safety vest

[paul]

a friend of mine gave me a vest sort of like the one in picture. i must say what a difference riding to work, cars gave me a lot more room. not sure if they thought i was the police or what. it may look goofy and i look like the great pumpkin riding down the road but i like it, deciding factor was when got to work the guy working in the tower said he saw me a mile a way and was wondering what it was. try a vest someday and i am sure you will get one, i am old and a crash would not be good

 

[paul]

just rode home from work and same thing, people were in no hurry to pass me and gave me lots of room, amazing the difference the vest has made

 

[MotorBicycleRacing]

Add the word POLITE on your vest for more impact.

 

[Rudz]

I bet the fact it's one letter away from the PO PO has nothing to do with the "polite" attention

 

[2door]

Now, you don't have to wear a tie with that vest do you? I don't do ties.

Tom

 

[xseler]

Now, you don't have to wear a tie with that vest do you? I don't do ties.

Tom

I could possibly do the tie ---- dashing in a modernesque Red Baron kinda way.... Now a cumberbund is definitely out!!

 

[paul]

shorts and tshirts are all i ever where. i do not even own a tie any more. its the proper attire for the caribbean, i am serous though, some reason it was completely different with the vest, i have to wonder if in the past they did not even see me till they got right up on me. neighbors and wife had fun, they called me the great pumpkin and my wife told them no it the great bald pumpkin. i get no respect lol.

 

[2door]

If Paul and I rode down the road together, with no hats or helmets, we wouldn't need vests. Our heads would reflect enough that drivers would see us.

But, alas, I wear a helmet so I suppose I might have to look into a vest like his. It certainly couldn't hurt to be more visible. But I'm not wearing a tie with it.

Tom

 

[BarelyAWake]

...first capes & now vests: http://youtu.be/oqk2qqhunp4 >.< well, at least it can't get caught in the spokes lol

 

[CTripps]

I've been a fan of the vest for a while. Living here in the lower mainland, I consider it required because we have so many immigrant, poor and bad drivers here, many of whom range from really bad to absolutely incompetent in skill level (but don't worry, they can bribe the officials at the licensing offices in Richmond and get licenses.. without even the ability to read the word STOP on a sign).

I have a mesh vest, it's pretty ragged so I replaced it with a "Sash Vest" similar to this one. Same effect, less material.

 

[paul]

i have put over 100 miles on my motorized bicycle since wearing a vest, in the past every time i rode i had some get a little to close or cut me off ect, if you ride on the roads you know exactly what i mean, since wearing the vest i have not had anyone come close to me or any scares. i have to wonder if before they were not seeing me or the vest is a big caution sign or they think i am a police man, try a vest and it will make your biking experience that much more fun and safe

 

[knightscape]

I've been riding with a vest lately too after a couple close passers. I call it my "Don't run me over, Bro" vest. I initially got it for riding my regular pedal bikes around with my 2yr old. She rides in a seat mounted in front of me so people don't see that I have a kid with me till the are right next to me and I especially hate close calls with my kid onboard. Anyway, been using this:
http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_167907_-1___204706
It fits close without a lot of bagginess, which is real nice while motoring. Doesn't flap around even when bombing down a hill at 40mph (no kid on board for that, LOL). I regularly see it on sale, I think I got mine for like $6 by just keeping an eye on the current price.

 

[apex]

I got one from harbour freight, and I wear it if I'm on the bike at dusk or when its dark.
I also have a bright orange backpack that goes with me whenever I'm on the bike, and I put a bright blinky red light on the back of it.

 

[CTripps]

It's surprising how much farther away a blinking light is noticable from than a "steady" light is. I have a pant-leg wrap strap that has red LEDs in it that blinks across the back of the beast's rear basket, and a "be seen" front light that blinks as well.

 

[Henshooter]

I use 8 lights on my cruiser ,one is a steady front beam for my vision ,then two that flash white on the handlebars to attract attention two flashing led wheel reflectors that give me noticeable side vision and a rear red light that has a 40 mm round lens that also shoots a beam sideways and can be seen from up to 500 metres away and a simple small led kit for lighting up my speedo at night and a flashing red light that clips to my riding bag

Yes it may seem to be a tad excessive but in my oppinion the More lights I use the better chance of being seen and the somewhat less chance of being hit or cut off
Surprisingly this many lights doesn't take into account some idiot texting on his/her phone rather than paying attention to the road ,that's where my soon to be delivered 200db air horn comes into play

Regards Henshooter

 

[Dan]

A vest is a great idea. Had an old lady pull up next to me once and yell at me for "Looking like a stump" She said this a lot and even though I did not see her before, I think she almost ran me down. She was very agitated and had a point. It was fall (in CT.) and I was wearing brown Carharts and a brown leather MC helmet. Almost camouflage that time of year.

A MC helmet makes a huge difference in the way cars act, so I can only imagine how much a bright orange vest would make.

Not a fan of HF (any more) but this one is really cheap; http://www.harborfreight.com/garage-shop/apparel/reflective-mesh-vest-3604.html

 

[Henshooter]

I've also been looking at getting one of these vests ,they have removable flashing led strips in them and you can be seen from miles away ,yes their a tad pricey but when it boils down to it what is ones life worth .

A small trick I've learned is I have a shirt with built in lights ,essentially it lights up when a beat or tune is detected and the light colour is blue ,somewhat of a raving t shirt

All our police here use blue lights ,imagine the brake lights I see when riding with this shirt at night flashing bright blue lol

Regards Henshooter

 

[knightscape]

Henshooter, something for you to check into for your locale: Blue lights flashing or otherwise are illegal in a lot of places specifically because they are used by cops. For example, here in Maine, blues are illegal altogether on any vehicle or bike, and reds may only face rear and not flash on a motor vehicle. Tickets can be pretty steep for violations on those here. Can also actually go with criminal charges rather than simple violations too if the cop is in the wrong mood.

 

[Henshooter]

Henshooter, something for you to check into for your locale: Blue lights flashing or otherwise are illegal in a lot of places specifically because they are used by cops. For example, here in Maine, blues are illegal altogether on any vehicle or bike, and reds may only face rear and not flash on a motor vehicle. Tickets can be pretty steep for violations on those here. Can also actually go with criminal charges rather than simple violations too if the cop is in the wrong mood.

I've looked into it here and because it is a registered product article of clothing it's well within the law ,also many vehicles here have blue undercarriage lights as well as small blue led,s fitted at the wipers water squirters so from the looks of it they are completely legal to have in this state .

I see your concerns though ,get a cranky cop and impersonating a police officer charges can land one in the lockup for quite some time.

That's why I'm going to use the vest ,I've looked further into them and for $45 au I can get a vest that has 2 banks of 3 red led's on the back with 3 settings being solid , all flash or top to bottom flash , it also includes the same for the front in white that has the same settings ,can be seen from over 1200 metres front and rear ,so essentially when I'm done I will look like a motor bicycling Christmas tree lol

Regards Hen

 

[Greg58]

Paul this is all your fault, we were at harbour freight this past weekend and my wife started eying the safety vests. She insisted I buy one, she said if I was going to ride around wearing goofy looking DVR sunglasses I should complete the look with the vest! It may be because I've been talking about doing the multi-camera video thing, I can just imagine what I'd look like with a camera facing forward on my helmet, one facing backwards the sunglasses and this vest.

 

[Dave31]

Been wearing a vest for years, I'm noticed more not only by vehicles but also pedestrians. Vehicles give me more room when passing and are more courteous.

I too was made fun of at first for wearing a vest, but I also was made fun of for riding a motorized bicycle at first too. No one makes fun of me for riding a motorized bicycle anymore.