I am so sick of waiting at a stoplight for the left turn signal. Late a night when there is no other traffic, I find that my Vectrix often does not trigger the mechanism for the stoplight system to know that someone wants a left turn arrow.
Anyone else have this problem? My policy late at night is to just run it if I wait through 2 cycles.
I don't know if this violates the law, but I simply get sick of waiting.
Yep - but its not a vectrix thing, its a general motorbike thing.
Even on my Fazer 600, some indctive loop traffic lights simply will not trigger.
There is one set of lights on my route which simply will not trigger if I am on my own without a car nearby to set it off, luckily its a slow road and you can see for miles both ways so I just go through.
Hmmm, I have never experienced this problem ever. But then I do tend to look out for and ride centrally across the diamond pattern of the inductive loop rather than sit at its left hand edge like a lot of motorcyclists do. My general riding position is out where the car driver's nose would be (lots of good reasons for that) and I drift slightly left of that when approaching the inductive loops. I have yet to find a set that doesn't like the Vectrix. Try it for yourself and see if it works for you.
Temporary roadworks lights can be a nuisance, they have IR sensors and the Vectrix is not a particlarly warm bike, and so a flash of the headlights a few times on approach can help (I am told!). Otherwise I end up sitting out the full cycle time (sometimes set to ridiculous limits!).
Some communities do have laws about 'broken' traffic lights, so you can legally go through if they cycle twice without giving you a green. However, that will depend on your community, your patience, and the understanding of any observing law officer.
Your best bet is to skip the left turn arrow entirely, go straight thru the intersection, do a quick U-turn, and then make a right. A motorbike can generally do a U-turn in the width of a single lane (practice this!).
In fact, there are some cities that don't even allow for left turns at busy locations, but have designated U-turn lanes shortly after such intersections.
Oh, one more thought: the inductive loop in the ground is most sensitive if you ride directly over the coil. The Vectrix is big enough to trigger these if they are calibrated correctly. If you are sure that an inductive loop sensor isn't detecting you, call your local DOT and tell them it's broken.
My electric vehicle: CuMoCo C130 scooter.
I've been told that if you simply ask your street department, they can adjust the sensitivity to the ground loop. However, I find it easier on my part to just avoid the light in my area that won't let me through. It's the light that lets traffic from our post office onto the four lane highway, and it is set to very low priority and very fast changing, so if there's two cars ahead of me and they trip it, I may still get caught! and if there are NO cars ahead of me, my bike won't trip it. So I've learned to make a right turn there then either make a u-turn on the four lane or cut through a parking lot on the opposit side. All my other lights trip just fine, and I've never had to wait more than one cycle.
The old motorcycle trick is to push the kickstand down and move it over the sensor loop, but you can't do that on the Vectrix, as it will kill the power. The theory is that the steel kickstand, while only an inch off the pavement will be sensed by the loop better than a pile of plastic and aluminum that are 8" off the pavement.
Hi Morrison,
I think I can provide a solution.
Look here: http://www.wikihow.com/Trigger-Green-Traffic-Lights It tells you how to attach magnets to the underside of your bike to trigger the lights.
Here are some links to places that sell magnets.
http://www.unitednuclear.com/magnets.htm
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=17 perhaps the ZD3
http://www.rare-earth-magnets.com/SearchResult-CategoryID-30.html
http://www.rare-earth-magnets.com/SearchResult-CategoryID-31.html
http://www.amazingmagnets.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=25594
In general, don't use magnets that are thin, because these powerful magnets are very fragile to any impact, and will shatter, crack, and break into small pieces. I would recommend going with the 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch cubes, perhaps several and either glue them to the bike, or attach them to a steel surface if you can find one exposed under the bike.
Good luck,
Tom
Here's some more info on the magnet idea:
http://www.moccsplace.com/images/trigger/trigger.htm
The inductive loops embedded in the pavement work by measuring the conductivity of the region inside, above and below the loop - i.e. they are metal detectors. So, I don't see how a magnet would help. Maybe an EE can correct me on this?
I have determined which lights in my area do not trigger from my scooter, so if there is no car pulling up behind me to trigger the light, I have no choice but to run the light.
As far as left turns, in some situations, like being alone and exposed in a center turn lane waiting for a green arrow signal, then safety considerations dictate that I ignore the signal light and turn left if I can see the the way is clear in all directions. Sometimes, safety trumps the law.
As long as you are sure about no cops around, run it. But on my route there is one where a cop is known to lurk unseen, so I got into the habit of making a right, and then a block down, a legal u turn, then a legal here, right turn on a red light. Moslty a car comes by soon enough, but last summer, this one light used to be a problem since I would go through it so early on the way to work.
Be the pack leader.
36 volt sla schwinn beach cruiser
36 volt lifepo4 mongoose mtb
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The magnet will effect the loop just like a larger piece of metal. If a loop is marginally sensitive, the magnet will make a difference. However, if the loop is on minimum sensitivity, jumping up and down on the loop with steel toed boots still won't help! HAHA!! (tried that) :-)
Until you get to court. ;-)
Inducing a current into a metal conductor is done by a moving electro-magnetic field.
In response to the induction of current another magnetic field is created, and this field is measured by the sensor.
I have not read the pages on using magnets, but it seems quite possible to me do do this!
Just like replacing one set of coils in a motor with permanent magnets.
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
Well, obviously, part of checking that the way is clear is checking for police...
When I went for a ride on a Sunday sunny afternoon, the underground garage detection mechanism for going back into the garage didn't want to open the door for me, though it did work ok for the two months in the fall.
The one for going out, worked ok, but the one, for going in, didn't and I couldn't open the garage door.
Does the cold temperature affect the mechanism's sensitivity?
I had the same problem in our garage when they installed such detectors, they had to set it to the most sensitive setting for it to detect the scooter.