Kisan pathBlazer^® Report

The MSF folks will tell you that the majority of accidents involving motorcycles occur when left turning vehicles meet an oncoming motorcycle. The famous quote always seems to be, "But I never saw the motorcycle, officer." If you could minimize the chances of this happening to you - what would you pay?

A headlight modulator is one way of insuring that the driver can always see you. I recently bought one from Kisan (http://kisantech.com) model P-115W and I am now a believer. Just today - as I was riding to work in the rain - 4 cars pulled over to let me by, one of which even pulled on to the shoulder of the Interstate. When approaching intersections I can actually see people looking to see what it is ahead of them and since they often times think it is either a safety vehicle or a police bike - they stop and wait. One subtle danger is that when approaching cars from behind, sometimes they do think you are a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) and immediately hit the brakes to slow down - so you need to be on the alert for this.

What is a modulator?

A modulator lowers the voltage to your headlight and thereby reduces the output. From what I understand - flashing a headlight is illegal, but modulating is OK. There are standards set by DOT for the parameters of how this is done (so many modulations per minute and how much you can dim the light). Believe me - this is a real attention getter on the road. There are other companies that offer modulators, Kriss for one, but I need to tell you my Kisan story (many of you have heard some less than stellar service stories from Kriss patrons).

I purchased my modulator from Kisan at the Biggest Little Rally in the West in Reno in May. It didn’t work! It kept blowing my fuses. I took it back to Kisan while they were still at the Rally and it was graciously replaced. This one didn’t work, either - same problem. I guess Kisan had just picked up an order of these plug-in style modulators and I got two bad ones. Kisan tested the first one I sent back and it was using too much amperage when being turned on. I must assume that was the problem with the second one, too. I e-mailed them and asked if I should just up the amperage of my fuses and they recommended that I not do this and since I had mentioned that I was going for a long ride that weekend they overnighted me a another pathBlazer^®. This isn’t going to sound too good, but this one didn’t work either (didn’t modulate) and I was beginning to doubt these folks (they were probably beginning to doubt me, too). Another e-mail and Andy at Kisan personally checked out the next one. Remember - I have two sitting at my house and they are still overnighting stuff to me. Luckily, this device is about as simple to install as plugging in a light (which is exactly what you do) and I installed number four and went for a ride. Absolute success and a stunning success at that. I am thrilled with the results! Kisan also sent me a return Express mail box and the postage to return the failed units. You could not ask for better service (they had also called me and left a voice mail, earlier)! I have grumbled about poor service in the past, so I only think it is right to praise GREAT service.

Installation: All you do is plug this sucker in. Remove your headlight and remove the wiring harness - pop this thing on the back of your H-4 bulb and plug the harness back in. You route the light sensing unit through the back of your headlight or do like I did and drill a 10mm hole in the top of the headlight shell and mount the sensor there. Installation takes really no more than 10 minutes except for the drilling of the headlight (measure it well - ‘cause you will have to live with it if you mount the sensor on crooked ---- don’t ask!).

Kisan also sells a good looking rear brake light modulator - which I like much better than my BackOff brand - but I already have that installed and it is functional. Andy, at Kisan tells me that soon they will have another type of headlight modulator that will fit smaller headlight nacelles like on my wife’s Vulcan or on Harley’s with smaller headlight casings.

All in all - after a rocky start - I am thrilled with my pathBlazer^®. It definitely attracts attention and while some drivers get a little ticked when they see you aren’t a cop --- too bad – at least they saw you go by and didn’t run you over.

chuck hickey

Ps --- usual disclaimer her – I have no vested interest in this company and am not getting anything free from them (return postage doesn’t count, does it?). I’m just a satisfied customer and have found something that I think can help save some lives. YMMV (you mileage may vary).