Another goofy question. Stoplight Sensors

[DJ Brady]

The left turn lanes activated by a pressure sensor.
How do you deal with them?
During the day, I figure you could roll just past the line and let the car behind you trip it.

But late at night, no other traffic on the road.. you've already waited through one light cycle and you know your bike's not heavy enough to trip it... do you pull back out into the straight lane, go up 100 yards and pull the safest U turn and turn and then turn down the road (to the right from your new vantage point) and go on your way?

or... do you look over your shoulders... then look way down the other 3 directions, making sure that the only set of headlights that you see a mile away are either a semi or a nissan sentra (neither of which's headlights could be mistaken for a cop car) and RUN THE LIGHT?!?!?

maddening, I tell ya.

[aussieidiot]

are you sure its a pressure pad?

i'm pretty sure it'll be a loop of wire cut into the surface that measures a drop in voltage caused by metal being over the loop. they need to be tuned for bikes and most of the time the techs don't care.

get off and push the pedestrian button

[talonlover]

Most around here are the loop sensors. Most of the time you can see where the sensor was installed, just pull directly over the patched area and it will sense you there. By that I mean to line both wheels over one side of the lane right where the wire was cut in and then filled.

[DJ Brady]

duly noted. I always thought they were pressure pads and required a certain amount of weight to be on them... I've always seen the (roughly) rectangular cuts in the road at most lights but I didn't think it would be some type of 'magnetic' type sensor. Thanks for the tip.

[lorddarkice]

have to keep that in mind ...we dont have those here in New Orleans much... or at least i never noticed them! interesting how they work though...

[aussieidiot]

i do some work for carpark ticket systems so thats how i got the info. the engineers showed me the deal. when we do an install they use my bike to tune it

[speediva]

Sometimes those wire sensors don't pick up enough metal on the bike (due to a lot of plastic on sportbikes), so another tip is that if it has not sensed you within one rotation of the lights, try putting your kickstand down (in N of course) on one of the cross sections of the wire sensor. I have found several times that when lining up on the wire lines isn't enough, the kickstand on the intersecting wires does it. Two more comments on this subject. There is a "green light sensor" magnet that can be mounted on the bottom of your bike if you still have trouble getting lights to change when you are riding. The cost isn't much, but since several other methods usually do the job, I haven't bothered to buy one. Lastly, I know that in PA there is a "non functioning light" law that if a light is not getting triggered (I usually wait 2 or 3 rotations where I am not sensed) it is considered a "non functioning light" and you are to proceed with caution through the intersection. I haven't used it yet (most of the time a car comes and triggers it before I have to), but check your local laws and see what is said. BIKERS HAVE RIGHTS, TOO!

[busa4]

or save yourself the trouble and just blow the light!!! lol

[DJ Brady]

I'm straight, I don't blow anything.

Seriously though.. if it's 2AM and I don't see headlights, I'll wait 30 seconds and that's it.

[Wheeliest]

u guys stop for red lights? i just close my eyes and hold on.. all that stop and go wastes to much gas.