Does the color of your bike increase/decrease visibility?

I'm wondering if a cager who just took out a motorcyclist would have anything to say about the bike being black and not being able to see it vs say, a bright green or yellow one.

I don't know either way for sure, but it seemed like I had more "just missed" incidents with my charcoal gray R1 than my red/silver RC51 or copper SV1000S.

Of course I had my worse accident on the SV when an old fellow turned left in front of me.

I think the rider being more visible makes more of a consistent difference.

good question
front and back = not so much IMHO unless you have a massive fairing or trunk . I think the clothing and helmet color would play more into vis than bike color from those angles ?

but from the side I can see how a bright yellow Suzuki wouldn't stand out better than a black bike ?

I even run reflective tape on my rims to help the side vis

when we rode to a military base to buy a vehicle they required their people to wear high vis vest while on bikes

we were put on foot patrol since we didn't have any and they were to douchey to lend us any



now lighting may play a big factor in vis but the question wasn't about that so no comment

I'm anti hi-viz, whether it be on the bike or me. It's compensating for other's inadequacies and once you start down that path, IMO (do I need to repeat IMO again? probably...IMO) then you may as well start taking public transport everywhere.

I'm also of the opinion that some bikers use their hi-viz gear/bike as armour and that they trust in it way too much, reducing their awareness, lowering their defensiveness etc. They adopt an "he's gonna see me, I'm wearing hi-viz" attitude, rather than a "he can't see me" attitude that's, IMO, IMO, IMO, IMO, IMO, IMO, blah blah..keep repeating until you appreciate I'm expressing my own opinion...IMO IMO IMO, far more important.

It's my tuppance, and I'm aware of the statistics but it's a choice I make.

Did I mention it's an opinion? And that it's mine? IMO of course

Don't worry, I have plenty more


As for this:

I suspect some road users are gonna use every excuse under the sun from "you were going too fast" to "your bike's the wrong colour", "you shouldn't have been there" and more.

When I had my RT, I painted it yellow. I never had a close call with a cager and I rode it to every one of the lower 48. Now, I'm on a black bumblebee and so far, no issues but I believe in yellow. Don't worry, I'm not going to repaint it. I'll just plan on being less visible and ride accordingly.
Doug

Camouflage works. As does conspicuity. Neither is 100%.

If you wear a helmet, jacket, pants, boots, and/or gloves, you've already started down that path, so this is an invalid argument.

That's a valid argument.

Part of the problem is standing out past the brain's filters to be something they can't ignore- whether it's an alien vomit green jacket (Hi, DAKEZ), weaving as you approach (Hi again, DAKEZ), lights to form a larger visual target (both to stand out and give them more information on distance/speed). Or ride a LeadThing, which is too big to not see.

I read something last year that made lots of sense IRT this. The drivers who pull out in front of you don't see much of that color, but in their minds they've gotten predisposed to looking for a wider vehicle.

The way to break that in their heads is ti weave slightly when approaching a driver that poses a hazard as far as pulling out.. nothing Moto-GP, but a wide weave to get them to put their eye on you.

Well I rode a friends bright yellow Goldwing1800 for a week in 2005. Still had cagers failing to notice the damn bike. And that wasn't the era of smartphones & social media updates yet, would be much worse now, when every other idiot behind the wheel is concentrating on other tasks than driving.

Hi-viz is a theory that to me doesn't seem to work so well in practice. Being alert and having escape plans is what can save you.

+1 on weaving. It helps folks with their depth perception on curves and makes you a swerving dot rather than a static dot on those long straight roads. Of course, if it's a t-rex you're riding towards, best not to swerve.

I don't think anything will work.

You can find videos of people pulling out in front of Tractor Trailers (Semis) without "seeing" an 18 wheeler bearing down on them.

So what chance do we have if they miss something that big?

i don't think the bike or gear color has near the effect of helmet color. a yellow helmet cannot be missed.

It also can be missed. Especially by an oncoming driver, when the motorcycle has relatively bright headlights, the color of the helmet does not matter. Why they do not 'see' those headlights, is beyond me though. I think it's not so much about seeing, but processing what you see.

Exactly the truth, they do see you, but their brain filters you out.

I ride wide AND hi-viz: everybody notices the dork on the Spyder.

Anything to increase visibility does help. But since most crashes are in front of the bike from 10 to 2 o-clock (viewed from overhead), can't say that bike color itself would make much difference. But if the bike has a substantial fairing in front, a brighter color "may" help. Lights, light pattern, lights color (like bright violet/white) probably are more effective than bike color itself.

Aside from that, anything you wear, anything on your bike, that increases your presence to traffic is an aid, but should never be a crutch. By a crutch, I mean, like the BS of loud pipes, don't rely on anything other than your attitude, traffic strategies and riding skills to reduce your risks. Everything else, bright colors, lights, high-Vis, bright helmets and reflective vests, simply AID making your presence known. But it should always be your goal to ride with an attitude and strategy to make your presence known.

I adopted this for my riding years ago, and I have to say I rarely if ever have a traffic conflict, like a car turning left on me, or a car taking my lane, when it comes to traffic interaction, the "suddenly" event is extremely rare for me. If you ride with a lot of suddenly events happening to you, you first need to analyze YOU and YOUR riding to determine why that is happening.

Silver is the worst color for visibility. It is changeable, and always looks like the road.

Exactly.

I ride a bright red bike and a black bike and wear a white helmet. The white helmet makes a world of difference in my experience, having been cut off counteless times riding with a black helmet many years ago. Do I still get cut off? Yes, that's still a major concern but I'd say it's 80% less of an issue then when I was using a black helmet.

I came across four adventure bike riders out the other day, i.e. 2 sets of two riders, different roads/locations and from opposite directions. They were all wearing a hi vis vest/jacket of some type. But, they all had dark bikes, and black helmets/pants, boots/gloves. The riders I approached from the front were virtually invisible until I got very close, only then could I see their hi-vis clothing from behind the fairings/mirrors/handguards/tank bags etc.. The riders I approached from behind were more visble of course, but still, the black helmets and clothing and dark bikes reduced/dulled the effect of the hi-vis.

I agree with the above comment that wearing hi-vis can lead to a false sense of security, as I'm sure all those riders thought they were highly visible/being safe. They were not. Their visibility to oncoming and closing traffic was minimally better than no hi-vis at all. The black helmets, gear and dark bikes effectively canceled out the hi-vis effect.

I have no problem spotting a white helmet at a distance and in traffic OTOH. It just works better than hi-vis jacket/vest because the colour is easier to spot/more distinct across a wider number of backgrounds, and the unobstructed higher position on the bike as opposed to a vest/jacket.

And of course, a red bike is best in any case and for any reason.

Because "red" is the first color to disappear in dimming light...

It's why quite a lot of fire trucks are painted hi-viz green now. Not that it helps.

How is this relevant to anything? The color of your bike has no bearing on your right of way or who is at fault in accident.