Another safety item I added was a very loud 80 dB horn. Stebel makes them. You have to wire in a switching relay. The normal power to honk the OEM horn closes the relay and routes almost 10 amps to the air horn compressor. It saved me a few times from huge pickups that tried to merge into my lane without looking. The driver will need to do laundry after that encounter, but it sure beats getting run over.
Another new hazard I encountered in Mira Mesa was muslim women wearing an oversize hijab. Their peripheral vision is blocked and they often make lane changes without making an overt effort to look well over their shoulder to clear the hijab impaired view.
Over fifty years ago I started building dual head lights on my bikes, along with dual spots. One thing I’d always noticed about singles is that other oncoming drivers took the single light to be a car with a light out and then started guessing about which one it was. Putting more light out front also helped light up the other guy which gave me another edge. I worked at night occasionally so I rigged for it.
Because California law allows you to lane-split doesn’t mean you should or have to.
Yep! happened to me on I-10 just west of Palm Springs. A$$hole in a big PU Truck passed me IN THE SAME LANE and the mirrors missed me by an inch!
Happened to A friend of mine, here in Florida, was actually hit by the mirrors and caused him to run off the road into some woods. he survived with a broken shoulder and a messed up bike.................
What the asshole didn't realize is that due to his speed and low profile I never saw him...but yet he faulted me.
I don't take that crap lightly so I tailed him and at the last stop light, I was tempted to lightly tap his rear end but thought better of it and made my turn......All the while he was continuing to scream at me.
The punk was lucky, someone else in my position may have taken more aggressive action.