Night time riding getting stressful

I started riding in Winter last year so I much prefer riding at night than during the day, never had any issues with it, much nicer than the annoying sunlight and I can actually see my sat nav too.
That being said I ride in Central London which pretty much all very well lit.
 
Today's weather and this thread has made me realise winter isn't that far away :(

I can cope with the dark, and I can cope with the wet. It's when it's dark AND wet - that is truly horrible conditions to ride in. You can't see anything becuase every 3rd car has dazzling lights, combined with a visor full of water droplets.

25th October is when the clocks go back and it's dark by 5:45pm, which is about when I leave work. 11 weeks away, boo!!! :(
 
TallPaul_S said:
Today's weather and this thread has made me realise winter isn't that far away :(

I can cope with the dark, and I can cope with the wet. It's when it's dark AND wet - that is truly horrible conditions to ride in. You can't see anything becuase every 3rd car has dazzling lights, combined with a visor full of water droplets.

25th October is when the clocks go back and it's dark by 5:45pm, which is about when I leave work. 11 weeks away, boo!!! :(
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Yeah that's around the time I leave for work although what gets to me is leaving work in the morning and seeing all the frost on the cars and wondering how slippery its going to be. Wasn't too much of an issue when I was on 3 wheeled scooter but now I'm on a bike it's gonna be a bit scary. Plus I need to invest in heated winter gear, last year I just had heated gloves and they aren't enough.
 
Yeah, I've never enjoyed proper night time riding. Feels like you can't look through / round corners, bright car lights, etc. Then you get ice and rain on top of that :( Not looking forward to winter. Luckily my commute isn't long, but still not nice.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys/girls :)

I do wear glasses so I think that don't help with the lights.

Been trying to look more on the left and does help a little.
On unlit roads s it so hard to see it feels like a game of Russian roulette :(
And would be 1000 times worst if it's raining or fog at night.

I think I will get my eyes tested again see what they say.
 
Its nice actually,riding at night esp round the city centre,I do understand about unlit country roads though
 
And what size bike do you ride? You comment about unlit roads makes me think it's something old or small capacity, which won't have great lights.

On my evening run back from Hastings at 9pm the other night, almost completely dark, through wooded roads, high beam was brilliant - could see loads. My old 125 had a terrible headlight, couldn't see much at all.
 
I used to really dislike riding at night, I'd barely be able to see while riding at night unless I was following someone or had my full beam on. I looked into getting better lights etc but ended up investing in a new helmet instead as my visor was in pretty bad condition. Helped a lot and now I really enjoy my nice quiet peaceful rides home.
 
I don't ride in the dark much but yeah meeting a HGV with tons of lights in my face on an unlit country S-bend was pretty lame. Clean visor helps a lot.
 
Night riding is fun in a bigger city with barely any traffic, but yeah at night I nearly had a high side at 60mph+. It was scary and I slow down to 40-50mph on 60mph roads, so I can see what you mean. If I could, I would have taken M25 instead of going on A roads...
 
Sorry forgot to say I ride an XJ600 2001 and has the factory lights.

Riding last night seemed better I was looking more to the left side white line that helped a lot.
 
I used to hate night riding as i felt i could never really see the road in front of me, i tried brighter bulbs but none seemed to actually make any difference. I then retro-fitted a HID projector into my headlamp housing. It has a nice crisp beautiful cut off which i have aimed so it doesn't blind people and I don't get flashed, but also has enough distance for me to comfortably ride in. And the high beam, opens up above the cut off and the brilliant white light is fantastic to drive through so much clearer than the yellow dim glow from bulbs.

Oncoming vehicles though, i just cant handle the dazzle in some conditions, but just slow down till I'm comfortable then speed up once passed.
 
ConTRo13R said:
I used to hate night riding as i felt i could never really see the road in front of me, i tried brighter bulbs but none seemed to actually make any difference. I then retro-fitted a HID projector into my headlamp housing. It has a nice crisp beautiful cut off which i have aimed so it doesn't blind people and I don't get flashed, but also has enough distance for me to comfortably ride in. And the high beam, opens up above the cut off and the brilliant white light is fantastic to drive through so much clearer than the yellow dim glow from bulbs.

Oncoming vehicles though, i just cant handle the dazzle in some conditions, but just slow down till I'm comfortable then speed up once passed.
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Which bike did you fit HIDs to?

Was it easy?

I've been caught out staying at my GF's in London a few times and I have no issues on light A roads/Motorways but the smaller country roads in rural Bucks/Oxfordshire are awful, barely able to see at times and I don't even have an old bike (2010).
 
benji182 said:
Which bike did you fit HIDs to?

Was it easy?

I've been caught out staying at my GF's in London a few times and I have no issues on light A roads/Motorways but the smaller country roads in rural Bucks/Oxfordshire are awful, barely able to see at times and I don't even have an old bike (2010).
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CBR 600 F3 1997, the hardest part was making a clear lens for the headlight.
 
ShakenNstirred said:
Get yourself checked over, there is something called Night blindness
(nyctalopia) is the inability to see well at night or in poor light.
what are you like off the bike at night, see ok ?

unlikely but you never know
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Even plain old short sightedness (myopia) can get quite a bit worse at night because your pupils open up which reduces the depth of field, just like opening up the aperture on a camera. If you do wear glasses or contact lenses, you may need a different prescription for night driving/riding.

Looking at the verge on the left side of the road is a good technique to avoid being blinded by lights and to see where the road is going.
 
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