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Squeak the Rat
26th April 2006, 09:27
I was travelling into the setting sun yesterday (yes, there was some sun). There was a lot of glare and I was having a hard time seeing. All of a sudden a bike passes me going the other way. The bike was red and had its light on and I simply didn’t see it coming.

Then off in the distance I saw another bike coming my way. Why could I see one bike and not the other? The difference was this bike was black and stood out against the bright background.

So, forget what your mum or ACC tell you – it’s sometimes easier to see black bikes….. when there is a very bright background. And if you’re on a bright coloured bike don’t assume that you’re more visible - there are times when you are harder to see.

Also consider whether it really is safer to wear the dayglo vest while travelling on the motorway during sunstrike hours.

Just some food for thought…. (As a matter of coincidence I had a read through the March edition of Bike when I got home and there was an article that mentioned this phenomenon.)
STR

cowboyz
26th April 2006, 09:46
i always thought yellow was the easiest colour to see. (no science backing this up BTW). Even though I ride a black bike and the only time cars don't see me is when they are talking on the phone or reading the paper

Squeak the Rat
26th April 2006, 09:52
Yellow is a very visible colour under "normal" conditions. Put a bright yellow sun behind a yellow bike/rider and it's not so good. It's all a matter of contrasts - the brain thinks "wait, that doesn't fit in"....

Another tip the article mentioned was to weave slightly so that your headlight isn't consistent. The peripheral vision is designed to pick up movement, so if you have the sun behind you and you're not sure if a car pulling out of a side road has seen you, move the bike around a little in the lane....

If car drivers always see you then either you practice good road positioning skills or you're damn lucky!:mobile:

MSTRS
26th April 2006, 10:10
Another tip the article mentioned was to weave slightly so that your headlight isn't consistent. The peripheral vision is designed to pick up movement,
I heard that there is something that can 'attach' to your headlight circuitry that makes the light flicker (for want of a better term) either that or loosen the mounts so that the light 'rattles'...

Motu
26th April 2006, 10:11
Eons ago in the dim dark ages of awakening awareness to road safety it was discoverd that a white VW Beetle was the hardest car to see...now the theory seems to be a silver car is hard to see.A bike is pretty hard to see colours on,even a fluro jacket and helmet are hard to pick up front on....movement seems to be the key.

cowboyz
26th April 2006, 12:22
i was riding about 2 weeks way back when adam was a cowboy and got collected at a set of lights in Palmerston north where a car failed to give way. not alot of damage to me (bike was a bit sad) but lesson well learned. Now I ride realitively aggressively around traffic. And am very caucious at intersections. As it turns out no one has pulled out on me on my current bike but I don't take that for granted. Moving around in the lane (subtlely) is a good way to be seen. so is not making assumptions - After all, even if you are in the right, it still hurts.

madboy
26th April 2006, 13:56
It's really hard for people to pick out bike colour schemes. I heard a bike get reported the other day, and the fella looking straight at it said he couldn't see what colour it was, and it might have been that green and blue thing they were looking for. The colour scheme of the actual bike was so far removed from those two colours it's not funny. Human eyes aren't perfect, and don't have an action replay.

GR81
26th April 2006, 14:15
silver on a car is meant to be the easiest to see.
from memory, green was the hardest.
*shrug*

sugilite
26th April 2006, 15:27
Eons ago in the dim dark ages of awakening awareness to road safety it was discoverd that a white VW Beetle was the hardest car to see...now the theory seems to be a silver car is hard to see.A bike is pretty hard to see colours on,even a fluro jacket and helmet are hard to pick up front on....movement seems to be the key.

Aha, at last a real reason to do stand up wheelies, stoppies and burnouts, all in the name of visability, thanks Motu :laugh:

FROSTY
26th April 2006, 18:53
I mentioned before -not only is it hard to see bikes sometimes--Its also bloody hard to judge the aproach speed as well.

sunhuntin
26th April 2006, 19:46
frosty...ive noticed that any vehicle with headlights on it is harder to judge how far they are. what i do is i pick a landmark [ie, letterbox or anything similar] and if its far enough that i can turn safely, i then check how close/far the lights are from it. not always do i get that chance, but it has helped and i havent had it fail yet.

Velox
26th April 2006, 22:53
And black is prettttttty:love: :love: :love:


My over-dramatic mother almost started weeping and knashing her teeth when she heard that my new bike was going to be black. Crazylittleshit was around during one of her expressions of dismay and was slightly amused. Mothers eh.

Shadows
26th April 2006, 23:05
I heard that there is something that can 'attach' to your headlight circuitry that makes the light flicker (for want of a better term) either that or loosen the mounts so that the light 'rattles'...

A modulator. There was a discussion on this thread about them recently, starting at post 73.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=12994&page=2&highlight=modulator

hXc
26th April 2006, 23:06
But my bike still looks nicer. Mmmmmmmmmmm...metallic blue:D

XP@
27th April 2006, 01:40
I nearly grilled myself on a grey/silver car coming the other way the other day.
It was getting a little dark and the car had no lights on. It looked just like the road surface... well camoflaged!

Also a few years ago i heard if you are riding with your back to the sun, then you should turn off your lights, creates a greater shadow.
I remembered trying this but then giving up because it was one too many things to process.

Gremlin
27th April 2006, 03:41
obviously the visibility of colours changes with the amount of light around you... and naturally black is almost impossible to see at night. So unless you have some fantastic paint you can change at will to any desired colour, I don't see a point in choosing a bike based on colour.

Always assume they will not see you, and personally, I prefer to always travel quicker than the traffic because I can then track every car around me, without them sneaking up on me.

I prescribe to the theory of black bikers scaring people, especially when you have a tinted or irridium visor. But you can't rely on that either.

meh, the best form of defence is offense, and it often works, but you just have to do what suits you best...

UrbanMyth
27th April 2006, 11:48
and black looks the sexiest :blip:

pritch
27th April 2006, 15:34
I heard that there is something that can 'attach' to your headlight circuitry that makes the light flicker (for want of a better term) either that or loosen the mounts so that the light 'rattles'...

I've seen these advertised, can't remember the term they use.
Headlight modulator?

Yep that's it. Try this: http://ridesafer.com/page/mfc0/Home.html

Howwaythelads
7th May 2006, 20:48
I got one of these to help at night, they also give us a bigger outline and every one looks just to see what the hell i am.

looks a bit strange but works
www.higlow.co.nz

Ixion
7th May 2006, 21:28
A jolly good idea. Though, strictly speaking, illegal if worn when riding a motorcycle. But not when riding a bicycle. Go figure. An indictment on the crass stupidity of the LTSA.

Zapf
8th May 2006, 13:27
My over-dramatic mother almost started weeping and knashing her teeth when she heard that my new bike was going to be black.


So unless you have some fantastic paint you can change at will to any desired colour

Got some Black 3M Vinel that will refect white to headlights yet remain black during the day :)

Mr. Peanut
8th May 2006, 13:59
Looks like an S&M thingy. Very butch. :puke:

Beemer
9th May 2006, 09:46
and black looks the sexiest :blip:

Yeah, baby! :Punk:

Dai
9th May 2006, 11:01
I seem to remember one of the bike magazines in the UK investigated this about 7-10 years ago.

The results of their survey was that other road users were more aware of black motorcycles and black kit.

I had a ZZR1100 written off whilst actually doing the speed limit in UK.

Multi coloured blue/green, I was wearing a yellow high vis vest and the headlights were blazing. The car driver pulled out in front of me from a side road because he couldnt see me and thought there was a space between the cars. He just wasnt bike aware.

Dai.

oldrider
9th May 2006, 14:08
I used to think it was just bikes they (all other motorists) didn't see.

I have been taking a lot of notice lately because I hate driving the car and just go with Mrs O/r as a passenger when I have to.

Now I think all the motorists in this country are bloody blind and at least half of them are bloody stupid and incompetent to boot.

About thirty percent manage day to day maneuvers without too many problems.

The remainder are obviously innocent motorcyclists going about their business successfully, despite the best efforts of the rest trying to kill them.

I don't think the "rest" even care or know we are there, in fact I don't think most of them even know that "they" are there!!

We have to stay alive and well on the road to be an example for the rest, they need us and we have a civic duty to uphold.

Life is not easy. Oh the burden. :rolleyes: So much to do, so little time! :cool: We must be the chosen ones! :slap:

oldrider
9th May 2006, 14:29
and black looks the sexiest:blip:


Yeah, baby! :Punk:

Hey!!!! :shit: Ivé got a black bike, black leathers???:banana: Errrr sorry, I wont ask again. :crybaby: mumble, mumble, mumble. :bye:

wendigo
9th May 2006, 15:09
Multicoulored bikes are essentially camoflaged, irrespective of the colours. The patches of colour break down the silhouette of the motorbike into smaller, less noticable chunks.

I'd be well interested to find out the psychology / physiology behind why we notice black objects more. Is it because we live in a multicoloured world and hence the colourless voids stand out more. Is it more to do with the fact that the peripheral vision has a far greater number of rods than cones & hence gets triggered by black more easily. Which of course is a contradiction in terms, because black is caused by the absence of em radiation. My money's on this - while every other coulor is caused by the incidence of light, black is caused by the absence. This makes it unique, and unique stands out like a sore thumb.

A few years ago the RAF changed the colour of there trainer aircraft from bright red? (could have been yellow) to black. It made the aircraft far more visible.

Really though, at the end of the day, who gives a shit. Is it just me, or does anyone else notice that this is a perennial question? I seem to remember this topic getting put through the blender & then some a while ago...

Steam
16th June 2006, 01:33
I read in some bike magazine somewhere that some psychologist said something like "Black bikes and bikers in black leathers are most visible of all because your brain is constantly scanning for threats, and bikers like that look threatening and intimidating, and so your brain says "danger!" and you see it. Like recent research where you are shown a picture of 100 little photos of people's faces, and the face which most people immediately notice is the angry person's face. Interesting eh?

sexy beast
16th June 2006, 01:45
WOHOOO...Im painting my bike black. was thinkin of a new color scheme. black it will be!!!

SARGE
16th June 2006, 08:02
I heard that there is something that can 'attach' to your headlight circuitry that makes the light flicker (for want of a better term) either that or loosen the mounts so that the light 'rattles'...


its called a MODULATOR (http://kriss.com/#).. get them here..


they are not legal in NZ, but i have one on my FJ..

better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6