Extra REAR light-brake lights?

pneuby

Member
I've yet to search here, but I figured I'd post to get the latest and greatest from the members, anyway.
If you have supplemented your C650s hind-end, please tell with what/how? I would be particularly enamored with
BOTH: the OEM lamp having a rapid-flash/then steady sequence...supplemented by say...those lighted license plate frames.
(but maybe only ONE is workable-practicable)

My service tech today said he like Clearwater products?
However, they're not permitted to install them right now because
the OEM (or the intermediary vendor?) has not provided a
certificate of insurance for the product. Thus, the dealership won't put themselves in the
chain of vicarious liability. (Grrrrr.....lawyers).

As to other farkles, I have a headlight cover enroute, and the Denali mini-horn blaster.
Plus, those Chinese barkbusters with amber lights that another poster showcased on his
somewhere in the past here.

In any case, whatever I decide on, I will have be having someone doing the work, not MOI', LOL.
(Vehicles shudder in abject terror when I approach them with tools. :ROFLMAO:
 

davidh

Member
Sorry, I haven't made any rear-end mods on mine. The only lighting changes were to install Denali DM-1 auxiliary lights. Make a huge difference in both being seen and seeing. And really easy for DIY. Info here.
 

DrCohen

Active member
I've yet to search here, but I figured I'd post to get the latest and greatest from the members, anyway.
If you have supplemented your C650s hind-end, please tell with what/how? I would be particularly enamored with
BOTH: the OEM lamp having a rapid-flash/then steady sequence...supplemented by say...those lighted license plate frames.
(but maybe only ONE is workable-practicable)

My service tech today said he like Clearwater products?
However, they're not permitted to install them right now because
the OEM (or the intermediary vendor?) has not provided a
certificate of insurance for the product. Thus, the dealership won't put themselves in the
chain of vicarious liability. (Grrrrr.....lawyers).

As to other farkles, I have a headlight cover enroute, and the Denali mini-horn blaster.
Plus, those Chinese barkbusters with amber lights that another poster showcased on his
somewhere in the past here.

In any case, whatever I decide on, I will have be having someone doing the work, not MOI', LOL.
(Vehicles shudder in abject terror when I approach them with tools. :ROFLMAO:
I've yet to search here, but I figured I'd post to get the latest and greatest from the members, anyway.
If you have supplemented your C650s hind-end, please tell with what/how? I would be particularly enamored with
BOTH: the OEM lamp having a rapid-flash/then steady sequence...supplemented by say...those lighted license plate frames.
(but maybe only ONE is workable-practicable)

My service tech today said he like Clearwater products?
However, they're not permitted to install them right now because
the OEM (or the intermediary vendor?) has not provided a
certificate of insurance for the product. Thus, the dealership won't put themselves in the
chain of vicarious liability. (Grrrrr.....lawyers).

As to other farkles, I have a headlight cover enroute, and the Denali mini-horn blaster.
Plus, those Chinese barkbusters with amber lights that another poster showcased on his
somewhere in the past here.

In any case, whatever I decide on, I will have be having someone doing the work, not MOI', LOL.
(Vehicles shudder in abject terror when I approach them with tools. :ROFLMAO:
I had a brake light flasher on my last scooter. Dirt cheap, and very simple to install once you identify the power and ground leads for the brake light.
I'm skeptical about the value of added lights that are even closer to the ground than the brake light. If you have a tail trunk, IMHO that would be the mount of choice for a supplementary light.
But see also my post about SOLAS tape on the helmet. https://www.bmw-scooters.com/index.php?threads/conspicuity-bang-for-the-buck.2192/
 

pneuby

Member
SLant, thanks for posting this. I love the fact they are plain up-front about CANBUS compatibility.
Dr.C, I have already recieved some SOLAS tape, and it rocks, as you've pointed out.
 

slant911

Active member
Got the Skene lights installed this past week. The installation is straight forward. Toughest part was fishing the alert wire for the front lights to the rear brake light. So much plastic parts to take off..o_O They are very bright and from scooting around I suspect many drivers perk up thinking I am a motorcycle cop 😆
 

slant911

Active member
I do not but they were very bright. I took them off before I sold my scooter. If interested they are just sitting in a bag. Shoot me an offer I can't refuse.
 

wspollack

Active member
Do you have pics of the installation of the lights and how they look at night?
Shorter Answer:

I have pics of the Skene back-end lights on my '22 C 400 GT (which, by the way, is a CANbus machine).

The installation pics, and some of my comments on the process, and a final video start here, in my C 400 GT gallery:


Included there is this video:


If you're at all interested in the Skenes, be sure to click "Show more" in the description underneath the video, as I tried to make some useful remarks about the those lights.

Longer Answer:

I don't have any pics or videos of the lights at night. I imagine the brightness would just overwhelm a camera, still or video (at least the ones I have), so I'm not sure what the point would be.

But let me say this: I've added a lot of brake-flashers to bikes over the years, and I think the Skenes are the brightest. And I like the form factor, the extremely wide viewing angle, and the ability to alter how they work without the use of any tools, jumpers, etc.

==> I added Signal Dynamics LED license-plate frames, with their BackOFF flasher module, to a Valkyrie.

==> I added a Custom Dynamics Knight Riderz brake-flasher LED license-plate strip to a 650 Burgman.

==> I added AdMore running and brake-light LEDs, with a CustomLED BlasterX flasher, inside a Givi topcase to another 650 Burgman.

==> I added another BlasterX flasher to the topcase on a Victory. I did a DIY write-up on that mod for the Vic community in 2014 -- https://www.billanddot.com/customled-brake-light-flasher.html, if you're interested.

By the way, I note in there that I liked the height of doing that in a topcase, i.e., I agree with the comment earlier in this thread by @DrCohen. But that topcase already had wires going into it, and my OEM case on the C 400 GT does not, so I passed on putting the Skenes up high. And, as I say, the virtually limitless viewing angle and brightness of the Skenes render the height essentially a non-issue, in my opinion. So I'm OK with the lower mount on the C 400 GT.

And one other thing regarding that programming ability. The one thing I didn't care for with the Magic Strobe was that there was no fuggedaboudit position. That is, there were something like 10 patterns you could select by turning a dial -- some optimized for LEDs and some for incandescents, and some that repeated indefinitely and some that stopped flashing after so many iterations, that sort of thing. But I felt that they should've reserved one position as a pass-through for the stock system.

Here in NY state, you need annual bike inspections (of brakes, lights, tires, and horn), and I was told by one mechanic that brake flashers are illegal here. From some research I did afterward, he appeared to be correct. It's not as if they ticket riders for such things around here, and I'd take the tickets if they did, given the safety factor that additional lighting and brake-flashing add. But it would be nice if you could disable brake flashers at inspection time, in case you got a tech who cared about such things. To forestall such a problem, I had taken to just unplugging topcases right before inspections.

So it's nice that you can turn off the entire flashing bit on the Skenes, with just some very specific brake squeezing.

My points are that:

- I like brake flashers -- and extra lighting back there, even when not flashing -- and have what I think is a fair amount of experience with such devices.

- And in my opinion, the Skenes are the cat's meow, I'd get them again if the bike were stolen, etc. (And I've since purchased another set of Skenes -- non-flashing ambers -- for front conspicuity, which I'll get around to mounting in a couple of months.)

 

mzflorida

Active member
I'm with Bill on the performance of Skene's products. Their Photon Blasters (I don't think the name instills confidence) are nothing short of amazing. When one looks at them straight on they do not appear to flicker. However, when they are perpendicular to another driver (in their peripheral vision) they appear to the other driver to be modulating in almost a strobe. Sounds gimmicky, they are not. I have installed them on 5 bikes. Pullouts from the left or right are nearly eliminated. Left turners in front have also been greatly reduced. Barring the removal of any plastics, the installation is easy. The purchase was some of the best money spent on my bikes. I'm not in the habit of recommending any product as I am just some guy nobody knows on the internet; these are the exception. I have never seen a review that does not rave about the performance of these little lights. I think the tech should be a DOT mandate.
 
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