Go with white or bright colors as a main theme, particularly with your helmet.
When choosing gear color, I recommend reading a very good 2003 study by a group of public health researchers from Auckland and Sydney Universities on the impact of gear color on safety. You can find a copy of the study in PDF format on
page two of my blog. The study investigated whether the risk of motorcycle crash related injuries is associated with how conspicuous the rider's gear was. It reviewed approximately 500 riders involved in crashes, compared with a control group of about 1250. The study found that:
•Crash related injuries occurred mainly in urban zones with 50 km/h speed limit (66%), during the day (63%), and in fine weather (72%).
•Drivers wearing any reflective or fluorescent clothing had a 37% lower risk than other drivers.
•Compared with wearing a black helmet, use of a white helmet was associated with a 24% lower risk.
•Light coloured helmet versus dark coloured helmet was associated with a 19% lower risk.
•Three quarters of motorcycle riders had their headlight turned on during the day, and this was associated with a 27% lower risk.
•No association occurred between risk and the frontal colour of drivers' clothing or motorcycle.
•If these odds ratios are unconfounded, the population attributable risks are 33% for wearing no reflective or fluorescent clothing, 18% for a non-white helmet, 11% for a dark coloured helmet, and 7% for no daytime headlight operation.
So, increasing the use of reflective or fluorescent clothing and white or light coloured helmets, is a simple, cheap intervention that could considerably reduce motorcycle crash related injury and death. We all have running lights already - no reason not to use bright clothing and helmets as well.