night riding who has quit...

[azguzzirep]

because it's too hard to see anything??

I don't think I have night blindness, but a lot of light on the road  sure helps.

Tom

[Hymes Inc.]

Don't have a problem with seeing riding at night. Do have a problem with all the Iowa deer on the roads at night. Daytime isn't much better anymore, just ask my dad.

[Joliet Jim]

 It's been recommended to me by my eye doc because of my glaucoma, but if JB can do his zillion miles with one eye, I should be able to get along fine with 1.5

[acogoff]

    I try and avoid it as best I can even in a car or pickup. Yes, it is the darned woods rats(deer). Killed two with cars and hit one with the T3, luckily it was a fawn and hit my saddlebags, made me paranoid. Age does not help either in the visual-reaction time department.

[Triple Jim]

I'm starting to notice more flare from bright lights than I used to see, caused by cataracts.  At some point I'll probably get that fixed, but as mentioned by Hymes Inc., deer are probably the biggest reason I avoid driving after the sun gets low.  Where I live, most of what's along the roads is woods.

[CalVin2007]

  Me too-my eyes don't like the extra bright headlights of modern cars and the deer seal the deal. I don't ride after dark unless I really have to. Even in the car, if it's a dark rainy night in traffic I don't feel my vision is good enough to be as safe as I like. Damn it!

  Terry

[Guzzistajohn]

Well, I won't LEAVE home in the dark, but I've been known to go home. Too many deer in my neck of the woods

[guzziart]

I try to avoid riding after sundown mostly because of the local wildlife.  However, I usually role out of here at 4:30am for work, it's dark, I'm as cautious as possible.  As for bike nights, cruise nights, etc., I depart for home before sunset.  And, I'm not a big fan of on-coming traffic having HID headlights, too bright for my eyes to recover quickly, sometimes they're almost blinding for me. Oh well!

[Wayne Orwig]

Every work day. Ride home with the deer and the drunks.

The modern cars with those sucky projector headlights are the main issue.

[Arizona Wayne]

When I 1st started riding(early 60's) I had a swing shift job on my 250 Yamaha twin.   1 night coming home from work my front tire hit a new pothole I never saw and I was doing 50 mph................ ....this is before FF helmets existed.  I almost flew over the handlebars !!    After that I got an apt. closer to work and haven't ridden @ night since unless it was my only option.

[Lcarlson]

I enjoy riding at night, but seldom do because of the many deer, and also because I enjoy a couple of adult beverages around sundown. No riding after that....

[John Ulrich]

I have a set of yellow lens I use at night which helps greatly!

[Bill929]

No riding for me after deer o'clock.  I can see pretty well at night and have a great headlight on my BMW, but the deer flying out of the woods are too much of a risk for me.  I really don't even like driving anything other than our F150 when the deer are out... 

[LowRyter]

I try to avoid it in deer country.  Around town, not so much.

But it might not be your night vision, it could be those crappy 55w H4 lights.

I don't go faster than I can see.   

[zedXmick]

I don't do it...cause of our deer density here.

[swordds]

Wow, deer are cute but they seem to be a major nuisance. I love to ride my bicycle on country roads at night, hit a deer once (or it hit me) but not much damage since I  am a slow cyclist. I am lucky living where I  do because I can ride my motorcycle accross the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. No deer, no oncoming headlights, and Morning Call Coffee Stand is at the other end, a perfect sunset or night time ride!

[Gliderjohn]

It is rare for me except maybe in a city riding back to a motel from dinner. Too many deer as even Lawrence Brodsky found out the hard way. Until I got the Norge the T-3 headlight didn't cut it at highway speeds but the Norge lighting is not an excuse.
GliderJohn

[john hooper]

Deer not much of a problem here in the uk but high traffic densitys and the modern ultra bright headlights are a real problem as old eyes don't  adapt to the changes from light to dark quickly enough, also l have difficulty  picking out the sides of the road in the dark, pity i used to really enjoy fast riding down country lanes when i was young and Iresponsible.

john

[mach1mustang351]

Since I moved to Alaska, I rarely ride in the dark... mostly because riding season is Sun season. I think I still know how to ride in the dark

[pebra]

because it's too hard to see anything??

I don't think I have night blindness, but a lot of light on the road  sure helps.

Tom

Tom, you should get your eyes checked immediately.

[blackbuell]

I am very reluctant to ride at night, especially around here in N KY: lots of deer (I was hurt badly when I hit one a few years ago), but even worse are the narrow windy roads with no shoulders, full of pot holes and, you never know when you might encounter a love seat that someone tossed out of their PU truck.

It's no longer fun to ride at night; used to love it.

Jon

[oldlegs]

Not fun for me driving or riding after dark these days it's as though everyone has main beam on. Wife hit a deer one night and it caused £1,000 damage. Steve.

[redrider]

I like the deserted downtown and business district close to midnight. After a rain, every thing has a black and white photo edginess in a color world patina. I should have taken more pictures over the years.

[Rox]

I for one have kept it to a minimum since all three of my high speed accidents were at night . One thing that does help though is LED headlights . Both my Goozis will be getting the LED treatment VERY soon .

[Carlo DeSantis]

Though I still ride at night, it's only when necessary.

For those of you who (like me) wear corrective glasses, there's a coating that reduces flare and diffraction (I think) that makes night vision easier for us old coots.

Best,

Carlo

[John A]

I generally just hide under the bed if it gets dark out. Seriously though I enjoy riding at night. With good lights ( my friend Bill calls them theater lights) I can see deer better at night but there are more of them moving around then so I play "dodge deer". It is dangerous when you mix unskilled traffic , deer and night so I do it less frequently as I get old and slow.

[LaMojo]

I run upon too much stuff in the road in the daytime to try to avoid.  Don't ride at night unless I'm out and loose track of time.

[TodkaVonic]

I second the recommendation to have your eyes evaluated asap.

When I was in college I had a routine eye exam done. The ophthalmologist asked me about night time driving and I mentioned that I rode a motorcycle. He gave me a couple of free contacts with 0.25 greater strength than my usual prescription. So rather than -1.50 for my right and -2.00 for my left eye, these were for -1.75 and -2.25, and they were to be used specifically for night time riding.

I hadn't really thought about that much until this post, and, to be honest, I don't even think that I used them.

As for headlamps, there's a ton of LED and HID options that'll light up the pavement in ways that'll make your old halogen H4 jealous. That said, I don't find myself behind the handlebars for too many hours after dark. It's just not necessary at this point in my life. Kinda miss getting soaked to the bone by rain on my ride home from work....wait a minute, no, no I don't.

[Nic in Western NYS]

Will ride if it's raining or after dark. but not both.

[lucydad]

Rare for me these days at almost age 62 due to traffic and deer.  In my teens, in Durango, CO:  LOVED night rides in the summer.

Might do some this summer, or not.