This bike is costing me money !!!

[Stef.]

I have just checked and apparently it depends on where you live in Canada In Ontario they are illegal and here in BC they are legal. Just one more thought: if you have one and even if it is legal I guess you never need to try to get yourself out of a fine if caught. Probably it does not go down well with the police if they catch you with one and apparently they even note it down that you have been driving with one. On another website a police officer said that if he catches a biker with a radar detection device they will check you bike upside down to find anything else they can fine you for.
See here: http://forums.blueline.ca/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=16836
Stef.

[celticus]

O.K.- sorry if this has been discussed somewhere else...(I did a quick search)- so what is the best radar detector? Do I need to get one particularly for Canada or can I buy anyone? Which kind of radars do they detect? I have looked at the Valentine 1 but it seems quite big? What is with the Escort Passport ones or the Beltronics? See this site: http://www.radarbusters.com/customer-re ... 042989.cfm
Stef.

I have a Valentine 1 on the bike and an Escort 8500 in my car. I like them both. The Valentine tells me how many radar sources there are nearby and from what direction. I like these things about it but I don't like the fact that it is difficult to see what kind of radar (X, K,Ka ) it is detecting.
Small LEDs. Usually around these parts you can ignor X band and slow down for K or Ka. The Escort just tells me there is radar present but not from what direction and how many hits there are. The read out is nice and large and easy to read, there is an easy to use volume switch. You can dim or brighten the readout for day or night use. So there are things to like about both.
Just today as I passed through what passes for a town (New Market Tn.) the K band came on strong so I slowed down and before I knew it there was a flat black Dodge Hemi Charger with the little low profile lights coming toward me looking for evil doers.
Good on ya Escort 8500.

Mark

[Stef.]

Thanks Mark for the explanation. From what I can see the Valentine is highly recommended but quite a big beast including the visual alert. The Escort seems to consist of only one machine which is relatively small. Is it so important to know from which way the radar comes from? I don't think we have that many here outside of the towns and you can always slow down once you get an alert from which ever direction?
Stef.

[deilenberger]

I thought they were illegal in Canada.

Harry, like in the US - only parts of Canada.. (the parts we have to go through to get anywhere else in Canada..)

[celticus]

Stef, The Valentine is not really all that big. I have seen both the V1 and the Escort mounted on bikes without being obstructive. The V1 is slightly wider while the Escort is slightly longer.
People are sometimes very loyal to the V1s but the Escort is also quite good. Read the reviews. If one were clearly better than the other there would not be so much contention between supporters of each brand. I have never noticed much of a difference in sensitivity.
To me being able to detect the direction of the signal may be important sometimes but not usually to me. I bought the V1 at the behest of a V1 nut and I am not disappointed nor unhappy with the product but like I have said I also like the Escort and I got a real good deal on it.

Mark

[gezerbike]

You can hear a lot of things. My radar detectors warn me of police all the time. Spend the money on one instead of the cost of a ticket. That is one I have heard.
Geezer, I have the Marc Parnes LED set up on my R, works just fine.

Mark[/quote]

The Marc Parnes thing on my GS is mounted high enough that it catches my eye pretty easily. Not so sure it would on the R. I'm thinking of going back to mounting a small speaker in my helmet and plugging it into my 8500 X50. I'll use it this way on the R. As for radar dectectors, I'm a big Passport fan..they have never let me down and I've have them since the 7500 was the top of the line unit.

[Stef.]

Any opinion on the "Beltronics STi Driver Lite". See here for more information:
http://www.kmph.ca/products/radar-detec ... river.html
And here is a review (for what that's worth...)
http://kmphradar.blogspot.com/2009/08/b ... eview.html
Stef.

[thepeacebullgrunt]

Last September, I got a small speeding ticket to which I have a sick pleasure to postpone the arraignment the most as possible...at the arraigment I am going to go Non Guilty and ask the judge to be bailed on my own recognition considering my clean criminal record history etc etc if its accepted it might be another 2 to 5 months waiting until the trial day to which I hope the cop will not show up...and if he show up I heard from a friend that there is a way to negociate with the cops before the audience...if the DUDE is not cool it is still possible to go guilty & pay until the last minute. Few friends did the same and saw their ticket dismissed after almost a Year of that little game.

[gezerbike]

Well, the weather around here last night was pretty crappy, wife was out with friends, so me and the pooches ventured into the garage to get the Passport 8500 X50 mounted on the bike. The pooches aren't really much help, but they do make me laugh, and laughing is good. Anyhow, last winter, when I was farkelizing, I ran the hardwire for the 8500 up to the dash are, so that was done. I dug into the Super Duper BMW parts drawer and pulled out the Slip Streamer Radar Detector mount that I swore I wasn't going to mount, because I was going to slow down and enjoy the flowers. Right. So I needed to apply a little of the fabric electrical tape to the bars where I was going to mount it, then a quick single wrap of that Aerostich double faced velco and it was ready to mount. Got everything lined up and decided I needed socket cap bolts instead of the wing bolts, so a quick trip trip to Lowe's, with a stop at Subway's for a bachelor dinner, and I was good to go. Here is the final result. Sad thing is, I had all this stuff sitting at home, uninstalled, when I got my $ 140 First Place award. How stoopid I can be.