As some people have had some close shaves lately I have been thinking a bit more about safety. My bike is black and so are my leathers and both my helmets are grey, no wonder the deer didn't see me The bike is staying black so I guess it will have to be me that stands out more. Buying new leathers is out as there is nothing wrong with the current ones. So do you do anything to make sure you are more visible ? if so , what do you use ? I know there are reflective tabbards, waistcoats and sashes etc, but is there anything else I could consider ? Look forward to hearing the sensible and probably the not so sensible suggestions
I like those neon lights that I have seen in adverts, I think they do the job... ok the not so sensible suggestions are over from me
I have to say in seriousness that I dont like hi vis stuff but thats cos im vain so I just take the baffle out of my yoshimura and hope they hear me, I recently did get a hi vis for my other commuter bike but have not used it yet. I think putting some glow strips on the bike may help somewhat if clothing is not an option. I read somewhere recently that a police bike was hit and he had his blues and twos on and the hi vis they were plus white helmet and the car still pulled out in front of him from the crossroad hence why I ride with my index finger always on my front brake and cover my rear one too.
I'm in the same boat as you - all black everything, but when i'm commuting I wear an ex-police motorcycle bomber jacket de-badged but with the blue silitoe check still in place. Its amazing how people now SEE me, very effective and completely legal. very similar to this but without all the pocket things on. Ex Police Hi Viz 3 Pocket Security Paintball Arktis Equipment Utility Jacket | eBay
I also have a black bike (which as everyone knows, are the fastest!), and had predominantly black leathers so when I upgraded them I went for the newer Astars that had more white around the top half of the jacket and arms, and now have non-black gloves and helmet. I also have a hi-vis zip vest for night-riding or when the conditions are as bad as they have been today, with rain and overcast lighting making you all-but invisible to drivers who aren't paying attention (i.e most of them!). Vanity is fine in ok conditions but safety takes priority on days like today.
If you ask me you could be as bright as the sun they still wont see you, I treat them all as if they have not seen me and then its no surprise when they pull out like they do day in day out!
My accident which led to me being pensioned out of the fire service was testament to drivers awareness. Blue light on roof of car, two tone siren sounding and headlights on......Oh yes.....and stationary but the guy still claimed he didn't see me. I agree some will still hit you no matter what you do, but there is a chance some might see you easier.........OK that is a bit optimistic. I am not worried about street cred, at 56 i don't have any, but would like something easy to put on and take off and does not impede my riding. A sash ? I ride and drive defencively and treat everyone as potential colliders, but I still feel I should give myself as many chances as possible, I am worth it
Yeah I know Dan, but it's different if people try to make you do something White lid maybe the answer, but might not show up well in some conditions.....orange then haha
I have to admit, I'm rethinking the whole loud pipe thing more and more. Unless its raining I'll drive with the roof off the car and bikes with standard exhausts still make me jump sometimes filtering in stop go traffic, and yes, I am pretty hot on the mirrors, but it's surprising how a snake of nose to tail cars can hide them from sight until the last moment.
[/IMG]I was i a bike shop recentley and they had a good quality helmet in the colour of Rossi pant leg yellow. It looked quite good and i have seen a dude out in one . With a black bike i think it would be Trick and tick the boxes you are looking for. Something like this but more modern.
I've noticed the French, Belgian and German drivers be they car, coach or lorry seem to be able to see motorcycles quite well (not Spanish, they can't even see cars) so perhaps we should just ride on the other side of the road. That should shit them up a bit.
Mr and Mrs I'm sorry I didn't see you live in every City, town and village, they drive on every road we use. You could put an advert in the paper to warn the feckers you are coming, and they would still not see you. If they don't have any conection to bikers either by the way of family or friends they just don't think bike. As said, the only thing to help our survival is our own diligence.
A rocket launcher fitted to the bike instead of the flapper. That way we could start erradicating the twots. On a serious note, there is a thread on here posted by a gent ( sorry, forgot his name) about this very subject. In the thread there were some results of.a.study into high viz effectiveness and showed it to be a waste of time. The SMIDSY's still wont see us.
I think that would be T.C. I'll see if I can dig out his post I think it can even be worse than a waste of time in that once your all set up with your permanent head lights and head to toe high vis you start to think "I look like an day glo Xmas tree he MUST have seen me".
