signal sensors

[soyavenger]

how many of us have been on some abandoned intersection at 1:30am, no one else in sight, waiting for the light to change for 5 or so minutes straight? whos the law abider who waits it out? whos the one who runs it?

when i started out, id park right in the middle of the sensor. i heard later its best to park between the middle and the edge of the plate, which seems to work better. yet some lights refuse to cooperate. should we take liberties?

ps. just incase, i did search for a pre existing thread, got a buncha stuff about fuel and temp sensors. so "dont be hatin" if i missed a similar thread

[CraigF]

I've waited them out so far.   I was tempted to go ahead at least once, but decided to wait and then the light changed pretty soon after that decision.

I have emailed the county about a couple sensors and they've actually adjusted them to be more sensitive.

When I took the MSF class the instructor said that they consider those signals to be broken and will proceed as if it's any other broken signal--treat it like a stop sign. 

I wonder if that'd hold up if a cop happens to see it.

[86cb700sc]

There are magnets you can strap on to your frame to help trip those sensors.

[Brittles]

I'll sit through one cycle, then go.

If a cop writes you a ticket I doubt it would stand up in court.

[Bumblebee]

Anytime of the day if I wait a reasonable amount of time then a little with no results, I'll run it. If the crosswalk light cycles and the light doesn't change, you're definitely there forever.

There's one near the theatre where I work that if a cage doesn't trigger it, you will sit there until you run out of gas and it'll still be red. I literally parked over the sensor wire, shut down and waited one weekend evening for 15 minutes just out of curiousity...nothing happened. That said, I figured out how to trigger at least that one with no cages around. I come up to the sensors then do 3-4 slow school circles across both lanes over the sensors. It changes about 90% of the time when I do that.

[weldaround]

Ya, I stop  and if I think my bike won't trip the light I don't wait one heart beat I'm going for it.     now if I was to get pulled over I think I would ask the officer if they would like to go back to the intersection in question and I'll asume the position of stoped at the light and we could just kind of sit there till one of us gets tired of sitting there   I heard of those magnets and I think I'll have to give them a try.  If they work that would be great.  One more thing is the bike won't trip the sensor at the parkade.  I came downtown to have a meeting at a certain time and went to park in the parkade and the guy at the parkade told me to take my bike and beat it because, the sensor wouldn't work.    

[lysolmp]

I found that the best way to trigger the sensor is to kill the engine, put the kickstand down, walk over to the light pole and push the darn pedestrian crosswalk button......

[detdrbuzzard]

one of my stops on my way to work is at a light that is weight sensitive, i make sure the other directions are stopped before running the light ( it's red for me ), the bike just doesn't have enough weight

[ROJ]

I found that the best way to trigger the sensor is to kill the engine, put the kickstand down, walk over to the light pole and push the darn pedestrian crosswalk button......

Hahaha, Beautiful  , love that one. I know where there is one at a T-intersection that will cycle the pedestrian crosswalk signals to the stop hand, but then go back to walk, never triggering the lights. But once I put a couple magnets ont eh frame (just a couple cheap, high strength rare earth magnets) and now pretty much every sensor trips. Another trick is to pull over the sensor, have the bike on or near one of the edges for a minute or so, then move it backwards to the other edge (if possible) this will trigger teh sensor. They use the magnetic fields produced by cars to interrupt an electrical signal that triggers the light. Now after saying all this, If I'm all alone and I can't get a signal to turn, I'll wait it out for maybe 6-8 minutes (we have some long lights around here, even for cages), then I'll go if its clear.

[86cb700sc]

Simple solution: http://www.greenlightstuff.com/

I have an older version strapped to the right cradle of my 700S and I'm getting one for the PacCoast. Works great.

[Eams]

IDK about you guys but check out Page 9 of:   http://www.dps.state.mn.us/dvs/DLTraining/DLManual/PDF/MotorcycleManual.pdf 

[Vermontster]

Sounds like Minnesota has the right idea. I've never looked for, or seen, the sensors in the street. How do you spot them? I thought they were buried under the surface...  I've got to try the magnet trick. Where do you find them?

If it's the middle of the night (or any time, really) I'd go through the light after a reasonable amount of time. I can't see how a court would uphold a ticket where a rider has waited through a couple of light cycles and finds a safe space to go on with their journey.

[ROJ]

You can usually see where the sensor is buried in the asphalt by a square shape with a line down the middle right near the front of the turn lane. The cuts are covered by tar, and sometimes you'll see a line leading to the nearest light pole. This is the sensor, sometimes they are completely buried, but not often. As for the magnets, I pick mine up at Princess Auto, kind of farm/tool store chain in Canada that has cheap prices (and about 1/2 the products are junk though, you have to sift through to find the truly good deals). I payed $3.99 for 6 small rare earth magnets and $4.99 for 4 large ones. You can buy motorcycle specific "light activators" but they are always at least triple the price (or more) of the rare earth magnet, and they are exactly the same thing. So I'dd look at stores like that, Harbour Freight, Lowes, Home DEpot, etc. etc. may carry them.

[Wahrsuul]

I tried one of those "Green Light Triggers", essentially an electromagnet on the bike with a push button switch.  I had to get rid of it tho...kept picking up too many Harley parts

[LOKi]

Every one of you have a magnet on the bike. It just isn't activated until you hit the starter. Kill the bike and restart it. That will spin your starter generating a magnetic field.

[ROJ]

Every one of you have a magnet on the bike. It just isn't activated until you hit the starter. Kill the bike and restart it. That will spin your starter generating a magnetic field.

Very true, but when I kill my bike I never know if its going to re-start under battery power, of if I have to bump-start it. I'll just use some extra magnets and be patient.

[niteman]

I got caught at one of these lights a couple of weeks ago...it was one of the one's like Bumblebee described where I would have run out of gas before the thing turned green. I waited a couple of cycles and went for it.

[JordanA]

In NC you are authorized to run a light of on a motorcycle and you have sat through either a)3 or more cycles with no green light, or B) 3 minutes.

[skramer360]

I wait for a couple minutes and then go. Never had a problem.

[CO-Zman]

Colorado Model Traffic Code, 2003, Section 612:

612. When signals are inoperative or malfunctioning. (1) Whenever
a driver approaches an intersection and faces a traffic control signal
which is inoperative or which remains on steady red or steady yellow
during several time cycles, the rules controlling entrance to a through
street or highway from a stop street or highway, as provided under
section 703, shall apply until a police officer assumes control of traffic or
until normal operation is resumed. In the event that any traffic control
signal at a place other than an intersection should cease to operate or
should malfunction as set forth in this section, drivers may proceed
through the inoperative or malfunctioning signal only with caution, as if
the signal were one of flashing yellow.

Care, caution and good articulation of the situation should prevail.

Z

[Laminar]

I run it.

[DesignFlaw06]

When I took the MSF class the instructor said that they consider those signals to be broken and will proceed as if it's any other broken signal--treat it like a stop sign. 

I wonder if that'd hold up if a cop happens to see it.

Remember that the MSF and state laws can differ.Same concept, but different philosophies on certain things.

I'd eventually run it if no one else was around. Otherwise, if additional traffic was approaching from either way, I'd inch up so their cage would trigger it.

[gammer]

I'd eventually run it if no one else was around. Otherwise, if additional traffic was approaching from either way, I'd inch up so their cage would trigger it.

This is exactly what I would do too.

Our magnetic strips are in 3's. Left side of lane, middle of lane and Right side of lane. I find the middle is the one that can give me trouble. So I usually stop over top of the right or left one.

[highwayjamin]

I will wait for 2 cycles,then I always run it,I think some of those lights you could sit there all day/night!

[pryan67]

for the rare earth magnets, I wonder if the magnets inside of hard drives will work...there's a light by me that NEVER trips...maybe I'll pull a couple drives off and pop the magnets on the frame to test it.....I have LOTS of old hard drives to take apart :)