Reflective Vests - Do They Shit You ??

[Gosling1]

I ask the question because they shit me to tears.

I'm sorry, but if anyone feels that they need to wear a reflective or 'Hi-Vis' vest while riding a motorcycle, in order to feel 'safe', then they should really question wether they have the bollocks to be riding in the first place.

The biggest problem I have with these fucking abominations is simply this - Sooner or later, some dipshit politician will introduce legislation to force all riders to wear one, in order to make us * more visible*....

ie - the onus of responsibility will fall on the riders, not the car drivers.....

"....sorry your Worship, the rider was not wearing a Hi-Visibility vest, therefore I did not see him....."

Do you see where I am coming from here ? The onus of responsibility to see a motorcyclist lies with the driver - ie ' Have a look you dickhead !!!'

The reality is that I have seen a lot of these wankers lately, and I have considered pulling them over to ask why the fuck they need to wear one of these shitful poxxy fluoro vests !!!

Don't get me wrong, I have no issue with reflective 'piping' on jackets, hell my old Rivet winter jacket has reflective piping on it.

Its the complete "Look At Me I am a Complete Loser Moron who can Only Feel Safe in a Reflective vest" wanker look that I despise......

Don't give me any crap about 'learners' either, thats a huge cop-out. When you are on the road, the little 'L' plate on the back doesn't matter a zot for 'visibility'.

The best look is basic black. It presents a solid mass of contrast against the background in daylight conditions. At night you could be wearing a g-string for all that matters, your lights become the visible points of reference to drivers.

Well, thats my anger management plan completed for today

[javaman]

Paint the bike white and wear blue shirt. I think they'll all look

[Nanna10r]

So whats your take on A hi Vis Reflective Whife Basher & matching boardies" Gos ?.
I dream of the day Squids go "pocketprotectory" .

If a vest gets some poor "pussy whipped barstarge" the option to ride, I say cut him some slack. As he either feels like a tool (but is happy to be riding) or has no idea he's a tool & deserves our sympathies anyway.

[MrStompy]

Gos for prime minister
Seriously mate - im hearing ya.

its about time the drivers took some responsibility for their driving rather than us having to look like cocks to make it easier for them.

why should we feel we have to dress like knobs so they can "see" us easier. maybe if they opened their eyes or got off their phones they might notice us.

[Ratmick]

Apparently Ulysses organised rides have the leader, tail-end charlie and corner markers all wearing them, supposedly so the rest of the riders know who to follow. Surprisingly some of the riders are new to the game and probably need all the help they can get.

I wore one last year when supporting the 'Around The Bay In a Day' Bicycle Vic ride. Good for the cyclists to know that the fluro-clad motorcyclists were the people with first aid kits...

...they do look naff though .

Seriously, unless we all ride buck naked or wrap ourselves in two tonnes of armour plated steel, fluro singlet or not the wankers aren't going to see us anyway.

[Lone Wolf]

I understand if they're squidding to work on a construction site wearing hi-vis shirts (I do that), but wearing vests just to be seen??

[Gosling1]

.....If a vest gets some poor "pussy whipped barstarge" the option to ride, I say cut him some slack.....

Nope, I cut no slack. If he can't (or won't) ride without a vest, then no ride at all. He should grow some balls and buy a leather jacket......I have a real bee up my arse about this, mainly due to the ever-increasing numbers of nobs I see riding around down here, all looking like a rolling advertisement for 'Working Gear' !!

.....I wore one last year when supporting the 'Around The Bay In a Day' Bicycle Vic ride.....

OK, well that may have some merit. Its an organised large ride, you guys are specialised ride-day pilots with first aid kits, and perhaps its warranted under those circumstances. Its not like you wear it every day on your way to work.....which is what *really* irritates me.....

.....but wearing vests just to be seen??

Yes, thats it. Squidding while on the way to/from a building site is nothing new, and in most cases its a Hi-Vis shirt anyway, I have no issue with this.

Its the Hi-Vis vest over a leather or textile jacket that is the issue. And only because its entirely likely that some fuckstick pollie will think 'what a great idea', and before you know it, we will all have to ride around looking like some type of shining fluoro cockwart, and 'bingo' if you don't comply, well of course its entirely *your* fault when Joe Driver runs over you because Heh, you weren't dressed for the occasion.......

[photomike666]

I'm in the vein that we, as riders, need to make ourselves more visible. How often do you see a guy in black leathers riding a black bike at night.

I understand that the SMIDSY excuse is poor, but these dipsticks pull out in for of cars, busses and even semi's without seeing them. What chance do bikers have? I have personally had two bikes written off in such circumstances, and consider myself lucky to walk away from either of them, let alone both.

I would like to see reflective piping standard on leathers, and perhaps even in bike design. I see the fluro as poor fashion and no way neer strong enough for regular riding - but with the repression bikers get due to fatalities, perhaps too much visibility is better than not enough?

[ZZR KWAKA]

I personally dont ride in normal conditions with a High Vis Vest on.....

But do carry one in my Back Pack should I have to ride in heavy rain.....
Purely just because the rain makes us riders a fair bit harder to see, and also I am not experienced at Rain riding so I need all the Visability I can.....

[Chuck]

Just be glad it's not law to wear them ....................yet

[mick_dundee]

Wish I had one when coming back from the vic alps tour given that it was night and seriously pissing down, my real problem that night however was not BEING seen but being able to SEE myself wtf the road was...

Once we got back to civilisation it wasn't so bad, could navigate by the cats eyes. but the Melba hwy might as well have been some bush track for all the lighting it afforded.

[smek]

I'm sorry, but if anyone feels that they need to wear a reflective or 'Hi-Vis' vest while riding a motorcycle, in order to feel 'safe', then they should really question wether they have the bollocks to be riding in the first place.

they usually dont! If you see a hi vis vest it means get past this guy and leave the area. He'll ride slow (with the cars, right where they have the opportunity to knock him off), he'll be unable to lanesplit properly and all while wondering what else he can do to stop these cars that are all around him and keep changing into his lane.

[mike-s]

Driving in the US it was immediately apparent to me that there was a lot more "driver responsibility" there, sure they may have raving cockflanges running around with automatic firearms. But at least on the road everyone seemed responsible to stay the hell away from everyone else.

Bar ONE metric cruiser rider, the only reflective vests i ever saw were on truckies and constructioni/road workers. Aside from the top & bottom 10% (who were rediculously fast or slow), everyone, and i mean EVERYONE drove/rode to the conditions, even if it meant to do 80mph in a 70mph zone.

I only ever saw one squid in the entire trip, and he was riding to a hotel along sunset boulevard in North Hollywood and was riding a R1, so it was a bit of a given he had only jeans and a hoodie to protect him.

Seriously in most ways we are better than the US (say EPA over there and get met with a blank gaze), but when it comes to autonomy and self responsibility on the roads, etc.. we are significantly worse than america.

The only place i saw a number of speed/redlight cameras on nearly every corner was Beverly Hills, but aside from them being a law unto themselves, i saw under a handfull in the way of speed cameras over there, but there was a decent police presence on the major arterials, which i'll give credit for.

I mean i'd rather a cop pull me over and tell me on the spot if im driving/riding unacceptably (hell if they are looking for general stupidity as opposed to sitting behind a lidar/radar all the better) than caching, finding out 2-4 weeks later that my license is a smouldering pile of plastic.

The roads over there are chaotic, but its at least ORGANISED chaos. People here have absolutely no fuckin idea how to drive by comparison.


one last thing, i could tell as soon as i got off the plane that i got back to oz, it was the *worst* airport experience i had in the entire trip with "root" "brothel" and "no skills in organising" coming to mind. Closely followed by nearly missing an international flight due to dumbassed americans complaining we were in the wrong line (when they were)

*takes a breath*
anyway, you get the drift, apologies for the rant.

[Barrabob]

I wear a high vis shirt these days to work and nobody has tried to run into me since i started doing this...posties do it too and it must work for them.

I tried to get a vest but they where pretty ordinary, I wanted a solid one with a zip and they had these terrible things little better than a rag with velcro tabs mostly to wear over my wets which are black for riding down the freeway at night so i look like the michlen man lol.

Gos on a bright sunny day for riding up the hills I would say you can look out for yourself no high vis required but if you have a tendancy to blast the freeway in the wet and dont really use the lanes that are supplied for the cars or tend to say fark it i will just ghostrider it you want to have a good chance that some bird in a huyundi thats applying makeup while sending text messages and driving will see ya before she changes lanes.

They are optional but a handy thing to pack just under the wets for mine.

[Neka79]

aww carn gos chill out brother.... i kno wot im sending u for ur bday!!