Tired of being skipped at the stop light?

Well I havent tried this yet, but I have checked this guy out before on other stuff, and he is the shit. Enjoy.

Brink: Home with Kip Kay: Green Means Go! : Video : The Science Channel

 

I've seen plenty of products branded for motorcycles that are basically magnets, but always thought they didn't work... Is it that he's using rare earth magnets for extra magnetic goodness, or have I been missing something all along?

 

As I said in the post, I havent tried it yet. However, I have tried some of his other ideas and they did work. My .02 cents is this...
My bike gets skipped at stop lights ( not enough metal to trigger the magnet underneath the pavement ) and my other vehicle is a lifted jeep that also gets skipped ( too high off the road to trigger the magnet ).
Seems like a logical idea, I am thinking that someone else has tried this, or woll try it and let us know if it does indeed work. I thought that it was an interesting video, I just hope it is indeed helpful. Stay tuned bro, we are bound to hear some results.... or make some ourselves

 

When I took the advanced moto class someone brought this problem up..My instructor said cow magnets are really good.. He said hes used them for over 15 years.. and rarely ever gets caught at a light. Usually its a really old light where the road is not in good condition... or an intersection where construction is happening nearby.

I have only found 2 lights in town that WILL NOT trigger by me alone being at the light....and I usually just run them after waiting 2-3 mins.. so not that big of a deal for me.

 

BTW. I have one light here that will not trigger with my bike. I called city engineering. These thing's sensitivity can be adjusted. The City Engineer was hesitant. I reminded him I pay city taxes and gasoline taxes too so make the adjustment. I also suggested that if it were not done, I would send him a registered letter advising him of the problem with a CC to our local police and our public insurance company in the event I get stopped for going through a red light. He had it fixed within a few days.

 

My city is hungry for money, and you WILL get a ticket here, and I am tired of making right hand turns and then U-turns ( and we aren't allowed to do u-turns after 9 pm anyways ) so I am going to try this for shizzle.... my nizzle.
did I say that right? LOL.

 

I used to have on just like what he made on my bike. I think it worked actually.. Just the other day i had to run thru a light cause it wouldn't change. And now i realize i lost it back when i crashed the bike and had to rebuild her. Forgot all about the little thing. I may just put one back on.

 

HEY! thanks for the reply, that is the kind of input we are hopin for :thumbsup:


Oh, and dont crash no more its bad for the bike and bad for you.

thanks again man.

 

no u-turns after 9pm.. what the heck is that crap here.. its u-turns allowed unless posted.

34468 Randy had a great comment. I would surely do the same if I found a problematic light.

an yea 4shizzle my nizzle. my name is drew n i get drizzle quite alot

 

heheh sweet. well there are anit-cruising laws here, so they make a no u-turn so that people with low rider cars etc etc dont cruise up and down the strip. so the signs say "no u-turns 9pm to 4 am". I live by a mall.

The f-ed up thing is this - 9pm to 4am is the time when it isnt as likely another vehicle will pull up behind you to trigger it, and its very likely that if you run it you will get pulled over cause the only one on the road is you and the cops. I am gonna try a magnet for shizzle drizzle :thumbsup:

 

Good Post! I have a light near my house that NEVER works with my VFR, but it trips in a few seconds with my cage. I will try this today and let you guys know how it works.

Adam

 

Since our bike do not have much Iron in them they do not disrupt the magnetic field created by the inductance coil installed at the light. You can do several thing besides adding magnets and are worth a try.

1. Try and put as much of the bike over a line as possible. 2. Try and bisect two of the lines such as at a corner. 3. you can rev your engine which can produce.
This may help interfere enough with the field created by the inductance coil to trip the light.

Now I will go wath the video and see if it is worth trying.

Thanks for the post because everyone hates beeing passed at the light.

 

When I lived in San Diego in the 80's, I was on a committee that hired a firm in Cupertino to look into designing loop detectors that could be triggered by bicycles. In general, loop detectors are more sensistive at the cut in the road (right over the loop), and it is possible for a bicycle to trigger a detector if the cyclists sits right on the cut. As it turns out, large trucks, because they sit so high also have trouble triggering the loops. If the detector is of the old design and its sensitivity is turned up (not always an option depending on the controller), it can detect traffic in adjacent lanes. Since most of the time the problem cyclists and trucks have is triggering the light in a left turn only lane, if they make those loops more sensitive, then risk picking up cars in the straight through lane. San Diego did a good job of installing Type D loops (see link). Those can be turned up without the risk of picking up adjacent traffic.

I can't find the original study from Cupertino, but below is a link to an article with very much the same conclusions. If the you can't trigger the light, you should go through it as if it is broken. It is the obligation of the state to provide functioning traffic control devices. Yes, you might get a ticket, but you should be able to win it. As much as this is a problem for motorcyclists, it is an even bigger problem for bicyclists, and I am pretty sure there is plenty of precedence for over turning these tickets.

Detection of Bicycles at Demand-Actuated Traffic Signals

 

When I pull up to in-ground sensor I try to place the bike on the sensor rather than the open area between the sensors. That usually isn't a problem because the sensors are usually in the tire tracks. The problem arises when the intersection has been repaved and no sensor location can be seen.

Seems to me the magnet would work if the intersection is idle when you cross the sensor field with the magnet. That trips the sensor and it changes the light. I could be wrong but I believe that if the light is changing and you don't trip the sensor when it's your turn then the light will not change. I don't think it "remembers" the sensor being tripped when you drove up. So the magnet would work sometimes and sometimes not.

The problem is worse for bicycles so I used to lean the bike over to increase the area of the exposure to the sensor field.

 

I was stuck at a light one time (Left Turn Light) and after several revolutions of being skipped, and no cars coming, I went through the left red arrow. Lo and behold, there was a LEO a few blocks behind me and pulled me over. I very respectfully pointed out that the law states if a trafiic signal is malfunctioning, you can "ignore" it if you take reasonable precautions. I explained I had sat at the light for 2 or 3 series of light changes (with no cars around) and had to assume the left turn signal was malfunctioning.

He was very polite and let me go without a ticket or even warning. He was even kind enough to tell me he would send a note to eh city trafiic crews to take a look at it.

This was when I lived in MN years ago, so I am not sure if the "malfunctioning" traffic signal clause is still a law there or anywhere else, but I will use it again if I have to.

I also have a friend who used to install the traffic light loops and he thought the magnet in theory should work.

 

How big a magnet we talking here guys?? The vid is filtered (I'm at work so I see nothing... )

 

very small about 3-4 cm long cm wide 2-4 mm thick. stuck on with double sided tape.

neodymium magnets
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BY082 QTY.(2) shown in video

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BZX0X02 maybe quantity (1) ????

 

Ahhh, thanks

Not sure if our stop lights use the same / similar system though. It is quite common to get stuck at lights and have to wait for a cage to pull up behind to get the signals to change.

 

You all should be aware now that motion sensors are now showing up as triggering devices for traffic lights now. They too have their problems. I run across one in the city I work in that required me to be almost in the middle of the intersection before it triggers. I even have to crowd the crosswalk in my truck. Wonder if after the whole winter of road spray, something needs to be cleaned

 

Am I missing something here? Why would you need the double sided tape? Can you not just stick the magnet on the bottom of your oil pan? Or your exhaust pipe? Which ever is closest to the ground?

And if you can stick the magnet to your oil pan, it will also serve as a "collector" for any small metal filings that should happen to get created inside your engine and contain them to prevent any more internal damage. :thumbsup: