Lights and equipment allowed on a RTP in California

[DonW]

Hello everyone. Thanks for all the good info on the full size cases on my new (to me) 2004 R1150 RTP. I got the cases and they work great, though they do stick out quite a bit more.

 

It seems several of you may be California Law Enforcement Officers. I'm wondering about the rules for lights, etc. on ex-CHP bikes. All police equip was removed from my bike, but there is still lots of brackets and wiring. Part of the fun of this bike is looking as much like a cop as possible (people are WAY more polite on the freeway...) but I don't want get arrested for impersonating a police officer.

 

I plan to add additional tail lights (for increased rear visibility) where the strobes were. Red? Amber? Can I add blue reflectors? And maybe "fog" or "driving lights" on the front strobe mounts? Is there a reference source for any of this?

 

Thanks in advance. I'm really enjoying sorting out this new bike.

 

Don

[Tony_K]

No blue illuminated lights ANYWHERE on the bike! Don't use blue reflectors either.

 

No amber CONSTANT illuminated at the rear of the bike only red. Amber can be used for turn indication only. This is in CVC but people violate it all the time anyway. It's cause for a stop by LEO.

Constant amber is allowed at the front, just not the back.

 

Forward facing aux lights permitted. White or yellow only.

 

 

[SWB]

FYI.

 

A couple of pix from my R1100RT-P.

 

 

 

I replaced the tractor lights with more functional hella lights on steadier "EMP design" brackets.

 

 

 

Rear: The round red lights are twist-on-replacements for the original blue rear running lights. The amber signal nights are common RV or truck lights that are slightly larger than the original Whelen strobes. They have exact match amber signal lights to match (you may have had the LED's on your model if it's newer than mine), but they are about 5x more expensive than the one's I installed. I had to grind the holes for the strobes out to fit the new one's. The rear LED running and signal nights, along with the side amber strobes on the radio box that came with the bike the radio box, light up this bike at night - something I miss a lot on the new R1200RT.

 

You'll have to splice the rear OEM signal wires to support the new turn signals - the strobes run off a Whelen power supply under the radio box (if it's still there, it's worth over $100 used - sell it), and you can't use any of those wires. On the other hand, there's 2 or 3 12V hot leads under the box that you can use for auxiliary equipment. Use them or lose them (remove or seal them up).

 

Have fun. The RT-P is definitely a safer bike for the rider, but it's not "safe" - don't get complacent. NEVER assume that just because someone in a cage is giving you funny look that they see you, because they might just be squinting at the sun in their eyes. Or, they may hate cops, rent-at-cops more, and have a killing hatred at wanna-be-cops, and may literally try to run you down (has happened a couple of times). Keep your head on a swivel.

 

Have fun with the project. If I could find a reasonably priced, low mileage R1200RT-P, I'd buy it in a second for commuting. I wouldn't go back to the R1100RT-P; I love the R1200RT too much. However, I'm guessing that the R1200RT-P's will still sell for $10-12,000 when the are at 100K miles and five years old. They are just sweet bikes, and everyone will want one.

 

Scott

[KDeline]

 

 

Have fun. The RT-P is definitely a safer bike for the rider, but it's not "safe" - don't get complacent. NEVER assume that just because someone in a cage is giving you funny look that they see you, because they might just be squinting at the sun in their eyes. Or, they may hate cops, rent-at-cops more, and have a killing hatred at wanna-be-cops, and may literally try to run you down (has happened a couple of times). Keep your head on a swivel.

 

 

I say this again, IMHO it's more dangerous. When people figure out you are not a cop they do some pretty stupid stuff like speed up and cut you off, pull out in front of you, etc.

[DonW]

Regarding the light hook-ups. My bike came with the "police relay" box, which triggers the side turn signals, and the extra strobe rear brake. The box also has 'power" (always hot), and two "Aux" (switched power).

 

I could easily tap in here for extra "running" lights. There are plenty of switches up front, but they all seem to be disabled.

 

Somewhere I found a RTP suppliement to the owners manual and it has the wiring diagrams for all the police stuff- very helpful in identifying the myriad of unmarked wires and plugs in the radio box.

 

Don

[Starfighter]

Manual and wiring for police equip. can be found on BMWMC.net

 

[upflying]

I painted my RT-P gray to avoid the black and white stigma of a cop ride.

Civilians think you are cop so they do all sorts of crazy driving around you. Cops know you aren't a cop so they give you suspicious eyeball thinking you are an impersonator.

Civilians ask you for directions, want you to take a report and want their tickets signed off. Civilains also want to make a complaint about you if you are seen riding without setting a good example.

What you have for lights will be up to the discretion and judgement of the officer who pulls you over for running illegal lights.

It's not just lights, it's a totality of the circumstances. Do you have a siren speaker, weapons, uniform and were you doing something that falls only within the authority of a LEO? Such as yelling at someone to slow down?

It's a fine line and easily crossed.

 

[SWB]

Regarding the light hook-ups. My bike came with the "police relay" box, which triggers the side turn signals, and the extra strobe rear brake. The box also has 'power" (always hot), and two "Aux" (switched power).

 

I could easily tap in here for extra "running" lights. There are plenty of switches up front, but they all seem to be disabled.

 

Somewhere I found a RTP supplement to the owners manual and it has the wiring diagrams for all the police stuff- very helpful in identifying the myriad of unmarked wires and plugs in the radio box.

 

Don

 

I made the original mistake of wiring my front aux fog and driving lights to the "available" hookups left over from the strobe power supply. Problem is, when something goes wrong, you have to pull the radio box again - major pain. Much better to just strip off all that extra wire and kill those circuits, and rewire at the fuse box to convert those slots to dedicated circuits for your lights, and run hot leads to the front. When a fuse fails, you only have to check the fuse box where everything else is, and track the wire from fuse to relay to switch to light. Put the relays in or near the same location.

 

It's much simpler to maintain.

[B3of21]

On 2/16/2009 at 6:52 PM, DonW said:

Regarding the light hook-ups. My bike came with the "police relay" box, which triggers the side turn signals, and the extra strobe rear brake. The box also has 'power" (always hot), and two "Aux" (switched power).

 

I could easily tap in here for extra "running" lights. There are plenty of switches up front, but they all seem to be disabled.

 

Somewhere I found a RTP suppliement to the owners manual and it has the wiring diagrams for all the police stuff- very helpful in identifying the myriad of unmarked wires and plugs in the radio box.

 

Don

I would pay for the cost to get the supplement copied if you would be willing to do it. I just got an rtp I need to sort out. I ordered some fogs for it and have to work through stuff to find out what works and what doesnt.