I ride a lot at night on these long trips. I rather enjoy nighttime riding, but one thing you are exposed to is less visibility and more deer. I wanted some extra lights for the bike so I bought the PIAA 1100X Universal Driving Light kit. These lights are very small, but kick out a lot of light. They mount very nicely in the front of the faring and there is an on/off switch on the left handlebar. The lights don’t project out as much as I like, but you become very visible to other drivers on the road which increases your safety rating. I am always looking for deer at night and the extra lights do help.
I am paranoid about getting pulled over for speeding. I am not an excessive speeder, but I like to be aware of my surroundings so I have a Valentine One (V1) radar detector. You can get pulled over for just about any amount of speed over the limit and speeding tickets are expensive. More important than that, getting pulled over takes a lot of time away from moving forward along the road. The V1 is one of the top of the line radar detectors and displays much more information than a standard radar detector. If I avoid one ticket from the use of the V1, it is worth having. I am sure it has saved me a few times. There are a lot of people with philosophies on whether or not it is efficient to speed. I don’t have a philosophy, I don’t speed like crazy, but I do exceed the speed limit on occasion and I prefer the added sense of comfort the V1 gives me. My V1 is mounted on an accessory shelf I installed on the dash of the bike. The shelf is great and I have room for a couple other farkles if I decide to scale a bit. The V1 is covered with a molded plastic cover so rain is not a problem. I have the V1 connected wirelessly to a Vizalert attached to my helmet. The Vizalert is a little panel of lights that are on the inner right side of the helmet. The lights indicate the alert being displayed on the V1. This is very useful on the highway when you can’t hear any of the audible alerts. I should note that I do not have the V1 hardwired to the bike’s electrical system. I prefer to have it connected through the accessory outlet. This way, I can take the V1 with me and use it on other vehicles if needed. I have a Big Mak tank bag which I use to store all the cables. I purchased the small tank bag, but in hindsight, I should have purchased the mid-sized bags. The bag tends to get overstuffed in the winter with all the electrical clothing cables going through it. With a mid-sized bag I could take the gear off the bike and quickly put it in the tank bag and take it with me easily. I do that now at home or at hotels when I don’t want to leave the gear on the bike overnight, but the stuff does not fit neatly in the small Big Mak tank bag. This leads me to luggage which I will save for next time.
I am paranoid about getting pulled over for speeding. I am not an excessive speeder, but I like to be aware of my surroundings so I have a Valentine One (V1) radar detector. You can get pulled over for just about any amount of speed over the limit and speeding tickets are expensive. More important than that, getting pulled over takes a lot of time away from moving forward along the road. The V1 is one of the top of the line radar detectors and displays much more information than a standard radar detector. If I avoid one ticket from the use of the V1, it is worth having. I am sure it has saved me a few times. There are a lot of people with philosophies on whether or not it is efficient to speed. I don’t have a philosophy, I don’t speed like crazy, but I do exceed the speed limit on occasion and I prefer the added sense of comfort the V1 gives me. My V1 is mounted on an accessory shelf I installed on the dash of the bike. The shelf is great and I have room for a couple other farkles if I decide to scale a bit. The V1 is covered with a molded plastic cover so rain is not a problem. I have the V1 connected wirelessly to a Vizalert attached to my helmet. The Vizalert is a little panel of lights that are on the inner right side of the helmet. The lights indicate the alert being displayed on the V1. This is very useful on the highway when you can’t hear any of the audible alerts. I should note that I do not have the V1 hardwired to the bike’s electrical system. I prefer to have it connected through the accessory outlet. This way, I can take the V1 with me and use it on other vehicles if needed. I have a Big Mak tank bag which I use to store all the cables. I purchased the small tank bag, but in hindsight, I should have purchased the mid-sized bags. The bag tends to get overstuffed in the winter with all the electrical clothing cables going through it. With a mid-sized bag I could take the gear off the bike and quickly put it in the tank bag and take it with me easily. I do that now at home or at hotels when I don’t want to leave the gear on the bike overnight, but the stuff does not fit neatly in the small Big Mak tank bag. This leads me to luggage which I will save for next time.
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