Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Riding Technique Night Riding

Switching to 2nd shift Monday 3:30 pm to Midnight..which means I will be doing a lot of night riding this season, not somthing I do a lot of..any safty tips or advice?

Watch out for deer and keep the shiny side up. There is really not much difference except you won't see the little imperfections in the roadway like daytime.

put yer lights on .seriousley tho i think that ridin at night is one o the best feelins ya can have on a bike. not too much traffic hopefully.just be careful of night creatures fox's, cats, dogs drunk drivers. not tryin t put ya off just be a bit canny

When I was young, I loved riding at night more than anything. Cool night air, less traffic. A stupid deer took a lot of the fun out of that! Another thing. As a person gets older, his night vision/perception gets worse. Get the best light that you can!

Hmmmm. Slow down for one thing. Dont ride faster than your Angel can fly. Good advice anytime but even more so at night.

Its tough to see potholes in streets running at night. Some of the Tucson thoroughfares are in bad shape now pothole wise and I have managed to hit three of them in darkness and two were absolutely bone jarring at about 40 miles an hour. I am glad I was not doing sixty.

I ride often through native Sonoran desert country at night and in very early morning so ....its pigs (Javelina) and deer especially just before and at daybreak and again at twilight. I try to resist the urge to throttle up and have some fun in the twisties at night but most of the time my survival instincts rein that in.

I've been on that shift for about, oh, 26 years now. I'd have to count the rings under my eyes to be sure...

Most of the important points have been mentioned above.
Here's 2 more..
Make sure you have enough gear with you. It gets cold after the sun goes down.
Make sure you have good eye protection and keep it clean. You will be amazed at how many bugs there are and also how many asshats won't dim their lights....

It ain't very sexy, but consider wearing a reflective vest. I've done some commuting on I 80 in the early morning hours through Sacramento, CA when 90% of the traffice is large P/ups heading to the BA. They're crazy and in a hurry. The vest can be seen when the tail lights are barely visable. There are many on the marekt designed just for motorcyles

I was surprised how much brighter the light bar made my night driving. I never did much before I bought the America, and I bought the light bar because I liked the way it looks, but the first time I used it at night, I was stunned by how much of a difference it made.

Also, +1 on the reflective vest. Not super cool, but you know how cages complain they can't see us in teh day time...

Keep track of road repair reports if they are in your local news. Once, when I was commuting some 80 - 90 miles a day, I was riding to work on a pitch dark night. Came around a bend and found that they had put down a fresh layer of blacktop a few miles long on I-5 over the weekend. I was in the middle lane in it was a section that had no bank on either side, so I couldn't see a thing. I slowed way down and eased over to the side far enough to be able to follow parallel to the dirt along the edge of the pavement.

A couple more thoughts to ponder...

I don't know what kind of distance you'll be riding or what kinds of roads you'll be on, but obey all the laws! Speed, stop signs, traffic lights, etc.
You'll be coming home when the gendarmes are starting their shift, and it usually ain't the 20 year veterans who get stuck on the night shift... it's the Barney Fife types - anxious to use their one bullet.
And, the amateur drunks are also out around that time. The professionals don't hit the roads til 2-3 a.m... and when you are out on one of those warm, low-traffic, moonlit nights where you just aren't ready to go home yet, it's good to be off the road before the professionals emerge.