A shift light is a device that tells the driver when to change gears. It is often connected to the tachometer and illuminates a bright light when the engine has reached the shift point. LED lights are the preferred choice for competition vehicles. It is especially useful in motorcycle racing due to tachometer vibration and outside noise.
A shift light is a device used to tell the driver the optimal time to change a vehicle. Commonly connected to a tachometer or rev limiter, a shift light will illuminate a bright light, typically mounted in the driver’s line of sight, when the engine has reached the shift point. On some factory-installed configurations, the shift light will go out after a few seconds, even if the transmission has not been shifted, and will come back on to once again remind the operator to change gear. Some factory designs provide two different shift light activation schedules, one targeted for fuel economy and the other scheduled for performance.
Many shift lights are wired directly to the tachometer so the driver can check the engine’s revolutions per minute (RPM) at the time a shift is made. Other locations place a shift light alone on top of the dash or attached to a roll bar. Often this placement is strictly driver preference and has no effect on light activation or the speed at which gears are shifted. Placing the shift light where the driver is most comfortable and has the best vision will result in the best gear changes.
Tests have determined that Light Emitting Diode (LED) changing lights are the brightest and fastest light. Although only a fraction of a second faster than a typical lighting bulb, LED light could make all the difference in a close race, such as drag racing, where winning and losing are only tens of milliseconds apart. On-board computer systems assess the driver’s performance at the speed with which he reacts to the flash of the gear light. Comparisons have shown that a driver can see and react to LED lighting better than the traditional style bulb, making LED the light of choice in most competition vehicles.
In motorcycle racing, the shift light is especially useful for determining shift points due to extreme tach vibration. A rider often can’t look at the tachometer long enough to get a clear idea of what the meter is reading; however, a flashing light is very easy to identify and changing with the flash of the light provides the driver with a clear mental trigger. The shift light is also useful to the driver when outside noise such as wind and other motorcycle engines make it difficult to hear the sound of the engine as it turns.
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