Strobewise

Posted recently on The Motorcycle Enthusiast forum on LinkedIn was “The best way to be seen”. Ideas ranged from bright clothing to LED lights. Someone posted that they were doing a review of a Strobewise product. I checked out the Strobewise website. Strobewise is a rear-facing, LED, blinking amber light. So I made the comment that for $250 it better do more than blink. A representative of Strobewise got onto the forum explaining how it works. He then offered to give two units out to members of the forum for an unbiased review. I explained that I have been riding motorcycles for 24 years, a member of the Iron Butt Association, and all around gadget geek with XMradio, blue tooth, GPS, radar detector, and Kuryakyn lizard lights on my bike already. To my surprise they chose me to review it. Within a week I received the unit.

I was a little surprised that it was a two piece unit and had an 8 wire harness attached to it. I was wondering what I had got myself into. After reading the enclosed pamphlet, I then realized that we would only need to use 3 of the 8 wires (positive, negative, and speed sensor wire). The hardest part was finding the speed sensor on my bike. Strobewise engineers did send me the location of the speed sensor and a photo of it. But I needed the location of the other end of that wire under the seat for my particular installation. I was able to gather the information I needed from badweatherbikers, which is a forum all about Buells. There are other helpful forums out there for any particular bike.

Then I installed the unit. For most people, installation would probably be best suited for their dealer. Then I went for a test drive having my fiancé video tape me while following me from behind. What I found was that the unit doesn't do more than blink – BUT, it's "how" and "when" it blinks that makes it unique. The brains of the unit has inertia sensors that monitor vehicle speed and deceleration. The unit blinks at various rates depending on the rate of deceleration. No input from the rider or the brake is required. The unit reacts to slight changes like letting your hand off the gas. It is a smart unit. I'll consider it the ultimate “Back Off” alert to following motorists.