Being seen and keeping safe at night. Looking for ideas or suggestions.

[DoubleZero]

I work midnights so I do around half of my riding at night. I have to go through a couple seemingly endless construction zones too.

I want to upgrade my headlights on my Firebolt to HIDs using the DDM 35w kit. My gear has some reflecting piping sewn in. I added some reflective tape to the back of my helmet (in the shape of the crest from Twilight Princess).

I wouldn't mind getting a reflective backpack. The Icon Squad 2 backpack looks nice but is a tad pricey.

In the sake of being seen I thought about adding axillary LED lights on a toggle switch to the bike, but I can't get the squid-ish nature of those lights out of my head. It would definitely make me more visible though.

What do you do to help be seen? Any suggestions?

 

[kman2061]

I work nights as well ride home at 230 in the morning everyday. I have the piping on my jacket, the DDM kit on my bike, but I also have a reflective belt that I strap around my backpack.
Reflective belt

 

[Zeroflat24]

honestly i have a buddy with a R1 with some blue LED lighting on it. i myself hate the idea of it, but it does make his bike insanely more visible. i am going to put something on mine also, just for the sake of safety. obviously they will be turned off 500 feet before i turn into the bar

 

[2004xb12s]

In the sake of being seen I thought about adding axillary LED lights on a toggle switch to the bike, but I can't get the squid-ish nature of those lights out of my head. It would definitely make me more visible though.

You will definitely be more visible. And they are squidish if you take the strips and stick them directly to the undertail or the fairings. I have all of my strips hidden so that all you see is the glow from the lights. I have friends that stick them directly to their undertail and it looks ridiculous. I post pictures of the placement of mine if interested but it is a lightning.

 

[upthemaiden]

I wouldn't spend the money on a new bag just because it's reflective. You can go to jo-ann fabrics or any craft store and pick up a roll of reflective material for $3 and sew it along the edges of your bag. You can also get reflective tape and put it on your bike like on the undertail, swingarm and wherever else you can find. They even make black tape that glows at night so if you put in the effort it would barely even be noticeable in the daylight and would glow at night.

 

[2004xb12s]

They even make black tape that glows at night so if you put in the effort it would barely even be noticeable in the daylight and would glow at night.

Reflective Rim tape. the one guy on here looks like his bike is from TRON it is so cool.

 

[Iamarchangel]

Scotchlite comes in many colours.

I like the black. It's not there in daylight and does the job at night.

Think stealth cop car.

 

[J_Undisputed]

You can be fairly low key with the reflective tape. Use it on my helmet even though it had built in LED's in the back. They have sew on fabric on that does the same.
Black/Gray with the flash off the Camera, White with the flash on the camera.

 

[DoubleZero]

You will definitely be more visible. And they are squidish if you take the strips and stick them directly to the undertail or the fairings. I have all of my strips hidden so that all you see is the glow from the lights. I have friends that stick them directly to their undertail and it looks ridiculous. I post pictures of the placement of mine if interested but it is a lightning.

I looked over the bike and I didn't see anywhere to easily hide LED strips. For the sake of entertaining the idea I'll take any suggestions.

I wouldn't spend the money on a new bag just because it's reflective. You can go to jo-ann fabrics or any craft store and pick up a roll of reflective material for $3 and sew it along the edges of your bag.

That's what I'm thinking at the moment. That Icon looks nice in general but my old Jansport is still in one piece.

Reflective Rim tape. the one guy on here looks like his bike is from TRON it is so cool.

I've considered that too. I'd read, though, that rim tape can screw up the finish on the rims if you ever try to take them off. Until I read more I'll keep that idea stored away.

I've looked into the flat black reflective tape. I haven't found it anywhere close but there's always Amazon.com.

You can be fairly low key with the reflective tape. Use it on my helmet even though it had built in LED's in the back.

If I get a new helmet I'll end up doing what you did. Looks great, btw. But for now I have a Bell Sprint. When I bought it because out of the ones I could try on at local shops it was the best mix of fit and price. I'm not thrilled with the looks, but it's not horrible either. Adding some visible tape over this helmet doesn't bother me much.

 

[jakestolar]

Wear a reflective vest.
I also have a reflective belt that is ALWAYS around my book bag if I carry it

 

[J_Undisputed]

If I get a new helmet I'll end up doing what you did. Looks great, btw. But for now I have a Bell Sprint. When I bought it because out of the ones I could try on at local shops it was the best mix of fit and price. I'm not thrilled with the looks, but it's not horrible either. Adding some visible tape over this helmet doesn't bother me much.

Thanks. I originally wanted the crusader version of my helmet. It was discontinued so I just bought flat black with the idea of getting my own designs on it. Airbrushing and clear coat was damn expensive so I kinda of went gothic and tape crazy with it. I will admit even though its a year old, I want more color now and looking for something brighter. I may got the other way now and start with an Icon Hi Viz Orange helmet and do something with non reflective tape.

 

[RT Performance]

Don't be hating my squidish Tron Bike gotten in the killboy highlights with it twice.......Cherry Followed me one night and was like holy crap you look like a giant blue ball going down the road.
Only been hasseld about them being Blue in Wisconsin.
Ridden plenty in nc and mi without an issue and though Tenn. KY, IN as well.

Noi reflective rim tape but this is what i been working on tonight

I do have the 35watt ddm tunning kits in the 1125 and xb9r money well spent but i get flashed brights alot of well at least they see me.

 

[DoubleZero]

Only been hasseld about them being Blue in Wisconsin.

My first thought was to add blue lights since my 03 XB9R is white with Hero Blue rims. A quick peek into Indiana laws says that blue lights are reserved for volunteer fire fighter vehicles (or something like that). So if I did do it I'd go with white.

Cherry Followed me one night and was like holy crap you look like a giant blue ball going down the road.

Sounds like a good endorsement to me.

I do have the 35watt ddm tunning kits in the 1125 and xb9r money well spent but i get flashed brights alot of well at least they see me.

Might be a dumb question but did you re-aim them after you installed the kit?

Your pics remind me that I really want a white and blue 1125R.

About the making my backpack more reflective I have a lot of inch wide reflective tape left. I might try to sew that onto the backpack and see how it holds up. The plastic of it seems strong. If it holds it'll only cost me some time.

 

[McMurphy]

Check out the vinyl decals that Matter makes, it's a sticky on here somewhere.

Ordered mine in white reflective, look plain white until the light hits, then they become a brilliant white. Good way to increase intersection visibility. Besides that, there's a recent DIY thread about mounting turn signal lights in the passenger peg mounts.

Besides that, reflective vest, and a reflective PT belt around any bags works good.