Riding at night

[dlapierre]

Anyone out there do much riding at night?

I picked up a bit of extra work lately and most of it is night shift. So, being budget conscious, I've been riding the bike to work. About 25 highway miles.

There is usually next to no traffic at night on this country highway, so all I really have to watch carefully for is deer eyeballs.

Of course I ride cautiously, and a lot slower, and the headlamps are now adjusted perfectly, but I've noticed I'm far more conscious of the way the bike sounds, runs, balances and generally feels under me when my field of view is limited entirely by the scope of the headlights. It has opened up a whole new level of appreciation, for me.

[JoeV11]

yeah, night riding is so much different - almost surreal - because you don't see anything outside the narrow beam of light. It's like riding in space, especially with the cooler temps. even city riding at night feels different, the color and angle of light changes the way everything looks, the traffic is less, the exhaust echos more. Of course that's what makes it difficult, not being able to see as much, or I'd do all my riding at night, in the summer, with a gorgeous blonde on back (one can dream, no?). Joe

[rocker59]

I like riding at night.

 

Definitely a different experience from the daytime.

[Guest V11RossoNigel]

Yes night riding, its brilliant, my wife always feels more relaxed at night. Over here in Britain there is so much trafic during the day, and so much distraction, the ride can sometimes be a bit frustrating. However at night less trafic, more relaxed and more dialed into the ride....I love it. Just could do with a little more forward punching light on the old V11

[Dan M]

I like riding at night too, always have. Seems to feel like the bike is faster. It is faster to a degree with typically cooler more dense air, but I think the sensation is mainly due to the reduced sight distance & cooler temps.

I do most of my daytime riding in the country, usually limiting city riding to commuting. At night it's a different story. Around town on a hot summer night with fewer cars around, it's a whole different world.

[Steve G.]

Anyone out there do much riding at night?

I picked up a bit of extra work lately and most of it is night shift. So, being budget conscious, I've been riding the bike to work. About 25 highway miles.

There is usually next to no traffic at night on this country highway, so all I really have to watch carefully for is deer eyeballs.

Of course I ride cautiously, and a lot slower, and the headlamps are now adjusted perfectly, but I've noticed I'm far more conscious of the way the bike sounds, runs, balances and generally feels under me when my field of view is limited entirely by the scope of the headlights. It has opened up a whole new level of appreciation, for me.

 

 

I like riding at night as well, BUT, the deer situation scares the crap out of me. Really an issue around Faulkland Lake where you are!!!

BTW, how do you handle the high population of Harley squidlies around where you are?

Steve

[Ouiji Veck]

Oh yea!! .....I really love riding at night.

Weather thumping around and letting the sultry

air of August caress me or really doing some fun

corner carving on familiar farm roads it's some of my favorite

riding. On the twisty back roads, approaching traffic gives you

a heads up with their headlights in the trees. It's like having radar.

 

I do miss having excellent illumination..(even after my headlight / relay mod.)

 

(The first time my CBR headlight bounced off a MPH sign it shocked me..really..

I swear that thing would melt a candle at 50 ft. )

[joe camarda]

One of my favorite night riding pleasures is riding in the winter "tulie-fog" here in the Central Valley (CA, USA). Tulie-fog hovers about 2-8 feet above the ground and the bottom surface is like a reflective cloud. Under such conditions the headlight's beam is reflected back down onto the roadway lighting everything up like a set of big PIAAs.

 

Its incredibly surreal to see the road surface stretching out before you with a solid silver cloud skipping by just inches above your helmet.

[dlapierre]

I like riding at night as well, BUT, the deer situation scares the crap out of me. Really an issue around Faulkland Lake where you are!!!

BTW, how do you handle the high population of Harley squidlies around where you are?

Steve

 

 

It's funny. You probably know the Falkland Hotel is quite a magnet for Harley tough-guy wanna-be's. It's the only bar I've seen where cowboys and bikers mix without fighting, much.

 

I guess it used to be a legit tough-guy biker bar, but I don't think anymore. You occasionally see what appears to be a tough guy, but the dead giveaway is when you see him with a soft ice cream in his hand.

 

The only remaining vestiges of what it once was is the sign in the parking lot that still says "horses and hogs only".

 

The other funny part is that the Harley tough guy wanna-be's seem to need to ride in gaggles.

[dabore84]

Has anybody installed xenon on their v11? Or thought about it?

[Dimitris]

Has anybody installed xenon on their v11? Or thought about it?

never tried on the V11. But I tried on the Breva. I kept the Xenon lights for 10 days. My eyes couldn't get used to the "whitey" color (although I use Xenon on my car). I had missed the classic "yellowish" sweet, light...

I also think that these classic/modern/retro-like bikes are not complimented by white lights.

 

Of course safery matters the most...