Bike to Bike signalling?
 

I'm looking for some way to allow the Mrs (who's is always riding behind me) to signal me to stop. We used to turn the head light off on the old bikes. But we don't have this option on the current bikes.

I was thinking of a flashing light on my dash or something that she can initiate by pressing a button. Is anything like this even available?

i think you should patent that idea. seriously, i never even thought of that haha.

What? Ray.... you never thought of a wife pushing her husband's button? I would have thought it was quite common! ;)

Not sure about the flashing light on the dash....sounds a bit 1960's Batman/ Getsmart. ;) Do a search here on the HUBB for radios, there's a few threads here about the topic. That way you can warn her of dangers, route changes/upcoming corners etc.
Also see this thread;

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...hese-any-32325

Fit A Switch
 

I fitted a switch to my V-Strom to switch off the head light because I used to have problems when aproaching police and guard check points here in Saudi.
You can get a waterproof switch from a boat yard.
Cheers
Ian:thumbup1:

I would recommend bike to bike communication. It make riding together much easier and takes the stress out of some situations.

The only down side is cost, having tried the cheap and cheerful route, save yourself some money and get a good system first.

We use Autocom with a Kenwood radio and it works well runs 12 volt from the bike.

Steve

Would recommend the bike to bike comms when you're travelling, but when we're just out for a local ride, the hubby make me ride in front - he says the view is better :).

I have a pair of fairly cheap ( about £35 think from argos) walki talkies. All you need to do is strap them to your tanks, and use the press to call button for teh bell to ring. then stop and sort it out. they have about 3KM range.

Who needs electronics
 

Funny old thing, but you got me thinking about the various ways this issue has resolved itself for me over the years.
A frantic wave of the left arm has been known to work OK but the most effective is that your Mrs simply comes to a halt and waits for you to realise; the option then is that you turn around, or she starts off again and catchs you up, now that you are stopped of course.
Undoubtedly this assumes that you are making good use of your mirrors :rolleyes2: and are cooperating fully - in effect the rider at the back is controlling the rate of progress.

Warning: lack of full understanding and agreement about such things can lead to serious disagreements!

I would think that each time you get a new wife it could lead to mis-understandings as well.

We did try bike to bike communications, but found it un-workable. We couldn't hear each other with all the wind going through the helmet and just all the wires gave me the shits.

She does the frantic waiving, but I don't think this is very safe. The stopping method is unfavourable with her as she freaks out with that one. Plus I would have had the freak outs myself thinking that she had a massive come off. Which in one case in Far Eastern Russia was actually the case. Her getting hit by an overtaking car ended the trip. Hence the search for something subtle.

Are there any UHF radios that having flashing LED's when someone is calling?

Tmotten;

I have a pair of Uniden walkie talkie that they have a "page" function - like OLDBMW was saying it bleeps and the display flashes 1/2 dozen times - might be the trick? Also what brand of radios did you use (that didn't work?)
There were some comments here about some being fine up to about 50mph - so ideal for the city / built up areas where loss of line of sight is more likely?

back to basics...
 

what's wrong with a couple of cheeky beeps on the horn to get your attention in the mirror, followed by one of the following:
i) left arm up and down to stop
ii) point at tank for fuel
iii) point at mouth for food/drink

She rides too far for me to hear the horn and I've got a Stebel.

I'll look into those unidens. I've used Motorola's before with the full monty push to talk button.

A long piece of string?

But more seriously, surely even the cheapest walkie talkie would be fine? They all seem to have a squawk function (I think that's the word) that you should be able to hear, and while you might not be able to hear speech through it above 50 it'll draw your attention and make you slow down or stop, and then you can hear.

And if you have too much money.....
Garmin Rhino...... Get a pair of these walkie talkies/ GPS. When you transmit / Push to talk - it gives the other person your location. They are a fraction cheaper than a set of Titanium wheels..... but not much cheaper!

Radio's
 

I use these radio's with my mate when we go on trips, speech is audible up to 100mph and probably over. PTT fitted to the bars hasnt got loads of wires dangling, good battery life as well.

BIKE TO BIKE COBRA 600 INTERCOM KIT +2 vox adapters on eBay, also Electrical Security, Accessories, Motorcycle Parts Accessories, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 10-Feb-08 11:37:56 GMT)

the solution is simple......
 

Fit an EXTRA, but small lamp, ( like the harley running lights) say on front of mudguard, or somewhere easily visible, with an extra easily accesible but separately fused switch and when your Wife needs to attract your attention, she just switches THAT on...:thumbup1:

Martyn

Thats a nice find John! It's good to hear that someone has asome kit that works!

Kiss
 

Yep, variations on the arm-waving approach. Often, the one behind has to more or less catch up first so that the lead rider can make out what is being pointed out. Anyway, it works if the following rider just catches up and waves in some form.

The stopping technique:
This simple way of getting the lead rider to stop also works when the following rider falls off - basically it is fail safe. :rolleyes2:
If the lead rider can't see the follower in the mirrors and making progress, then it is time to stop - it works every time.

suppose your wife is in trouble. All she has to do is stop, and press the call button. it willl ring and lights will flash. You have about 3km before you get out of range, bye then you 'should' have noted her absence. Especially if you have an earplug in your walkie talkie. alternatively ride behind her.

Some of you guys are missing the point. She refuses to stop and let me ride on. She always freaks out that I might stuff up the u-turn, or she is uncomfortable with being alone or stuff like that.

I might just try turning the spotties on to see if I notice that. Other than that. I might also see about UHF which can also be convenient on weekend out on the beach with my mate in the car.

That's a totally new slant
 

Ah well, back to the drawing board!!

You could get a switch fitted for the headlight on the wife's bike or put her out in front.

Good luck!

I still don't understand why you lose sight of her in your mirrors - surely whenever you're riding with anyone else, the front bike keeps the following bike in their mirrors so you can see if they've stopped, got held up, had an off and so they can see you and follow your lead/directions.

If she's in your mirrors, she can signal and pull over and when you see that, forget the U-ey if that freaks her out, just pull in yourself at the next convenient spot and then she can pull out, drive up to you and pull in with you. Happy days.

horses for courses
 

I guess from all the replies that there are plenty of solutions but also plenty different senarios/problems. It's obviously not an isolated problem/situation.

So a case if look at all and figure what works best for yourself.
I.e

• Radios. (direct communication) ($$$???)
• using radios as a pager (flash and beep),
• Flashing the headlight (having it modified to have a switch),
• Let the slowest rider take point (whats their nav like?)
• Always maintan Visual contact (mirrors) ( protentially difficult )
• keep the speed lower / ride together (more realistic daily distance ??)

no hard and fast answer....????

This turned out to be quite an amuzing post.

I'm not going to change anything on the stock electrical setup, seeing as that's the hard and sole of this bike so the headlight thing is a no go. I might get her to turn on her highbeam which has 2 35W spotties wired onto it.

We do ride within view so I do see her in the mirror, but I can't always see the indicator, plus the indicator is a bit dodgy for traffic behind her as they think she's going to pul over right there and then.
The waving can't always be timed right with my looking in my mirror, so she ended up waving quite a while which has some safety implications.

I'll just have to experiment I reckon.

I would expand on Martyn's idea and put a coloured spotlight on the bike , green for example .
[ and yes it may be illegal - but who gives a sh#t ]

The suggestion from Skidz is the way that my Partner and I rode for years, after a short while it becomes second nature and works perfectly !

Hi All, Lidls in uk are doing some thing like this £24.99 per unit and headset etc, £49.98 is better than £80+ and guaranteed 3 yrs cant be bad:eek3:
TDMalcolm

High power LED's are very bright, very small and directional. Plod and MOT inspectors might be happy with the idea they are part of a defunct alarm system, so long as they aren't blue and flashing. Check out Maplins/Radio Shack etc.

Also, you can pick up mobile phone ring alerts for a tenner. If one riders gets lost, ring the mobile and the LED device in the tank bag lights up.

Andy

In line with what Walkabout Dave said, could you not just get hold of a UK-spec switch? Second-hand cheap from a breaker. In Britain, and other countries, the nanny state has not yet taken the light on/off decision away from us. With a UK-spec switch (or maybe just re-wire?), your wife could ride with the headlights on, avoiding attention from your police, but flash it on and off when she needs to contact you.

Alternatively, could you re-wire the electrics, maybe adding some circuitry, to allow your wife to flash her indicators simultaneously, hazard-light style? This could have other uses eg warning other road-users when broken down on a busy road.

wife to me signal
 

How about letting her ride in front.save you money and then youll know she's safe.just a thought

We did the autocom route and it worked ok but just another thing that could give up the ghost. Can also cause panic and confusion if you only hear half the message.

Our xr250's also came with lights permamently on so we fitted on/off switches.

What we eventually found most effective was that my wife simple stopped when she wanted to. I would notice sooner than later that she wasn't there anymore and come back to find her.

Small flag
 

How about carrying and waving a small flag? Can agree on two or three signals.

Jim