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 lightsLast 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.
