Are Hi Beam lights requaired by law on motorcycles?

[Sebaschell]

Actually I have two questions..
1. Are Hi Beam lights requaired by law on motorcycles?
2. Is there a specific requairement/specification for daytime running lights (DLR) ?

I've got an 09 zx6r which has a headlight with 2 marker lights, 1 low beam and 1 hi beam light.
I was thinking modyfying it by replacing 2 marker lights with 3Watt Led directional bulbs (which are also used in tactical flashlights) which would work as my daytime running lights, modyfiing high beam to take low beam bulb and adjusting height to match the other low beam light.
Basically, i would eliminate high beam which i don't need.
So , daytime riding would be with just those 2 marker lights, and night-city riding with 2 marker and 2 low beam lights.
Would my bike be still legal?

 

[Brian P]

1. Not in HTA to my knowledge, but having a high (and low) beam is a requirement of CMVSS 108, which your bike has to conform to at the time of its original manufacture, and should the bike be subject to a safety inspection (either because you're selling it, or because a police officer has ordered it to be done in the belief that the bike has an unsafe condition - happens rarely, but the theoretical possibility exists) then all the original equipment has to be working; i.e. it has to have a working high beam headlamp.

2. s. 62 of HTA has subsections as follows

Lamps required on motorcycles
(2) Subject to subsection (3), when on a highway at any time every motorcycle shall carry two lighted lamps in a conspicuous position, one on the front of the vehicle which shall display a white light only, and one on the rear of the vehicle which shall display a red light only. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 62 (2).


Light requirement
(4) Any lamp required under subsection (1), (2) or (3) shall, when lighted, be clearly visible at a distance of at least 150 metres from the front or rear, as the case may be. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 62 (4).



Now, define the term "... clearly visible".

You can rest assured that the original-equipment low beam headlamp on your motorcycle meets the "... clearly visible" requirement.

Anything else ... is open to interpretation, but you can also rest assured that your proposal would be nowhere near as visible as the original-equipment arrangement.

Besides, do you really want to make yourself LESS visible to the brain-dead car driver up ahead who is about to turn left in front of you and "doesn't see you"?

This could actually be legal trouble, because if as a result of the accident investigation it is established that you had modified your headlamp system to be less visible, it could potentially shift a portion of the liability for the collision.

Don't do it.

 

[OpenGambit]

+ 1 to everything Brian said. Especially with regards to at fault determinations for accidents ( should it happen)

You will also find out that illegal things that make you more visible are generally ignored by law enforcement. While the reverse is the complete opposite.

 

[Sebaschell]

Not in HTA to my knowledge, but having a high (and low) beam is a requirement of CMVSS 108, which your bike has to conform to at the time of its original manufacture, and should the bike be subject to a safety inspection (either because you're selling it, or because a police officer has ordered it to be done in the belief that the bike has an unsafe condition - happens rarely, but the theoretical possibility exists) then all the original equipment has to be working; i.e. it has to have a working high beam headlamp.

The high beam headlight would be modified in such a way that to bring it back to stock would require replacing 55W bulb with 65W bulb and adjusting height of light beam to spec. - in case i would sell my bike.

Light requirement
(4) Any lamp required under subsection (1), (2) or (3) shall, when lighted, be clearly visible at a distance of at least 150 metres from the front or rear, as the case may be. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 62 (4).

With 2 marker lights and 2 low beams on it would be brighter then stock during the day and night.
I just commute in the city where i never use high beams. The only safety concern for the high beams are for someone travelling at night in the middle of nowhere with no cars or street lights around at the rate of speed greater then visible breaking distance. I never go such a places.

 

[Brian P]

Now you're saying something different from your original post.

Original post: " daytime riding would be with just those 2 marker lights, and night-city riding with 2 marker and 2 low beam light"
Now: "With 2 marker lights and 2 low beams on it would be brighter then stock during the day and night"

Which is it?

You're going to find that the side of the headlamp housing with your high beam headlamp, has a reflector shape that is meant to give a high-beam beam pattern, it doesn't have the low-beam cutoff of a correct low beam headlamp. This cannot be fixed by "changing the bulb" and it cannot fully be addressed by aiming it crazy low.

It's designed to work in a certain way from the factory, and generally, tampering with it compromises its function in some way.

I still say, don't do it.

 

[Torren]

I might be confusing the American regulations but there is no requirement for DRL as such. The American law states that the low beam head lamp must be on at all times when engine is running. I believe I have seen a similar phrase while looking at Canadian lighting requirements but not entirely sure off hand

High beams are required to be functional at all times as is all standard equipment safety items. May never come into question but technically has to work. If you alter your stock low beam system and get pulled over and asked about it, I can just about promise they will check the high beAms

 

[turbodish]

I might be confusing the American regulations but there is no requirement for DRL as such. The American law states that the low beam head lamp must be on at all times when engine is running. I believe I have seen a similar phrase while looking at Canadian lighting requirements but not entirely sure off hand

Ontario's HTA specifically requires motorcycles to shopw a headlight at all times. The only motorcycles exempt from this are those manufactured before Jan 1 1970.

 

[Jaak]

I used to have fun with my 1969 Triumph.... I would see a cop and turn my headlight off... He would ask... "What year?", I would say "1969", and he would wave and turn around....

Makes want to get another one..

 

[Brian P]

Actually, from the HTA section quoted above, the requirement is for a "white light" on the front, and then it goes on to require it to be "clearly visible from 150 metres". It doesn't explicitly say that it has to be a "headlight", i.e. it could conceivably be some other white light. The manufacturers use the headlamp as this "white light" because that's what CMVSS 108 requires. According to HTA, it could theoretically be some other white light, but to borrow a phrase that I've used at work many times ... "It's a can of worms best left closed."

 

[suprPHREAK]

Now you're saying something different from your original post.

Original post: " daytime riding would be with just those 2 marker lights, and night-city riding with 2 marker and 2 low beam light"
Now: "With 2 marker lights and 2 low beams on it would be brighter then stock during the day and night"

Which is it?

You're going to find that the side of the headlamp housing with your high beam headlamp, has a reflector shape that is meant to give a high-beam beam pattern, it doesn't have the low-beam cutoff of a correct low beam headlamp. This cannot be fixed by "changing the bulb" and it cannot fully be addressed by aiming it crazy low.

It's designed to work in a certain way from the factory, and generally, tampering with it compromises its function in some way.

I still say, don't do it.

I agree with this. The desired effect cannot be reached by modifying the bulb alone. Just dont do it.