BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

Should auxiliary headlights be used in normal daylight conditions?

The Rider's Manual would suggest not, "The auxiliary headlights have approval as fog lights and their use is permissible in bad weather conditions only."

My thinking is :


BMWs auxiliary lights should not be used in daylight, just as car drivers should not use their fog lights (front or rear) unless there is fog.


There are however auxiliary lights made by Ring, Denali and PIAA which are not fog lights.  They have a narrower beam and are intended to enhance or replace dipped headlights and / or main beam.  They won't be quite as visible (or distracting) as foglights if set correctly, but should be OK (and legal ?) to use in daylight.


None of this is going to stop people using BMW's auxiliary lights, or any other fog lights, in daylight until there is a clampdown by law enforcement.  Given the number of more serious issues awaiting attention, I don't expect to see a big change soon.

BMW Motorrad say, "Make this winter the longest ride you’ve ever had, with BMW’s LED fog lights."

https://www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk/en/offer ... -the-night

In the UK it is more than acceptable to use the auxiliary fog lights, having been on a few bikesafe days the traffic police positively encouraged it. It's better than scrapping you off the road because you haven't been seen. The triangular lighting set up is apparently the most visible and reduces the looming effect of a motorcycle for someone pulling out of a junction.

Having toured across Europe never had a negative reaction either, with daytime running light and BMW auxiliary lighting.

austin1964 wrote:In the UK it is more than acceptable to use the auxiliary fog lights, having been on a few bikesafe days the traffic police positively encouraged it.

In which force area(s) were the BikeSafe days taken, interesting that they actively encourage breaking the law.

Highway Code

Rule 236

You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226) as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights.
You MUST switch them off when visibility improves.

Law RVLR regs 25 & 27

Many of the rules in The Highway Code are legal requirements, and if you disobey these rules you are committing a criminal offence. You may be fined, given penalty points on your licence or be disqualified from driving. In the most serious cases you may be sent to prison. Such rules are identified by the use of the words ‘MUST/MUST NOT’.

As a vulnerable road user it's definitely encouraged, Surrey and London.
I have also been stopped in Wales as every motorcyclist has by traffic, and complemented on the light configuration of a RT.

Irish police RT s are lit up the same.

I also passed my I A M Advanced Test with a F1rst with the bike lights in this configuration.

I suppose  Common sense prevails

Not a fog light in sight at C&DSOU Motorcycle Section.

And not much traffic on the roads unlike the smoke, I am often in Durham and Northumberland and only get a friendly wave from the traffic guys be it in a car or on a bike.

Riding with your day running light and BMW fitted LED s will not cause any concern in my experience.

As a vulnerable road user do what you can to be seen.

IMHO

The Motorcycle specialist solicitor, Andrew Dalton of White Dalton, once admitted in an answer to a RiDE magazine question that he would ride through thick London traffic with hazard flashers going. He would rather take his chances defending his (illegal) action to a traffic cop, than be taken out by an inattentive motorist.

Well our 2014 authority rtp blood bike has the fog lights fitted, front and rear. On my 1250 I have Denali lights fitted, but also have the aux lights, but don't use them much. I was travelling with a mate down the M6 last June, he only had his halo lights on and I couldn't see him behind me, so if you don't have extra lights, use your headlight and not the halo on the motorway.

gogs01 wrote:I think the "angel eyes" LED daytime running lights are quite visible but one riding companion I have followed for many miles says he can't see them in his mirrors and asks me to switch to dipped beam.

Casbar wrote:I was travelling with a mate down the M6 last June, he only had his halo lights on and I couldn't see him behind me, use your headlight and not the halo on the motorway.

Looks like low (dipped) beam x2 is the way forward.

Both the IAM manual, "How to be an Advanced Motorcyclist" and Motorcycle ROADCRAFT, "the police rider's handbook to better motorcycling" have a section on Dazzle.

"The intensity of the light bleaches the retina of the eye and the bleaching effect can continue for some moments afterwards. During this time you can see nothing, which is obviously dangerous".

This could potentially be a problem to oncoming traffic, particularly on right-hand bends and steep inclines.

Whilst "Christmas Tree" lights may reduce the risk of a stationary vehicle pulling out from a junction into the path of a motorcyclist, the subject of dazzling oncoming traffic seems to have been an oversight.

Would that refer more to darkness? In Surrey, Sussex and London most people are looking at their phones, texting or playing with the satnav so that the chance of dazzling someone is zero.

austin1964 wrote:Would that refer more to darkness?

Yes.

Cannot see the point of putting extra lights on my RT apart from the fact that they are extortionate prices , you will always get one doughnut who, states "i never seen you " I have already experienced this and it was in broad daylight !!!!