Motorcycle riding at night - Is being Hi-Viz enough?

Busy times at work - the past couple of weeks had been even busier than usual. The hectic schedule had taken away the desire to spend extra twenty five minutes to put on my riding gear in the morning; not to mention the fact that cold rainy/foggy mornings weren't helping either. On Wednesday, when I was driving to work - it hit me that the weather was cold but dry - "Should've riden to work on the motorbike..." echoed through my head. Whole day at work, this thought kept on nagging me at the back of my head - not taking precedence over my cerebral patterns but definitely not going away. End result - when I went back home, despite of the cold dark hours - I was all psyched up to go out on a ride. Had my dinner, put on my cold weather gear and got the bike out of the garage. Typical northwest winter evening, all dark. "Hmmm...I should increase my visibility to others especially the car drivers who already have a tough enough time seeing motorcyclists" - mentally giving myself a pat on the back while I put on my 'Motorcycle Safety Foundation' hi-viz vest. That was it  and I was ready for my ride.

Head off on 185th, took German Town Road to reach 30 - then rode west. My plan was to go till Columbia City and then turn back again.

While riding, I was thinking that I did a good job wearing my hi-viz vest. This very inexpensive piece of gear definitely does its job at night. I have to admit, I dont ride at night often; but the thought of being visible to other drivers definitely boosted my confidence. But however, by the time I reached past Scappoose - it dawned on me that I was missing a critical part of the equation here - it is important for other drivers to see but it is even more necessary for me to able to register my surroundings visually. The task is easier in daylight - but at night cold foggy weather, the visor and my glasses certainly were not at their helpful best.  Not only that, how many of you can relate to the OEM headlights on sportbikes that are not exactly built to brighten up the road in front of you?

Going back to the ride, by the time I reached Scappoose, my head won the battle - decided on turning back. On my way back, I used Cornelius Pass - since its exit was closer than German Town ramp. When I started riding on Cornelius Pass, I realized how much slower I had to go compared to my daytime rides on this beautiful road just because the motorbike lights were having a tough time keeping up with it. As it is, Cornelius does not have much in the way of street lights (those from around Portland would know exactly what I am talking about). Every turn made me realize that when I am driving my car, I am able to see more into the bend than with my motorbike headlights.

Rode all the way to Northwest Union and then used that to get back to 185th. It was cold but felt good to be back on the motorbike after about a week.

However, this ride prompted me to ponder over night time motorcycle riding and what could be done to improve upon it.  Thought I will dig up more on this and put it out for others.

Well it is said that when it is relatively darker - our human eyes have reduced depth of field meaning they can focus very well on an object but things past that are blurred more than they would be during daytime. To me this seems like inability to judge speed and distance as accurately as would be possible otherwise. On the other hand, the haloes around oncoming traffic lights cause difficulty too.

So here is what I think we should be doing

• Clean Visor
  The most obvious one is having your visor clean (and as in my case, glasses too). It is easier said than done because a lot of times it is tempting to quickly get on the bike and not worry about having it cleaned. There are products out there that we motorcyclists should carry with us all time for cleaning a visor. You never know when you might get splashed by water gathered on the road or a bug might get splat on your visor. By the way, V2 sponges are a great tool for this job and are very easy to have with you. If needed stop the motorbike and clean your visor. Don't forget, if there are marks and scratches on the visor, replace it as soon as possible. There is no point saving a few bucks at the risk of having an accident because of lights from oncoming traffic messing up your vision through a scratched visor.
• Avoid misty visor
  Since I started talking about my ride in cold weather, need to mention this - a misty visor is far worse at night. Keep your helmet vents open if that helps and always, buy a helmet that has some sort of anti-mist coating. Fogcity inserts are also an inexpensive option to help with visor misting and if more money spending is okay - Pinlock inserts have great reviews. Got to admit with my 'spend only as much needed' habit - I have only tried Fogcity inserts.
• Clean lights
  Obvious - but still saying it - clean your motorcycle lights. Around here in the northwest, if you ride your motorbike in spring, summer or early fall, the number of bug splats on those lights is quite high. Unless cleaned, those can really affect already not upto par OEM lights on sportbikes. There are times when I wish we would have an option of getting HIDs factory installed for motorbikes. That would make it so easy. I would gladly pay extra for a OEM factory installed option.
  
  

  

  Some motorcycles come better equipped for dark roads

  
  
• Slower than usual on turns
  This one really stood out when I was on Cornelius Pass; need to take turns slower at night time than during day - reason: the motorbike lights dont exactly light up the bends. It can be quite misleading if you are on a familiar road and think that we know what's coming up ahead. For any number of reasons, there could be a surprise up ahead on the bend - for example, in case of Cornelius Pass, there can be a gravel surprise on a bend. Making assumptions about how the road is ahead can sometimes lead to unexpected situations. Not saying that knowing the road does not help - just dont let your knowledge of the road get to your head.
  Another thing I noticed is that when I apply brakes, the affect on the lights is that they dip - so the effect is even more exaggerated in corners where your headlight doesnt show much in the way of the bend anyway. My suggestion would be steady slower braking rather than hard braking on corners during the night.
• Use the road markings
  Use the white and the yellow lines to guide you. These can give you an even better idea as to how the road is changing direction than you can visually decipher with your eyes through a visor at night.
• Remember road surface conditions not as apparent as daylight
  Sorry for stating the obvious - but you cannot see the gravel as clearly as you can during daytime or note the change in road surface as you would while merrily riding in daylight....jokes aside, not saying that all this can be easily observed during the day but the underlying point is that at night time, the rider is totally at a disadvantage about knowing the road surface even if he is used to being attentive to such details. So if possible pay attention to the feel of the bike especially the front end when riding at night. This can come in really handy on smaller two lane roads that us motorcyclists like so much.
• Avoid looking directly into oncoming traffic lights
  Last but not least, avoid looking directly into the lights of the oncoming traffic. Try to keep your eyes on the pool of light created by your own lights. This way, after the the oncoming car with its bright lights passes you, you will still have a better chance at keeping your vision unaffected by the bright light to darkness change. Those bright light leftovers in your vision would clear quicker this way.

I am sure there are other things that I am forgetting so please feel free to remind me and I will add more to this list.

Electric Motorcycles - They are coming!

Like any true-blooded motorbike rider, I am just as fond of the idea of electric motorcycles as a guy driving a Nissan Skyline GTR is of a Nissan Leaf - or better yet just as much as a Mitsubishi EVO-MR guy would love to switch to a Prius....

Mission One
(links to different Electric Motorbikes at the end of this post)

BUT you can't stop it - they are coming; or should I say they are here and more are coming.....
It is almost analogous to how it all started with the Teslas and Honda Insights of the world.

Lot of sportsbike riders imagine that a sedate electric motorbike would be far less thrilling than the experience of a mind numbing acceleration of a modern day sportsbike with engine producing exhaust notes that are music to any motorbike rider’s ears. I have to admit, the beautiful exhaust sound would be missing – but do you know that the maximum torque of an electric motorbike is almost available at any rpm? Making doing wheelies easier than ever as the electric motorbike would have all its torque available instantly from the start…. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t do wheelies and neither did I ever have the desire for it. But the point I  am trying to make is that if you see the dyno graph of an electric motorcycle, the torque part would be almost straight line corresponding to the max torque it can produce. Interesting, huh?

Then come some other fun filled thoughts to mind – if I were to own an electric motorbike, would I have the freedom to point my motorbike in any direction and discover new roads without planning OR would I have to plan each route to see how far out can I ride before needing a recharge of batteries? Might these new fangled motorbikes be good for commuting where the driving distance is known and the moment you come back from work, you can plug in your motorbike to charge just like any other utilitarian daily use technological gadget like your iPhone, etc. “Well you could have an electric outlet everywhere?”, you ask. True, but do you realize that the charging times are anywhere from 4 hours and above. Unless we have those specialized charging stations as frequently available outside cities as Nissan Leaf owner would love to see within city limits – electric motorbikes are confined by their lengthy charging times.

I fully admire the genius behind the electric motorbike manufacturing and would like to own one for commuting….but right now that is about $7,000 after keeping federal government’s electric vehicle incentives. Hey, what’s that? A 2010 used Ducati 848 with only 1,200 miles on it for $10,000 ! Now if I had $7,000 to spare for an electric commuter – the idea of spending $3,000 more for another bike is far more tempting,eh? What? You say electric Mission One and Mavizen TTX02 perform better? Have you even looked at their prices??

Brammo Empulse at Laguna Seca

http://www.brammo.com
http://www.zeromotorcycles.com
http://www.mavizen.com
http://www.ridemission.com
http://www.roehrmotorcycles.com

Motorcycle riding in rain - advices gathered from different sources....

Hmmm...all I have done is tell people about my ride in rain - but today I have decided on being utterly boring....yes, wiseguys - what else is new :-)

Anyway, today my intention is to share with fellow motorcyclists what I gathered from different books, magazines and websites. I am going to list what I think works for me but please be warned - each of you uses my advice solely based on your own judgement - hah, there I even covered it from a legalistic perspective....

This guy knows his riding on wet roads....

Here is the list:

• Smoothness
  Although being smooth is always important but the rewards are truly huge in wet weather. Unlike conventional wisdom, this not only applies to braking but to all actions while riding. Throttle - should be steady, cornering should be gentler lean angles meaning it's best to reduce speeds more than you normally do in rain to help with cornering
• Grip
  Remember less grip on wet road BUT there is often more than you think. You have to be really paying attention to what the motorcycle is doing including the tiny slips that seem scary for the newly initiated wet weather riders...Dont be scared of some minute slips of the rear tyre but dont push it.
• Arms relaxed
  Dont sit with your arms locked and sitting like a rider who seems to be nervous. Instead, relax your arms. The arms should be loose enough that you can flap your elbows. Better still when cornering bring down the elbows to the point where they are almost level to the bar. You will be surprised how the tiny slips that you feel are taken care of by the motorcycle as well as a result of your loose grip on the bar. By the way, loose grip doesnt mean 'lose the grip' on the bars - just means trust the motorcyle without putting a death grip on the bar. If needed force yourself to relax your arms and grip - sounds funny 'force to relax' but I guess you know what I mean.
• Aquaplaning
  Another question that I have seen on several websites is about motorcycle tyres aquaplaning. From what I've read on different websites and books, it boils down to that modern day to day riding tyres have very good treads and motorcycle tyres are less wide than cars. The wider the tyre is the more likely it is to aquaplane.
• Road marking, manhole covers and slimy fall leaves (at least in North West)
  Avoid road markings, manhole covers and slimy fall leaves sludge as much as you can. If you have to cross some sort of road marking, like changing lanes, be very careful - dont apply brakes when your tyres are on them. Same goes for manhole covers. You will not be able to avoid these all the times but expect the motorcycle to scare you when you are crossing them. Fall leaves are one of the worst surfaces. These stick together but once you ride over them, they are slippery as can be. This can be a real problem on roads that have trees around them - usually the roads we love during nice weather in the north west. Even well travelled roads can have this problem during rainy weather.
• Allow more time for everything
  Not just planning for braking but everything. All the movements need to be smooth and planned especially cornering. Remember as mentioned above, you want to keep your lean angle on a corner less that what you normally do in fair weather. That means slow down before the corner starts and plan your apex well. Jerky small straight lines in a corner are not as forgiving on a wet road.
• Distance between you and the vehicle ahead
  Last but not the least - make sure you have more than ample distance between you and the vehicle ahead of you - far more than you would normally keep on a dry road. Remember this would save you from a lot of flying shower coming off the vehicle ahead of you.

Well that is all that I can think of at the moment but will add more if anything else comes to mind. Funny all these years I had been reading about riding precautions in rain but these skills get honed when we actually ride in the rain. If we get a chance to develop our riding skills in rainy weather, it will pay off big when you are riding in fair weather....

Riding a motorbike in rain....

Funny - I had always been a fair weather rider. Oh well, fair weather by north west November standards means 46 deg F (7.5 deg C) cloudy & windy but no rain.
Okay now back to where I started, I had always been a fair weather rider - never ventured on two wheels while it was raining. But past Saturday, when I was working on something in my garage, my Suzuki SV looked quite lonely - with an air of sadness all around it - being cooped up in the garage. I hadnt done any riding for about two .weeks - dang it - raining again. Then suddenly I had the urge to take the motorbike out despite of the weather. All my senses were telling me forget about it - too much gear to wear, risky slippery roads, slimy autumn leaf piles on all the roads.....at least on my favorite twisty roads. But I caved in to my desire to go out for a ride...
Spent about half an hour getting all my gear and putting it on....back protector, knee/shin protectors, right gloves for the weather, snowboarding pants, and did I mention - trying out my new Scorpion helmet. It's supposed to have mist free visor...and it does work :-). With the vents open, didnt even get any mist on my glasses. Well enough about the gear - would come to this detail and a few others when I talk a little more about riding in rain in general. Right now back to my ride on Saturday....
So took the motorbike out and it was raining.  My head was telling me it aint worth it but still pushed on... :-) ; and I'm glad I did.
After getting out of the neighborhood went off on US26 West. It's a beautiful road and has great scenery all around - but today, it was more like rain/mist whereever I could see. Couldnt even see the mountains that look serene on nice sunny days....

Knowing my riding abilities, can't/won't ride like this in rain...  :-)

At first, every slight tiny little slip at the rear tyre felt huge to me....and I had to remind myself what I had read once about riding in the rain:

"Dont sit up, arms locked, nervously looking at the road 40 meters ahead of you. A tense body only makes matters worse."

So I loosened my grip on bars and relaxed my arms and shoulders. The more you try to fight these tiny slips, more chances of unsettling the bike.  Even during normal dry conditions, the best advice for motorcycle riders is:

"If you cannot flap your elbows i.e. if you cannot move your elbows up and down freely, you are not holding the bar right. Loosen your arms, bring your elbows down a bit and if you can keep at the same level as the bars, even better. Would make cornering easy."

So keeping all this in mind and carefully avoiding road markings, I adjusted accordingly and kept on going on 26W. Not much traffic and those around me - looked at me from their cars and probably thought what's wrong with him. A few kids who peered at me through the cars looked utterly fascinated.

Good thing about riding is that you dont need windshield wipers :-) - the wind just keeps on cleaning your visor.

So I rode for about 50 miles (80 km) and then thought that it would be best not to press my luck by trying to ride back in rain when it is totally dark...so finally turned around.

The funny thing I learnt from this ride that riders who ride year around in all weather especially rain must be better than others as they get to hone their skills even more with less than perfect conditions....the key to riding in rain is smoothness - everything same as normal ride but done smoothly whether on the throttle, brakes or even cornering.


Probably all of us motorbike riders shouldn't let wet weather stop us. I see this as first of many a rides in the rain....So if you a 'fair weather' rider like I used to be - get out there, and enjoy it!

Next time, I'll go more into what I found out about wet weather riding and what gear worked for me.....

Hmmm....where do I start?

Oh well! Had been thinking about starting a blog about motorcycling for quite a while and finally today, starting one. Come to think of it, coming up with a blog name was quite an adventure - had different ideas but then MotorPsych came to mind - maybe because all the normal names were taken... :-) But this kind of puts a nice twist on the word motorcycle....