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As in F other people if they dont like it. Do what makes you comfortable and happy and keeps you riding. Or if you really dont like the option then find a middle ground. I bought a jacket/vest from Harley that has reflective piping in it. There are new vests now a days that even have LEDs in them. Do what you gotta do. Id still ride with you! Take care...rubber down!
If you're looking to be more visible I've found a noticeable difference in a few options:
Helmet color. Bright white stands out the best, so does hi-viz but that dims overtime. Silver/grey is the worst and becomes like urban camo when looking out of the corner of your eye.
Reflective tape: Hi-viz is for day time, reflective tape is for all the time. Retro-reflective tape is not created equal. Look into Orafol Reflexite V98. It works well enough to reflect during the day light. It's like a headlight reflecting back, seriously, look into this stuff. The white stuff is 25 times more reflective and brighter than black reflective tape.
Amazon sells V92, which is harder, V98 stretches well so it's great for helmets. http://www.colebrothers.com/ sells it.
With the combination of a White full face helmet and this tape I've noticed a considerable and notable difference in how much people pull out in front of me.
Lastly, get something for your brake lights like a VoloMod. This got me in all honesty about 6' extra of space between me and the car behind me. Day or night time, stopped or moving. I've swapped bikes to one without it, road the same area again, and yeah, 6 extra feet. It gets people off your rear.
1)On, no brakes
2)Stopped with brakes used
3)Slowing without brakes (engine braking)
4)Slowing with brakes
5)Rapid stopping without brakes (engine braking)
6)Rapid stopping with brakes
7)back to Rapid Stopping without brakes
With all that being said, I've still seen people crash into the back of 10' snow plows that have the whole backside covered with reflective tape. Or had people pull in front of me at the last second when driving a giant bright red F600 truck.
Just assume they are actually trying to kill you and you won't be surprised.
But as far as me? Psalms 91 baby. Nothing saves like Jesus.
Last edited by CaptainAwesome; Dec 17, 2017 at 07:00 PM.
One thing I've noticed riding at night. After having cars pull out in front of me on more than one occasion...
Automobile drivers, no matter how alert they are, are conditioned to see other automobiles, not motorcycles...
At night an automobile driver sees lights on the road because they don't want to pull out in front of an oncoming car or truck.
Automobile drivers are looking for two (2) headlights... Other lights appear to be street lights, parking lot lights, businesses/retail lights, advertising sign lights, etc...
No matter what reflective safety equipment you are wearing, some will pull right out in front of you, because they don't see you.
Wear whatever safety equipment you desire while out riding your Bike. But, always ride defensively because those driving in a cage aren't looking for you.
I just bought a new Silverado. It has an info center and a 8" touch screen stereo. I used to bitch about all the cell phone texting while driving but I gotta say that this truck has me not paying attention to the road like I should. I keep looking at all the stuff flashing on the screens. A vest probably wouldn't alert me anymore than you not wearing one. I always considered myself a good driver but I find myself now not paying attention like I should be. If it's happening to me it no doubt is effecting others. I try to remember that while riding.
I own a Silverado (2016) and it reads my text messages to me while I drive. I pay much more attention to the road since purchasing this truck.
I own a Silverado (2016) and it reads my text messages to me while I drive. I pay much more attention to the road since purchasing this truck.
Nice technology but it solves nothing as you are focused on listening to the voice {not to mention operating the device} and not paying attention to your driving. Hands-free folks are just as dangerous as the ones using their handheld phones... texting obviously is even worse.
Study after study confirms that the human brain is not wired to multitask with any degree of efficiency/success when it comes to complex events like driving {safely}. People using cell phones in any manner {and for up to 20 minutes after a conversation} test out at the same skill level as an impaired driver, BAC of .16 which is twice the legal limit in most states.
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Turn the phone off and freaking drive...
