Why Drivers Don't See Us - Featuring the CB1100

[Wisedrum]

As long as you drive on empty roads in streets in smaller cities in the evening or lonesome countryroads, everything mostly is fine. Not always safe but the risk of getting damaged is less, despite of animals or other unforseen subjects beeing suddenly on the road.

Wether or not other participants of traffic see or don't see you, also the ones who have you on the radar sometimes act ruthless. My strategy is to decelerate and move slowly up to the place whenever something seems to be suspicious or not really predictable. I always drive in the middle of my lane and if it's necessary give armsigns to clear situations in order to give people a chance to notice you if they don't. Mostly they are 'getting lost' strangers or be busy doing other things than to concentrate on driving their vehicle.

I don't care about clothes, that is made to be seen and makes you look like an ara in spring. I wear stuff I like, mostly darker clothes and try to survive by scanning all the time, a behavior I build up over lots of years and even more kilometers and use it coming out of the unconsciousness. Let's call it 7th sense, the most effective live insurance.
Wisedrum

 

[QimmiQ_imp]

Some good tips here from some experienced riders. I am like Wisedrum. I wear what I like, mostly ballistic black and a black helmet.

We've already determined I'm a tosser. I like to overtake large groups of parade motorcycles, drive suspiciously fast and I intentionally chose the black checkerboard CB over the regal blue. But I am a very careful and cautious driver. The weave and the high beam are well used.

Does anyone have any experience with light bars on bikes? My buddy has a giant KTM Adventure motorcycle. He wears a high-vis jacket and installed a light bar on this orange and black monstrosity. He swears by it. Though by my accounts he barely resembles a motorcycle anymore.

Does anyone know of one that fits nicely with CB styling? How challenging are they to patch into the CBs electrical system? Obviously you can't ride right up to people with them on at night but in the daytime they are noticeable and you can always flash them in a panic.

The passing flasher on the CB has tempted me a few times but I worry that people will actually misinterpret that as a signal for them to proceed.

 

[Banned_imp]

I always ride with the assumption that everyone else on the road has banded together and are trying to actively kill me. Not to the point of paranoia but when I see cars in my sphere of influence I watch them and automatically prepare for defensive action.

I always ride with my high beam on during the day for two reasons: 1) it is brighter for approaching traffic 2) the high beam will burn out first leaving you able to ride at night if you have to without blinding traffic until you can get a replacement.

When it comes to protective equipment I have both ballistic and leather suits (both dark colours) and usually wear the ballistic in the summer. I am one of those people that don't care what others think and have always worn a full face helmet on my Harley and now will have to wear a Harley jacket on my Honda as that's all I have. And I like it.

Unlike a lot on here, I actually enjoy blasting down a divided highway gobbling up the miles on a bike (I have done more than a few 1600km days), you get controlled access, one way traffic flow and 2+ lanes to keep distance from everyone else.

 

[nhawk7504_imp]

:biker: HIGH VIZ is what it's all about. The brain reacts to High Viz colors. Too many of us are black or grey and so on. We also ride too fast for "what if". Maybe he will pull out? HE WILL and I will...? I rode dirt bikes growing up. Always trees, holes, stumps, rocks. It was a constant what if.

 

[CB4ME_imp]

What if he pulls out right in front of you and you have a fraction of a second to react? I'm $20,000 out of pocket and still have $130,000 of unpaid medical bills because this happened to me.....on a near empty rural road. Fortunately my lawyer thinks the majority of the outstanding bills will be covered by insurance. A huge relief!

I now wear a high vis jacket and white helmet and all the other gear all the time. After reading this thread I am seriously considering a modulating headlight. It's a dangerous world out there.

 

[Rocky_imp]

What if he pulls out right in front of you and you have a fraction of a second to react? I'm $20,000 out of pocket and still have $130,000 of unpaid medical bills because this happened to me.....on a near empty rural road. Fortunately my lawyer thinks the majority of the outstanding bills will be covered by insurance. A huge relief!

I now wear a high vis jacket and white helmet and all the other gear all the time. After reading this thread I am seriously considering a modulating headlight. It's a dangerous world out there.

Right on
I'm a big believer in freedom and the option to choose, but as I said in an earlier post, it's bright jackets and white helmets for me too for the past 15+ years.
I've had similar experiences on empty rural roads (but no crash) when farmers on tractors, sometimes pulling machinery, suddenly pull out on the road without looking - or maybe a lone motorcycle doesn't catch their peripheral vision.
They get so used to empty roads that they don't seem to think about oncoming traffic. I've had two pull out and their heads didn't turn to look at all.
Just one of the many lessons I've learned over the years.
So far, so good

 

[emptysea]

What if he pulls out right in front of you and you have a fraction of a second to react? I'm $20,000 out of pocket and still have $130,000 of unpaid medical bills because this happened to me.....on a near empty rural road. Fortunately my lawyer thinks the majority of the outstanding bills will be covered by insurance. A huge relief!

I now wear a high vis jacket and white helmet and all the other gear all the time. After reading this thread I am seriously considering a modulating headlight. It's a dangerous world out there.

Right on
I'm a big believer in freedom and the option to choose, but as I said in an earlier post, it's bright jackets and white helmets for me too for the past 15+ years.
I've had similar experiences on empty rural roads (but no crash) when farmers on tractors, sometimes pulling machinery, suddenly pull out on the road without looking - or maybe a lone motorcycle doesn't catch their peripheral vision.
They get so used to empty roads that they don't seem to think about oncoming traffic. I've had two pull out and their heads didn't turn to look at all.
Just one of the many lessons I've learned over the years.
So far, so good

Right on
I'm a big believer in freedom and the option to choose, but as I said in an earlier post, it's bright jackets and white helmets for me too for the past 15+ years.
I've had similar experiences on empty rural roads (but no crash) when farmers on tractors, sometimes pulling machinery, suddenly pull out on the road without looking - or maybe a lone motorcycle doesn't catch their peripheral vision.
They get so used to empty roads that they don't seem to think about oncoming traffic. I've had two pull out and their heads didn't turn to look at all.
Just one of the many lessons I've learned over the years.
So far, so good
Switched to a white helmet and I mostly wear my red/black/white Joe Rocket jacket; it's not exactly high-viz, but it's highER-viz than what I was wearing.

I attended an interesting class on motorcycle lighting (yes, it really was interesting) and the folks teaching it definitely pushed modulating headlights, but also said that having a triangle of lights attracts the human eye more than a single light or even the same three lights in a straight line. The people that ran the class were from Skene Lights. They sell the flickering led tail lights you sometimes see plus they sell similar front-facing running lights. There's a little information about the technology here http://www.skenelights.com/conspicuity-flicker

I plan to add both front and rear lights to my CB1100 this summer, but I don't always get around to my plans LOL

 

[Elipten_imp]

Triangle of lights well documented safety feature and hence why many train engines have them along with the oscillating center head light


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[Nortoon_imp]

What if he pulls out right in front of you and you have a fraction of a second to react? I'm $20,000 out of pocket and still have $130,000 of unpaid medical bills because this happened to me.....on a near empty rural road. Fortunately my lawyer thinks the majority of the outstanding bills will be covered by insurance. A huge relief!

I now wear a high vis jacket and white helmet and all the other gear all the time. After reading this thread I am seriously considering a modulating headlight. It's a dangerous world out there.

Right on
I'm a big believer in freedom and the option to choose, but as I said in an earlier post, it's bright jackets and white helmets for me too for the past 15+ years.
I've had similar experiences on empty rural roads (but no crash) when farmers on tractors, sometimes pulling machinery, suddenly pull out on the road without looking - or maybe a lone motorcycle doesn't catch their peripheral vision.
They get so used to empty roads that they don't seem to think about oncoming traffic. I've had two pull out and their heads didn't turn to look at all.
Just one of the many lessons I've learned over the years.
So far, so good

When I first started riding a motorcycle my dad warned me about drivers on rural roads. "If they pull over to the right of the lane, they are probably going to turn left, because that's how they drive the tractor and hay wagon." I thought that rather silly advice.

A couple of weeks later I was just about to pass a car on a rural road that had pulled to the right, when I remembered his words. So I slowed down and stayed behind the car. Sure enough the driver turned left into his laneway without signaling. Thanks dad!

 

[PowerDubs_imp]

I have a flashing headlight when on high, goes back to normal when it gets dark or I switch to low beam. I also have a flashing brake in the taillight, and my rear signals are always on red, light up bright red when I brake, still blink orange.


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[Offroad]

I've always wondered about helmet lights/strobes...I figured the there is a reason police lights are on top of the car...we might look like Christmas Trees or school buses but whatever works?

This one looks different....wonder if it would flex for a modular helmet.

https://www.lumenflex.com/motor-lightrider/

Does anyone have helmet lights?

 

[the Ferret]

I have some reflective tape on most of my helmets.. doesn't help during the day but helps at night. Same with the reflective sew into my jacket, Hi Viz vest and riding pants

 

[stateboy_imp]

I have a flashing headlight when on high, goes back to normal when it gets dark or I switch to low beam. I also have a flashing brake in the taillight, and my rear signals are always on red, light up bright red when I brake, still blink orange.


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What company/companies did you get your light accessories you mentioned in this post? I just ordered the tail light bulb the ferret uses (from superbrightleds.com) and should be getting that in the next couple of days. I like Norton's link for the triple light display as well. I'm still considering all lighting options.

I don't get to ride very often (just over 500 miles on my deluxe). The last time I was riding earlier this week, I had a soccer mom in a minivan nearly take me out when she began to pull out from a side street at four in the afternoon. I was n/b with the right-of-way in a 40mph (65kph) zone. The highbeam was on. She was w/b preparing to turn s/b. I watched her front tire and sure enough, it began to roll from the stop sign. When she turned her head back in my direction from looking n/b, I was already down shifting and braking like a mad man. I wish I could have taken a picture of her face when she realized what she had almost done.

 

[Stichill]

As a rider, I'm very leery of the social trend toward total risk elimination where it means total elimination of the activity. Example: American football and traumatic brain injury.

Motorcycling potentially falls into that category. It can't be made risk-free, therefore to eliminate the risk of motorcycling we must eliminate motorcycling.

I've also been leery of the autonomous car trend. When cars become interconnected robots, all doing a coordinated safety dance that eliminates traffic signals and traffic jams...is there a place for the lone motorcyclist riding outside the connected digital AI cloud?

One optimistic idea occurred to me: perhaps - just maybe - we could carry transponders that would alert all the autonomous robot cars around us to our speed and course. As AI, they would have to yield to us, as humans. Perhaps - just maybe - the robot cars would respect our right-of-way far more than the aggregate of humanity and we could have the best of all worlds: the reduction of risk and the freedom to keep riding.

What if he pulls out right in front of you and you have a fraction of a second to react? I'm $20,000 out of pocket and still have $130,000 of unpaid medical bills because this happened to me.....on a near empty rural road. Fortunately my lawyer thinks the majority of the outstanding bills will be covered by insurance. A huge relief!

I now wear a high vis jacket and white helmet and all the other gear all the time. After reading this thread I am seriously considering a modulating headlight. It's a dangerous world out there.

Right on
I'm a big believer in freedom and the option to choose, but as I said in an earlier post, it's bright jackets and white helmets for me too for the past 15+ years.
I've had similar experiences on empty rural roads (but no crash) when farmers on tractors, sometimes pulling machinery, suddenly pull out on the road without looking - or maybe a lone motorcycle doesn't catch their peripheral vision.
They get so used to empty roads that they don't seem to think about oncoming traffic. I've had two pull out and their heads didn't turn to look at all.
Just one of the many lessons I've learned over the years.
So far, so good

When I first started riding a motorcycle my dad warned me about drivers on rural roads. "If they pull over to the right of the lane, they are probably going to turn left, because that's how they drive the tractor and hay wagon." I thought that rather silly advice.

A couple of weeks later I was just about to pass a car on a rural road that had pulled to the right, when I remembered his words. So I slowed down and stayed behind the car. Sure enough the driver turned left into his laneway without signaling. Thanks dad!

Truth! Riding rural carries a different set of hazards as riding urban/suburban. Mail trucks, tractors, crops/vegetation on the roadway, animals (wild and domesticated), and so on. Just because a rural road "seems" deserted doesn't mean the guard can be let down.

 

[Nortoon_imp]

On most of my rides on the back roads I usually see at least one deer. Sometimes they surprize me by bolting right out in front of me. On yesterdays ride I had a young moose cross the road ahead of me. Now that's a rare sight.

We have suicidal red squirrels and chipmunks in our area. They are constantly running across the road in front of me. I slowed for one at Calabogie Lake, but it was so determined to end it all it doubled back under my front tire.

Wild turkeys are the dumbest of the bunch. They will ignore you hurtling at them and the horn.

Biggest scare so far was a black bear that bolted out of the bush right in front of me last year.

Yesterday was dragon fly day on the Opinicon Road west of Chaffey's Lock. Was a mess without a windscreen. No hits in the visor though.

Hey Stitch, I rescued another turtle from the road yesterday!

 

[CB4ME_imp]

I did some research on modulated headlights. There are a lot of negative comments out there such as drivers pulling off the road when followed by a flashing headlight.

Not wishing to cause confusion or be a nuisance with a flashing headlight, I read up on auxiliary lighting.

Does anyone have fender mounted Denali high intensity LED lighting or similar lighting on their bikes? There are lots of positive comments on the benefits on daytime riding with these light.

 

[Rocky_imp]

On most of my rides on the back roads I usually see at least one deer. Sometimes they surprize me by bolting right out in front of me. On yesterdays ride I had a young moose cross the road ahead of me. Now that's a rare sight.

We have suicidal red squirrels and chipmunks in our area. They are constantly running across the road in front of me. I slowed for one at Calabogie Lake, but it was so determined to end it all it doubled back under my front tire.

Wild turkeys are the dumbest of the bunch. They will ignore you hurtling at them and the horn.

Biggest scare so far was a black bear that bolted out of the bush right in front of me last year.

Yesterday was dragon fly day on the Opinicon Road west of Chaffey's Lock. Was a mess without a windscreen. No hits in the visor though.

Hey Stitch, I rescued another turtle from the road yesterday!

Your post really made me chuckle.
I've had most of the same experiences except we don't have any wild turkeys around here.
I once had an arms-length encounter will a full grown moose on the Cabot Trail which reeeeeaalllyy got my attention.
The same with several deer, but (knock on wood) I avoided a collision. That was probably more to good luck than good management

 

[Offroad]

I ride back country roads as much as possible. No moose or bears here but everything else.
My biggest fear is topping those little blind hills not knowing what's on the other side. I know of two people who have had trouble with that....one was loose gravel the other a mail man.
I always cover the brake and try to be prepared but it's probably more about luck than being prepared.
That being said, most of the worry happens when I'm not riding but just thinking about riding.
Once I start riding it reminds me of how I felt when flying my plane 30 years ago.....before takeoff, even during preflight and run up I worried....but once the wheels left the ground all that disappeared, I was at peace, living in the moment doing something I enjoyed.....same with riding!

 

[Stichill]

Nortoon, yes it's turtle-saving season! But now I'm seeing mean old snapping turtles. I won't tangle with them.

 

[CB4ME_imp]

I just installed a set of Denali DM Micro hi-intensity LED lights on my front fenders and ordered a Denali SoundBomb mini horn to replace the mickey mouse OEM horn. I now ride with a hi-vis neon jacket, white full-face helmet, gloves, heavy jeans and boots all the time. Yes, the bad accident last year altered my priorities a bit.