Yet More Wee-Strom Questions ...

 #1:  This year it comes in gray and orange.  Which is better for safety?

I'm thinking the orange would be better, but the gray seems to be actually
more reflective (i.e. technically lighter color).  Any scientific opinions?

#2:  What is the best luggage (I rarely carry a passenger, but any luggage I
get should allow that)?

My application is that I might carry documents and some small electronic
assemblies back and forth from work, plus groceries sometimes.  So, hard
saddlebags (if that is what you call them) with wide dimensions (add the
maximum width to the bike) would probably work best.

Any thoughts or URLs?

Thanks.

 
Orange. No doubt about it. Look at the safety vests that military
personnel have to wear when riding. They have red or orange or yellow
stripes.

Don't out think yourself. In foggy weather, or at dawn and dusk, a
gray vehicle is
far less visible than an orange vehicle.

The Air Force buys airplanes that are painted gray. When I was
stationed at Edwards AFB, the Air Force Flight Test Center, my room
mate worked in the paint shop.

It seems like the Air Force had gone overboard in painting the
vertical stabilizers of their aircraft with International Orange paint
for higher visibility, and he was spending most of his time stripping
off the excess orange paint and applying
smaller visibility striping...

It wasn't that the Air Force needed less visibility, the test aircraft
would probably never fly a combat mission.

It was just that the excess orange paint didn't meet military
regulations.

 
That was actually my first thought, that military aircraft are painted gray
just so they won't be too easily visible.

But I thought, there must be something I'm not seeing, Suzuki must know
better in making a gray motorcycle (which seems even worse than black for
visibility).

One thing that is a bit of a mystery is why Suzuki has been playing musical
colors with the V-Strom 650.  I remember one year they had a yellow, one
year black was an option, I think one year blue was an option.  They just
seem to keep changing which colors are available for that bike.

The Lizard

 

Well, duh.

Had you ever thought that hi-vis bikes just don't sell? Who wants to be
seen riding something in dayglo orange? Hey, to make it truly hi-vis,
perhaps it should be festooned in flashing neon?


The Japanese (and others) change colours almost every year.


--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F SH50 Triumph Street Triple
Honda XBR500  MZ TS250/1.
If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

 
I think the issue in my mind is that gray goes beyond low-vis and into
"suicidal".

Black is somewhat visible even in fog and near dawn/dusk.  At night, you
have the bike's lighting.

Gray is an "I'm trying to die" color.  Seems worse than black from a safety
point of view.

But if I do end up buying a gray one, you guys have given me a new red
herring ploy.  I'll claim that the bike is unsafe and accuse the salesman of
trying to get me killed (but at the same time I'll be sure he has contact
information).  The hysteria should make for another $200 off.

The best I can do for "red herring" with the orange one is "It looks gay.
Do you think I'm gay?" or "The gray looks better".  I like the ring of "The
bike is unsafe, and you're trying to get me killed".

The Lizard