So the reason they shut off on high beam is so that you can see better father down the road. I know it doesn't make sense, but bear with me... It's really pretty simple, the more total light your eyes see, the more restricted your pupils get to compensate (which makes the whole scene look slightly darker to the human eye). Your passing lights are really short range and pretty bright, lighting mostly the area right in front of you and to the sides. Your high beam is meant to throw light farther down the road. Shutting off your passing lamps allows your pupils to stay a little bigger so your eyes actually pick up more of that light reflected back at you off of things that are farther down the road. While you THINK you can see better with them on, they are making your more "night blind" to what the high beams are showing you farther ahead. I hope that makes sense...
Thank you for the feedback, probably one of the best answers I've read. I was doing some research on the laws as to what the reasoning was being given and nothing sensible there. The law/ function of auxiliary lights being deactivated not only occurs on bikes but with Truck fog lamps also, which are normally pointed low. I am wondering how the additional light would differ from normal day light as you are experiencing a similar scenario with the amount of light being close and far from you; granted the immediate change in lighting at night would take your eyes a minute or two to adjust to but should then normalize once they've been exposed for a short period of time. I think I need to do some more digging but from a science angle; appreciate what you shared, it does make sense. Thank you for your support.
This is exactly right ! I read alot of xray film and eliminating unneeded light lets your eyes focus on what you need to see. Passing lamps are nothing more than unneccesary light obscuring what you should be focusing on
Not sure, most of the wiring is the same but I think the connectors changed. Open up your head light and see if you have the same connection as I had. If it's there then you're probably good to go.
So what connector do I need to use for the passing lights to tie in? Do you know the name of these connectors ? I’m using after market passing lights with loose wire ends one positive and one ground, I want to use this kit but don’t know the name of the connector to use this harness , did you wire your passing lights yourself or did they come on the bike?
Hi Zach, the passing lights came with the Road King. What I ended up having to do was use a 12v tester to confirm the plug. What kind of bike are you looking to do this to? Also a RK? If so what year? Look forward to hearing back from you. Since you have aftermarket lights depending on what bike you have, you might not need to use this. If you check out my videos on my 95 fatboy, I wired those up to my Dash switch.
Your bike should have the same wire harness as the classic and standard which i believe both have the passing lights. Use a 12v tester and you should find the power source connected to either the aux switch behind the headlight nacelle or one that comes on with your dash switch.
Mr. Mike what year bike are you demonstrating in your video AND your dealing with LEDs Right?? >> If you mess with the High Beam and Aux tied together on 2015 Rushmore Can bus (ALL LED Custom Dynamics including 2 TRB indicator lights on each saddlebag, fender tip front) FLHR set up, you will cause intermittent light failure at multiple locations requiring shutting the system /Motorcycle off. Pausing and hopefully resetting with restart til the next pending lights out. Ask me how I know, not. I can't speak to the Fog light set up, those are specific directional lights and may be managed differently. If you want to send me a pair of Chrome ones I will test them out for free and report back. Right On
This was on a 2007 RK. Pre Rushmore which im finding is much more flexible with change versus my RG which is a 17 and has all the CANBUS fun. Ive looked into buying the programmer but its a bit expensive, trying to justify it for myself has been tough but might be worth it in the long run.
