Do you wear hi-viz gear?

[Garandman]

Interesting. This same thread was posted on a Sportster forum, and I put it on advrider too.

% who wear hi-viz most or all the time as the polls sit now:

Advrider: 66%
Sportster owners: 48%
Here: 46%

[Rossco]

Interesting. This same thread was posted on a Sportster forum, and I put it on advrider too.

% who wear hi-viz most or all the time as the polls sit now:

Advrider: 66%
Sportster owners: 48%
Here: 46%

Yeah...

But most people here say that any gear that isn't all black, is hi-viz.


Aaaand most sportster riders probably consider their chromed out half-helmets to be Hi-viz as well.

[DankDirtyBird]

Yep...

Yep, you're high viz with that, and the fact that you sit like 12 feet up on that Tiger or whatever British bike that is you ride.

[Paul_E_D]

Awesome jacket, but decidedly not hi-viz.

I have one similar to this, and one that is bright orange. I think orange is good, but hi-viz is really that acidy yellow color. I can't even look at it for long without getting a bitter taste in my mouth. It offends the senses. The reason it works is the same reason I don't wear it...

My new jacket is pretty visible and has a big reflective strip across the back. Pants are black with a little reflective tape. Not sure if that's considered "high-viz"

[DucDave]

Usually...and, I really should always.

[markbvt]

This is hi-viz.
None of the previously posted pictures, except Rossco's video, are close.

True, real hi-viz is the fluorescent orange or yellow and stands out like a beacon precisely because of its fluorescence (ie, it converts ultraviolet light into visible wavelengths and therefore looks much brighter than its surroundings even on a cloudy day).

Trouble is that the selection of apparel using true hi-viz colors is still fairly limited. My first priority when choosing a jacket is the features it offers, and none of the ones available in hi-viz are quite what I'm looking for. So, as with the British Motorcycle Gear jacket I bought, I get one that I'm interested in feature-wise, and then choose the most visible colorway it actually comes in.

--mark

[KingCast 650R]

I really like that. It has you know like 80% of the effectiveness of the slip overs without looking dorky. A very Euro color ummm colour..... My jacket is hardly hi vis, but it does show decently at night with the reflective piping.

[SRTie4k]

The white on my jacket is pretty high-viz. It doesn't seem to help much though.

[Tunertype]

yep, all the gear all the time.

I have even put this together and thought about wearing it at night too.
YouTube - Tron Motorcycle Helmet

Thats an awesome helmet!! I want one.

I dont wear "hi viz" yellow or orange, but i do try to be visible. I have a red bike with red jacket with reflective piping and red and silver helmet. Haven't been runover yet. I also use my horn if it looks like someone might think about cutting me off and usually have loud pipes, but haven't installed them on my current bike yet.

[Mustang]

I don't currently, but I think my next jacket will be high viz

[gadget]

Thats an awesome helmet!! I want one.

I dont wear "hi viz" yellow or orange, but i do try to be visible. I have a red bike with red jacket with reflective piping and red and silver helmet. Haven't been runover yet. I also use my horn if it looks like someone might think about cutting me off and usually have loud pipes, but haven't installed them on my current bike yet.

You can easily make your own design with just a little work and creativity.

Check out this thread.
http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/...-tron-lid.html

[feralchimp]

I used to wear a "vivid orange" (read: safety nerd orange) shoei helmet, but haven't noticed better/worse driver response since switching to a gray arak profile. If people aren't looking, it doesn't matter what you're wearing, and people are often not looking.

Still been considering a hi viz vest anyway.

[Garandman]

True, real hi-viz is the fluorescent orange or yellow and stands out like a beacon precisely because of its fluorescence (ie, it converts ultraviolet light into visible wavelengths and therefore looks much brighter than its surroundings even on a cloudy day).//

Interesting!

[Ituen]

Sometimes when I ride at night.

[Talus]

I used to wear a "vivid orange" (read: safety nerd orange) shoei helmet, but haven't noticed better/worse driver response since switching to a gray arak profile. If people aren't looking, it doesn't matter what you're wearing, and people are often not looking.

Still been considering a hi viz vest anyway.

Noticed this too. I think the hardest thing for people in cages to gauge is distance. They simply can't tell if you're close or far or how fast you're traveling. I get cut off more often from that than people that are completely oblivious to me being on the road.

[Garandman]

Noticed this too. I think the hardest thing for people in cages to gauge is distance. They simply can't tell if you're close or far or how fast you're traveling. I get cut off more often from that than people that are completely oblivious to me being on the road.

The Moving Camouflage problem.

CN: 10 riders on this board wear hi-viz most of the time.

[RandyO]

[wesvailco]

-no.

-I ride a murdered-out Triumph, I do have these...best $79.00 ever. I have some puma1000's in bright-white that are uncomfortable as fuk. rest of my clothing is black. decent headlights and tailights should be enough visually, loud pipes make a difference too. ride defensively.

[Rossco]

I think one thing that the OP should realize, is that the group of people that he is asking about this, doesn't accurately represent the average American motorcycle buyer. (IMHO)

He's going to boards that are frequented by people who are serious riders and take pride in their bikes, as well as their riding.

I'd be willing to bet that most American motorcycle buyers aren't active on online MC forums. Some aren't even aware of them. Many are just the types that just want to ride to look cool. So, the only reasoning when deciding what color gear to purchase (if they even bother purchasing gear in the first place) is "what color matches my bike?"

However due to the fact that more people are now buying bikes to commute, and not to pose, I think we are bound to see more riders clad in Hi-viz.

Hopefully, gear manufacturers can realize this and have more products available in hi-viz.

I also hope that they will just make more of it to deal with the demand. I can't tell you how many times people have had to wait months for backorded Hi-viz coats.

[Garandman]

Wait - you are telling me that the 48 riders who have voted here don't represent a statistically significant sample of the motorcycling public? OMG!

Hdforums has 3-5,000 people logged in at any one time. 70 people have voted. It means absolutely nothing.

I was curious because the #'s on the Sportster forum were relatively high.

Don't know where you are shopping that has hi-viz gear back-ordered. This isn't 2006. It's everywhere - Harley Davidson now offers at least 25 hi-viz products.

[breakdirt916]

this doesn't have anything reflective, but sort of like Duncan, it's just a bright color

so, no hi-viz?

[Rossco]

Wait - you are telling me that the 48 riders who have voted here don't represent a statistically significant sample of the motorcycling public? OMG!

Hdforums has 3-5,000 people logged in at any one time. 70 people have voted. It means absolutely nothing.

I was curious because the #'s on the Sportster forum were relatively high.

Don't know where you are shopping that has hi-viz gear back-ordered. This isn't 2006. It's everywhere - Harley Davidson now offers at least 25 hi-viz products.

The parts guy at 3a Motors in Chelmsford told me that a customer waited 2 months for a backorded HI-viz Tourmaster Transition 2 Jacket. Last year I noticed that Hi-viz jackets sold out quite quickly.

High-end brands like Olympia and Aerostitch had plenty of Hi-viz, however for more reasonably priced brands like Tourmaster and Fieldsheer, the options are few and far between and often sell-out quickly..

As for the statistics, it just seemed like you were trying to compare different results from different demographics to gauge the popularity. It looked like you were going for a real scientific answer so I was just offering another view-point. I do see where you are coming from though about such a small percentage of people taking part in the polls.

I'm not trying to say that you're survey is crap because it is in fact, quite the opposite, very intriguing.

[Wanderer]

Sometimes surprised there isn't more use of the hi-viz slip over type vests. I use mine prettymuch 100% outside of group rides, and really should even there.

[AimlessMoto]

Yep, you're high viz with that, and the fact that you sit like 12 feet up on that Tiger or whatever British bike that is you ride.

Hahaha.. yeah, I know... I'm quite the towering mo-fo on the Tiger. But you see me coming a mile away!

[Garandman]

I found this poll on xlforums quite interesting so I also posted it on hdforums, advrider, and here.

The study that really got me wearing hi-viz was one done in New Zealand.

Results Crash related injuries occurred mainly in urban zones with 50 km/h speed limit (66%), during the day (63%), and in fine weather (72%).

After adjustment for potential confounders, drivers wearing any reflective or fluorescent clothing had a 37% lower risk (multivariate odds ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.42 to 0.94) than other drivers.

Compared with wearing a black helmet, use of a white helmet was associated with a 24% lower risk (multivariate odds ratio 0.76, 0.57 to 0.99).

Self reported 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 (multivariate odds ratio 0.73, 0.53 to 1.00).

Full study.