WOF question: Rear reflector

[SMOKEU]

If you are the same, ask if the vtnz insurance covers any damage caused by them when riding your bike (I doubt it does).'

If they binned my bike I would expect them to pay me for all the damages no questions asked, obviously.

[Urano]

he thinks / thought SMOKEU is / was taking the piss

thanks st00ji !!

the most difficult part for me is always understand what is the error...
i now think i've made a mess with the consecutio temporum...

he doesnt care about his rear light or reflector, since most cars dont see him anyway. hes more interested in being able to see THEM so he can avoid them. he includes a calculation of unknown origins to explain what i presume is his minimum desired visibility range or similar.

you got it right...
but the calculation is not of "unknown origin".
the origin is quite simple: your stopping distance changes with the square of the speed.
so take the "hundreds' " number of your speed... let's say you're at 100 kmh, the number to take is "1".

then square it: 1^2 =1

now take a hundred meter and multiply for what you've just got: 1 x 100= 100 meters.

this is is the range of visibility i'd like to have while i'm at 100 kmh, 'cause at 100 kmh i'll pass over 30 meters of tarmac every second and considering that my stopping distance is more or less another 30-40 meters, we obtain that cruising at 100 kmh with a 100 meters of visibility gives me 2 second to decide what to do in case of problems.

which, i think, it's pretty fair.

a hun meters is also the minimum i'd like to have, because even if i'm slower this is a good distance to understand the "movements" of everybody around me: if i'm at 50 kmh with 30 meters visibility it could be sufficient, but i prolly won't see the intersection at 40 meters and so i cannot deduce what the person in front of me is going to do at the intersection...

if i'm faster, then, example: 150 kmh ---> 1,5^2 = 2,25 ---> 2,25 x 100 = 225 meters of visibility desired...
and so on...

you could say "and why you don't apply the "intersection part" in this case?".
simply because i'm not going to pass through an intersection at 150 kmh ever...

those thoughts are valid at the same while you're looking back. say you're cruising at 100 kmh with someone behind you at the same speed and at a constant distance: if for every reason you are going to slow down, and he doesn't see your red fancy rear light, he will iron you on the ground in about 4 seconds. keep that in mind...

i hope this is clearer

[Owl]

As I am not insured for anyone else to ride my bike, I refuse to allow them to ride my bike. If you are the same, ask if the vtnz insurance covers any damage caused by them when riding your bike (I doubt it does).'

You don't have a clause in your policy allowing mechanics to test ride then?

[_Shrek_]

Being private property, do they really need any kind of licence (legally)?

I have serious doubts that some of the VTNZ guys that do bike WOFs have a class 6 licence. I've seen one VTNZ WOF inspector nearly crash my bike twice in one WOF.

just finished checking up on this & they must hold a class 6 to be able to issue WOF other wise they are unable to do the all test that is required for bikes & they can't get someone else to do it because they don't have their VTNZ authority

so make sure they have a class 6 as your insurance will be void, so that means that your WOF is not actually legal

[marty]

You don't have a clause in your policy allowing mechanics to test ride then?

Why would I pay for someone else to ride my bike? That's what bike shops have liability insurance for.

This is not about mechanics - it's about VTNZ inspectors who are not working on the bike, but inspecting it.

[_Shrek_]

Why would I pay for someone else to ride my bike? That's what bike shops have liability insurance for.

This is not about mechanics - it's about VTNZ inspectors who are not working on the bike, but inspecting it.

but they still need to test it!!!

[Motardman]

You can just use reflective tape if a plastic reflector offends your eyeballs, I use a small strip instead of a reflector and it also looks kinda cool too

[SMOKEU]

You can just use reflective tape if a plastic reflector offends your eyeballs, I use a small strip instead of a reflector and it also looks kinda cool too

The dude just failed me again, because apparently the reflector was not mounted securely to the bike. FFS, they keep on coming up with excuse after excuse to fail it. The guy said reflective tape is not counted as a reflector.
He also said the reflector has to have an approved number on it, but there is no minimum size. So I'm going to cut up a reflector with a hacksaw to make it as small as possible, while still keeping 'the number' on it.

[Motardman]

The dude just failed me again, because apparently the reflector was not mounted securely to the bike. FFS, they keep on coming up with excuse after excuse to fail it. The guy said reflective tape is not counted as a reflector.
He also said the reflector has to have an approved number on it, but there is no minimum size. So I'm going to cut up a reflector with a hacksaw to make it as small as possible, while still keeping 'the number' on it.

WOW that's harsh, sounds like a fuckwit, unlucky mate

[SMOKEU]

WOW that's harsh, sounds like a fuckwit, unlucky mate

If the government is really serious about this, they should at least introduce a minimum size of the reflector. A 3mm square reflector isn't really going to increase safety, even though it may well be legal.

[imdying]

The guy said reflective tape is not counted as a reflector.

That's true...

He also said the reflector has to have an approved number on it

That's not true though....

but there is no minimum size

That's sort of true... it must be visible from 100m away, so too small and it won't pass that criteria.

.So I'm going to cut up a reflector with a hacksaw to make it as small as possible, while still keeping 'the number' on it.

Don't do it


It's in the VIRM, section 4.13, print out the page and confront him with it.

[SMOKEU]

I'm confused. I'll tape on a push bike reflector to the bottom of the number plate.

[98tls]

Fwiw i just bought a pushbike one,cut it in 1/2 and stuck in on,never had a problem.

[bogan]

It's a stupid law then, seeing that I'm legally required to have my lights on at all times while my bike is being operated on a public road.

I believe the law on lights refers to DRLs (daytime running lamps), which are front lamps only as far as I can tell. Mine just has indicators always on at a lower brightness and I leave the headlamp off, not actually sure if the tail lights come on as well, but I'm fairly sure it's not a requirement.

[_Shrek_]

The dude just failed me again, because apparently the reflector was not mounted securely to the bike. FFS, they keep on coming up with excuse after excuse to fail it. The guy said reflective tape is not counted as a reflector.
He also said the reflector has to have an approved number on it, but there is no minimum size. So I'm going to cut up a reflector with a hacksaw to make it as small as possible, while still keeping 'the number' on it.

why don't you just take it to another vntz they only have to see the reflector