Saved by the lights

[Meriden]

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

[Gravel Guy]

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

[RollingJ]

That could have turned out very differently.

Good light + good reaction = more rides with M!

[Ken Phenix]

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.

[Thrasherg]

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

[TALLSWEDE]

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

[Meriden]

Originally Posted by Thrasherg

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

Gary,

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

m

Originally Posted by TALLSWEDE

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

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

[TALLSWEDE]

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

Kevin

[hizzo3]

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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