Hi Visabily clothing & the Police

[raymond]

E

 

[raymond]

Eric I thought about the same thing, but after doing some research, there are some that have had problems with the high vis fading. I'm not taking the chance and going to buy the olympia high vis vest to compliment my motoport gear when the group buy finishes, that way I can take the vest off before I walk into a pub and try and blend in a little with the crowd.

 

[johnny80s]

I would get the black with the hi viz stripes. They can add as much striping as you want.

We are having a group buy on Motoport gear this month. Clicky here to sigh up and get 10-15% off.

By the way Iggy is 83 he is not pretending to be old.

 

[rickcorwn]

Maybe the LEOs like the hi-viz stuff better. I always thought that wearing all the extra gear showed that you were more concerned with safety and that most LEOs would recognize this. Several years ago I'm on my way to work riding through town, small 4th ring suburb no city police just a few County coppers. As I ride past one stopped in a strip mall parking lot I'm wearing a full 'stich, MC specific boots, gloves and a full face modular helmet. Also I'm on my old Pacific Coast which has a full sized real windshield. Here in Minnesota there are no helmet laws and most riders around here don't bother with helmets much less all the other gear I'm wearing. A couple of stoplights down the road the Sheriff pulls along side of me and says "where's your eye protection?". I point to my windshield. He says "that law changed last year" I flip down my modular helmet and he drives off without a word. If I'd been in a speedo and $1.98 sunglasses after dark with loud after market exhaust he wouldn't have said a thing. Go figure :blink:

 

[saltywheels]

Eric, I either wear a Motorad (BMW) black & grey jacket with all kinds of reflective tape or a Fieldsheer one piece suit with reflective areas. BUT I always top that off with a hi-vis safety vest, with velcro points to attach to the main gear. Shoulda got the hi-viz I guess, but this works just as well. It also allows me access to Military bases that require a hi-viz safety vest.

 

[MojaveFJR]

+1
Another point is the Po-po thinks dudes all decked out in spiffy ATTGAT on baggers are probably old fahts (kind'a like us), so they tend to leave us alone and go look for some young squids doing wheelies on liter bikes or raging 1%'ers on ratted out Hardleys.

BTW - I hear that HiViz ATTGAT is what the really, really old fahts wear.

Besides, it has "bags" how fast can it really go and how good can something like that handle?

My "adult repsonisble" bike the feej is.

 

[majicmaker]

The mention of ATGATT and the police got me thinking. The motorcycle cops here in AZ do not appear to wear much protective gear. During the summer it is short sleeve shirts,and the pants look like regular uniform pants. I hope the pants have some armor,or at least kevlar. Are the bike cops in other states as unprotected??
Mike

Other than a bullet proof vest? In FL, Yes they are!!

 

[Bungie]

If I'd been in a speedo and $1.98 sunglasses after dark with loud after market exhaust he wouldn't have said a thing. Go figure :blink:

... and you know this ... how?

 

[user 213]

Oh what the heck, I'll just offer that it varies by location if you get pulled over more or less with Hi-Vis, as well as how you ride. I don't care for being "selected" out of traffic because the Hi-Vis caught the eye of the LEO.

Almost all the LEOs wear shirt sleeves and street pants in warm weather, because they are allowed to. The 'I stop a lot' excuse is just that, an excuse. They crash too. And get hit too. And have people left turn in front of them too.

Back to the Hi-Vis topic. I used to wear a hi-vis jacket, but after getting two tickets while wearing it, the *only* tickets I'd ever gotten on a bike up to that point, and having both officers tell me because they picked me out visually, I got the ticket, I changed back to a black jacket. If you're more visible to other traffic, you are also more visible to LEOs. The good with the bad is all.

I never rely on others seeing me anyway, so for me, it has worked out just fine. I get the 'cop bike effect' too, because the LEOs here wear black jackets with the same reflective stripe across the back in the cooler months. That and the white helmet, big bike, unknown square thing on the back, (fuel cell).

Just my take.

 

[zip]

BTW - I hear that HiViz ATTGAT is what the really, really old fahts wear.

I'm 44, Fred, rendering me a virtual child on this relatively vintage forum!

I think the hi-viz is really unattractive, but I have two jackets - an Olympia mesh and Fieldsheer solid. As Ignacio mentioned, I can see it making it a difference every single day I ride with it in the way other drivers notice me. I would never ride into Boston without. There are more a-holes on the road there than anywhere in the country. I would consider riding more rurally without it.

I do notice that cops notice me more, too, though no ticket so far.

Neither of my jackets after a year of use have faded perceptably.

Barry

 

[rickcorwn]

If I'd been in a speedo and $1.98 sunglasses after dark with loud after market exhaust he wouldn't have said a thing. Go figure :blink:

... and you know this ... how?

That speedo gets me outa more tickets...

 

[FjrVfr]

Eric,

Seriously - if you're considering Hi-Viz equipment (which I thoroughly support), you may want to consider another vendor. See fading problems here.

Good luck,

-FjrVfr

 

[Old Michael]

Just stay out of Napa. These shitards don't give a phuck what you wear or what you're doing, they're gonna write your *** up.
JMHO.

Mark

Damn.

Thound like thumbody just got a tickie.

 

[johnny80s]

I was in the Motoprot showroom today. There was a Black Jacket with Hi-Viz Reflective Stripes and it looked great. The stripes won't fade as they are made out of a reflective plastic type substance not kevlar. Wayne said he can as many stripes as you want on it and the pants. Call him.

I am loving my new gloves and gear.

 

[Mooseonagoose]

Since my next clothing purchase will likely be a Motoport/Cycleport get-up and their Hi-Viz seems to have a rep for fading, I'll probably stay with my habit of using a light Hi-Viz vest that's cheap to replace when it gets raggedy. I do however, definitely believe Hi-Viz has absolutely positively saved my butt more than once. Had an officer give me a thumbs up for being visible rather than 'cool' while beside me at a stop sign one warm day. Also a person who identified themselves as a safety inspector comment enthusiastically on how far away they could see me in heavy traffic. So, ...I don't think I'm about to stop using Hi-Viz items on my person or on my bike anytime soon...

I also had an experience years ago with a kid walking down the shoulder of the road just where I was beginning slide over to make a right hand turn. Luckily I was slowed down for my pending turn, he and his buddy were in full "grunge" garb, dark formless figures, hoods up & and hands in pockets, shuffling down a dark unlit road on a moonless night. Had it not been for the reflective dot on the heel of the one kids sneakers [which you could only see about every third step thanks to his low baggy pants], I would most definitely have clobbered both of them! Really woke me up to the viability of reflective gear!

 

[eg23232]

We have Cycleport kevlar/armor jackets and pants for work. Black with the retroreflective striping, hi-viz on the sides of the jacket and arms. We didn't go with all hi-viz mainly because it gets dirty and shows it really easily. If you look closely, you can see where the patches would be. We went with velcro so we can pull off the patches, badge, name, and emblem on the back and use the gear outside of work. Folks at CFR may remember me as I wore this during the rally.

When we really want to be seen:

 

[Bungie]

When we really want to be seen:

My god, thats the biggest helmet I've ever seen.

 

[zip]

My tupence, here:

I think the vests are way better than no hi-viz. But I would also suggest that the shoulders and arms on the hi-viz jackets add about 70% more visibility. A vest might be obscured a bit by the faring and top case if you have one, or even the rider's profile - it's much less visible from the side, where it'd seem you'd really want to be seen.

I've also been researching day-glo helmets, too, but just haven't seen one that I love yet. If they made the Multitec in it, I'd buy it tomorrow. Saw a guy on a another, unidentified sport tourer the other day passing the other way on the freeway with an excellent, candy lemon/lime-green helmet. Very cool, highly visible, and a bit less dorky than the full-on day-glo.

 

[cota95]

+1
Another point is the Po-po thinks dudes all decked out in spiffy ATTGAT on baggers are probably old fahts (kind'a like us), so they tend to leave us alone and go look for some young squids doing wheelies on liter bikes or raging 1%'ers on ratted out Hardleys.

BTW - I hear that HiViz ATTGAT is what the really, really old fahts wear.

Fred, I take exception to that 'old fahts' comment...

 

[cota95]

Here is what I wear-Tourmaster jacket- I glow in the dark.