Total Motorcycle Community Forums

When I'm riding at night, I find that sometimes I have to run red lights. Apparently my bike isn't heavy enough to trigger the sensor, and there's no one behind me to do it either. The light NEVER changes (believe me, I wait) so I end up just pulling on through when nobody is around.

What am I supposed to do?

A good friend, the only one I've ever had the chance to ride with, told me that sometimes it can be triggered if I push down hard on my centerstand, so it knocks against the sensor a couple of times. Any truth to this?

Once again... what am I supposed to do??

The sensors in the ground that change traffic lights sense metal not weight. Most motorcycles are not big enough to trip the sensor. I just keep looking for the lines in the road right before the light and put my bike directly over one of the lines, this seems to work for me sometimes. I have also seen a product selling that you put on the underside of your bike and supposedly they trip the sensor, however I had one of these on my old Magna and it didn't work for s**t. I would say your best bet is to just make sure when coming up on a light, put your bike right on one of the sensor lines. If it doesn't work and nobody is coming the other way, just roll on through.

I've also heard mention to put your side-stand down to touch that area, and that will set it off. Just don't forget to PUT THE STAND BACK UP before taking off!

All of the light sensors around here seem to work just fine with my bike... except for my apartment gate sensor, there's no way to trip that stupid thing without a thousand pounds of metal.

80 % of the sensors around here can't be tripped by my bike either. I've tried the kickstand on the sensor with no luck. I end up waiting till traffic is clear then roll through the light.

frisch wrote:
Once again... what am I supposed to do??

Right on red. Then u turn. Right on red.

my msf instructor told me to push the ignition button and that should trigger the sensor to change the light. anyone else heard of this?

Essentially all it is is a coil buried in the pavement. When your vehicle enters the area, it changes the inductance of the coil. If there's not enough metal in the vehicle to change the inductance beyond a pre-determined measurement, you'll never trip the light.

I've never heard the "press the ignition" theory, but I'll give it a try. My bike is big enough to trip most sensors, but there are a few that continue to elude me. I suppose if I killed the engine and restarted, the magnetic field caused by the starter may help trip the coil, but only a field test will confirm this.

Usually the ones around here are sensitive enough that i don't have a problem. But there is one left-turn light that never changes green unless there's also a car in the opposing lane waiting to turn or a car is behind me. I wait until it finishes its second cycle of not letting me go, check for police, then go when there's a safe opening.

t_bonee wrote:

frisch wrote:
Once again... what am I supposed to do??

Right on red. Then u turn. Right on red.

That would take entirely too much time