Can't say it's true elsewhere but one of the guys working on our traffic lights in Tucsontold me that 40% of the sensors in the roadway are broken.One of our major intersections thatdoesn't sense my bike is being set up with photo enforcement. Hmmm sounds like a scam brewing.

 

If there is a specific light you frequently have a problem with, try calling that area's highway dept. They can change the sensitivity and normally are more than happy to do so from what I have been told.

 

I tried the magnet thing but it was picking up to much metal trash off the highway. I just drive over to the push button thing at the sidewalk crossing.

 

I am going to have to try the kickstand down manouver....my Suzuki C50 is 50% plastic. Can't wait till the EG gets here. 28 days I hope but whos counting right!!

 

Yep, same here.

 

Bought something similar a couple years ago for my softail, works like a charm

 

I pulled off the freeway andstopped at the light under the over pass, I watched it change the other direction twice without going green for me. It was 11PM, no cars either way for miles, I ran it. 10 seconds later, red lights in the rearview, I pulled over, shutdown, pull the helmet off, Officer walks up and says "you where at that light awhile right", I said "yes, about three cycles" he says, "i ride too, have a good night".

 

I had kinda the same thing happen to me back in the mid 1970s in Santa Ana, Calif. Late at night, coming home from work, light wouldn't change for whatshould have been several evolutions while a Santa Ana cop sat half way down the block. No traffic the whole time so I finally ease across the intersection. Cop lights come on, I get a ticket for going through a red light. Judge dismissed it after I got a memo from the traffic maint shop stateing that the light wouldn't change for motorcycles.

 

I tried one of those "Signal Sorcerers" on another bike. It really didn't do anything more than just the bike does alone.

Since the sensors in the road are nothing more than galvanometers (same thing as metal detectors - just bigger) a mass of metal needs to move through a coil of wire to generate an electrical current. Problem is the amount of the current is dependent on the mass of metal. The magnet should work because moving a magnet through a coil will also generate a current, but again it does not generate enough current generally. The sensitivity of the sensor can be varied to trip the light with less massive vehicles - but it requires some municipal employee to physically change it!

Here in Texas, a law was passed requiring municipalities to ensure that if a light is tripped by a device, it be tripped by all vehicles (that includes M/C's - I checked.) Sounds great doesn't it. Just make a call and the city/county/state/whoever is required to reset the sensor. Wrong! There is no vehicle for enforcement!!!

 

I found this info at the Team Oregon Site:

Many riders are often frustrated by traffic light sensors that fail to detect the presence of a motorcycle. TEAM OREGON instructor Patrick Fitzharris recently contacted Mark Rodgers, the manager of the Traffic Signal Services Unit of ODOT. Rodgers offered some insight into how vehicle sensors work and how riders can help themselves be more "sensor visible." Here is an excerpt of Rodger's response:

As a fellow motorcyclist, I understand the frustration of not getting detected by the traffic signal when I am riding my bike.Please allow me this short lesson to show how a traffic signal senses motor vehicles.Hopefully you can better exploit the sensors by understanding how they work.

A vehicle sensor, typically referred to as a "loop", is simply a coil of
wire embedded into the road surface.An electronic module in the traffic signal control cabinet sends a signal to the loop, which causes it to behave as a metal detector.Any mass of metal that passes over the loop causes a shift in the electrical signal.When the shift is great enough, the module tells the computer that a vehicle is present.The key point here is that the mass of metal must be large enough to overcome a threshold, or minimum metal mass.All metal objects greater than the threshold will be detected.

One other factor of the loop is called geometry.Oregon uses one of two loop configurations, a round loop and a diamond shaped loop. Invisible lines of magnetic force form at right angles to the wire. Maximum sensitivity results from metal masses moving perpendicular to the lines of force, so that as many lines are cut through as possible.In either type of loop, this zone lies about halfway between the center line of the loop and the left or right edge of the loop.If you stop over a loop, I recommend that you place your bike so that the lowest part of the frame is directly over the wire.Do not stop in the middle of the loop, as there is a dead zone inthe middle.