Buddy at a stoplight

[daisyrain82]

I used to ride a Piaggio Fly150 and loved it to death, except when I was the first in line at a stoplight. I was invisible to the sensory, I tried revving the engine to send an electrical signal, I tried flashing my lights, I tried bouncing my bike, but it just didn't trip the sensory.

so I wanted to know, what are you doing to trigger a stoplight on your scooter?

[OkieBuddy]

I have had the same problem. I purchased the large signal light magnet and installed it on the bottom of my Buddy, but it does not trip all stoplights and can be annoying waiting for a car to pull up and trip the signal.

Anyone else have any ideas?

[Blackeyes24]

Tripping a stoplight? What is this? Dont they just change?

[macgawd]

Tripping a stoplight? What is this? Dont they just change?

Some are timed, but some are triggered by the weight or magnetic field of an automobile. Since the Buddy is light and mostly plastic, these sorts of lights won't be triggered by the Buddy alone.

Michael

[Scootin_in_MS]

I look for the cut-line in the pavement (where the signal wire is buried) and try to drive over it the entire length. Then if that doesn't work, I turn right then cut a U in the road and go on about my business.

Jody

[DUTCH]

I have asked a few city cops here and there this question to see what kind of action they would take on a rider in this circumstance. I got a few diff. answers varying from "You wait untill someone comes up close behind you. You never go through a red light." to "look both directions and when the cost is clear go on thru." So I'm lead to believe there are different views on this even in law enforcment. However I had a very level headed cop tell me once that if you were witnessed by an officer carefully going through a red once you've come to a stop and waited more than your share and explaining this to him after being pulled over for it, you would probably get some understanding and a simple word of caution from him unless the cop was one that hated bikers or riders of any kind (and we all know these kind are lurking out there). So please be careful and make the best decision based on your suroundings and conditions, and be ready to explain your reasoning!!!!

[MrNatural]

Since I just got my motorcycle permit and have been reviewing the booklet I saw the problem was mention in the book if you are on a motorcycle (or scooter) and you don't trip the sensor in the roadbed. There is actually law here in Minnesota (I think they called it "red light/green light) where if you've waited an unreasonable length of time and have not gotten a green light you can legally move thru the red light with extreme caution.
In my mind here certainly was room for interpretation/dispute as to how long you'd need to wait but non-the-less, here you'd have stong basis to contest a ticket for such action.

[peabody99]

This explains why were caught at a light on a quiet Sun AM. We ened up doing the take a rt, and then u turn thing. Frightingly, we almost made our left turn on red after ensuring the all clear. Just then a motorcycle with a green light probably going 2x the speed limit came over a hill out of no where. It would have been ugly for all of us had we gone. lessons learned-incluing for the motorcyclist- don't enter intersections at 2x the speed limit!

[BoneGirl]

My husband and I have turned left on red and gone straight on red several times, especially on a street where we don't expect any other cars to come up from behind for a very long time. We're just not heavy enough to trip the sensor. We have motorcycle friends who do the same thing.

[sotied]

Some sensors (and there is another thread here on this) are magnetic and some are weight.

If you park on the cut line and rev your engine you can sometimes get an iffy mag sensor to change.

If it's a weight sensor there's not much you can do.

In some states you are allowed to go if you wait 180 seconds at a red and it doesn't change. Check your local laws.

Barring that, I say right on red and right on red.

Jeff

[ericalm]

As others have said, there are different types of sensors and many are simply on timers. But here's what works for me:

Position scooter over center of sensor at stop. (Here, most of the sensors are circular or hex-shaped cutouts. This also works with those which are just lines that look like a cable under the street.) Tap your center stand on the asphalt. Presto! The only places around me where this doesn't work are an intersection that got resurfaced (with this new coating the just spread over the existing street) and a few busy intersections I know are on a timer.

When I'm unsure, I pull up into the crosswalk so the car behind me will pull up and trip the sensor. Or I just wait and run it. In CA and most other states with laws allowing motorcycles/scoots to run a red, they usually require you to wait through an entire cycle of all the lights at the intersection.

I purchased the large signal light magnet and installed it on the bottom of my Buddy, but it does not trip all stoplights and can be annoying waiting for a car to pull up and trip the signal.

I have yet to read a report from anyone saying these actually work, but have read at least a dozen saying they don't.

[Sumosamurai]

You can always run over to the cross walk and press the button... Though this probably wouldn't work in every situation.

[ericalm]

You can always run over to the cross walk and press the button... Though this probably wouldn't work in every situation.

Sadly, most crosswalk buttons in urban areas don't work at all these days. At timed intersections, they've been disabled. A study in NYC found that 2/3 of the buttons are just placebos—broken or disabled. I suspect the same is true for LA.

[Dooglas]

I think daisyrain82 may be a special case. Her 15cc scooter has such an unusually tiny engine that it may be completely invisible to any type of sensor. The mileage must be great though.

[rickko]

... Tap your center stand on the asphalt. Presto!

Ditto!

If that doesn't work, I wait once cycle of red/green then carefully proceed.

I'd hate to be first in line if the city was being evacuated because of an earthquake or fire and I couldn't trip the signal!

..rickko..

[Rosie]

You can always run over to the cross walk and press the button... Though this probably wouldn't work in every situation.

Sadly, most crosswalk buttons in urban areas don't work at all these days. At timed intersections, they've been disabled. A study in NYC found that 2/3 of the buttons are just placebos—broken or disabled. I suspect the same is true for LA.

Conspiracy! We are lab rats!

[iinigma7]

... Tap your center stand on the asphalt. Presto!

Ditto!

If that doesn't work, I wait once cycle of red/green then carefully proceed.

I'd hate to be first in line if the city was being evacuated because of an earthquake or fire and I couldn't trip the signal!

..rickko..

Hey rickko and Eric, I think need to try the center stand trick again. I tried tapping the center stand on the line itself and I got nadda. So I should tap it in the middle of the rectangular outline?

Also, I suggest checking into your local laws concerning this. I made a thread last month about the fact that it's now legal in South Carolina to run through a red light on a Motorcycle or Scooter if you have waited over 120 seconds at a red light. I'm sure we're not the only state that has this law.

[Shane Wilson]

TN has the same law.

I think we're supposed to wait through two cycles of the light, but I rarely do.

If it's a light I know I have trouble with I treat it very carefully and go through when it's safe.

[runtotorun121]

Another member here suggested, and the lights have changed at a couple of intersections we could never get to change when my husband and I are riding together - even with his added MC metal - to kill your engine and then restart your scooter. Again, this seems to have worked for us at a couple of intersections that frustrated us every time we didn't have a car pull up behind us. I killed my engine, restarted, and the light triggered immediately.

I think there has been a light in an area in which we don't travel much that didn't seem to respond, but I am guessing maybe that was a weight issue. . .?

[kazoo]

What a great Idea! Mutual Induction - it really works!

Now if I could only adopt that with my raleigh.

[illnoise]

This has some interesting tips:

http://2strokebuzz.com/index.php?p=4185

he argues if your scooter's not tripping it, there's probably something wrong with it and you should notify the city. That's a lot cheaper and easier than wiring up gizmos to your bike.

I've been riding for 12 years and have never once had that problem, but some people do, I guess.

[ericalm]

... Tap your center stand on the asphalt. Presto!

Ditto!

If that doesn't work, I wait once cycle of red/green then carefully proceed.

I'd hate to be first in line if the city was being evacuated because of an earthquake or fire and I couldn't trip the signal!

..rickko..

Hey rickko and Eric, I think need to try the center stand trick again. I tried tapping the center stand on the line itself and I got nadda. So I should tap it in the middle of the rectangular outline?

If there's a cut out shape, then try stopping over the middle of the cutout and tapping. It may take some experimentation. Or it could be a weight sensor, in which case it'll do no good.

[pistol77]

I'm glad I saw this thread I have been waiting and waiting at a light the last few mornings praying a car would finally come up behind me.I have to cross a highway in the morning that just put in lights that never chance for me and now I know why!

[Jrman]

This is an interesting video on the subject..

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video ... hts-78256/


I had posted this in the wrong location before...

[ericalm]

This is an interesting video on the subject..

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video ... hts-78256/


I had posted this in the wrong location before...

I have yet to meet anyone who has had any kind of success using magnets, but have read posts from several people who have claimed they don't work. I know there are different types of sensors so that may have some affect on it. This is actually the only first-hand account I've seen from a source not selling magnets saying they work!

I want to know what that is he's riding. Looks like an Aprilia with a square headlight (?), but totally de-badged.

[Jrman]

I have actually had very good luck at traffic lights with sensors. I park the scooter right over the line that is cut in the road and the vast majority of the times it seems to work fine. The one time I started to grow old at a traffic light I realized that I was "between" the lines in the road not over them.

[ericalm]

I have actually had very good luck at traffic lights with sensors. I park the scooter right over the line that is cut in the road and the vast majority of the times it seems to work fine. The one time I started to grow old at a traffic light I realized that I was "between" the lines in the road not over them.

Yup, our sensors in this area a different than the ones in the video, but I can still stop in the middle of it, tap the kickstand on the ground, and that works most of the time. The only lights where this fails have been recovered since the sensors were installed.

[purromaniac]

I've not yet run into the situation, but my MSF instructor said that if you can't trip the sensor, you can call the city department in charge of traffic lights and ask them to adjust the sensitivity of it. I think he was talking about the newer, computer controlled signals where they can adjust it from their office downtown.

It is perfectly legal here in Phoenix to make a right and then a U-turn as long as you travel at least 100 yards down the road before your U-turn.