Riding gear and hi-vis

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All my gear got toasted in my accident in February. Selecting new. I'm going with a yellow hi-vis jacket, but it's tex-mesh. That's okay, its the exact same jacket that protected me adequately in the accident but in hi-vis yellow instead of silver. And I mean yellow as opposed to the usual lime green hi vis. Which is good. Not only will yellow go better with the reddish orange color of the bike but it should set me apart from the green hi vis folks. Helmet wise the I'm considering just getting the exact same helmet that saved my life in the accident, a Nolan N104 modular. Mainly because it worked but also because it's a known fit for my long oval gord. Likely in hi vis yellow to work with the jacket... if Nolan makes that color. Will be getting new boots too. My gloves are still okay, only minor scuffing on the palm of the right hand one. Had a massive bruise on my right palm after the wreck so the glove did it's job of preserving my skin from being peeled off.

Oh yeah.... I'm buying that Moto Guzzi Stelvio ntx I've been posting about, hence the pending replacement gear. Deposited it yesterday evening, mailed off the paperwork today that they'd emailed me.
 
Thanks for sharing the gear that saved your life.

Everything I have read about clothing and helmets is that solid colors without stickers or patches are most likely to be noticed by drivers.

I even wear a highly reflective vest at night.
 
If you ever go to Columbus, OH, visit the Iron Pony. They do a large online business and have an old Big K Kmart they expanded selling all things motorcycle.
 
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
a Nolan N104 modular. Mainly because it worked but also because it's a known fit for my long oval gord. Likely in hi vis yellow to work with the jacket... if Nolan makes that color.


I also like the "Nolan fit", my head isn't round, either!

My helmet is emboldened with a plethora of highly reflective items.
My head looks like a light bulb in headlights at night.
 
You may want to contact all the manufacturers expecially the helmet because a group of guys I ride with regularly get helmets replaced after they wrecked for free
 
Ex biker here, I remember speaking to advanced instructors and bike cops about visibility.

High contrast is key here.
Trick is to be has high contrast against yourself and the background (other vehicles, roads, scenery), this i hard to do as its constantly changing...
Hivis is not always better, if the car behind you has daylight running lights on, you will contrast less for cars heading towards you with HiVis VS black.
A lot of Hivis relies on light, so in the dark or cloudly day your hivis gear will suffer from lower ambient lighting.

Using a mix of dark and light and different colours is best compromise to getting good all-round visibility, so your yellow with red bike is a good approach, how about chucking some mid to dark blue in the mix ?

Riding style makes a difference - positioning, speed, smoothness on the road is about considering what will make you visible to other road users to make safe progress.

But as I found out to my detriment, using hi vis, below the speed limit, extended gaps between vehicles etc etc... if someone is not looking at all, it wont make a bit of difference to them doing something dangerous and stupid.
 
i wear a yellow joerocket mesh jacket as well
if between it
the red firetruck helmet
the red firetruck bike
i'm not seen...well open your eyes or look up from your phone
 
I'm with NGRhodes in that it's probably better for conspicuity to have contrasting colors/patterns on high-visibility gear than to have a single solid high-viz color. If you already have solid-colored gear, you can 'break' it up using vinyl decals of a contrasting color.

I remember one day I saw an approaching motorcycle that at first glance didn't appear to have a rider on it. It wasn't until it got closer that it became apparent that there was in fact a rider on it and he was wearing a high-visibility solid fluorescent yellow helmet and jacket. In the bright sunlight and at a distance, he appeared to be invisible. As he approached, he went into an area of shadow and became visible.
 
I switched from black to a HI-vis yellow jacket and noticed far fewer incidents where car drivers obviously hadn't seen me.

It's not a 100% solution though. I still occasionally get incidents just fewer. In my opinion you could be dressed head to toe in Hi-Vis but we are not the right shape to get noticed. Car drivers are looking for something that is a threat to them in other words something the size a shape of another car.

I often wonder what goes through the drivers mind when they do finally realise they have impeded the right of way of a motorcyclist. Do they look harder next time they pull out of that junction or do they have to injure or kill someone first.
 
I'm still into black. My daughter made me a sort of a hiviz wastecoat, out of denim and some bright orange material she had...got some handcuffs across the back. Sometimes I will wear it. I don't like the ''They can see me now'' mindset, they can't see me no matter what I wear, and ride appropriatly. My helmet is white at the front, merging into black at the rear. My next helmet will be flat black.
 
I like the Tourmaster and Firstgear products because they don't have big logos on them.
 
3-M makes the diamond grade fluorescent yellow green tape (3M-983 23, available from Identi-tape.com) used by DOT for road signage and by fire and other EMS vehicles - I put a few 1" wide strips on the back of my white helmet, and some 2" strips across the back of the 'tool can' on the back rack. Also put a couple of 1" strips along the side of the hard bags. It's hard to say you didn't see it. My wife's riding jacket is a Firstgear in that neon yellow-green - nearly blinding.

Yeah, the cager will hit you anyway, but when the photos show how you're lit up like a Christmas tree, their insurance carrier tends to squirm a tad bit more . . .
thankyou2.gif
 
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