Radar Detectors

[driver145]

I am in the process of installing a radar detector on my 07 fz6. It looks like my plan as of right now is: use a passport escort 8500 (blue), tape the windshield bracket to my puig windscreen, hardwire it to the wire that taps into my low beam light for bikerdude's headlight mod, and have a superbright red LED come out the side of the dash midway up the windscreen on one side. I will post pictures when done of course. Furthermore, I do not wish to use headphones, but I am considering external speakers.

I was just wondering who has installed RDs and what was done. Also, pros and cons?

 

[mikebike]

most times in FL they use Pulse radar... so you will see your red light right at they get you...

in NC.... you at least have more curves and side roads... so you could lose them if you knew the area.

not that I would do that....

 

[F250moto]

Cons- If the officer is running radar or lidar as speed enforcement a radar dectector will not work. Oh you will get the signal, just about the same time the radar unit is displaying your speed. Many times I turn my on just to slow people, like when writing reports.
Pros- Since you are on a bike, If its radar, you stand a small chance of the unit not picking you up around other traffic, but if your the only vehicle in the radar cone it will pick you up quickly. If its lidar and your speeding, you most likely will get a ticket.
Just my two cents, I hope it helps and good luck...

 

[driver145]

I fully understand both the constraints and abilities of radar detectors. This was not what I was questioning. I was questioning how people have mounted their detectors and pros and cons related to that (i.e. cannot see or hear... or everyone can see and hear... et cetera).

Sorry for any confusion.


F250moto- what you say is entirely true regarding lidar... and is entirely incorrect regarding radar. Radar emits the signal for miles and miles... I have picked up Ka from about 3 miles away one time when the officer was using the instant on function. I do not wish to argue this matter, however. I was merely questioning how fellow fz6 riders may have mounted any RD units and how well they are alerted when the RD actually goes off.

 

[HavBlue]

Cons- If the officer is running radar or lidar as speed enforcement a radar dectector will not work. Oh you will get the signal, just about the same time the radar unit is displaying your speed. Many times I turn my on just to slow people, like when writing reports.
Pros- Since you are on a bike, If its radar, you stand a small chance of the unit not picking you up around other traffic, but if your the only vehicle in the radar cone it will pick you up quickly. If its lidar and your speeding, you most likely will get a ticket.
Just my two cents, I hope it helps and good luck...

That depends on the capabilities of the unit. An example would be the Escort Passport 8500 which has an extremely high sensitivity to all bands of RADAR and LIDAR as well as a very sophisticated pop up mode. I'll even go you one better, with the optional ZR3 LASER shifter you can actually shift the incoming signals making the vehicle the unit is in almost invisible to most guns and fixed in car units. Note: this is not a RADAR/LIDAR jamer which would make it illegal. The shifter merely redirects the outbound or return signal. In total, the two units will run around $900 MSRP.

As far as mounting goes I think I would rather not have to look at the unit to see if it had detected a signal. Rather, I would be wanting to hear it. Most units I have seen where mounted to the upper part of the screen with some sort of double back tape.

 

[madmanmaigret]

will they p/u the signal through plastic? then you could mount it in the fairing and have a small led light (as you stated) that would illuminate where you could see only the light.

 

[Hellgate]

I don't have time to look now but Fred did a super clean install of his RD IN his fairing dashboard, and he rigged up a way to use his headphones to hear the tone. He posted this mod about two weeks ago.

 

[steveindenmark]

Also be aware that by having a radar detector they can detect you as well.

Ride slower seems to be an option.

Steve

 

[driver145]

Steve:
I have been using RDs for 5 years now and do not wish to discuss whether I should or should not be using a RD. I really just want to discuss methods of mounting the thing. Nevertheless, thank you for your concern and just to let you know, the 8500 I am using is not detectable with VG2 and is only detectable with some Spectre versions (VG2 and Spectre are the RD detectors police use in the US). Furthermore, RDs are legal in about 48 states, so this is not much of a concern to me.

madman:
Radar signals penetrate plastic (laser penetration is contingent upon opacity). It however will not pick up either signal through any metal. The other reason I do not want to mount in the fairing is I want to be able to remove it easily to avoid acclimate weather and thieves. Lastly, my detector displays how many signals are present and the strength of each, so I wish to be able to look at the signals after I notice it is alerting. That allows me to decide if it is just a false alert or a legitimate police radar.

 

[dako81]

How can they detect you if you have a radar detector? That doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Cloggy]

How can they detect you if you have a radar detector? That doesn't make sense to me.

They use a reciever tuned to the LO (local oscillator) of your Radar detector.
To recieve high frequencies your radar detector needs a mixer to be fed by an oscillator (a constant frequency source) at all times when turned on.

Some models are "stealthier" than others as their local oscillators are enclosed in metal casing, or the "horns" (arials) which generally transmit this frequency are sealed around the edges (generally with solder), I know bel used to produce a "stealth" detector and this was difficult to pick up, but most other ones could be picked up at aprox 200 meters.

In many US states radar detectors are totally legal (as long as you don't cause dangerous situations on acting on their information), but in others not.

I only know uptil about 5 years ago they were totally legal in Holland (due to freedom of airwaves laws in the Dutch constitution put together after the war) but have since been banned.

I forgot to add that some makes/models of radar detectors are naturally stealthy as they use an uncommon LO frequency, so the police recievers can't pick it up.

 

[steveindenmark]

"Kin" Hell Cloggy...your bloody clever for a foreign Yorkshireman...it must come from your mums side.

I can`t send you a t-shirt so I will send you a laugh instead.

[nomedia]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qdsv2CRHjk[/nomedia]

Steve

 

[Cloggy]

"Kin" Hell Cloggy...your bloody clever for a foreign Yorkshireman...it must come from your mums side.
I can`t send you a t-shirt so I will send you a laugh instead.
.......
Steve

Love the sketch Steve, Jet2 (the Leeds based Airline) is a hell of a lot better than that but I've never looked in the cabin, so I wouldn't know about the Tetleys beer pump

By the way I'm a Radar/ communications technician by trade, oh and I worked for a Dutch company who imported and repaired radar detectors for a short while (when it was legal many years ago).

By the way GATSO is a Dutch company, not a lot of people know that.

 

[Cloggy]

I am in the process of installing a radar detector on my 07 fz6. It looks like my plan as of right now is: use a passport escort 8500 (blue), tape the windshield bracket to my puig windscreen, hardwire it to the wire that taps into my low beam light for bikerdude's headlight mod, and have a superbright red LED come out the side of the dash midway up the windscreen on one side. I will post pictures when done of course. Furthermore, I do not wish to use headphones, but I am considering external speakers.

I was just wondering who has installed RDs and what was done. Also, pros and cons?

This sounds ideal, I have seen the same thing done with a bright light and a relay, years ago (prior to super bright LED's), the rider said it worked great. I suspect the detector will work fine behind the windscreen, sharp angles can sometimes influence the Ka (34GHz) pick up though but looking at your options I think this is the best place to mount it, especially as the escort is one of the more sensitive detectors on the market (or used to be anyway).
I have also seen an earphone on one before, but I can understand if you don't want to go with that (due to the cable).
Definately keep it removeable as those things (dashboard versions) aren't up to heavy rain and the like, only I can't remember how stable the bracket is.

It sounds like you thought of everything, looking forward to the picks.

 

[Cloggy]

Cons- If the officer is running radar or lidar as speed enforcement a radar dectector will not work. ....Just my two cents, I hope it helps and good luck...

As Driver 145 has said a good radar detector will pick up radar, in the X, K, & Ka band (if selected) especially the X and the K (In Holland the Ka band would alarm aprox 300 meters in front of the radar) this is always dependant on the situation, but we would guarantee 200 meters for all frequencies (if mounted correctly.
There are plenty of cheap radar detectors out there that beep next to the Radar, but they pick up the fourth or fifth harmonic (which are much weaker signals than the original Radar frequency).

 

[driver145]

This has not been wired yet, but this is the setup I am going for. Will require no cutting, drilling, or damage of any other sort.

 

[Cloggy]

This has not been wired yet, but this is the setup I am going for. Will require no cutting, drilling, or damage of any other sort.

looks like just the ticket, :thumbup: as long as that LED is super bright, and the holder is secure enough.

 

[Nelly]

Martin,
Your obvious superior Modern grammer school education has clearly paid off. No if you don't mind please can you explain WTF you are on about. Us secondary modern blokes can't keep up?
Tell me what I need to buy please.
As far as I was concerned I had the greatest radar detector ever. I got three points last month:Sport: FZ6 seen by satilite............

 

[driver145]

This is my temporary but functional setup. I decided to just use the hardwire kit from escort for the LED for now, b/c my electronic/soldering skills are limited. I can see the light clearly in bright daylight, but I have to be looking at the dash to notice it flashing. Also, under 50mph with moderate wind (15-20mph winds) I can actually hear it beeping and I would imagine at full alert (not just one or two bars) it would be even more audible. I think if I just pay attention and glance at it now and then it should save me from some potential trouble.

In the future, I might add a brighter LED, and will definitely be adding an external (louder) speaker.

I used an empty fuse slot on top of the battery for power (hardwire kit comes with a fuse connector), and grounded it to the negative side of the battery.