yellow light, green light
- Thread starter rodehard
- Start date
garyl62
Active member
Here you go http://www.theridelite.com/home.php
I also saw someplace guys were using clamp on battery operated, colored lights. Not sure if those were sold for sleds or just someone who was looking around his garage and came up with a new use for some old junk, but still a good idea.
Beer Belly Bob's in Greenland is listed as a retail outlet, or authorized dealer on their website.
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Don't have a link but they are called the Communication Safety System (CSS). Should be able to Google them.
Side note: I had them on both sleds but both heads quit working within about 18 months and I didn't feel like spending the $$$ to replace them.....PLUS I got tired of having to explain what they were to everyone every time I stopped someplace......but then this was 2 seasons ago and they were hardly ever seen in the Midwest
Here we go again ! You should always ride defensively and expect another snowmobile coming around the corner. The use of hand signals or fancy lights are only as good as people understanding them or being able to see them and that all goes out the window when another group of snowmobiles pull up behind any group. Ride safe, keep your hands on the handle bars and save your money for something nice like LED ground effect lighting...
gade-thrasher
New member
Our group (4-5 sleds) has been using these lights for 3 years now. We primarily ride in central/northern Wisconsin and the UP. I have yet to ever see another one of these on the trail, and would love to see these catch on.
This past weekend I had a few riders actually gesture to me their frustration to the fact that I was NOT using a hand signal. I have since send an email to the ASWC asking for their assistance in increasing awareness of this form of communication.
This past weekend I had a few riders actually gesture to me their frustration to the fact that I was NOT using a hand signal. I have since send an email to the ASWC asking for their assistance in increasing awareness of this form of communication.
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lenny
Guest
there's a reason they do not catch on,,,just a bad idea and only a few people really care
Oh quit being a curmudgeon.......it wasn't a bad idea....seems like most people just don't want to spend the $$$$
"Blue flowers! Red Thorns! Blue Flowers Red Thorns! Blue Flowers Red Thorns!
this would be so much easier if I wasn't color blind!"
SledTL
Active member
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lenny
Guest
if you guys wanna dress up your sleds just run some neon strips under the boards and in the hood vents,,,lights are cool
Finally we are gonna have a discussion on hand signals or the equivalent, "ride lights?" Here's my take on the issue. Hand signals or these ride light signals actually do not heighten your awareness of traffic any better than no signals or no ride lights. The fact is these additional attempts (hand signals, ride lights) to create a safer riding experience do more harm than good because both methods are flawed and when they error occurs it has the potential to worsen the situation. Example: last rider in a group is using the light system correctly with green light on when a faster traveling group with no lights comes up behind the group with the lights. Oncoming traffic see's last sled in first group with green light on and lowers the caution level and resumes previous speed but is coming around a corner, or in heavy snow, over a hill or whatever the possible situation would allow and right in his face are more sleds when he believed there were not more sleds. If you lie and say the closed fist or green light will not change your riding than what was the benefit for the signal in the first place?
I've been riding sleds for over 25 years and have seen heavy traffic VERY often on weekends and it is the norm for groups to come up on groups ahead of them and last rider not knowing the group is even there. We see the threads all the time on here about problem in traffic in general and it's the nature of traffic. There is no way you can tell all riders how many are behind you all the time. Well, you now are probably saying well we can tell most groups accurately of whats going on and that is somewhat true but the odds of a mistake are greater than you would think and I for one would rather trust my own senses and continuously ride with lower odds of mistakes by eliminating potential errors by others.
I see this as a simple issue, you can either trust a system that is potentially flawed or always ride in a heightened sense of awareness. What do you really gain by thinking there are no more sleds in a group? Do you think you can now resume a faster speed, or hog more trail? Think about it, what do you really do differently when you see the closed fist or green light? If you do nothing that the signal was a waste and an opportunity for a sledder to loose control riding one handed. If you do change speed or lane position than you just increased the odds of an accident. Just what if you believe in your mind there could be a sled approaching at any second,,,you would stay in your lane, you would handle the sled in a manner which would allow you to not wreck or kill someone. Honestly, there is no benefit to knowing the group is gone unless you admit you would drive in a manner that would not accommodate other riders. Right now you are expected to control sled in all conditions and have no excuse except error if you make a mistake and with signals there is a higher level of potential mistake because you cannot know who is behind you. Lets say you have no hand signals, no ride lights and you pass a group of 5, 1/8th mile later another oncoming group startles you and you smash or have a close call because you thought the group had passed. Would the mistake be that of the sled operator or the oncoming group? Keep my analogy in mind and now add in hand signals or ride lights, you got the green signal that the group has passed and here's the other and you smash. What is the closed fist or green light telling you that you capable eyes are not telling you. Is it giving you permission to ride more aggressively. Actually it is telling you a group has passed but only for those in that group. Unless you are willingly going to lie and say you would not change your riding style after a closed fist or green light than you would have to admit that you gained no information that can allow for safer operation.
Hand signals and ride lights are of no value because they have a greater potential to give false information and the best info your brain can receive is the knowledge that sleds can be present at any time and to trust that only. There is no value to knowing when the last guy in a group has passed because there just may be another.
Bottom line, I still ride aggressively on trail. I'm not saying to ride like grandpa. I'm saying exactly what I said above and no more!
Finally we are gonna have a discussion on hand signals or the equivalent, "ride lights?" Here's my take on the issue. Hand signals or these ride light signals actually do not heighten your awareness of traffic any better than no signals or no ride lights. The fact is these additional attempts (hand signals, ride lights) to create a safer riding experience do more harm than good because both methods are flawed and when they error occurs it has the potential to worsen the situation. Example: last rider in a group is using the light system correctly with green light on when a faster traveling group with no lights comes up behind the group with the lights. Oncoming traffic see's last sled in first group with green light on and lowers the caution level and resumes previous speed but is coming around a corner, or in heavy snow, over a hill or whatever the possible situation would allow and right in his face are more sleds when he believed there were not more sleds. If you lie and say the closed fist or green light will not change your riding than what was the benefit for the signal in the first place?
I've been riding sleds for over 25 years and have seen heavy traffic VERY often on weekends and it is the norm for groups to come up on groups ahead of them and last rider not knowing the group is even there. We see the threads all the time on here about problem in traffic in general and it's the nature of traffic. There is no way you can tell all riders how many are behind you all the time. Well, you now are probably saying well we can tell most groups accurately of whats going on and that is somewhat true but the odds of a mistake are greater than you would think and I for one would rather trust my own senses and continuously ride with lower odds of mistakes by eliminating potential errors by others.
I see this as a simple issue, you can either trust a system that is potentially flawed or always ride in a heightened sense of awareness. What do you really gain by thinking there are no more sleds in a group? Do you think you can now resume a faster speed, or hog more trail? Think about it, what do you really do differently when you see the closed fist or green light? If you do nothing that the signal was a waste and an opportunity for a sledder to loose control riding one handed. If you do change speed or lane position than you just increased the odds of an accident. Just what if you believe in your mind there could be a sled approaching at any second,,,you would stay in your lane, you would handle the sled in a manner which would allow you to not wreck or kill someone. Honestly, there is no benefit to knowing the group is gone unless you admit you would drive in a manner that would not accommodate other riders. Right now you are expected to control sled in all conditions and have no excuse except error if you make a mistake and with signals there is a higher level of potential mistake because you cannot know who is behind you. Lets say you have no hand signals, no ride lights and you pass a group of 5, 1/8th mile later another oncoming group startles you and you smash or have a close call because you thought the group had passed. Would the mistake be that of the sled operator or the oncoming group? Keep my analogy in mind and now add in hand signals or ride lights, you got the green signal that the group has passed and here's the other and you smash. What is the closed fist or green light telling you that you capable eyes are not telling you. Is it giving you permission to ride more aggressively. Actually it is telling you a group has passed but only for those in that group. Unless you are willingly going to lie and say you would not change your riding style after a closed fist or green light than you would have to admit that you gained no information that can allow for safer operation.
Hand signals and ride lights are of no value because they have a greater potential to give false information and the best info your brain can receive is the knowledge that sleds can be present at any time and to trust that only. There is no value to knowing when the last guy in a group has passed because there just may be another.
Bottom line, I still ride aggressively on trail. I'm not saying to ride like grandpa. I'm saying exactly what I said above and no more!
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lenny
Guest
the only way this could work was if every sled was required to use lights or signals and enforced by the law. All sleds would have to have mirrors and come on people,, do we really need this handicap. It sounds good and is well intentioned but not all good sounding things are beneficial or practical. This is comparable to more regulation and bigger gov, do you really want that?
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You would have to be a complete moron to think no sleds could be behind a rider that gave you a fist. Meeting a new rider(or group of riders) is always a possibility. Knowing that more sleds are following gives you the opportunity to go waaaaaay slower than you normally ride. If you say you don't ride faster after seeing the last sled, it means you are not driving defensively and using extra caution when passing a group. Of course a rider should never take a hand off the grip if they are not 100% in control of their sled. GMHO
Couldn't have said it any better and have always thought this about the silly hand signals. Then there are the people using them in the dark with their hands behind their headlights...