wrecked gs need more light

[Ghost007]

I recently was forced to lay my bike over due to a dim wit talking on a cell phone. I pretty much walked away with some road rash and some bumps and bruises. the bike unfortunately was not so lucky the handle bars were trashed as well as the head light and generator cover I plan to rebuild it better than it was from the factory so my question is are there hid headlights I can put on as well as some led blinkers and taillight as well or is there something I can do to make it more visible to the idiots that like to run out in front of motorcycle riders

[boingk]

Not really, mate.

A big part of being visible is your riding style. I worked down here for Australia Post on a Honda CT110 which was painted bright red and had fluro yellow side panniers and stickers. I wore a fluro 'safety vest' as well.

I was almost run over on a daily basis, and most people were just genuinely not looking. If they are not looking it won't matter how many lights and fluro items you have, they still won't see you.

As I mentioned before, a big part of how you are seen is how you actually ride. This will vary, obviously, from person to person, but I have found that riding with something approaching 'flair' is a good way to ride for safety.

I favour downshifting when slowing down, moving in your lane (ie gently weaving), riding with headlights on and being assertive and aggressive when approaching intersections - I downshift (lets you be ready for an escape as well as creating exhaust noise to warn others) and weave away from the direction of cross traffic as I go through the intersection.

This might all sound like BS, but it really is the rider that prevents accidents. Saying that you 'had to lay it down' is complete trash and pushing the fault onto the driver. They might have been in the wrong but it generally takes two to create an accident. If you are on your game, riding appropriately and looking ahead then you should be able to read the traffic and predict/prevent what is going to happen.

All the best mate, and if theres anything about defensive riding you're curious about just give me a yell. Being a postal dispatch rider was good experience, and the Honda Advanced Riding Course we had to take wasn't bad, either!

Cheers - boingk

[cowboyup3371]

Boingk is right, no amount of lights will ensure a cager will see you. But there are plenty of threads on here for those who upgrade their lights to LED. Just do a search on LED light

[robertbarr]

As someone mentioned on this forum a while back: People run into trains.

There's no argument against trying to stack the odds a little bit in your favor, but -- man, they're out there, and they're probably too dumb and inattentive to be using laundry equipment, let alone motor vehicles, but that's that.

[yank]

I recently was forced to lay my bike over due to a dim wit talking on a cell phone. I pretty much walked away with some road rash and some bumps and bruises. the bike unfortunately was not so lucky the handle bars were trashed as well as the head light and generator cover I plan to rebuild it better than it was from the factory so my question is are there hid headlights I can put on as well as some led blinkers and taillight as well or is there something I can do to make it more visible to the idiots that like to run out in front of motorcycle riders

Can you realy lay a bike over??Glad to hear that you are up and walking and going to repair the bike.How about some pics,before and after.

[1980GS1000E]

Laying a bike over, if I take your meaning, is essentially having an accident in itself while giving the rider no further control in the situation. A bike sliding on its side will take a longer distance to stop compared to one that is braking properly and put the rider right at eye level with whatever is in his or her way.