I love the look of the R18 from behind. The simple, clean design is so nice. But with just two, small rear signals and no conventional tail light, because the signals do all of the functions for rear lighting, will the cell phone jockeys notice us? Lots of new motorcycles now use the rear signals for all the rearward lighting duties. But the R18 has very small turn signals. I'm wondering what options might be available to augment the OEM parts, to improve safety from distracted drivers. Back when I bought my Indian Roadmaster, which had both signals and a tail light, I got together with Admore Lighting https://admorelighting.com/ and I helped them to develop a great "Lightbar" for the Indians that added significantly to getting the attention of following vehicle drivers. In addition to adding a multiple LED light that also adds another set of turn signals, the Lightbar senses the G-forces of deceleration and pulses it's brake light to let followers that the bike is slowing down, even though the brake may not yet be applied. The following YouTube video shows the result.
With the R18, a Lightbar would have to be added above or below the license plate. And the "signals ONLY as rear lighting" may be an issue with compatibility. I'm already in contact with Dave at Admore to look into that. In the meantime I've also started looking into options that should add rearward attention with just the signals doing the whole job. Safer-Turn.com https://safer-turn.com/smart-brake-module/ makes a very small, add-on module that makes the rear lights pulse during deceleration, even when the brakes are not yet applied. I've already asked about compatibility with the R18 and they say it works on our bike. It won't add more lighting components to the bike, but pulsing the rear signals as the bike slows down should be pretty effective in getting the attention of following drivers.
With the R18, a Lightbar would have to be added above or below the license plate. And the "signals ONLY as rear lighting" may be an issue with compatibility. I'm already in contact with Dave at Admore to look into that. In the meantime I've also started looking into options that should add rearward attention with just the signals doing the whole job. Safer-Turn.com https://safer-turn.com/smart-brake-module/ makes a very small, add-on module that makes the rear lights pulse during deceleration, even when the brakes are not yet applied. I've already asked about compatibility with the R18 and they say it works on our bike. It won't add more lighting components to the bike, but pulsing the rear signals as the bike slows down should be pretty effective in getting the attention of following drivers.
