How to Be a Night Rider on Your Motorcycle

Riding around during the day takes enough precaution as it is, but once the sun goes down things get a little different. It’s harder to see, but even more importantly, it’s harder to be seen, especially in an area without a lot of street lighting. If you ride to work in the morning and are planning that trip back home when it’s dark out, what worked for you with light out might not work once it’s dark.

So, let me give you a few tips on what you can do to when you’re on your motorcycle at night.

Headlights. This one is pretty obvious, but don’t just assume because your bike has headlights that you’re good to go. There are aftermarket bulbs available that will give you brighter light, but use the same wattage as your current lights. Or, you could kick up the wattage if you need even more light, but make sure that you aren’t getting your lights so bright that they distract or blind other motorists.

Being Reflective. One you have your lights decided, now you need to take a look at how reflective your bike is from the front, sides, and the back. You can buy reflective tape, and some companies make reflective pieces you can put on your bike that look indiscreet during the day and are only noticeable at night.

Some of the best reflectivity comes from tapes meeting specifications set by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). There are two types of design in the SOLAS world: prismatic and glass beaded. Both have their advantages, and both are available in colors from different vendors. The glass-bead type is about 1/3 as reflective as the prismatic type.

Also, bear in mind that the DOT specifies the color red for the rear of a vehicle, amber for the side, and white for the front. Keeping the reflectivity colors to spec may help others know if you are coming or going. And aside from your bike, the same goes for your clothing and helmet. You want to be easily identifiable as a person when riding. And if you fell and were injured on a dark road, you would want to be visible well before another motorist could run over you.

Other than that, just monitor your surroundings for things you might not suspect, like drivers around you that are swerving and possibly drunk, animals that might run onto the road, and so on.

source:  http://destination-adrenaline.com/?p=312