What have you done ( pics ++) to make yourself as visible as possible in heavy traffic.And...what have you found that seems to work best.

I haven't done anything really, but my friend installed red neons on his bike and he said at night time he feels MUCH safer.
(not his bike but looks damn close)
http://www.ledunderbody.com/images/products/detail/14_LED_Classic_Red_Moto_Gallery_3.jpg

Also reflective tape is always a great idea.
http://i.imgur.com/AdwHz.jpg

http://f.tqn.com/y/motorcycles/1/S/c/R/-/-/Halo_tape.jpg

As for heavy traffic, I guess the best thing you can do is just know how to stay out of people's blind spots. Always ride with your high beam on!! during the day time, it dramatically improves your visibility. Also while in heavy traffic, don't feel afraid to beep your horn, rev your engine, whatever it takes for people to take a second to look at you and know you are there.

I has neons on my sold 250,,,,cheap and very very effective at night.

Couple this so far. Installed a louder dual-tone horn and a couple of aux headlights.

These guys...

like to see pic of bike w lights om it ?

Installed a louder dual-tone horn

+1 on the dual tone horn. Really gets people's attention compared to the stock one.

Helmet that can be seen from orbit (which you have seen, eddie). SOLAS tape. Bike is stock because it's not nearly as noticeable as my head, which is higher up and more prominently visible from both front and rear.

From the rear, most of what you see on the bike is the undertail and back tire. From the front, the headlight washes things out. My head sits above it all and is closer to a driver's line of sight.

Last year I also added neon gauntlets. I'd apologize for the rude gesture, but ehhh... f*ck it. :D

I had a Wolo Bad Boy horn on the Ninjette and it was super-effective, but can't find a place big enough on the GSXR to mount one.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a115/adouglas2001/GSXRpics/IMG_0938_zpscf298f37.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a115/adouglas2001/GSXRpics/IMG_0937_zps3d9ae28c.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a115/adouglas2001/GSXRpics/IMG_1282_zps01ac461c.jpg

antiant, you have no qualms with a Black A* jacket?

Couple this so far. Installed a louder dual-tone horn and a couple of aux headlights.

These guys...

Did you wire them directly to the auxiliary connections with a relay or switch? Or directly to the high beam switch?

....what have you found that seems to work best.

Be seen (https://rideapart.com/articles/ways-to-make-your-motorcycle-more-visible)

:crazyloco: :crazyloco: :crazyloco:

i duct taped a large traffic cone to my helmet

Hmmm...traffic cone to head. I like it. Madonna did something like that a while back and she got noticed.

http://verboten1.net/klr/helmetreflect.jpg

There is more reflective orange on it now, orange stripes on the wheels, reflective gear, going with lighter colored gear as I get more new gear

antiant, you have no qualms with a Black A* jacket?What? I think you mentioned the wrong person?

What? I think you mentioned the wrong person?

SORRY! I mixed up my a-names.. Return to non idiotic posts.....

adouglas, you have no qualms with a black A* jacket?

like to see pic of bike w lights om it ?

Ok, I'll get a couple this weekend. I'm kinda surprise I don't already have some.

Did you wire them directly to the auxiliary connections with a relay or switch? Or directly to the high beam switch?

The aux lights eat 20watts (together) so I avoided tapping into the existing lights circuit. Instead i used a relay and tapped it into a circuit (sorry, i forget which one, I'll take a look when i get home) that powers on only when the bike is in the ON position. The power that runs the aux lights comes from the battery, through the relay to a on/off switch (so i don't necessarily have to run them) and then to the aux lights.

Some drivers just look through me, with all the lights blasting and all the gear bright and reflective so much it's visible from the moon. So I just drive assuming I am invisible, but when I see a potential confusion, I slowly wave left to right so my headlight is a moving source of light and more likely to register in driver's brain. Like here:

eqQBubilSXU

adouglas, you have no qualms with a black A* jacket?

No, for all the reasons cited above. Helmet is high up and quite large.

From the front (which is really what counts), the jacket isn't that visible compared to the helmet. Observe...

http://newsfirst.lk/english/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/moterbile_lighton_daytime.jpg

http://image.motortrend.com/f/wot/bmw-pininfarina-gran-lusso-coupe-2-371177/59371240/bmw-concept-ninety-motorcycle-front-in-motion.jpg

What grabs your eye right away? That's right... the helmet. And it's even more true in a sportbike tuck. From the front, my bike is a big blob of light, a front tire, and my head.

I came to this conclusion because on my commute, there's a guy going the other way (divided highway) who has a canary yellow Shoei. The first thing I notice -- even before the bike itself -- is that helmet, and it grabs my eye from a long, long way off. To this day the only thing I remember about the guy is that he rides a cruiser and has that yellow helmet. I don't even know what his jacket looks like.

there's a guy going the other way (divided highway) who has a canary yellow Shoei. The first thing I notice -- even before the bike itself -- is that helmet, and it grabs my eye from a long, long way off.

I just recorded a guy with a yeller lid. Truer words were never spoken, I was able to ident him from a long ways off even at 100+mph.

Third'ed (?), I've followed a pack with all sorts of lids, and the guy with the hi viz yellow helmet stuck out like a sore thumb from the middle of the herd.

My setup is like andy's only I use a halo band instead of SOLAS tape.

I also ride in crotchless chaps for the ladies.

Oh yeah. The ladies.

Dan, perhaps the group would enjoy your sharing the feelings you get whilst wearing the attire you described at the close.
Whoa....,did you see N 11 and the river....40 story condos in 2 years....guaranteed....when will they get to Dominos

Do you folks really think the Hi Viz yellow is that much more high viz than a classic white?

I read somewhere that yellow and black is most viz color combo because of contrast. The insurance companies.....school buses...follow the money.
It's less a question of brightness than of what gets attention and Andy is right....I can see his helmet from the moon as long as it's daylight time. Not sure what scientific explaination is but...I think I recall from my scuba days that green does not change color underwater whereas all other colors do...kind of dovetails to the subject ? I believe the recent flood of fluorescent green safety stuff is the development of fluorescent type pigments that do not bleach out under UV (sun) light .

I remember when researching my helmet that someone somewhere brought up that while the new hi viz colors are awesome in the daylight, they couldn't beat straight up old white at night.

I've seen how hi biz yellow and orange pops from riders around me in the daylight, but yeah clothes all seem to fade to black or dark at night.

I went with a white helmet and using the reflective stickers on the sides and back. Least my floating head will be seen. :)

Dan, perhaps the group would enjoy your sharing the feelings you get whilst wearing the attire you described at the close.
Whoa....,did you see N 11 and the river....40 story condos in 2 years....guaranteed....when will they get to Dominos


Haha, yeah Eddie people are up in arms about the development on the river. I just moved to Bay Ridge a couple months ago. I like it a lot better. I'm farther from the city and our apartment is right along shore road so it's super quiet and suburban (at least for NYC.)

I remember when researching my helmet that someone somewhere brought up that while the new hi viz colors are awesome in the daylight, they couldn't beat straight up old white at night.

I've seen how hi biz yellow and orange pops from riders around me in the daylight, but yeah clothes all seem to fade to black or dark at night.

I went with a white helmet and using the reflective stickers on the sides and back. Least my floating head will be seen. :)

What helmet make/model did you go with?

What helmet make/model did you go with?

LS2 FF386

https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showpost.php?p=877198&postcount=549

Pics taken before the addition of the reflective stickers.

I have a Scorpion EXO-500 (http://www.scorpionusa.com/exo500/) in hi-vis with the Oil pattern. It's got quite a bit of hi-vis on it, but the pattern breaks it up a bit so you don't look totally like a traffic cone.

http://shopping.scorpionusa.com/images/50-350-oil-neon.jpg

And based on an experience on the way to work last week, and a couple more while out riding today, I think the hi-vis is working too. At least three times now, cars have zipped right up to the road from side streets or driveways, looking like they weren't going to stop (once to the point of actually putting it in reverse and backing up a little), but they all did. It could be that they simply weren't expecting any traffic and would have seen me regardless, but I can only assume the hi-vis helped at least a little.

The Purkinje effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purkinje_effect) is the tendency for the peak luminance sensitivity of the human eye to shift toward the blue end of the color spectrum at low illumination levels.

This effect introduces a difference in color contrast under different levels of illumination. For instance, in bright sunlight, geranium flowers appear bright red against the dull green of their leaves, or adjacent blue flowers, but in the same scene viewed at dusk, the contrast is reversed, with the red petals appearing a dark red or black, and the leaves and blue petals appearing relatively bright.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Red_geranium_photoic_mesopic_scotopic.jpg/220px-Red_geranium_photoic_mesopic_scotopic.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Red_geranium_photoic_mesopic_scotopic.jpg)

At dusk, my helmet looks almost glow-in-the-dark, as you might see on some other neon/brightly-colored things. Whereas everything else gets that dusky, muted look to it, the helmet seems even brighter. I don't know if it's technically Purkinje effect or some other phenomenon, but it really stands out in low-light.

I still want to add some reflective tape to it. I have stealth (http://www.invisibill.net/ninja/wheelstripe3.jpg) reflective (http://www.invisibill.net/ninja/wheelstripe2.jpg) tape on my wheels already.

I just assume that no one can see me. It's worked pretty well so far. :confused:

I came to this conclusion because on my commute, there's a guy going the other way (divided highway) who has a canary yellow Shoei. The first thing I notice -- even before the bike itself -- is that helmet, and it grabs my eye from a long, long way off. To this day the only thing I remember about the guy is that he rides a cruiser and has that yellow helmet. I don't even know what his jacket looks like.

I just recorded a guy with a yeller lid. Truer words were never spoken, I was able to ident him from a long ways off even at 100+mph.

you two are making me really consider a yellow helmet as my next helmet in a few years

...that guy martin agv replica helmet is yellow...hmm

Do you folks really think the Hi Viz yellow is that much more high viz than a classic white?

Yes, because in daylight there's lots of white out there. When sun glints off a car window, it's white. Same with water, etc.

On those hazy-humid days in summer, the whole sky is white.

Hi viz yellow is not found in nature.

NevadaWolf, you have a good point about night. That's what the SOLAS tape is for.... and hey presto, it lights up bright white.

I've got these for now; will upgrade soon.

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af334/indytut/random%20pics/IMG_20130119_013344_edit_1424619365873.jpg

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af334/indytut/random%20pics/1375829390489.jpg

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af334/indytut/random%20pics/1375829388367.jpg

Keep your ****in eyes open & brain switched on. assume nobody can see you & those that can want to kill you.

The SMIDSY move up the page works well, your eyes pick movement well before they pick colours. Hi-Vis is too common now, and usually on stopped/slow moving obstacles (binmen, cyclists, roadworkers ect.)

Probably not allowed in NY but filter up to the front at lights & get clear before the rest catch up with you. They're not going to change lanes if there's no space to go to.

o stay out of people's blind spots. Always ride with your high beam on!! during the day time, it dramatically improves your visibility. Also while in heavy traffic, don't feel afraid to beep your horn, rev your engine, whatever it takes for people to take a second to look at you and know you are there.

That's basically shine a torch in someone's face & ask them to judge your speed & position when you approach:doh: high beam gives them a general direction, but obscures your actual position & speed of approach.

Revving the engine on a 250 sends what noise it does make backwards, not ideal if you're trying to alert someone ahead of you.

That's basically shine a torch in someone's face & ask them to judge your speed & position when you approach:doh: high beam gives them a general direction, but obscures your actual position & speed of approach.

Revving the engine on a 250 sends what noise it does make backwards, not ideal if you're trying to alert someone ahead of you.

Depends... If it is really bright outside, it helps. If it's at all dark then it should be off. My MSF teacher told me he recommends it between 9-5 in the summer time. I also tested it by turning my highbeam on in the middle of the day walking backwards from my bike and looking at it and I could see perfectly fine no issue. ( my display picture is actually when I tested it)

Revving the engine was more or less a joke, I'd say it's best to keep the clutch engaged at all times necessary (except when shifting) so you can use the engine braking to help you stop. Horn is obviously the best way to get someone's attention even if it doesn't work 100% of the time.

like to see pic of bike w lights om it ?

I use the Mondomoto (http://www.mondomotos.com/) lights coupled with smart dimmer. They are VERY bright, and I may have to tweak the program to dim them a little more for night mode. They just came out with a version 3 that has an optional amber lens... I'll be getting that too. :)

https://www.ninjette.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1040&pictureid=10488

Nice...$129...they look kind of low for street use but very bright

Nice...$129...they look kind of low for street use but very bright

Nope, they're cool for street use... creates a very bright triangle that dazzles and pisses-off, and lights up the world.

You could always switch with the reflector mounts if you want them higher.

I use the Mondomoto (http://www.mondomotos.com/) lights coupled with smart dimmer. They are VERY bright, and I may have to tweak the program to dim them a little more for night mode. They just came out with a version 3 that has an optional amber lens... I'll be getting that too. :)

https://www.ninjette.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1040&pictureid=10488

These are awesome. I have similar LEDs and mounted in the same spot. They really light things up. I have mine focused down a little as to not blind on-comers (ie the torch effect mentioned earlier).

Well my helmet is not yellow but it's not black either and it matches my bike.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t71/reggae5/ninja/100_0342_zps3b2ac1c7.jpg (http://s157.photobucket.com/user/reggae5/media/ninja/100_0342_zps3b2ac1c7.jpg.html)
That and airhorns I can get noticed. Guess I could always get one of these helmets that glow in the dark lol
http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/vemar-helmets-night-vision

I used my leftover rim tape to add some reflective stripes to my helmet. The reflectiveness doesn't show up as well as in the pic of my wheels (http://www.invisibill.net/ninja/wheelstripe2.jpg), but it's the same stuff.

http://www.invisibill.net/ninja/helmetreflect1.jpg http://www.invisibill.net/ninja/helmetreflect2.jpg

Because of the random black patterns on it, the black stripes aren't all that noticeable when they're not reflecting. I just cut some pieces to length and followed natural lines and contours of the helmet.

You can also see a bit of that Purkinje effect (or whatever) in the first pic, causing the helmet to look brighter in low-light conditions. In the pic with the flash, the helmet just looks bright yellow. In the dusky pic, it's got a bit of that unnatural hi-vis glow to it (compare it to how dark the grass looks).