary roads during the day. The ride was unevenful until I returned to Sealy where I picked up a guy who insisted on hanging right behind me and to my left in the fast lane. Between Sealy and Columbus I pulled away, but I slowed crossing the Colorado river and he caught up.

I pulled ahead again and at the 71 turn off the broad beam of the PIAA lights illuminated a big doe as it jumped the fence and bolted out across the Interstate. I slowed enough to miss it and passed behind it, the guy following me in the fast lane was not so lucky.

I'm not going to forget that sound for a long time. The driver who hit the deer was not hurt though his car suffered some damage. For much of that ride, especially in town, I had questioned if I really needed to be running with the PIAA lights on or off. Now I know.


m

Duly noted....glad that you missed the critter!

That could have turned out very differently.

Good light + good reaction = more rides with M!

I feel the same about my converted-to-HID PIAA driving beams. This is a life or death matter between Bambi and me - everybody else will get over it.

I just ordered an HID kit for my Expedition, it gets dark early here in Seattle and there are a lot of deer about so i figured better lights would be a good thing!! The kit should arrive this week, but sounds like it is a good idea!!
Glad to hear of your lucky miss M.. See you in November.

Gary

Just curious, do you have your lights aimed to give a wide spead of light to the right? I'm thinking of upgrading the lighting on my new Stratoliner. Good for you you saw the deer early!

Kevin

Thrasherg said:

I just ordered an HID kit for my Expedition, it gets dark early here in Seattle and there are a lot of deer about so i figured better lights would be a good thing!! The kit should arrive this week, but sounds like it is a good idea!!
Glad to hear of your lucky miss M.. See you in November.

Gary

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Gary,

I'm really looking forward to Barstow, expecially the crew I'm riding with. This is going to be great!

m

TALLSWEDE said:

Just curious, do you have your lights aimed to give a wide spead of light to the right? I'm thinking of upgrading the lighting on my new Stratoliner. Good for you you saw the deer early!

Kevin

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Hey Kevin,

I pointed the bike toward and wall and moved the lights around until I had a balance between range down the road and being able to see the fence. I didn't have to compromise one for the other. That said, I would suspect that some lights are different. But that wide beam made a difference for me.

m

Thanks Meriden, I'll keep that in mind when I aim my lights.

Kevin

Glad you are safe and able to share such a story. When I talk about lighting, I always get asked "Don't you have enough already?" My response is that you can never have too much light. For anyone who does night riding, a good set of aux lights are worth more than a helmet to me. I'd rather avoid instead of hit and hope my gear holds up.

For those asking on beam pattern, I prefer hybrid spots, then spots. Flood patterns are pretty much useless over 35 mph as you will easily over drive the usable lux.

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