Technology

If you’re like us, you probably enjoy riding your motorcycle.  You will also understand how important it is to be visible on your bike.  We have all heard stories of a nice ride quickly turned into injury or worse, due to a lack of visibility for you and your bike.  All too often motorists cut-off, tailgate and rear-end us or merge into our lane causing expensive damage to our bikes and bodies.  Not to mention the down time during repairs.

At Lakeside Electronics we believe there is no substitute for defensive riding and rider training.  As people who take the rider training course outlined by the MSF ( Motorcycle Safety Foundation ) curriculum know, you are instructed to pump your brakes as you approach a stop to alert motorists of your presence.  New riders quickly learn what seasoned veterans already know; your personal skill on a motorcycle is not enough, you must be seen on the road to stay safe.

At Lakeside Electronics, we also believe in leveraging every piece of technology available to help keep us safe on the road.  We always want to ride again tomorrow.  This is where the concept of brake light modulation comes in.  Brake light modulators or flash pattern controllers, bring the time tested and MSF recommended practice of pumping your brakes to flash your brake lights into the 21st century.  By inserting a compact, solid state electronic device inline with your brake light wiring ,you can automatically flash your brakes every time to stop.  This means you no longer have to pump your brakes to get the attention of motorists and most importantly, your brakes will be applied the entire time you want to stop so that you never lose valuable stopping distance.

LED lighting for motorcycles has great benefits.  LED’s turn on faster than any incandescent bulb ever could and when you have a freeway full of cars behind you every split second counts.  This faster turn on time means you can run a brake light modulator that flashes your brakes at a higher strobe frequency than you could with filament bulbs.

Vibration is a big issue with motorcycle lighting.  Many manufacturers recommend purchasing special ” Heavy Duty ” light bulbs in the hopes that they will last longer.  LED’s have the advantage of a higher resistance to vibration than filament bulbs so you will have the light you need when you need it.  Overall LED lamps should outlast standard bulbs.  Expect to see around 35,000 hours of use from an LED light – that’s about 12 years of daily use if you had your brake light on for 8 hours a day!

One of the often overlooked benefits to LED lighting is that they draw much less power than standard filament bulbs.  This means your charging system won’t have to work so hard which saves you gas.

Combining the benefits of LED lighting with brake light modulators Lakeside Electronics has developed an innovative product called Betelgeuse – A Programmable LED Brake Lamp.  You can read more about Betelgeuse and how something as simple to install as a bulb can bring so much conspicuity to you and your bike.

Be sure to check out our Products Page for a full line of high performance electronics.