Opinion Wanted; Rim Tape in Daylight, does it help?

[FinalImpact]

Opinion Wanted; Rim Tape in Daylight, does it help?


I’d like your opinion on Rim Tape; does it help in the daylight?

The reason I ask is the bike is Raven black (08). My jacket is black with retro-reflective silver stripes. Helmet is red, black, and silver’ish. . . So I’m opting for the black rim tape which turns silver in the light.

But if we all think color helps us to ride another day, my choice will error towards red (but orange isn’t out of the picture either).

OR - Has anyone seen a bike with Yellow up front and Red outback? And would this be a legal substitute for the factory side reflectors?

Thanks in Advance for your opinion! :thumbup:

 

[Evitzee]

Unlikely to help. You normally get whacked from the front or back, visibility from the side is a minimal factor which is why side reflectors are not required in many countries. They just don't help. If the only reason you are putting on the tape is for visibility save your money.

 

[Erci]

In my opinion, zero help in daylight. I do have reflective ones.. they allowed me to take off not-so-good-looking stock reflectors, but that's about it. As Evitzee mentioned, it's not very likely that someone will drive into you from the side... they'll either turn left in front of you or pull into your lane or ride up your back at a light or stop sign.. side reflectors won't help in any of those cases.

 

[DownrangeFuture]

Yeah. But my white reflective custom made ones are awesome.

Too bad that guy from ebay won't return my emails for any more custom work. Sounds like he's just flaked out recently on ebay. At least I got my stuff first!

 

[novaks47]

I guess I'll be the "go against the grain" guy. I say they can help, in certain situations. It can help make yourself more visible to people trying to pull out of driveways or streets, from your left, or even right side depending on the lay of the land.

Most of the time though, if they're not going to see you in the first place, nothing will help. I've had situations where the bike could've been covered in x-mas lights and strobes, and they still wouldn't have seen me. I have rim tape mainly because I like the look of it. That should be the main reason to get it, not for visibility.

 

[Erci]

I have rim tape mainly because I like the look of it. That should be the main reason to get it, not for visibility.

+1. That's definitely the real reason for it.

 

[The Dude]

Your money would be better spent on a plain white helmet. I'd say hi-vis, but if you're considering rim tape, you have at least some sense of vanity and that pretty much eliminates a neon lid. I have a raven model as well, and I think a white or silver rim tape might be cool at night... but I don't normally ride at night and I wouldn't want to clean my rims more often because of the tape.

 

[FinalImpact]

Thanks everyone for your comments!

Hind site says it'll be long shot when tape helps. I'm just thinking it can't hurt either!

I appreciate you input!

Thank You!

 

[CCHOUSEKY]

Your money would be better spent on a plain white helmet. I'd say hi-vis, but if you're considering rim tape, you have at least some sense of vanity and that pretty much eliminates a neon lid.

I'm not really sure why vanity and a hi-vis helmet are in conflict. I'd own one in a heartbeat if the manufacturers would EVER put them on clearance (or even on sale), and I'm about as picky about things matching gear-wise as anyone.

Unfortunately, the helmet manufacturers have decided that if you want their hi-vis helmets, you're gonna have to pay full price for it. I think that's backwards, myself.

 

[The Dude]

I'm not really sure why vanity and a hi-vis helmet are in conflict. I'd own one in a heartbeat if the manufacturers would EVER put them on clearance (or even on sale), and I'm about as picky about things matching gear-wise as anyone.

Unfortunately, the helmet manufacturers have decided that if you want their hi-vis helmets, you're gonna have to pay full price for it. I think that's backwards, myself.

Oh come on. There are very few things in this world as uncool as hi-vis gear. That being said, I am very close to going hi-vis. I'm thinking I can get one more season out of my white HJC IS-16 helmet, and when I replace it I will be strongly considering hi-vis. Here's a cheap one: AFX FX-39 DS Hi-Vis Helmet. It's not available yet, but I'm not in the market yet either.

 

[Raffe]

Why not buy yellow rims for highest visibility and buy a yellow bike to match the color? :thumbup:

 

[ohgood]

Thanks everyone for your comments!

Hind site says it'll be long shot when tape helps. I'm just thinking it can't hurt either!

I appreciate you input!

Thank You!

SOLID colors, like white helmet, red, yellow, whatever. anything mixed or graphic on a helmet makes it disappear. i've seen these locally, and they're great. i'll be upgrading to a high-vis riding suit/lid here soon.

vanity ? eff that, black gear with a tiny bit of 3M piping is a black hole for visability. skip it, get the ugly neon, PINK if you can, and be seen everywhere.

check these out. currently i've taped up every back-facing flat surface of my FZ with red 3M tape. does it look 'old' or 'grandpa safety' ish ? yep. do i care what the HD or sportbike groups think ? nope. i wanna riiiiiiiiiiiiide as much as i can, without an incident. be seen, be alive.
:BLAA:

 

[novaks47]

+1 to ohgood's comments. I notice white and orange colored helmets much more readily than ones with graphics. My next helmet will either be white, or orange(if I can find an orange one I like), or some loud color. Personally, I like bright helmets, I think they look pretty good. I've also noticed that to my eyes, reflective stuff is far more attention grabbing than anything else. How all this looks to cagers is a anyones guess however. I swear, most of them still wouldn't see you even if you were covered with 50 1,000watt strobe lights flashing in every color in existence while having 20+ horns each blasting a different tone at 175db measured @ 50ft.

 

[motojoe122]

If you want visibility, I have one of the Icon mil-spec hi vis mesh vest. Ugly...maybe. Can people see me better....OOOOHHHHH YYYEEAAAHHH!
I have to wear it to get on base anyways