Top 5 Mods for Motorcycle Safety
In this video/article :
- Slim Line Sports Horn from PIAA
- Slime High Speed Sealant for Tubeless Tires
- Kuryakyn Constellation Driving Light Bar
- Pro Grip 5025 Detail Tape
Loud Horns.
Slim Line Sports Horn from PIAA
Number one – extra-loud horn. Car drivers try to merge into me on a weekly basis, so a better noise maker keeps me safe.
This is the Slim Line Sports Horn from PIAA, and it’ll do 112dB at 500Hz.
For comparison’s sake, an average motorcycle horn throws around 100dB when it’s brand new. If you’re riding around on a 1980-something piece of history, your horn probably makes even less noise.
So the Slim Line gives me an extra 15 decibels and while that might not sound like a lot, we should remember that the decibel scale is logarithmic . So a gain of 10 decibels actually means that the noise gets twice as loud. Ergo, this thing blows your eardrums when compared to a stock horn.
Of course there are loads of other options – like the soundbomb or screaming banshee – which are louder than this PIAA. But I chose the Slim Line because it only draws 2.8 amps and that won’t fry my fuse. Plus it’s super easy to install.
As the name suggests, the Slim Line Sports Horn is slim. I measured this guy about 10x8.5x4 cm, so it doesn’t take up much space on my machine. It’s actually about the same size as my stock horn – which is under this beak here – so I can just install it there.
And at a featherweight 185 grams, it doesn’t take much engineering to mount the thing, either.
Speaking of which, you are supposed to re-use the factory wiring with this guy, and if you have a plug attachment instead of positive and negative leads, PIAA includes the ground wire you’ll need to make that work. So all-around, installation is easy.
My only complaints with the Slim Line can be counted on three fingers. One – it only does a 500Hz frequency. I wish it alternated between two tones instead, because that’s better for grabbing attention. Two – this cover is only water resistant, so I have to mount it somewhere that won’t get direct spray. And three – the main unit is metal, but this exterior housing is plastic . So parts of your motorcycle that get hot are a no-go when it comes to installation.
Tire Sealant
Slime High Speed Sealant for Tubeless Tires
Now , my #2 mod to improve safety is green, gooey and cheap as hell.
Tire sealant!
The idea is simple. You deflate your tire, pull the valve out, and squeeze this stuff in. Then you pump it back up and forget about it. The slime will spread all over the inside of your tire thanks to centrifugal force, and if you do run over a nail, it magically plugs the hole.
Okay so maybe it’s not magic , but it is clever. Basically, this is just a bunch of fibres and congealing agents suspended in liquid goo. When you poke a hole in your tire, the pressure forces the slime through the hole. And while the goo goes out, the fibres stack up inside the puncture, packing themselves together until it’s air tight again. The whole thing happens in an instant and only results in a loss of a few psi. You probably won’t even notice that you ran over a nail until you stop and see a little green spot on your tire.
Tire sealant won’t do much for bead leaks or sidewall punctures. But on the contact patch, it’ll fill up to a ¼-inch hole. The safety benefit is obvious – your tire doesn’t deflate, so you don’t crash.
There’s even some protection from catastrophic punctures, like if you run over a railroad spike and put a toonie-sized gap in your tire. Of course slime won’t fill the hole completely. But it will take a lot longer to exit your tire than the air. So it’ll slow the deflation down and that can make the difference between getting safely to the side of the road, and losing control.
Now before I sing too many praises, I should mention that this particular tire sealant is not the one I’d choose. Slime stays liquid so when you go to swap your tires, it makes a bloody mess. Some mechanics straight-up refuse to work on tires that have slime in them and I don’t blame them. Plus , this stuff is recommended as repair-only for high-speed tires.
On the other hand, there’s a brand called Ride-On, which makes tire sealant that turns into a semi-solid gel. That way it doesn’t leak everywhere when you remove the tire and it has the added benefit of balancing your wheel. Most importantly, Ride-On is kosher for high-speed motorcycle use.
So I love tire sealant as a safety mod, but I’d take Ride-On over this green stuff. Sorry Slime.
Lights
Kuryakyn Constellation Driving Light Bar
My third favourite safety mod is about seeing and being seen.
Lights! Basically, light yourself up and other people won’t run into you. Or , you can light your surroundings and avoid running into other stuff. Most light mods – like this unit from a Kuryakyn Constellation Light Bar – do a bit of both.
I’m going to rap out the options real quick:
Light bars are common on cruisers. They’re typically mounted as a horizontal beam under the stock headlight or taillight. And they have two units on either end, which look something like this. This is from a front light bar, since it has extra headlights rather than extra taillights.
Then there’s auxiliary lights. The name itself can refer to any secondary light but in our circles, it often denotes the single units that ADV riders attach to their crash bars.
Underglow is a fun one. That’s a downward-facing light that creates an aura on the pavement beneath the motorcycle. It’s actually great for safety, because underglow is usually some funky colour, and anything unusual is quick to get noticed.
You can also buy handguard lights. Sometimes they’re just white, sometimes they’re secondary orange turn signals, sometimes both. You typically buy the entire handguard with the light in it. If you just get stick-on LEDs, they’re called accent lights instead.
So , accent lights are single stick or screw-on units, which you can put just about anywhere. They’re most common on customized bikes and while they’re not so great for lighting your surroundings, accent lights are handy for being seen.
Then there are helmet lights. They’re usually stick-on LEDs, which flash to garner attention.
And finally, you can modify your existing lights. HID headlights are a common way to see further and get seen sooner. You can also get brighter taillights and turn signals, but it’s more common for riders to use modulators on those.
A modulator is a device that can pulse your taillight, headlight or turn signal to draw more attention.
Reflectives
Pro Grip 5025 Detail Tape
My fourth safety mod is similar to lights, but simpler.
Reflectives!
See lights can be a pain in the ass. You have to figure out how to install them, rewire stuff, change bulbs or batteries… And if I get carried away, my motorcycle is going to look like a Christmas tree, which is lame.
On the other hand, reflectives don’t change the look of your bike that much, especially in the daylight. And rather than generating their own light, they borrow it from the car that’s about to hit me, so they’re cheap and easy to install.
This is detail tape from Pro Grip. It’s reflective white but there are a bunch of fluorescent colour options for people more interesting than myself. Theoretically I could put it anywhere. I could line my sidecases, trace out the edges of my windscreen, spell RyanF9 across my gas tank like a narcissistic bastard. Whatever.
ProGrip does say on the package that this roll is enough to circle both sides of two rims. So that gives you an idea about what they think I’ll use it for.
If tape isn’t your thing, there are other reflective options. I know of some dandy FortNine stickers that are pretty bright – shameless plug. You can also get reflective arm bands or vests, which is nice because you take them off during the day. Same goes for reflective magnets, which I can stick on my tank when the sun goes down.
And finally, there’s glow-in-the-dark piping you can use to trace the lines of your helmet if you want to look like something from Tron.
Multiple visors
Speaking of which, my fifth safety mod is also for my helmet.
Multiple visors!
Clear one at night, tinted one during the day. And don’t underestimate what this is worth.
Obviously, riding at night with a dark visor is stupid. You won’t see as well and sight is somewhat important for piloting a motorcycle.
But riding during the day with a clear visor can also be dangerous. Prolonged exposure to bright light or glare – especially while your vision is concentrated – will quickly result in eye strain.
In turn, eye strain makes it harder to focus. I’ll be slower to perceive visual stimuli, especially stuff in my peripheries. Like a deer jumping onto the road, for example.
Plus , eye strain can cause blurred or double vision, headaches, neck and back pain. And all of those things make it harder for me to ride a motorcycle.
So I bought a couple different visors and I swap them when I have to. My Variant is about the worst helmet in the world to change a visor on, but it still only takes me 5 minutes. And that’s it or my favourite safety mods. Thank you very much for watching.