Recent conspicuity news

[dr_bar]

The problem with stacking the "ODDS" in your favour, is that you will then aquire a false sense of security. Best to leave the bike as is, get the fact through your head that every cage on the road IS out to kill you. Get proper training and learn how to make yourself into a non-statistic. I wish you luck in you lessons and keep the shiny side up...

[RhadamYgg]

The problem with stacking the "ODDS" in your favour, is that you will then aquire a false sense of security. Best to leave the bike as is, get the fact through your head that every cage on the road IS out to kill you. Get proper training and learn how to make yourself into a non-statistic. I wish you luck in you lessons and keep the shiny side up...

Oh, I don't think I'll have a false sense of security. Some of the statistics from the DOT are disturbing. There are fewer accidents on motorcycles than there are car accidents. No question. And fewer people die on motorcycles than in cars/light trucks.

The problem is - that in a motorcycle - an accident almost results in an injury (which makes sense). So, avoiding the accident - in any way possible is my goal.

So, I want to stack the odds in my favor - at least as much as possible. So, training at the MSF is supposed to reduce my risk - as 92% of riders in accidents are untrained. This is good. 33% of riders that die in accidents are not licensed. I'll be licensed.

Rhadam Ygg

[Kibagari]

The problem with stacking the "ODDS" in your favour, is that you will then aquire a false sense of security. Best to leave the bike as is, get the fact through your head that every cage on the road IS out to kill you. Get proper training and learn how to make yourself into a non-statistic. I wish you luck in you lessons and keep the shiny side up...

Oh, I don't think I'll have a false sense of security. Some of the statistics from the DOT are disturbing. There are fewer accidents on motorcycles than there are car accidents. No question. And fewer people die on motorcycles than in cars/light trucks.

The problem is - that in a motorcycle - an accident almost results in an injury (which makes sense). So, avoiding the accident - in any way possible is my goal.

So, I want to stack the odds in my favor - at least as much as possible. So, training at the MSF is supposed to reduce my risk - as 92% of riders in accidents are untrained. This is good. 33% of riders that die in accidents are not licensed. I'll be licensed.

Rhadam Ygg

Look, stacking the odds in your favor is going to do absolutely nothing for you. Doc's right, it's going to give you a false sense of security.

You can take all the security measures in the world and you'll still never
be 100% safe. The only way you can be 100% safe is if you're dead. That's right.
Anything can harm you if you don't go about it the right way, and with motorcycles the best thing you can do is be aware of your surroundings and learn to act accordingly.

But even with all of the odds stacked in your favor, there is STILL A CHANCE that some bastrd will cry out "I didn't see you!" after they smash into you because they were taking a left turn when they were supposed to yield to oncoming traffic.

Did you see that truck start to turn his tires and creep forward?
Were you taking the necessary mental precautions, thinking "this guy could very well turn in front of me and I should be ready to act accordingly"?

Making yourself visible is commendable, but don't get caught up in percentages.

Instead, take MSF and grow eyes in the back of your skull (there's a helmet manufacturer that actually has a helmet that allows you to see out the back that you might be interested in).

Every time you go out on that bike, you should ride as though they can't see you, and act accordingly. Screw the numbers. This is the real world.

[RhadamYgg]

Look, stacking the odds in your favor is going to do absolutely nothing for you. Doc's right, it's going to give you a false sense of security.

You can take all the security measures in the world and you'll still never
be 100% safe. The only way you can be 100% safe is if you're dead. That's right.
Anything can harm you if you don't go about it the right way, and with motorcycles the best thing you can do is be aware of your surroundings and learn to act accordingly.

But even with all of the odds stacked in your favor, there is STILL A CHANCE that some bastrd will cry out "I didn't see you!" after they smash into you because they were taking a left turn when they were supposed to yield to oncoming traffic.

Did you see that truck start to turn his tires and creep forward?
Were you taking the necessary mental precautions, thinking "this guy could very well turn in front of me and I should be ready to act accordingly"?

Making yourself visible is commendable, but don't get caught up in percentages.

Instead, take MSF and grow eyes in the back of your skull (there's a helmet manufacturer that actually has a helmet that allows you to see out the back that you might be interested in).

Every time you go out on that bike, you should ride as though they can't see you, and act accordingly. Screw the numbers. This is the real world.

I'm hoping that is part of what they'll teach me at MSF. I've also read through their book Motorcycling Excellence a couple times while I wait to take the course.

The book is a little light in the section on strategies and real-world traffic. So, I've been working in my car in maintaining 2 seconds. The problem is in NJ, you leave 2 seconds between you and the car in front of you and pretty soon you have another different car in front of you... Probably a challenge I'll have to deal with on the motorcycle.

RhadamYgg

[jstark47]

..........grow eyes in the back of your skull..........Every time you go out on that bike, you should ride as though they can't see you, and act accordingly. Screw the numbers. This is the real world.

Well said. The average cager isn't thinking, they're on some low-skill autopilot. You have to be aware of everything they might do, analyze everything, predict everything...... while staying loose and relaxed at the same time. It's the old SIPDE loop. I always tell non-riders, "on a bike, I have to do everyone else's thinking for them."

[Bubba]

"the more human-like the front of the bike is to a face (and also the more angry a human face), the more likely people are to 'see' you on a motorcycle."?

What kind of weird stuff have you been reading? You know if you put flashing red lights all over your bike they will see you better. You could also try wearing clown makup. I'm sure that would get their attention.

[RhadamYgg]

"the more human-like the front of the bike is to a face (and also the more angry a human face), the more likely people are to 'see' you on a motorcycle."?

What kind of weird stuff have you been reading? You know if you put flashing red lights all over your bike they will see you better. You could also try wearing clown makup. I'm sure that would get their attention.

Well, if Honda said it, I believe it. They even have nice smelling flower smell coming out of their tailpipes.

There is at least one link above to the article, but I don't know how much data they have to support it.

RhadamYgg

[Flipper]

Cheap, quick ideas.

One word...Fluorescent.

Or...put a scary halloween mask under the headlight

[whisper15]

You can have 4 headlights blinking on your bike and if the driver of the car is not paying attention...............You have to watch out for them....You always have to pay attention to the other guy.

[RhadamYgg]

You know, its funny - I was doing research because there is a mod out there for my current bike the FZ6 - to have both the lights working more like car lights - instead of one side low beam and one side high beam.

As far as mods go - apparently this one will cost about $10. There was one poster on the FZ6 forum that brought up a good point. At night, perhaps a motorist might mistake a motorcycle with two headlights as a car that is really far away instead of a bike that is much closer.

Its funny reading my old posts.

RhadamYgg