An outstanding tool to help reduce rear-end collisions.
The goal of every motorcyclist is to enjoy the ride while out on the open road, but more importantly, we need to stay safe. We are all aware that one of the biggest dangers to a biker is the dreaded left-hand turn from an oncoming vehicle.
But equally dangerous is having an inattentive car driver following us. This threat requires a constant eye in our mirrors and, as with the left-hand turn situation, a quick formulation of a possible escape route if things don’t go according to Hoyle.
But there is a tool on the market that helps to capture a following driver’s attention when a regular brake light doesn’t seem to be enough.
AdMore Lighting has been in the business of making our rides safer for many years by producing LED brake light bars and a variety of turn signal options for the front and back of bikes. But it’s the company’s newest brake light bar with Smart Brake technology that sets a new standard in getting the attention of a driver behind you.
The AdMore Smart light bar has all the basic features the previous-generation light bar has, like taillight, eye-catching progressive turn signals, and a modulated three or four flashes of the brake light before it lights at full intensity.
But the SMT light bar with Smart Brake technology goes further. Not only does it offer more safety features right out of the box, it’s also programmable via a laptop to work the way you want it to work. And it is CANbus compatible, as are all AdMore lighting products.
Some of the features of the latest high-intensity light bar include a three LED white strobe when you apply the brake, a lightweight aluminum housing and an LED licence plate light. The coolest enhancement to the light bar is a sophisticated accelerometer sensor that detects rapid deceleration of the bike – either by chopping the throttle or downshifting – and alerts the driver behind you that you are slowing down, but not necessarily braking.
The Smart light bar comes with the latest firmware already installed, but this is also upgradable by the end user when new firmware comes available. Programmable features include the sensitivity of the accelerometer (default is medium), brightness of the brake light (default is the brightest setting), modulation of the brake light (default is four flashes), licence plate light (default is off), taillight (default is on), turn signal action (default is sequential) and the white LED strobe (default is on).
Installation of the light bar is easy and took me just over an hour. Most of that time was deciding where to run the wire harness from the light bar to under the seat on my Triumph Tiger 800XC for an invisible install. I installed the light bar above my licence plate, but installation can also be done below your plate. All of the hardware needed is included in the kit.
After mounting the black powdercoated bracket behind my licence plate and running the wires inside the inner fender to tap into my stock brake and turn signal wires, I used the supplied Posi-tap premium wire connectors. What a dream these connectors are to use – anyone who has used Scotchlok connectors knows how bulky and flakey they can be, and will appreciate the ease of use and compactness of these Posi-tap connectors.
Checking the lights and functionality is the last step for the basic hardware install. If you wish to further program the light, you’ll need to go to admorelighting.com to download the configurator software for Windows. Macs and Linux machines must use the command line to further program the light’s functionality. The AdMore website offers a complete set of command line instructions.
By default, the licence plate light was not lit, but because I mounted the light bar between the plate and the stock licence plate light, I thought I should turn it on – I don’t see the sense in being stopped by the police for something as simple as not having my plate illuminated. A few keystrokes later, the plate LED was turned on and it was time to hit the road to see how the accelerometer works at the default medium setting.
I ended up changing the accelerometer setting to high, to be a little more sensitive, since my test bike is a very smooth triple cylinder and chopping the throttle, in most cases, wasn’t enough to activate the light. The medium setting would probably be fine on a different style of engine with stronger engine braking, like a V-twin, for instance.
I think it’s always better to be safe than sorry, and the AdMore SMT Light Bar with Smart Brake technology adds extra comfort knowing that you are more conspicuous by giving the driver behind you a better chance of seeing you slowing down or stopping.
Go to admorelighting.com for more information on this and other AdMore Lighting products.
