Photon blasters: installed

6418 Views 25 Replies 12 Participants Last post by ShadowRider, Mar 11, 2015

flytrap

Discussion Starter · May 18, 2014

2

Yesterday I installed the Photon Blasters that were previously on my Triumph Bonneville. Four years old and still blasting strong. I like the way these complete the lighted front face of the CTX. I made some small brackets out of aluminum, removed the yellow reflectors and attached them in place of the reflectors. It took a little fiddling and bending to get them pointed right, but now they really work. I highly recommend these for catching the attention of car drivers

See less See more

Reactions: 5

1 - 20 of 26 Posts

sleepngbear

· #2 · May 19, 2014

Nice. ..

..

Jimmytootall

· #3 · May 19, 2014

looks nice at night for sure

Reactions: 1

mitch

· #4 · May 20, 2014

Looks really nice...

bob

· #5 · May 20, 2014

Like the pattern that makes for drivers to see.

ShadowRider

· #6 · May 20, 2014

I had both Photon Blasters (yellow lights on front) and P3 Lights (red lights on rear) installed on the Shadow, and I knew I would want them on the CTX as well. As I have said before, these increase your visibility tremendously because they have a microprocessor-controlled flicker that is unfortunately hard to capture on video. This flicker is barely perceptible but it is definitely noticed by drivers of other vehicles. There have been several occasions when I have seen a driver who was obviously distracted by a phone or other thing in their car who suddenly looked up and SAW me instead of pulling out in front of me. The flicker is most noticeable in your peripheral vision.

The red lights on the back (which I have mounted on either side of my license plate) act as running lights in parallel with the usual tail light. When you apply the brakes, these lights come on MUCH brighter and emit four quick flashes, then four longer ones before going to solid red. These lights are VERY bright and can be seen from a block away!

If you purchase the appropriate model (like I did), both the front and rear lights can flash in sync with the turn signals, adding even more visibility when making turns.

These are an amazing invention by Jerry Skene, an electronics engineer who is also an avid motorcyclist. I'd love to see these on a lot more bikes. I feel they are very reasonably priced for the amount of visibility they add to the bike, and Jerry's awesome technical support is impossible to beat!

Skene Design visibility lights

See less See more

Reactions: 3

bob

· #7 · May 20, 2014

Do these lights in front light up the road in front or are they only for visibility of the bike?

I am thinking of adding something like these in back but am thinking more in terms of adding road lighting ability in front... not that the LED headlights don't do well at that. I really haven't been out at night yet to see how the stock headlights light up the night.

firstime911

· #8 · May 20, 2014

what about the OEM LED foglight.. would it be better? high visibility and help light up the road..

bob

· #9 · May 20, 2014

firstime911 said:
what about the OEM LED foglight.. would it be better? high visibility and help light up the road..

The fog lights are fine for visibility in fog or with on-coming traffic at night since they only come on (by law and also by virtue of the connection on the bike) when the low beams are on.
Driving lights would be what I am looking for. The front option connector is where both plug into and there is one pin for fog lights and one pin for driving lights. These are controlled by the bike lighting controller to come on either with low or high beams as appropriate.

During daylight hours I always drive with high beams on for visibility. I have headlight modulators on my ST but those particular units won't transfer to the LED headlights on the CTX1300. Again, those only worked with high beams on.

If the stock LED headlights do really well at night driving to light up the road I may forgo adding driving lights and just go with LED lights like these Photon Blasters just for visibility and have them on all the time... with the flicker module of course.

ShadowRider

· #10 · May 20, 2014

Bob: hopefully you can get a good look at my setup next month at the STOC event. I can demo all of the features of mine. They are pretty extensive!

As far as the stock headlight, it is AMAZING how well it lights up the road. I recently had to drive about 80 miles in the dark, much of it on unfamiliar, unlighted country roads. Those headlights worked GREAT to get me home in one piece! I really don't think you'll need driving lights.

The Skene lights are not really designed to illuminate the road ahead of you, but they will provide some. Visibility to other vehicles is the main reason to have them.

rosy thorn

· #11 · May 20, 2014

when does the hyper drive go in?

bob

· #12 · May 20, 2014

Soon as can find a sale on an anti-matter insulation field generator.

rosy thorn

· #13 · May 20, 2014

bob said:
Soon as can find a sale on an anti-matter insulation field generator.

here I was thinking all he needed was a spanner

sleepngbear

· #14 · May 20, 2014

rosy thorn said:
here I was thinking all he needed was a spanner

No, but make sure the hyperdrive is installed, properly tuned and seated before even thinking about the flux capacitor.

flytrap

Discussion Starter · #15 · May 21, 2014

They are only for visibility and safety.

flytrap

Discussion Starter · #16 · May 21, 2014

And...the extra hyper drive is an accessory that won't be available from Honda until spring 2018.

bob

· #17 · May 21, 2014

darn.

kniterider

· #18 · May 26, 2014

Does the dilithium crytal chamber come as a package deal with the anti-matter field generator

sleepngbear

· #19 · May 26, 2014

What are you, crazy? The antimatter field generator comes in limitless ranges depending on the application, not to mention the various grades of dilithium crystals.

happytrails

· #20 · May 27, 2014

Transported

All I remember is last week I was ridiing in the mountains of North Carolina,, not fully understanding the audio controls, I pushed the menu button and found myself on the CTX , Island Hopping the :bridges of the Florida Keys the last few days. Whoa! Tonight I'm the Captain of a 41' sailboat with 8 Boy Scouts on board. What an incredible movie I'm in.
Can't wait till Friday when I beam these guys off the ship and get the 8 more... Do you think West Marine has parts for the Transported on my ship. Bob , do you know how the Audio system on the CTX interfaced with my ship and this incredible dream started? Not complaining you know.... Life is but a dream.......

1 - 20 of 26 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.