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Well I was just thinking about how I ride and it seems I don't ride much after sundown, I can only think of a few times and I did not enjoy it. so how may riders ride at night? give a % I will say Im 10% or less night time riding.
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Veni, Vidi, Posti
Honda CTX 700 DN Automatic Motorcycle
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Posts: 5122 Location: Naperville, Illinois |
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Veni, Vidi, Posti
![]() Honda CTX 700 DN Automatic Motorcycle
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Posts: 5122 Location: Naperville, Illinois |
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I have ridden at night only once on my BV 500 and it was not a relaxing experience.
The single headlight has very little illumination and once I got on a unlit stretch of road, it became quite apparent that the headlight was not of the same strength as a car headlight. So I could not see that far ahead and that bothered me. I think I could do it in a pinch, as long as there were street lights, but I avoid it since it is even harder to see scooters at night. |
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Hmm.. Well, considering that this time of year, it's light out for 90% of the time I'm awake, I'd say 10% or so.
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Hooked
2007 px200 1968 rally 180 1960 Li150 s2
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Posts: 426 Location: melbourne |
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i work night shift so i am riding minimum 5 nights a week. i really enjoy it in the summer but being winter at the moment its not that enjoyable i find myself speeding a lot because i just want to get to my destination faster so i can warm up.
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Here in the arctic, at the moment, the sun doesn't set...Not even at night... So there is no problem riding at night, just fewer cars around. I'd say that in summertime, perhaps 30% of my riding is at night.
The last two photos in this thread are taken after midnight: A trip into east iceland (lots of photos) However, come winter, the sun barely rises...And that's not as much fun. |
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![]() 2010 Dragon Red GTS 300 Super, 2018 Grigio Titanio Piaggio Liberty S 150
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Posts: 16296 Location: Toronto, Canada, Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
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I love riding at night on a warm summer evening, too bad I don't recall a single warm summer evening yet this summer. I'd way 30% of my riding is when it is dark out. I start work early in the morning and most of time it is pitch dark out most of the year except during the summer. As well, I get home very late on Thursdays so again I ride in the dark.
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Molto Verboso
![]() 2016 BMW R1200RT & 2007 GT200 & 2020 Vespa GTS SuperSport 300 HPE,2024 Honda ADV 160
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Posts: 1669 Location: LOS ANGELES |
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I don't know percentages but I commute to work daily so I do ride at night leaving work. Or random other trips. Like Drew said, it is summer now so it doesn't get dark as quick. But when I am riding at night I like to have reflective gear on.......see......me......
although I now pretty much wear hi viz daily now |
Addicted
![]() GT200, Honda GB500, Honda CB400, Honda C70 Passport, 1999 Harley Dyna, 2002 Suzuki SV650s
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Posts: 695 Location: New Orleans |
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Recently I took the Vespa to a night time business meeting and was shocked on how dangerous it was with all of the pot holes and cracked pavement we still have in New Orleans 4 years after Katrina. Less then 2 percent of our streets have been resurfaced. Oddly, these are the same roads that I travel doing the day time so I was surprised to realize that I must spend a lot of time concentrating on dodging road obstacles. Which if you think about it, takes you away from watching other drivers.
Scary. |
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Here in Pima County, road maintenance sucks. Potholes and sand drifts from washes that can be seen and avoided during the day are not as visible at night, especially with the marginal headlights on my scooters. I ride for fun, and if I don't enjoy it, I don't do it!
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Ossessionato
![]() Kymco P250 Now, P200E in the 80's
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Posts: 3908 Location: Antelope, CA, USA |
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I replaced the bulb in my headlamp with a 55/65 watt bulb and I enjoy riding at night. I always wear reflective gear so I know my body can be seen. It is also cooler and when the daytime temps are over 100 degrees is a refrsshing break.
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Hooked
BV250 & Aprilia scarabeo 250
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Posts: 295 Location: Hollywood, Md. |
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I like to ride at night, but I don't do it as often as I'd like. I can't get my husband to ride at night due to deer in the roads.
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Warm summer evenings are the absolute best time to ride in my book. Riding after dark presents its own set of challeges, sure, but it gives me no more pause than driving a car at night (or walking at night, for that matter).
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Ossessionato
![]() PX150 Serie America, T5 Classic, Harley Iron 883
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Posts: 2396 Location: Minneapolis, MN |
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I would say I ride at night probably about 30% of the time. I live in the city and do most of my riding here so it's never really dark and feel a tad more noticeable by other cages now that my lights are actually illuminating something vs in the daylight.
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I ride at night all the time coming home from work late. Not a problem really. Well lit areas for the most part.
I did do a dusk ride last night around the Los Altos hills and saw a LOT of deer. One of which crossed the road about 20 yards in front of me. So I'll probably restrict my night riding to town and city. Don't want to smack into bambi. |
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Hooked
2013 Yamaha Majesty / 2008 Vespa GTS (sold)
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Posts: 329 Location: Emporia, KS |
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Hooked
![]() 2013 Yamaha Majesty / 2008 Vespa GTS (sold)
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Posts: 329 Location: Emporia, KS |
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I love night riding around town in the warm weather but will not ride on the hiway at night...too many critters out and about, and I can't see the road surface in front of me. And I really hate the increased number of bugs pummeling my body. I commute and work nights once a week, so I'd say 10% of my Vespa time is in the dark.
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I'd say approx. 13% riding at night. My first time riding at night I was lane splitting and it all seemed sureal and I was on edge. As I got off the freeway and onto a remote road I was very happy with the level illumination that my head lights provided and checked out the high beams and combinations of the two. Though they are very good I will upgrade to HID. My longest night trip was from the Bay Area to Carson City for a job walk in Reno the next morning. I went from sweatin' my ass off in Sacromento at 89 degrees to darkness in the foothills and freezing my ass off at the summit at 43 degrees with somewhat inadequate attire. Night riding is very fun though.
Mike |
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Ossessionato
Had 2 2006 GTS 250ie's
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Molto Verboso
Kitted ET4.
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That would be me. "vampire night rider". I dig the zen aspect of riding at night and just "chilling out". Especially with it being cooler at night...
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![]() 2010 Dragon Red GTS 300 Super, 2018 Grigio Titanio Piaggio Liberty S 150
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Posts: 16296 Location: Toronto, Canada, Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
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I forgot to mention that with my Xenon headlight, I feel I can see so much better at night than with the scooter's standard halogen light. The only negative about warm summer night riding is the bugs.
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austrALIEN wrote: i work night shift so i am riding minimum 5 nights a week. i really enjoy it in the summer but being winter at the moment its not that enjoyable i find myself speeding a lot because i just want to get to my destination faster so i can warm up. |
Ossessionato
![]() 01 ET2 - 01 ET4 -- 05 GT200L / 05 PX150 / 1986 Honda CH150 Deluxe.
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I leave for work at 4:15 am when I ride the PX, 5:00 am when I ride my GT, so for the most part. I ride about 40%-50% of my scooter time in the dark. The headlights on both the PX and GT are more then enough.
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I often prefer riding at night
and I teach at night, so I scooter commute at night I have covered my black scooter (& my helmet) with reflective decals so that I will be seen Old pic of reflective decals, glowing in the flash: ![]() |
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Refletive = Safety
Reflective is good, I have some 3M superblack tape to place on my scoot after I color sand and buff it out. For the most part I don't ride to work since my day or night shift is a 12 hour shift so I tend to want to relax and unwind on my drive home.
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mjm50cal wrote: I'd say approx. 13% riding at night. I couldn't say as a percentage, but I do like night riding. I know people on the other side of the pond get scared by moose and other big animals (and rightly so, by the sounds of it), but I'm not so worried because the largest thing you'll probably hit over here is a fox or badger. The light on the Super seems to be perfectly adequate, although I would prefer it if a high beam also had the lower dipped beam - as it is I either have it dipped and pointing just in front, or on high and illuminating the distance, which means there's an area that's not so well lit just in front of the scoot. It is possible to put the switch so that they're both on at once, but that's not ideal |
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50% of my commute is at night...the going home part.
Other than the commute, I usually don't ride after dark...but mostly because I just don't have much reason to. It's OK along roads that have at least some level of lighting, which is true of my commuting route. But with the weak candlepower of the ET4 headlight, roads with no lighting can be a bit nerve-wracking. I enjoy my night commute much more that the day commute. The weather is cooler, the traffic is much lighter and less frantic, and I feel more like I am "riding" than commuting. It can be a relaxing end to my work day. 8) So, night riding in the city and the burbs...I'd happily do that, um, all night. ![]() Tips. Make sure your face shield is as scratch free as possible. Just because your face shield looks clear in daylight doesn't mean it's good for night time. A lot of micro-scratches can virtually white out your vision when hit by approaching headlights. Be prepared for rain for the same reasons. Raindrops can turn into a thousand sparkling jewels in oncoming headlights making it hard to see. Use Rain-X and have something to handy to wipe the rain off when you can. I always dress a bit warmer at nights. That refreshing cool air sometimes gets a bit too refreshing as the hours pass. If I'm departing in the sunshine, I always take a warmer sweatshirt or something in case the night time temperatures make it necessary to add a layer.
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Gobshite Shiva
![]() Kymco Downtown 300i the 'Dolphin Noise'
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from november through march at least 50% of my riding is at night because i don't leave work until after dark. in the depths of winter it's dark when i leave for work in the mornings as well.
the rest of the year .... no idea what the percentage is but not all that frequently |
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Molto Verboso
2007 LX 150 & 1969 Sprint Veloce
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Posts: 1070 Location: Orlando, FL |
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Molto Verboso
![]() 2007 LX 150 & 1969 Sprint Veloce
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I didn't like riding at night at first. I didn't even have a clear visor for my helmet until I was scooting for about 3 months. Now I don't think about it, I like night riding as much as in the daytime but its all in the city. There is one street near my house though that has street lights that have a weird effect on my visor. I don't care for night riding on that road.
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I ride at night all the time. Granted it's New York City so the "dark" of night here is not exactly the "dark" of night a lot of members here might be experiencing...
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Night Riding
Love it. Especially since I discovered Nexus Spray for Visors. That stuff doubled my night vision.
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I've ridden at night a few times. Percentage over the year is likely to be less than 5.
I do enjoy it and would like to do it a bit more. It's a nice feeling in a strange way, probably fear combined with alertness and the joy of riding (like being on a roller coaster but being in control). It's a bit scary, especially when zooming up an A road at around 50mph or more on an ET4. It's interesting seeing a silhouette of yourself on road signs because the of the vehicle behind you. I did find my sense of speed altered the first time (traveling faster than I thought I was). |
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Beer Fairy
GTS-"Cannonball Bettie" Member Iron Butt Association
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Posts: 851 Location: Seacoast New Hampshire USA |
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Beer Fairy
![]() GTS-"Cannonball Bettie" Member Iron Butt Association
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Night riding is really cool, literally. In New England the cool nights may be in the 50's or 60's and a nice cool break from the sometimes humid heat of the day. I grew up riding a MTC at Night in Vermont and the cool nighty air brings back good memories.
Beware of Deer,Skunks, racoons etc... oh yes and the bugs are worse. I enjoy the glow of the instruments and the lack of "traffic" |
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No big deal to me. I've been riding scoots since 2001, and have never owned a car. I generally try to get most of my riding around during the day, but if I need to, I have no issues going out at night. Just don't do it that often now because around here, anything worth going to closes about 8pm.
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Banned
50cc Black 2009 Honda Ruckus White 2010 Vespa GTS 300 Super
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Posts: 482 Location: South Cenral Maryland: Washington DC area. |
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Banned
50cc Black 2009 Honda Ruckus White 2010 Vespa GTS 300 Super
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Posts: 482 Location: South Cenral Maryland: Washington DC area. |
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80 to 90% at night. well its more like really really early mornings and really late evenings. but it's still pitch black most of the time. it changes in summer though because we have daylight savings so I ride home during daylight.
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Hooked
![]() '73 Primavera 125 / '05 Stella/ '63 150GL/ '80 PX150E
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Posts: 413 Location: Atlanta (Decatur), GA |
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Belkwinith wrote: The single headlight has very little illumination and once I got on a unlit stretch of road, it became quite apparent that the headlight was not of the same strength as a car headlight. . |
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gregt wrote: I absolutely love riding at night! |
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here in Jakarta with traffic fucking jam better for night rider
...and agreed with: L from Jersey wrote: I often prefer riding at night and I teach at night, so I scooter commute at night I have covered my black scooter (& my helmet) with reflective decals so that I will be seen Old pic of reflective decals, glowing in the flash |
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I enjoy riding at night on occasion, maybe about once per week. I do limit my night riding because it's rural around here, and there are lots of things that like to cross the road at night...coyotes, possums, skunks, etc. Tonight I ran over a snake on the way home. It's difficult to identify possible hazards at night, and to react to things you can't see.
⚠️ Last edited by CafeMoto on UTC; edited 1 time
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I love riding at night and so quite often. I've been trying to come up with a good scheme for reflective tape for my BV500 but haven't yet. I had one on my Reflex that looked great but the BV is harder. I have HJC Windlights on both of my helmets - they need to come up with one with a capacitor so it continues to blink at stop lights.
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