Night Riding

[sunhuntin]

Weird - I guess that would give you a scare. I can't think of anything out there so it may well have been oil.

Halcombe is sorta midway between bulls and fielding, sometimes I head out through Fielding to Halcombe (its sign posted as you mosey through fielding). The first part is pretty wide and looked after, but the corners are fun and i've never seen a cop out there. From Halcombe you can either head north and rejoin onto SH1 slightly north of bulls, or cut across to Mt Stewart(?) just south of sanson. Both ways there are some fun corners and it certainly adds a bit of interest to the otherwise boring ride. I wouldn't recommend doing it at night first time round, i've seen quite a bit of traffic at nights through there and most cars give it heaps.

yeh...it just sorta woke up me a bit....by the time i realised the back end had slipped, it was gone and all was fine. wasnt raining either, so dunno what it was.

ok, gotcha....havent been to fielding enough to know the roads yet....generally once i get into fielding i wind up getting lost, so spend the rest of my time trying to find out how to get out again. lmfao.

[grandpa_dave]

Night riding is pretty sweet on country roads although a little tip for those wearing tinted visors, even if you think you will be home before dark, on a long ride carry a clear visor anyway. You can usually fit them somewhere.
Had to ride from Thames back to Hamilton one night with my dark visor because a coro loop got started a little late and went a bit long.
The ride was slow and strenuous and I was buggered afterwards, although it was a learning experience and I am more confident at night because of it I think.

[buellbabe]

..Turn on headlamp. Ride as normal. What is so difficult?

I am constantly astonished by the number of riders and drivers who do not ride/drive at night: do not ride in the rain: do not ride in the wind : do not ride etc etc.
....

Yeah I agree, its pretty simple, ride to the conditions... I had a nightmare ride home from Whangamata one nite and the sole reason for that was because my visor was so scratched up that I couldn't see shit... if I pushed it up out of the way it was no better cos it was pissing down...
So as well as all the other excellent advice given I highly recommend having a pristine visor when riding at night...

[Unforgiven]

Up here in northland its not the way the bend goes thats the problem.
Its the bloody great pothole mid-corner that you dont see till the last second!

[petesmeats]

Night riding, for me way too dangerous tbh im always knackered come night fall......not enough concentration left in the ole headtop. I agree it is fun on a nice warm summers evening to have a nice blat having a laugh.....

Yeah i have the same problem but i have found that a point of P and im raring to go....

Na in all seriousness i find it quite fun riding in the dark... As long as i can layer up enough to keep the cold out.... Go up the Port hills and stop at a lookout and you get a good view of the city... Providing you choose the one day of the year that there is no smog. Only thing is watching out for boy racers up there ... Generally if i see people coming i slow down and make sure that im well out the way of them and leave my headlight on full beam.

As to riding with people coming the other way with headlights i use the left hand white line To help me know where i am on the road and generally just hug that.... And slow right down.

[sunhuntin]

ldnz...think i figured out what made my backend step out....went to porirua yesterday...you know that calico and creations thing on the corner there? its next to a turn off to marton, closer to bulls. that bit of road is very shaded in the morning, and it was wet yesterday....light enough to see this time. was wet the whole way through that corner....

[ldnz]

Ah yeah that will do it. Had a damp run through paikak hill this morning and Matt was bitching about sliding all over the place. Gotta be really careful in winter, thinking about where the sun gets to

[sunhuntin]

yep, that is true...i think some sections of road never truly dry out over the winter...they seem to be in shade almost all day. bein able to see the damp makes things heaps easier!!

paikak, thats down welly way? when is the corner they are redoing meant to be finished? [its on the 10k no passing bit of coastak road.]

[ldnz]

Yeah Paikak hill is the road thats runs from Paikakariki (sp?) across to Pahatahunui (again sp?). Its where (the only place?) 150cc 2strokes are king!

The bit of SH1 they are working on hasn't changed in a long time. Progress seems pretty slow, though I don't go past often enough to know really whats being done.

[sunhuntin]

Yeah Paikak hill is the road thats runs from Paikakariki (sp?) across to Pahatahunui (again sp?). Its where (the only place?) 150cc 2strokes are king!

The bit of SH1 they are working on hasn't changed in a long time. Progress seems pretty slow, though I don't go past often enough to know really whats being done.

havent ridden that hill...must get on to it one day when ive got time to mess around on new roads!!

[slopster]

I love night riding. Go out in the early hours of the morning and there is no traffic. I've got two 50 Watt halogen spotlights mounted on my helmet with velcro. They are wired to the high beams on a relay so that they only go on with the high beam. They are excellent on windy back roads because they point exactly where you are looking and allow you to look around the corners where the headlights don't point. Only problem is they start creating a lot of drag at 160 and hurt your neck at 200.

[Zapf]

I've got two 50 Watt halogen spotlights mounted on my helmet with velcro. They are wired to the high beams on a relay so that they only go on with the high beam.

Is this for real?

[ldnz]

i'd love to see a pic of that! I don't think my bike could power anything extra, and its headlight is remarkably good. But wow, to have 2 extra halogens....

Sunhuntin - gotta ride that hill sometime, its just sooo much fun!

[sAsLEX]

Anyone know where I can get night-vision goggles?
Some new cars have a night vision head-up display now, the goggles would be great as long as you don't turn your head at 160 plus.

No they dont! They have infrared which is different!

On my XLV750 I mounted twin driving lamps,I could reach down and pivot them out to give a better side view and see deeper into corners than the headlamp - pity the electrics couldn't cope with the drain.

You could always rewind the stator with a bit heavier wire and a few more turns!

Think this could be a bit heavy, you would probably need some sort of gyroscopic mechanism considering the constant leaning in and out of corners as well.

Gyros are getting rather cheap these days, alot of cars already have them in them, plus the system would not need to be too heavy with the actuators acting on the reflectors within the headlight arrangement rather than moving the whole thing it would only weight a few hunred gramms all up! Not much on a big tourer thats likely to get something like that!

[sunhuntin]

i'd love to see a pic of that! I don't think my bike could power anything extra, and its headlight is remarkably good. But wow, to have 2 extra halogens....

Sunhuntin - gotta ride that hill sometime, its just sooo much fun!

your only 45 mins away from me [depending on head wind, lol] should make a blast down that way one day...could be interesting.