Weiser Technik high-intensity indicators – turn signals to our American cousins – are what happens when an electronics engineer rides a BMW and knows they can do better. Engineers are like that – show them a problem, and they will try and solve it.
Back in 2007, Mark Atkins was riding a BMW R1200GS and pondering the effectiveness of the indicators. The standard bulbs flashed as they should, yet LEDs – something Mark is very familiar with – would be such an improvement in terms of brightness, visibility and reliability.
The question of brightness was easy to answer. Osram automotive LEDs are used across the automotive industry for that very reason. Using a dozen or so Osram LEDs would not only be much more reliable than a standard bulb but one heck of a lot brighter as well.
Outlining his idea to Phil Waring, a skilled electronics design engineer, the pair set about developing a direct replacement for the bulb and reflector found inside the GS’s indicators.
Yes, That’s Bright
It is a common restriction with ordinary indicators that they are dull, especially if viewed from the side.
As the indicator bulb faces forward, indicators are easy to see when you are looking directly at them, but if you move to the side, only the light bouncing off the reflector can be seen.
As their name suggests, indicators – turn signals – are used when turning. Most of the traffic looking at you to understand what you plan to do next is looking at you side-on, the hardest direction to see your indicator from.
By strategically locating the Osram LEDs on the replacement indicator internals, Mark and Phil were able to not only make the indicators brighter but also significantly increase the spread of light.
Bottom line: Their design was brighter and much harder to miss than the standard offering, no matter what angle you looked at them from.
Plug and Play
Along with being well-made, Mark also wanted the installation to be plug-and-play with his BMW’s CANbus system. Many of the LED indicators on the market back then used splice-and-dice resistors inserted (hacked) into the bike’s wiring to fool the CANbus system into thinking everything was OK.
For a pair of electronics engineers, this was unacceptable. The upgrade had to be plug compatible and not produce any errors.
Several test units and a few motorcycle rallies later, Weiser Technik was born.
Alpha and Beta
Back in 2008, it was common to see the same indicator body used by different motorcycle manufacturers. It appears all the component buyers went to the same suppliers, and two indicator housings consequently found their way onto numerous BMW, Triumph, Ducati, Moto Guzzi and Aprilia motorcycles.
Weiser Technik continued to manufacture upgrade kits – called Alpha and Beta – for these indicator housings until 2015, selling them through dealers and workshops across the USA.
By 2016 the litigious nature of accident claims – especially in the USA – was pushing the need for motorcyclists to make themselves more conspicuous. Something was needed to help tilt the scales back towards the motorcyclist when car drivers came up with excuses for the accident being the motorcyclist’s fault.
As I say, you can’t show engineers a problem and not expect them to try and fix it.
Second Generation
Conspicuity – a fancy way of saying “making yourself obvious” – was the problem, so Mark and Phil set about developing a second-generation, multi-functional upgrade, this time utilising the indicator as an attention-grabbing riding light.
This enhancement isn’t designed to illuminate the road but to provide an attention-grabbing spread of light with the same wide viewing angle the indicators have.
Most of the time, drivers are likely to have something else going on in their vehicle, so grabbing their attention from the perceived boredom of driving gives them fewer excuses to use.
Turn on the indicator, and the attention-grabbing white riding light goes out, replaced by an equally bright and highly visible flashing amber turn signal. Cancel the turn signal, and the attention-grabbing riding light comes back on. Neat, simple and effective.
Brake Lights
And they didn’t stop there. If high-visibility riding lights work for the front, why not apply the same concept to the rear?
Fit the Weiser Technik upgrade, and the rear indicators become additional red rear (tail) lights for everyday riding. When you brake, the red rear indicators dramatically increase in intensity to grab people’s attention.
Cars get a high-intensity third brake light, so why not have the same safety enhancement for motorcycles?
And naturally, when you turn on the indicator, the high visibility rear lights change into an equally visible turn signal.
What Next?
Different manufacturers using the same indicator housing isn’t as common as it once was. However, a manufacturer using the same indicator across their range remains standard practice.
Suzuki and Honda are perhaps the most prolific at reusing the same indicator housing. The turn signals on the Honda NT1100 are the same ones used on the Africa Twin, CB1000R, CB650R, CB125R and the new Honda Hornet, to name but a few from Honda’s range.
Yet when the design of the indicator isn’t perhaps as good as it could be, the same shortcoming is repeated on several models.
The dull orange riding lights used by Honda, for example. Or Yamaha’s single LED and moulded plastic indicator body fitted to the Tracer series. Both offer problems Weiser Technik are keen to solve.
Then there is Weiser Technik’s love of older BMWs and the upgrade kits – single or multi-function – for Beemers going back to 1969, which are available from Weiser Technik’s website.
A Thousand Words
But returning to more recent BMWs, Weiser Technik has begun manufacturing a direct replacement for some of the pencil-thin indicators that are now appearing.
The later BMW indicators and some KTM units might be LED, but the visibility problem is only getting worse as the indicators get smaller.
The indicators will, of course, meet all the legal requirements for a turn signal, yet they can become practically invisible once you move a few degrees on either side of head-on.
Words can only go so far when describing the benefits of the Weiser Technik upgrades, and if at this point you are still undecided, take a look at the review and installation guide the Just The Way It Is Youtube channel created.
As the saying goes, a picture paints a thousand words.
Weiser Technik
Despite the Germanic name Weiser Technik is an Anglo-American company with manufacturing facilities in both countries. None of Weiser Technik’s products are made in China, and only Osram Automotive Approved LEDs are used.
My only complaint is… Replacement indicators for the 2015 Ducati Multistrada and the Yamaha Tracer 9GT are still being developed. I wish they would get a move on.
I can’t control what goes on behind me on the road but making sure people peering through misted windscreens on a rainy night have every opportunity to see me appeals greatly.
