2015 Radar Detector Thoughts / Opinions

Uncle Phil said:
Well, the 8500s have been through all sorts of 'frog drownings' over the years and they still are working just fine. Here's a picture or two. I usually put car window film over the front 'window' so you can't see inside the box if you look. Also, a plain phone cord will work just fine as a power cord for them (have to sort out which pair in the cord) -
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Looks like you cut a hole and siliconed a piece of plexi for the front window in the project box? Even if I don't mount under the headlight, I might use this idea to waterproof whatever unit I go with. Did you permanently seal the box or did you use some sort of gasket to waterproof the lid?
 
Slasher said:
Looks like you cut a hole and siliconed a piece of plexi for the front window in the project box? Even if I don't mount under the headlight, I might use this idea to waterproof whatever unit I go with. Did you permanently seal the box or did you use some sort of gasket to waterproof the lid?
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Yes, I cut out the 'front' and siliconed the 'window' in with bathroom silicone (figured it would be getting hit with lots of water in the rain). No seal on the top as it fits pretty tight when you bolt them together like I did. The power wire (RJ11 phone cord) and the audio wire run out the back through a rubber grommet. So far no water problems and all three ST1100s have seen lots of miles with this setup. My 97 ABSII has gone over 50,000 miles with this setup for sure since it had it from day 1. BTW, the boxes are bolted to a 'STEFI' plate which replaces the black garnish under the headlight. Some old timer ST1100 guys will know what a 'STEFI' plate is ... :D
 
I was wondering what was holding it since calling that front garnish flimsy would be a drastic understatement!
 
TourNut said:
Anybody know the clearance of the top of the front fender to the underneath of the fairing on a ST1300 ? ( at full fork compression ) for a radar detector?
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An 'easy' way to find the actual would be to put some tape or some 'marking' (like with a magic marker) on the forks at the estimated height of the bottom of the box and go for a ride over some rough roads. if it is not disturbed, you should be fine. Or probably in your case with your weather right now, jump up and down on the handlebars ... :D I hit a pothole on the Cassiar in Alaska/Canada that was deep enough to bust the front fender loose, break loose the top black garnish on the ST1100, and knock the mirror covers loose but it never touched the detector box. ;-)
 
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Uncle Phil said:
An 'easy' way to find the actual would be to put some tape or some 'marking' (like with a magic marker) on the forks...
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I'd not use tape... risk it gets driven into the fork seals... narrow zip-ties have served well...
 
I've always used zip ties.

In a pinch you could put a lump of Play-Doh or potting clay on the top of the fender and hit the brakes.
 
Uncle Phil said:
As usual from you, a better idea! ;-)
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UP, no offence intended... it just caught my eye as it reminded me about the episodes with those blokes who put their MOT or highway-toll stickers on the fork tube... underneath the lower triple-T though... ouch... :roll:

And on topic:
there was a neat gadget offered in the UK, officially sold as "garage door opener" it offered the neat feature of serving as laser detector/alarm (vehicle powered + audio out + relay output) and an ~30 second laser jamming before going dormant for some time.
Quite genius as would be totally conspicuous if a LEO can't get any laser reading on you, but unobtrusive he only sees a brief disturbance and gets it right on the second aim... giving you time for evasive manoeuvres, before innocently passing by their hideout... whistling.gif ;-)
Quite small (literally the size of a garage door fob), so convenient for MC use... I only need to find the site again... doh! ;-)

I just never opted in installing countermeasures over their price range in comparison to my "awards" per anno...
Fixed speed cams are easy to spot, the random/occasional manned laser ambushes as well (also their "schedules" are known facts: near the end of a quarterly and during long, bank-holiday weekends...), the silent OEM cans help even further; mostly I've spotted them and slowed way before they realise my proximity/having a chance of aiming their nasty devices at me...
So with car + company van + motorcycles together a "donation to the Police Assistance Fund" occurs like every 2 or 3 years... and then its just an "accident" for ridiculously low violations... so its not paying off for me...
And this is no indication that I'm a slow driver/rider (quite the opposite though...), rather that I'm an attentive one... :D
 
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Martin - No offence occurred - I meant what I said - you are just better at figuring things out! :D Over here it's looking behind the trees, the bushes, up on the bridges, etc. The speed cameras in the UK/Europe were always well marked - you'd have to be asleep to miss them. But I sure didn't care for some of the 'timed' ones I ran into - especially in Scotland where there were no speed limit signs and I didn't know what the national limit was. ;-)
 
UP, I too might have tripped one in the area around Chester UK (Queesway Bridge IIRC...), but since there is no extradition treaty (and/or the violation was just too marginal to pursue...) I neither had received Royal Mail, nor was I arrested/seized upon following arrivals on UK soil... same in France or Italy...
Occasionally you spot LEOs there, on even rarer occasions they hand-signal a "slower"... so the "message" radiated by that Gentlemen Express is absolutely working...

The last ticket I recall I'd received on the ST was literally peanuts...
While approaching the city limits of a small village in Tirol I got distracted by a bicycle darting out onto the road, forcing me to swerve to the left... apparently I must have instinctively blipped the throttle during this for stabilisation...
Well, a couple hundred yards later the local sheriff flagged me down...
We greeted and then he curtly, but friendly toned barked in this unique local accent: "...allowed are 50, we measured 60, makes 14..."
14 Euros!? Seriously?! That was such an absurdly low amount I had to fight hard to not burst out in laughter :lol: (in my home area tickets will start at 58,- and up...)

When in UK I always place some small adhesive red dots on the glass of my speedo, marking the common local speed limits on my kph dial...
I also tape off the RHS upward kick on my EU spec headlight to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers... I always wonder that they don't check that on all arriving vehicles when disembarking the ferry... :confused:
 
I've read that the jammers don't work. And I've also read that the hardware necessary to jam radar will not fit in a small, inconspicuous package. If you want to jam a laser, you would need a bright, precisely aimed laser, and you are moving - the LEO is sitting braced in his patrol car. That adds complexity to 'jamming' a laser.

Anyone have any cold hard facts about jammers? Anyone test a jammer against police radar?
 
SMSW said:
I've read that the jammers don't work. And I've also read that the hardware necessary to jam radar will not fit in a small, inconspicuous package. If you want to jam a laser, you would need a bright, precisely aimed laser, and you are moving - the LEO is sitting braced in his patrol car. That adds complexity to 'jamming' a laser.

Anyone have any cold hard facts about jammers? Anyone test a jammer against police radar?
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I have a law enforcement background. I know that you can jam lasers, but from what I was told and witnessed-you cannot jam K, KA, X band radar systems. This was back in 2007 so things may have changed since then.
 
velocityflier16 said:
I have a law enforcement background. I know that you can jam lasers, but from what I was told and witnessed-you cannot jam K, KA, X band radar systems. This was back in 2007 so things may have changed since then.
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I have also heard that 'Myth Busters' - the TV show - tested and found license plate covers do not work with red light/speed cameras. A friendly cop told me that what they will do is reduce the range of the laser by roughly half since the laser depends on reflections off the moving vehicle. Your headlight is a great reflector, so short of a 2" thick stealth coating of mud, we are out of luck here. So many cars around here have nearly opaque plate covers (front and rear) that either the cops are kept busy ticketing these folks for obscuring their plates or they are ignoring them. I've not heard of anyone who got a ticket for these covers...... I'd think it would be a red flag for a bike to have a plate cover....
 
They make specific laser jammers for motorcycles. They are pretty compact and from why I've seen, the better ones actually do prevent police laser from locking on. Laser jammers are illegal in some states while radar jammers are illegal in all states. (Something to do with being regulated by different agencies)
 
TourNut said:
Same Laser systems as the U.S ?
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There is always the issue of research... ;-)
i.e. are LTI and Riegel common models used by the forces in Germany and AuSTria, but then I'd need to check on all the other countries like Italy, France, Spain, UK, etc...

I only stumbled over that kit over its auto-dormant camouflage feature and the small dimensions supporting concealed installation...

OTOH seems radar detection/jamming by units from the US market not be of much help over here, as there no hand-held guns in use and the fix installed traps read/trip after a vehicle is passing them, taking photos from behind... so by the time a radar warning might go off the pictures are already taken...
 
ST1100Y said:
And wouldn't jamming a radar not require radiating a pretty strong, quite unhealthy energy burst?
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You're absolutely correct. That's why on laser jammers, its best to wire it to the battery because it does pull some significant power. You would definitely blow the fuse if you had it on the cigarette adaptor.

On a side note, I'd like to throw in my opinion on a good radar detector. I've always really admired the escort brand. I've seen the 9500ci in action, and its a beast. Its $2,000 though which is ridiculously priced, but I have the passport for the past 4 years. Its a great detector and can be battery powered. If you want a decent budget radar, I would highly recommend the Passport.
 
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