bike color and safety

[nostatic]

I presently have an orange bike, and have tended to gravitate towards bright bikes for safety reasons (LA traffic is nasty). I have a yellow helmet and red on my jacket too...anything to help being seen. I'm looking at used MTSs and have run across a couple of black bikes that are well modded at a decent price. For those with black bikes, do you feel invisible to traffic? Or when parked? Or do you think it makes a difference?

[widebody911]

I have three words for you: "oozing technicolor ejaculate"

[BGCarrera32]

Red spandex, pink top.

[widebody911]

Originally posted by BGCarrera32
Red spandex, pink top.

...sulphuric acid to rinse my retinas...

[pbs911]

Anything bright will attrach attention, obviously. That said I ride a black bike (lots of chrome,) don't go out of my way to wear bright colors, and wear a flat black helmet. But I have very loud pipes.

I felt invisible to traffic in my P-car. The only vehicle I ever felt others in traffic took notice of is my lifted F-150.

[madmmac]

It is usually side street and on coming traffic that get you, usually during the day. Go with the pulsing headlight and the led helmet mounted brake light at night.

A blowup doll bungee corded and facing backwards gets you noticed from the rear during the day.

I really don't think bike color matters.

[motion]

You gotta ride like you're invisible - You gotta assume they can't see you. If you learn this fundamental reality, you will be much safer on your bike.

[vash]

think about what you see when you are driving. loud colored bikes dont make much difference to me.

what i do see are those new moving headlights and flashing taillights.

[Don Plumley]

Todd - the problem is you are too short. If you were tall like me, people would notice you on your bike.


Oh wait, I got that backwards. What Widebody said. Borrow Richard's wig. Be careful out there!

[Joeaksa]

Agree with Motion.

A very good friend of mine had a Ford Bronco, one of the first series. Idiots on the road ran into him twice. He got pissed off and painted it day-glo green. Three months later a drunk on the highway ran into him.

Funny thing is that the idiot then took him to court trying not to pay for the damage. My friend took a picture to court with him. When the idiot's lawyer said that the vehicle was small and hard to see, my friend held up a photo of the Bronco, glowing day glo green.

Case dismissed, pay the damage!

Ride like you are invisable. Best thing I can think of for safety other than the bright helmet is a headlight modulator to keep it flashing. I sure see it and hope that the other drivers do as well.

Joe A

PS go with the 1000 model. Torque, especially while "two up" is a good thing and the 600 will not have much.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by motion
You gotta ride like you're invisible - You gotta assume they can't see you. If you learn this fundamental reality, you will be much safer on your bike.

so Richard you vote bike color doesn't matter? I do ride assuming that no one sees me. On the trip back from Vegas quite a few cars decided they needed to be in my lane at the same time as me. But I was able to anticipate and either accelerate, brake, or just slide over.

Hmm....this bike is pretty attractive:

http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/mcy/145547607.html

but this works too:

http://www.craigslist.org/nby/mcy/145145924.html

i think the 620 will feel slow after awhile. I was just surprised by the torque. My present bike has about 100hp...the 1000 mts is 92. the 620, 63hp.

[Joeaksa]

Big difference in price and both look nice. What is the mileage on the cheaper one? Its not listed but either look good.

[arcsine]

From the front or back, there is not much paint to see on most bikes to make much difference. Bright helmet and some sort of visibility on the jacket, high beams on (with illegal 100W high beam bulbs) at all times during the day and assume everyone is trying to kill you. Keep the eyes moving and always try to have an "out". That kept me accident free for 10+ years of Seattle traffic.

The only other trick I can offer is for cars coming out from side streets, look at their wheels and not the driver. Driver may be looking right at you and not see you but if their wheels are rolling, they are coming for you.

PS. Go for the liter bike.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Big difference in price and both look nice. What is the mileage on the cheaper one? Its not listed but either look good.

4100 miles on the red one, 7000 miles on the black one. The red will be due for valve adjust in 2K, black in 5K. The black one has a LOT of mods, including the slipper clutch which is desirable and not cheap. I wouldn't necessarily do all the carbon fiber he's done, but the clutch, open cover (loud clutches save lives ) and pipes I likely would.

[Noah930]

(loud clutches save lives )

heh heh
Spoken like a true Ducatisti. Go Capirossi!

I don't think the color of the bike makes much difference to cagers. When they do the dreaded left-turn-in-front-of-you maneuver, they have no idea what color your bike is. Maybe a headlight modulator or riding on highbeams helps, though.

I do think that helmet color (and maybe jacket color) help a little. I've been told by cagers that I've passed that the thing they saw when I zipped by them was my yellow helmet. And when I ride at night, I make sure my gear has reflective patches or piping on it--my wife has told me that I'm a lot more visible compared to other bikers out there.

[Noah930]

nostatic,

How much are the mods on the black bike worth to you? $1700 more? How much would you use/need a slipper clutch on a MTS, anyway? And neither bike seems like it's an "S" model with the Ohlins suspension. I wouldn't shy away from the black bike due to the miles (as long as it's been taken care of and hasn't been thrashed). But if it were my money, I might lean towards the cheaper, lower mileage red MTS. Of course, I just bought a (used) bike with a slipper, so maybe after I pick it up in a couple weeks and try it out, I might change my tune.

[nostatic]

The main attraction of the slipper is that they are supposed to make the clutch pull a little easier. Riding in SoCal traffic that can be quite a bonus.

I'm easing my color restriction based on input here and elsewhere. I have a bright yellow helmet, and my jacket is black with red. Another suggestion was to find some bright stickers and put those on the bike. Not sure about that, black isn't the end of the world colorwise. Plus the MTS looks pretty good in black.

I actually wouldn't do most of the carbon fiber mods. Well, except Termi CF cans. I'm more of a titanium guy. But carbon on a black bikes works ok for me...doesn't look garish. I have to talk to the owners and see which I get a better vibe from. The $1400 I save on the red one would pay for new pipes, and I can slowly mod exactly how I want. But black is beginning to grow on me...

[Noah930]

The main attraction of the slipper is that they are supposed to make the clutch pull a little easier. Riding in SoCal traffic that can be quite a bonus.

Ah, I didn't think of that. I was thinking of the bangin' a downshift MotoGP/WSB-style application of the slipper. Again, no FHE with them...yet.

Don't know where the black MTS guy is getting his $15K OTD price from. Is that the going rate for a new MTS in SoCal? I have a friend who just bought a new black MTS "S" with Termi pipes for less than that.

[nostatic]

he's figuring full pop for the bike ($11,995) plus freight plus prep plus tax plus retail on the mods. But we all know that mods don't add very much to resale.

not sure if the aftermarket slipper affect clutch pull. I know the main purpose is to do essentially "rev matching" when you cook a downshift, but the wet slipper clutch on the 620 has very light pull.

[motion]

To the best of my knowledge, a slipper clutch won't affect your clutch pull feel at all. They're designed to take the load off of the engine/drive during hard downshifting. For example, when I track my Ducati 998, aggressive downshifting will lock up the rear wheel, causing loss of control. The rear end starts to come around to the front. The slipper clutch prevents the rear wheel from locking up.

Anyways.. like Noah says, the dreaded left turn in front of you can't be prevented with any bike color.

I do like the loud clutches save lives idea, though Ahhhhhhh, the sound of a rattling Ducati clutch. So sweet.