Beat the Heat

Feel the need to speed, but don't want to take a ticket when the police give the pinch? Neither to do we, so we took advantage of Stealthsportbike.com's invitation to attend "Radar Wars" and learn exactly which anti-detection countermeasures work to so you never have to worry about speeding tickets again.

Words: Aaron P. Frank
Photos: Mevin Vertison

A modern superbike like the Yamaha R1 is a serious implement of acceleration, capable of outrunning pretty much anything on the road-anything, that is, except for Johnny Law's radar beam. As some of us know all too well, speeding tickets are a hazard of ownership for any sportbike pilot, endangering your driving privileges as well as your ability to acquire affordable insurance. It's all too easy to exceed the posted limit on today's rocketship race replicas, and thanks to recent advances in the anti-speeding technology available to police forces, it's even easier for law enforcement to catch you in the act. Before you know it you're borrowing a necktie from your brother-in-law and heading off to traffic court to "negotiate" your portion of the "fun tax."

So what's a righteous-minded speed freak like you to do in the face of this increasingly stiff enforcement? You could always just slow down (yeah, right!), or trade your ride for something that doesn't exert such ownership over your throttle hand-a Vino or Metropolitan 50 scooter, perhaps. Or you could confine your sport riding to the racetrack-a great idea in theory, but track days are few and far between in many parts of the country, and can be prohibitively expensive.

If none of these sound like reasonable options to you, Mr. Super Streetbike , try beating the cops at their own game by outfitting your motorcycle with the latest anti-detection technology. We know what you're thinking-do detectors and jammers really work, or are they just a bunch of bunk? After a recent rash of law enforcement run-ins for various members of the Super Streetbike editorial team, we found ourselves wondering the same thing-so we followed up with the crew Stealthstreetbike.com to find out if the latest generation of countermeasure devices is really worth the money. Do they work? Can the right technology actually help keep LEOs (law enforcement officers) off your back? Is the idea of a "stealth streetbike" fantasy or reality? Read on to find out-we were certainly surprised with the test results, and we think you will be too.

War on Radar

To answer our questions about the effectiveness of various countermeasure devices and to get the lowdown on which are the best for evading detection, we sought out the advice of "Radar Roy" Reyer, proprietor of the Web site Stealthstreetbike.com and the nation's foremost expert on speed detection countermeasure devices. Reyer, a retired law-enforcement officer with 20 years of real-world experience training officers to operate both radar and laser guns, is now devoted full time to testing and selling countermeasure devices that allow motorcyclists avoid being ticketed.

As part of Reyer's work he consults with various radar and laser gun makers, as well as companies in the radar detector industry. Reyer also consults for a company called Speed Measurement Labs ( www.speedlabs.com ), an El Paso, Texas-based outfit that works with state and local police and DOT agencies on issues and strategies to improve highway safety. In addition to this work, SML organizes an annual event it calls the "Radar Wars" shootout (this year's was the 18 th running), which brings the leading radar detector makers and radar/laser gun manufacturers together to test their latest technology against one another.

Shortly before the 2004 running of Radar Wars, Radar Roy phoned Super Streetbike with an irresistible offer-if we would provide him with a late-model sportbike, he would equip that motorcycle with latest countermeasure equipment available through his Web site (including a radar detector and front and rear laser jammers) and put it up against the best the cops had to offer at Radar Wars. What's more, Reyer guaranteed that these modifications would prove absolutely effective, and the best police detection equipment available would be powerless against the Stealthstreetbike.com-prepared motorcycle.

As registered speed freaks (with the driving records to prove it), we couldn't possibly say no. We put out a call through superstreetbike.com and SSB reader Frank Whisler of El Paso graciously made his suitably speedy 2004 Yamaha R1 available for the test, meeting Radar Roy and the SML crew in El Paso this past June to take part in Radar Wars. Here's how it all shook out.  

What You're Up Against

Beating the police is no easy task. Radar speed measurement is a simple process-a radar gun sends out a radio microwave, which is reflected off of a moving vehicle and back to the gun to give a reading of that vehicle's speed. When the radio wave is reflected off of a moving object it changes frequency and the radar gun uses that frequency shift to calculate speed. Modern digital radar guns are strikingly effective, even able to identify the fastest vehicle in a group regardless of the reflective profile (which is much smaller for motorcycles compared to cars or trucks). This allows officers to easily "see" your motorcycle speeding along, even tucked in a pack of fast-moving semi-trucks.

Radar operates on three bands: X, K, and KA. Think of these bands like frequencies on an FM radio, and a radar detector as a simple radio receiver. The detector is tuned to the specific bands that radar uses, and when it detects a signal on that band it lights up in warning. The best detectors receive all three bands. The latest detectors are effective against analog radar guns and also more modern digital guns, which operate in a narrower portion of the radio spectrum for greater accuracy. Another factor to consider when choosing an effective detector is the ability to detect "POP-mode" radar. POP-mode is a recent technology developed specifically to defeat radar detectors. Older radar guns send out a continuous radar wave-a POP-mode gun sends the wave out in a single, 67-millisecond pulse, a quick flash of radar that some detectors won't even catch. Newer detectors are able to detect this mode as well.

As good as the best radar detectors are, however, these are utterly ineffective against the laser speed guns that more and more police departments are employing recently. Unlike a radar microwave, laser guns use a beam of infrared light reflected off of a moving vehicle to gather a speed reading. Laser has some advantages over radar-because the laser beam is more precise (the beam is only 18 inches wide at a distance of 500 feet, compared to an 85-foot-wide beam at the same distance for most radar guns), laser allows officers to target specific vehicles for more accurate enforcement. In high-traffic areas, it's easier for an officer to defend himself in court.

Laser has a number of disadvantages for law enforcement, though: since it relies on a beam of light, the officer c an have difficulty in shooting through a car window , and cannot be moving. In addition, the laser beam Range is reduced in rain or other inclement weather. Because of the unique attributes of laser, which is pinpointed and instant-on, it is practically impossible for the rider to detect in advance. The only hope to defeat this is a laser jamming device, examples of which Reyer also fitted to Whisler's R1.

The Countermeasures

Step one in this test was outfitting Whisler's R1 with the full bevy of countermeasure devices, a task that took just over two hours in Stealthstreetbike.com's mobile testing trailer. Radar Roy started by installing what he judges to be the most effective radar detector on the market, the Escort 8500 RX50 . Radar Roy 's endorsement of the $299.95 RX50 is seconded Motor Trend magazine, which recently rated the RX50 as the number one radar detector available in an in-depth radar detector evaluation. The radar detector was mounted to the R1's upper triple clamp using a Spider-brand stem mount ($65.95) inserted into the R1's steering stem hole.

Most motorcyclists find it difficult (if not impossible) to see the radar detector alert at speed on the road. To eliminate this complaint, Radar Roy also attached a $164.95 "HARD" (Helmet Active Radar Display?) wireless transmitter to the radar detector and mounted a HARD receiver to Whisler's Arai helmet. The HARD receiver, a tiny paddle that mounts to the helmet chinbar in the rider's line of sight, utilizes an ultra-bright LED light that illuminates when the radar detector is activated, giving the rider an instant and clearly visible warning that a radar signal has been detected.

Once the detector was hooked up, Radar Roy fitted a pair of Blinder M-20 active laser jammer heads ($349.95) to both the front and the rear of Whisler's R1. Laser speed guns work by bouncing an infrared light back off the speeding vehicle in order to read that vehicle's speed. The laser jammer is basically a super-bright infrared light transmitter that "blinds" an officer's laser gun by directing an even brighter infrared beam back at the gun immediately upon signal detection. The beam from the Blinder floods the laser gun's own beam out, producing a blank reading on the gun and effectively making the motorcycle invisible to the officer's laser gun. The jammers were also mounted using Spider mounts.

Test Time

To test the effectiveness of the countermeasure equipment that Radar Roy fitted to Whisler's motorcycle, SML set up a battery of tests on a deserted section of flat, arrow-straight roadway outside of El Paso . To eliminate any hint of bias, all the radar and laser equipment in question was operated by off-duty El Paso-area police officers that were trained and certified to operate the equipment.

Step one tested the abilities of the Escort radar detector. The R1 drove toward an arsenal of X-, K- and KA-band radar guns that took readings at 1/2-mile intervals starting from three miles out. Even from the furthest marker (3 miles away) the radar guns easily displayed the bike's speed. Fortunately the Escort 8500 RX50 had just as easy of a time detecting the radar signals, no matter what the distance. To test the ultimate abilities of the RX50, the SML team continued to stretch the testing range out-in the end, the RX50 reliably reported the presence of a KA-band radar signal from an astounding 11 miles away! Since current case law dictates that an officer must be within 1000 feet or less of a vehicle to ticket it, the RX50 should give any rider ample time to slow to a legal speed before coming within eyesight of the officer. Heck, the Hubble telescope would have a hard time seeing the R1 at this distance, let alone an officer's naked eye. The Escort 8500 RX50 also faithfully reported the POP radar mode-advertised by gun manufacturers as being "undetectable" by radar detectors-every single time. No challenge.

With the radar units roundly defeated, the SML crew moved on to the laser guns. Police laser guns measure speed using a precise, pulsed, infrared light beam, making detection devices all but useless-all you would be alerted of would be your impending citation. SML placed cones at 1000 feet and 500 feet and asked Whisler to approach on his R1. With the Blinder M-20 laser jammers disabled, our R1 was sitting duck for all of the laser guns-not once did the officers fail to get an accurate speed reading. Next, with the Blinder units activated, the R1 streaked by each cone with the laser gun firing. Four different brands of police laser guns were used, and not a single one of these was able to display the R1's speed. The gun displays were blank each time-they were "blinded," making our Yamaha R1 virtually invisible to this type of police traffic enforcement surveillance. Blinder advertises its products as the only active laser jammer that jams 100 percent of all police laser guns, a claim proven in good standing by SML at this shootout.

Stealth Success

We were suitably impressed by Stealthstreetbike.com's various countermeasure devices and their performance against the best that the boys in blue could throw at them. Of course, this isn't a license to speed, and we don't need to remind you that no matter what countermeasures you employ, speeding is still illegal. It is also important to note that some of these countermeasures are illegal in some states: radar detectors are legal in all states except Virginia and Washington , DC ; there are no federal prohibitions of laser jammers, though three states ( Minnesota , California and Utah ) have banned ownership, sale and use of laser jammers.

As Radar Roy helpfully points out (CYA time), "if you want to make sure you aren't pulled over, you should observe the laws of the jurisdiction you are driving in." But if you do choose to exceed speed limits, and want to minimize the chance of being ticketed "you must equip your vehicle with the best countermeasure devices available-anything less is ineffective,"

We can't help but agree. Usually here at Super Streetbike we're more concerned with dressing up and tricking out our motorcycles to make them more visible, and attract more attention with various attention-grabbing mods. But when it comes to radar-wielding cops, well, we want to be as anonymous as possible. Going by those criteria, these pieces from Stealthstreetbike.com are some of the most desirable aftermarket accessories we've found yet.

Marketing: Wickenburg Web
Web Design: PecksWeb