Motorcycle customization is a trend as old as the motorcycle itself. From elaborate custom builds to a sick set of decals, riders love to make our rides truly our own, whether for practical purposes, speed, or nothing but style. One trend straight from that last category is those little blue dots some people put in the middle of their taillights. Some may think they look cool, but they could also get you pulled over.
The reason is simple: they’re blue. Blue lights are reserved for emergency vehicles, generally police, but that depends on where you are. It doesn’t matter that they’re obviously not emergency lights, or even that they’re not flashing. I’ve seen the California Highway Patrol run steady-on rear-facing blue lights on their motorcycles for added visibility, but I’d get pulled over in no time if I tried it. The blue dots in the middle of taillights aren’t nearly as blatant, but they run afoul of federal lighting laws requiring taillights to be red, which could get you stopped.
Where did those blue dots come from?
The true origins of blue dot taillights are unclear, but the trend emerged among car enthusiasts in the 1950s as a way to customize hot rods. That little blue dot not only looked cool, it also gave the taillights a unique purplish glow, particularly when the brighter brake lights were on. Think of it as the purple underglow of the 1950s. Some say this enhances visibility in fog or other low-light conditions. Others say it was a defiant gesture, deliberately flying in the face of regulations requiring taillights to be entirely red.
Bikers are a similar type of defiant breed. They soon picked up on this hot-rod styling trend, adapting it to their own rides. That trend continues to this day, particularly on classically styled motorcycles like Harley-Davidsons. A blue-dot taillight would look weird on a modern sport or adventure bike, but it looks right at home on everything from a Sportster to an Electra Glide. It could still get you pulled over, but like the bikers of old who adopted this trend, many simply don’t care.
There are a few exceptions
People have been riding with blue dot tailights for years, and mostly getting away with it. It’s been such a popular styling trend that some states have actually enshrined it into law, carving out exceptions permitting those blue dots on registered hot rods and custom vehicles. A non-exhaustive list of states permitting this includes Washington, Montana, Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. Notably, Minnesota’s law explicitly permits blue dot tail lights on all motorcycles, regardless of age or registration type, as does Pennsylvania’s.
Of course, many riders aren’t going to let something silly like the law stop them from running loud pipes and blue dot taillights on their rides. We can debate the safety aspects of loud pipes until the cows come home, but there’s no denying that the more visible you are, the safer you’ll be.
There are better ways than blue dot taillights, though. Personally, I use LED tail/brake bulbs on my V-Strom 650 that flash the brake light three times before remaining on. While there’s a tiny chance I could get busted for flashing red lights, I have never been pulled over for them. Cops seem to understand the safety aspect. Most importantly, they’re not blue.
