[Alan_Hepburn]

So I'm (reasonably) patiently waiting to take my new (to me) Burgie out of the garage - it's insured and registered, I've got my learner's permit, and I'm signed up for the safety class on April 8th - I've been wondering: with all the plastic on these things, is there enough metal to trigger the traffic loops at intersections? Or Am I going to have to wear solid steel boots to get the lights to change for me?

 

[R W Fullerton]

Traffic lights.!

Alan not sure about the steel boots.lolol However there is an item called the Green Light trigger that I instaled last fall which is supposed to solve the problem ,unfortunately I did not get a chance to try it perhaps some one else on here can attest to it's merit. Good Luck

RW

 

[Pete]

My Daughter bought me a "Signal Sorcerer" for Christmas.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes it dont.

:?

http://www.signalsorcerer.com/

 

[billmeek]

You might want to check with the DMV for your state. Tennessee enacted a law allowing motorcycles to go thru a red light if traffic is clear and a signal light doesn't register the bike at an intersection.

 

[Timothy Ma]

You will not have a problem...my 400 has enough metal tubing through it's frame and brakes etc that has yet to leave me stranded. There have been moments when I wondered but eventually it all works.

 

[pauljo]

I find the Burgman 650 to be no better or worse than my motorcycle was at tripping light triggers. The vast majority of the time it works fine. Once in a while it does not (and that is usually at the same intersections locally). You still have a metal frame, engine, transmission, gas tank - about the same metal mass that a motorcycle has.

 

[billmeek]

There's a couple of lights where the 400 didn't change the signal for me. I've waited and eventually ran the red in order to get thru them. I was gald to know that if a police officer saw it, I wouldn't be given a ticket.

 

[pauljo]

I don't know what the law is in Nebraska. I DO know that I am not sitting at a bum traffic signal until the sun goes down. :twisted:

 

[Dutch]

I've had problems a few times with the 650 but I just make a right turn and then I find the first place I can make a u turn and go on my way.

 

[Rubble]

I read that you can trigger the signal if you touch your center or side stand down momentarily while inside the trigger area. I've never had the chance to try it myself.

 

[Brian]

I read that you can trigger the signal if you touch your center or side stand down momentarily while inside the trigger area. I've never had the chance to try it myself.

That's one of those myths that circulates from time to time. Traffic "loops" are capacitive, and a difference of a few inches lower for a small piece of metal won't have any measurable effect. What probably happened is that someone who was impatient tried it, and by coincidence the signal then changed...and an old wive's tale was born.

Even in states that don't specifically say so, running a light after waiting a reasonable length of time for the signal to change shouldn't result in a ticket. Most cops (speaking as a former one myself) use common sense and "officer's discretion" to determine who does and doesn't get one.

If you do get a ticket, go to court and tell the judge/magistrate/adjudicator what happened; he/she should dismiss it.

There are a couple of intersections around here that won't change for me, but most do. One of the ones that won't is on the turn to my work location. I look in my mirrors, and if someone in a car, truck, or bus is coming up behind me I pull forward into the crosswalk and let them pull up to the line and trigger the light. If no one is coming then I wait for a break in on-coming traffic and go for it.

More and more we'll be seeing the buried loop sensors give way to optical sensors. They're cheaper and easier to install and maintain, since they're not buried, and are sensitive enough to react to even small scooters. Of course they can also be tied into photo ticket systems for people who run red lights, but every silver lining has a cloud.

 

[gruntled]

[There are a couple of intersections around here that won't change for me, but most do. One of the ones that won't is on the turn to my work location. I look in my mirrors, and if someone in a car, truck, or bus is coming up behind me I pull forward into the crosswalk and let them pull up to the line and trigger the light. If no one is coming then I wait for a break in on-coming traffic and go for it..

Problem with that is that the cop will then give you a ticket for being across the stop line. I try to wave the cars forward to trip the signal but they sometimes just sit & look at me.
I have asked several cops around here about this problem & they all say THEY wouldn't give me a ticket but they can't guarentee that some others wouldn't.
I have wondered if those signal changers work. Is it possible that attaching a fairly good size magnet to the bottom of the bike would help.

 

[Brian]

Oops. Accidentally deleted when copying to another post.

 

[Eltee]

On two occasions, I proceeded on through the red light after waiting at the intersection with no other traffic for an extended period. After making my left turn through the red light, the lights changed! Now when stopped with no other vehicles to trigger the system, I do a gentle throttle 'goose' a couple of times and this seems to work getting my traffic director to give me green light permission to ride on. Maybe the 'goose' increased the inductive electrical field from my Burgman. Have you tried this? Neal

 

[Mi SeaRider]

With my 650 I have had problems on occasion with triggering a light change. I purchased two of the "Greenlight" triggers (about $12 each) and put them on my centerstand and haven't noticed a problem since that time. I purchased mine online at cyclegadgets.com.

 

[Guest]

My Dad put one on his silverwing and hasn't had any problems tripping lights after installing it. (He did have problems tripping lights before installing it.)

 

[burgwoman400]

traffic sensors on the roadway

I've had problems a few times with the 650 but I just make a right turn and then I find the first place I can make a u turn and go on my way.

Alan, I ditto Dutch and have to add that the intersections I've had trouble with also sometimes give me trouble in the four-wheeler (cage.) I'm sure my car is more metal than plastic (not a Saturn.) Anyway it's frustrating to not be able to activate these signals and I have run the red lights after letting it cycle one or twice and never getting the green arrow to turn left,but I've only done so in the car not on the "burgie."

Burgwoman400 USA
Michigan

 

[chuck807]

When I first got the Burgy I had trouble at one particular stoplight. It would never change unless a car was over the sensor. After I installed a "green light trigger", haven't had the problem since!

 

[gruntled]

I typed in "green light trigger" into the search engine & then checked several sites. From the decriptions it appears that it is nothing more than
a magnet that they claim is extra powerful.
I bought a fair sized magnet today, attached it to my bike & set off to test it at a light I know I can't change. Took several tries as cars kept comming up and triggering the light.
Finally I was able to confirm that it didn't work. No joy.

 

[Brian]

...I bought a fair sized magnet today...Finally I was able to confirm that it didn't work. No joy.

I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so:

Is it possible that attaching a fairly good size magnet to the bottom of the bike would help.

Nope. The sensors aren't magnetic, they're inductive. They emit an electrical field (technically electromagnetic) and sense changes in that field.

The Green Light Trigger isn't a magnet, although the wording of the company's Web site might lead you to think so:

Traffic signal sensors are essentially metal detectors buried in the road surface. These "inductive loop" sensors are easy to spot because they have a circular, square, or diamond-shaped saw cut in the pavement just before the intersection. There is a weak radio frequency field over the coil, and a large inductive mass disturbs that field. Loop detectors are meant to pick up the presence of large masses of metal - like cars and trucks - sitting still over the detector loop.

Most modern bikes don't have enough inductive material in their frames to trip the sensor, and what they have tends to be oriented vertically above the loop (making it harder to sense) so we get stuck.

The Green Light Trigger emits a wide and powerful magnetic field that when passed over a detector loop, disturbs the loop's field, simulating the arrival of a much larger vehicle. When the control computer sees that signal, it knows someone's there, and the biker gets a green light, just like everyone else.

But remember that the sensor isn't like a magnetic switch that would be affected by a nearby magnet; rather it emits an electromagnetic field -- a radio frequency field. The Green Light Trigger and similar devices aren't magnets; they're more like antennae that, when they come into the sensor's field, return the field in a modified state.

HTH.