This! The damn deer don’t care how good your lights are or how much reflective clothing you’re wearing. Pity, too, because I really love riding at night but almost never do it anymore.

 

I ride in the dark every morning. If they don't see your headlight and taillight/license plate they will not see reflective paint/tape. I pass motorcycles going both ways, you easily see the headlight from the front and at least the plate if not the taillight from a ways off, and couldn't tell you if they had reflective clothing until right on them.

I suppose if something happened and you had no lights and were sitting on the side of the road, it would be handy to be reflective.

If you want to be reflective, just buy a mesh/reflective vest like the road side workers use and throw it over what you wear.

 

True fact

 

I do not ride at night due to my eye condition called Nyctalopia(night blindness).

 

I have a few reflective vests courtesy of a previous employer, and my wife and I keep them in our cars in case of trouble at night. I also keep one in a saddlebag for my commute home after dark. They’re cheap enough to keep several on hand, and I’ll do anything I can do to tip the odds in my favor when riding at night.

 

Pedestrians who use marked crosswalks often used the same reasoning, they wanted to posthumously tip the odds in their favor to cross the road safely.
Reflective vests are fine as long as they do not create complacency in exchange for vigilance.

 

I have jackets with reflective stuff from the factory, reflective strips on the back of my helmet, LED lighting all around and my Road King looks like a freight train coming at you from the front even at high noon but I still avoid night riding. At least until possums, raccoons and deer start wearing reflective vests

 

Hell, I drove a freaking Lincoln Town Car to Utica from Boston one Fall night and swore I'd never do that again - Deer kill every mile, ****-tons of glowing eyes at the edge of the road.
You made the right decision.

 

Good luck getting someone to look up from their cellphone long enough to see your new reflectiveness...

 

That’s exactly why I try and avoid night riding. I already have a confirmed kill on a motorcycle. Furry IEDs.

Op-buy a reflective vest. Or not, if it goes against your fashion sense. And/or upgrade lighting.