American Iron Magazine - February 2004
STEALTH HARLEY
How to make your bike invisible to radar and laser

by Carl Fors, Speed Measaurement Laboratories

Contrary to rumors and assumptions, motorcycles are not invisible to radar and laser guns. In fact, the new radar can read a Harley's speed from almost a mile away. As for a laser, leaving your headlight on will have no effect on the new guns and the large front headlight on most Big Twins makes you easy pickings for the boys in blue.

Roy Reyer's a retired police officer with over 20 years of police service and he's also the president of Phoenix-based RadarBusters ( www.RadarBusters.com ). When Roy bought a new Ultra Classic FLHTCUI Peace Officer Special, he immediately added some goodies from his arsenal of radar detectors and laser jammers, and created what he calls the Stealth Hog.

Once finished, Roy wanted to see how the new additions stacked up against the most current radar and laser guns, so he rode to Speed Measurement Laboratories Inc. (SML) for the June 2003 annual radar detector test in El Paso, Texas. SML is an established company known for its impartiality and having the newest in law enforcement technologies from around the world.

For radar detection, Roy chose Passport's 8500 radar detector with a chrome handlebar mount. The problem with using a detector on a motorcycle has been that the detector's warnings can't be heard or seen by the rider. The Passport 8500 is a powerful performer with an external earphone jack for interfacing into a helmet sound system. However, Roy found a better way to keep tabs on the detectors. He interfaced the 8500 with a Legal Speeding HARD (Helmet Assisted Radar Detection) system. The HARD system places a tiny transmitter next to the 8500. When radar gun detection occurs HARD wirelessly transmits the warning to Roy's helmet, illuminating an LED to alert Roy of Smokey ahead.

Laser gun detection is a challenging issue. Laser guns transmit a precise infrared stream of light pulses and can pinpoint one vehicle in a group. Radar guns can't! The beam of a X-ban radar gun is a whopping 157' wide at a distance of 500', compared with a laser's thin beam at the same distance. Detectors have a difficult time reporting a laser hit and provide no advanced warning. If your detector does report a laser, chances are you just got a ticket.

Unfortunately for unsuspecting consumers, some advertised radar jammers jam nothing but the truth, as shown in SML field tests, which are conducted by certified police officers. These officers are told to operate the radar and laser guns just as they do every day when giving tickets. This is done to eliminate any hint of bias. SML wants witnesses doing its tests and invites radar detector makers and laser gun manufacturers, the media, and state and local law enforcement personnel to observe the results. At the 2003 test, over 40 witnesses saw no evidence of jamming by the four radar jammers, which claim to make you invisible to police radar and laser even after each one was tested 16 times.

Police laser guns are controlled for safety by the US Food and Drug Administration. There are no Federal laws prohibiting jamming or attempting to jam a police laser gun. However, California, Utah and Minnesota have enacted recent legislation prohibiting laser jammers. As a certified radar and laser gun instructor, Roy knows the futility of any advanced laser gun warning. So, to level the playing field, he installed front- and rear-mounted laser transponders from Laser Blinder onto his Ultra Classic.

The rear transponder was mounted directly above the license plate and the front transponder was just under a laser's aiming point, the headlights. Covertly mounted, this transponder receives a laser gun's signal, warns the driver, and then transmits a 904 nonometer modulated pulse back to the laser gun. The laser gun can't compute a speed because it doesn't receive its reflected signal. It's receiving the Laser Blinder's.

Other effective laser jammers come from Escort, Bel and K40. Escor had its Laser Shifter ZR3 at the test. The ZR3 can be interfaced with the passport 8500 or its remote radar detector SR7. Laser Blinder and the Escort ZR3 both warn the driver of a laser contact with an externally mounted speaker, as does the Bel. (Roy has yet to interface these speakers with the HARD system, but it's in the works.

When Roy tested the detection range of the 8500 against SML's battery of radar guns, the 8500 consistently reported X, K, and Ka band radar guns fro a staggering two miles away, which is seven times the normal targeting range of radar.

As for the laser test, cones were set on the course at 1,000' and 500'. The normal targeting distance of police laser guns is 1,000', as taught during police certification classes and dictated by court decisions for judicial notice of laser's legal acceptance. At 1,000', the laser's beam is 36" wide, contracting to a mere 18" at 500'. A certified police officer operated the Kustom Pro III, Laser Atlanta and Stalker LZ-1 laser guns during the tests.

As for Roy, he would ride his Stealth Hog and tell the officer via radio when he reached each cone, so the officer could fire the laser gun at the specific distances. Roy was given two runs against each laser. The officer had just nailed a different radar jammer every time with radar and laser guns, and was confident of another laser conquest. However, when Roy approached the 1,000-foot cone nothing happened. The laser gun was blank. Ditto when Roy approached the 500-foot cone. It was the same for the Escort ZR3. Both The Laser Blinder and Escort ZR3 successfully jammed both laser guns at the 500 and 1,000-foot distances.

Roy's array of detection and jamming devices successfully made his motorcycle, a big Ultra Classic, invisible to radar and laser guns. All the radar and laser guns used in these tests were operated in accordance with accepted police practices, as dictated by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

Ed's note: Carl Fors is the president of Fort Worth-based Speed Measurement Laboratories, Inc. ( www.SpeedZones.com or www.SpeedLabs.com ). Carl has over 18 years experience in field-testing the radar and laser equipment used by law enforcement personnel. He is published with regularity nationally and internationally .