atgatt +1

[Horse]

For the first few weeks of having a learners and a motorbike, I was just wearing black. Then I bought an orange hi-vis and have been wearing that over the top ever since.

And the one thing about wearing the the hi-vis that I noticed the most:

Other bikers wave back to me less often.

(mwahahahahaha: the wave thread never dies......)

[jrandom]

Over Christmas, I have grown fat(ter) and scant(er) of breath, so I am riding in my jeans until the weather cools and my gut shrinks (magically, of its own accord, of course) and my leather pants once more become a comfortable option.

It's amazing how much heat the cooling fins on a GSX1400 throw off in traffic.

[vifferman]

It's amazing how much heat the cooling fins on a GSX1400 throw off in traffic.

I bet. The rear headers on the VFR have a similar effect on one's right leg. No way you'd ride one of these in shorts if you had any sense.
And the bit I like is the fan: when the temp hits 106, the fan kicks in, and sucks air from the outside, through the left radiator, then back through the fairings.
Actually, it's not as bad as Triumph's take on the Sport Tourer; the early 1050 Sprint STs were renowned for hotness.

[vifferman]

Don't blame me for the subject or the camerawoman.
Note the difference between the photo of the jacketcote without the bib and the ones with: the centre leather panel has been zipped off to allow nice, kewleeen air (and zorst fumes ) to blow across/around my hirsute chest.
And note the second pick chur: see (behold!) the downcast look - the vifferbabe made me stand in the corner, facing the wall.
Strangely, both those "Photo by the vifferbabe" shots lean to the west...
I must measure her legs tonight - her right one may need stretching, or a piece tacked on the end...

[Pwalo]

[QUOTE=vifferman;1379510]Whelp, I've just recently replaced my 'formerly red' Teknic jacket with the all-black Macna one, so my gear is once again all black, with the exception of the black/blue/white/silver helmet. When I first bought the Teknic, one positive aspect I noticed when wearing all black was the Intimidation Factor. When wearing the Teknic plus ghey yellow/silver/black/white Spidi Pro-1 gloves and a white helmet, I got less respect from other motorists than when I wore all black leathers, gloves and a black/gold/silver helmet.



Yes it's a bit bizarre, but I've noticed that people seem to give me less grief after I replaced my race rep helmet with a plain black one. It doesn't make a lot of sense.

I think next time I'll get a plain white helmet, and wear a reflective bib. One of the guys I work with does, and reckons it's really good when he's commuting on the m'way. Can't think why.

[jim.cox]

I think next time I'll get a plain white helmet, and wear a reflective bib. One of the guys I work with does, and reckons it's really good when he's commuting on the m'way. Can't think why.

A mate of mine in London used to ride an old white BMW R Clacker.

It was ex some euro-police dept and had "POLITE" written in blue on the big white fairing so that it showed correctly in a rearview mirror.

He reconned it was a great "safety" feature and that motorists really did take notice of him.

[Hitcher]

I am convinced that wearing a fluoro vest would significantly inhibit my ability to pass through plumbers' vans at a sub-atomic level.

If I seriously thought that they made any significant difference in positively improving the average cage driver's appreciation of and consideration for bikers, I would wear one in a heartbeat.

Otherwise I put them in the same category as middle-aged men in lycra and chubby teenagers with low-riders, muffin and arse-antlers (if driving a car I would have to fight the urge to swerve and exterminate, such being my heightened sense of good taste).

[jim.cox]

If I seriously thought that they made any significant difference in positively improving the average cage driver's appreciation of and consideration for bikers, I would wear one in a heartbeat.

I wonder about fluoro vests causing "target fixation" by giving drivers some thing to aim at.

And at them inducing the "six-foot tall and bulletproof" syndrome in the wearers

[vifferman]

I wonder about fluoro vests causing "target fixation" by giving drivers some thing to aim at.

It's kinda funny then that Transit was rumoured to be considering making them compulsory. Apparently, flashing brakelights are illegal for that very reason.

And at them inducing the "six-foot tall and bulletproof" syndrome in the wearers

Well, I am six-foot tall, so I don't have that part of the syndrome at least (thinking I'm bigger'n I yam).
In fact, I found that wearing the thing made me feel vulnerable in the sense that being more noticeable, the other yoix on the road were more likely to notice any miscreant behaviour, so I rode more carefully.
There's no way I'm relying on it to cast a "Ring of Invulnerability" about my person, and I also have no intention of wearing it every day.

I have engendered some brownie points with the vifferbabe for wearing it, so that's a Good Thing.

[Number One]

Don't blame me for the subject or the camerawoman.
Note the difference between the photo of the jacketcote without the bib and the ones with: the centre leather panel has been zipped off to allow nice, kewleeen air (and zorst fumes ) to blow across/around my hirsute chest.
And note the second pick chur: see (behold!) the downcast look - the vifferbabe made me stand in the corner, facing the wall.
Strangely, both those "Photo by the vifferbabe" shots lean to the west...
I must measure her legs tonight - her right one may need stretching, or a piece tacked on the end...

Bugger no bling...good on you with the vest. Looks great to me, definitely not toooo ghey I'd wear one and might just look into something similar for commuting myself. As for the photo captions I wish Vifferbabe luck with her measurements - might be ending up with an extension....

[Number One]

arse-antlers.

Enlighten please...is this like whale tail?

[Hitcher]

Enlighten please...is this like whale tail?

"Arse-antlers" are those mandatory tattoo thingies that young things have roaming across the smalls of their backs. I presume there is some clip-art in Girlfriend magazine that they can refer a tattooist to for this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_back_tattoo

[Number One]

"Arse-antlers" are those mandatory tattoo thingies that young things have roaming across the smalls of their backs. I presume there is some clip-art in Girlfriend magazine that they can refer a tattooist to for this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_back_tattoo

oh yeah I get ya...know them as runways - then you did miss whale tail another swerve worthy fashion crime on the wrong bod.

[Hitcher]

oh yeah I get ya...know them as runways - then you did miss whale tail another swerve worthy fashion crime on the wrong bod.

I thought that they were "albatrosses". Such is life.

[Horse]

If I seriously thought that they made any significant difference in positively improving the average cage driver's appreciation of and consideration for bikers, I would wear one in a heartbeat.

Times up:

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.

From: Motorcycle rider conspicuity and crash related injury: case-control study

More details:

Objective To investigate whether the risk of motorcycle crash related injuries is associated with the conspicuity of the driver or vehicle.

Design Population based case-control study.

Setting Auckland region of New Zealand from February 1993 to February 1996.

Participants 463 motorcycle drivers (cases) involved in crashes leading to hospital treatment or death; 1233 motorcycle drivers (controls) recruited from randomly selected roadside survey sites.

Main outcome measures Estimates of relative risk of motorcycle crash related injury and population attributable risk associated with conspicuity measures, including the use of reflective or fluorescent clothing, headlight operation, and colour of helmet, clothing, and motorcycle.

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). No association occurred between risk and the frontal colour of drivers' clothing or motorcycle. If these odds ratios are unconfounded, the population attributable risks are 33% for wearing no reflective or fluorescent clothing, 18% for a non-white helmet, 11% for a dark coloured helmet, and 7% for no daytime headlight operation.

Conclusions Low conspicuity may increase the risk of motorcycle crash related injury. Increasing the use of reflective or fluorescent clothing, white or light coloured helmets, and daytime headlights are simple, cheap interventions that could considerably reduce motorcycle crash related injury and death.

Note - I haven't read the full paper, I'm not an advocate for the authors or anything. But in studying for my learners in November I remembered the 37% figure, I'm sure it appears in the Road Code for motorcyclists or something - searching the net turned up this paper which I suspect is the source of the claim.