How man y ride at night?

[Robert]

I was just out riding and it was beautiful out. It was fairly quiet, cool and less traffic out got to see some new sights and some great smells while driving. I got to thinking how many ride at night and actually like it? Sometimes if I am tired or had a long day and it was hot out to wait till the sun goes down and go out to dinner then just cruise around and see the people out on the streets is really great fun.   

[bill-jr]

 

[Savago]

I personally like *a lot* to ride/drive at night, but I avoid as much as I can for the following reasons:

a) Deer: I had some 'holy crap!' moments while riding through the Skyline Boulevard (CA-35) in my 'long shortcut' home past twilight. That is through the mountains and is know for being 'deer country'.

b) Cagers: they ignore us during the day and even more during the night.

c) Drunks: past 9PM is my personal forbidden timezone (or how I like to call 'The nightmare time') with lots of people leaving pubs and driving under influence.

[bill-jr]

Im sure everyone will tell you all the reasons why not to ride at night. . .
I really enjoy it when like you say too hot during the day and beautiful to see the sun setting and the stars start to come out . . .
I rode from 730 until about 9 tonight . .

[Oldfishguy]

I love the night ride, but admittedly it is at a slower pace.

[Moonshot_1]

Well, let's define what "ride at night" means.  Sounds simple but...

I don't mind riding in town or a city at night.
I do not like riding in the country at night. (wildlife issue)
I really don't like riding at night in the country on roads I don't know and have never ridden on.

Related story. Was on a PGR mission. Oddly for this story, I was at this KIA mission in my truck due to my MC accident a couple months prior. Anyway... a group from the Des Moines area had come up for the mission. This was in a town in NW Iowa. Everly. This group came to the funeral home for the wake. They intended to stay over night in the town of Spencer, about 8 miles to the east, and return for the funeral. So after the wake, it had gotten dark by this time, they head to their hotel in Spencer.

One of the guys in this group went by the name of "Digger". Don't know why offhand. His real name was Ladd. So about half way to Spencer they have some oncoming traffic approach. As Digger went by the oncoming headlights a deer magically appeared and he ran into it. He literally cut the deer in two and continued down the road. It happened so fast. (This is all according to him as told to me the next day)

After a brief inspection in the dark, he and the group continued to Spencer. The next morning he saw the extent of the damage. The faring on his HD was virtually shattered. Can't remember all that got busted but the bike was still ride able. He actually duct taped the fairing back together and after taking a picture of the cut in two deer on their way back, rode it to the funeral then home.  
Digger does not ride at night anymore. It isn't so much the wildlife but the blinding of the oncoming headlights that freak him out. After he told me that the oncoming blinding effect of headlights freak me out too.

[_Sheffjs_]

Very rare

[The emperor has no clothes]

There really aren't a lot of advantages to riding here in the desert. One of them is little fear of deer strikes. Coyotes sometimes pop out, but don't worry too much about them. I enjoy riding here in the dark desert. What I don't enjoy is coming into the cities at dark. I'm usually done at that point.

[..]

Deer and other unpredictable critters of both 2 and 4 legged varieties.

[Mr Whiskey]

Not as much since we hit that coyote comin' back from FCR that year (miracle we didn't go down) but always loved ridin' at night. Nothin' on the streets when I worked "skeleton crew" all those years 'cept me, the drunks, & the po'po. (You can get away with jus' about anything between 2:45 & 4:00 am.!)

 

[cookiedough]

I find it a lot more relaxing and yet more spooky at a much slower pace doing 55-60 mph vs. 65-70 mph during days.  Most of my roads are rural country roads no lights except the dash lights of the cycle.  Interestingly enough, besides the moths late at night splatting my windshield, the bugs are a lot less at late night hours.

I do enjoy it though since less cars and more quiet/peacefulness pace, even though critters are all out and about mostly deer, racoons, and opossums.  I had to lift my legs up a few times barely avoiding coons and possums afraid of hitting my shoes being so close.  One somewhat close deer avoidance made me slow down even more so at night although sometimes they cannot be avoided no matter what happening all of a sudden with no time to react.

[0leman]

I used to have great night vision, better than most.  Fought a lot of wildland fires at night without my head light on.   But then I got older, lot older.  Now night time vision sucks.  So don't tend to ride at night, don't drive if I can help it at night.  AND most of the roads I would want to ride on, have critters out and about.  So my Valk sleeps when the sun goes down.

For those who do ride enjoy the cooler temps.

[Pete]

Yes, but very carefully, as one should.

[old2soon]

I used to have great night vision, better than most.  Fought a lot of wildland fires at night without my head light on.   But then I got older, lot older.  Now night time vision sucks.  So don't tend to ride at night, don't drive if I can help it at night.  AND most of the roads I would want to ride on, have critters out and about.  So my Valk sleeps when the sun goes down.

For those who do ride enjoy the cooler temps.

                 Yeah-night vision SUCKING I Can and Do relate to. Bout a year and a half before I retired I noticed those green back round white letter street signs were gittin a tad more difficult to decipher. And here in Southern Missouri IZ forest rat central!  What's that saying? Old tired eyes!  Tempting cuz it Are Way cooler here bouts couple hours after sundown. Last time I looked here it were 96 F in the Shade! RIDE SAFE.

[bscrive]

I love riding at night.  It is much cooler and less people on the road.  Downside is the various animals, but we take it slower.

[DIGGER]

North of Houston in Tomball Tx deer used to be the big fear of night riding but now ya gotta.figure in the Nocternal Feral Hog problem.  Lots of em around here

[scooperhsd]

I used to have great night vision, better than most.  Fought a lot of wildland fires at night without my head light on.   But then I got older, lot older.  Now night time vision sucks.  So don't tend to ride at night, don't drive if I can help it at night.  AND most of the roads I would want to ride on, have critters out and about.  So my Valk sleeps when the sun goes down.

For those who do ride enjoy the cooler temps.

I have EXCELLENT light sensing in the dark - but I HAVE to have my glasses to see anything in focus - I'm 20/200 + with astigmatism, and I started wearing bifocals at age 45. Back in the 95-97 timeframe, I worked in DC during the week and came home on the weekend. On full moon nights, it was like driving in twilight in southern VA (south of Petersburg) for me - headlights were on because it was the law, and so other people could see me -I certainly didn't need them.

[sheets]

The thought has crossed my mind a few times over the years simply to enjoy the outside summer air when it cools down a bit, but in my neck of the woods travel with the mental preoccupation of deer in the road is bad enough during hours of daylight. I choose to take a pass and save it for hours of daylight. 

[Rams]

I love riding at night.  It is much cooler and less people on the road.  Downside is the various animals, but we take it slower.

I agree, I actually prefer evening and early morning rides.  My only issue isn't with critters but with all the new LED and HID blinding headlights of the oncoming cages with  improperly aimed lights and those ass wipe (drivers) who refuse to hit the low beams.   Even when I do a quick flash of my own high beams, many don't go to their lows.   The blinding effect is scary.  

Edited:  This has led me to a decision that I will soon be part of the problem, soon will be installing LEDs on my own fat lady.  Hopefully I'll remember how those lights effected me.

Rams

[scooperhsd]

I love riding at night.  It is much cooler and less people on the road.  Downside is the various animals, but we take it slower.

I agree, I actually prefer evening and early morning rides.  My only issue isn't with critters but with all the new LED and HID blinding headlights of the oncoming cages with  improperly aimed lights and those ass wipe (drivers) who refuse to hit the low beams.   Even when I do a quick flash of my own high beams, many don't go to their lows.   The blinding effect is scary.   

Edited:  This has led me to a decision that I will soon be part of the problem, soon will be installing LEDs on my own fat lady.  Hopefully I'll remember how those lights effected me.

Rams

That blinding effect has bothered me since I first started driving in 1974. I try to make sure I'm looking at the right side road marker strip when I'm on 2 lane roads and some idjit has his brights on and won't lower them.

[cookiedough]

I love riding at night.  It is much cooler and less people on the road.  Downside is the various animals, but we take it slower.

I agree, I actually prefer evening and early morning rides.  My only issue isn't with critters but with all the new LED and HID blinding headlights of the oncoming cages with  improperly aimed lights and those ass wipe (drivers) who refuse to hit the low beams.   Even when I do a quick flash of my own high beams, many don't go to their lows.   The blinding effect is scary.   

Edited:  This has led me to a decision that I will soon be part of the problem, soon will be installing LEDs on my own fat lady.  Hopefully I'll remember how those lights effected me.

Rams

That blinding effect has bothered me since I first started driving in 1974. I try to make sure I'm looking at the right side road marker strip when I'm on 2 lane roads and some idjit has his brights on and won't lower them.

Just look to the right side of the road.  It bothers me but not to much extent.  The more you drive at night, I think the more you get use to oncoming brighter headlights.   Good thing on cycle is you sit up higher than most cars since I know when I am in my truck at night,  oncoming bright lights do not bother me as much as our lower sitting car.

[Daniel Meyer]

I would guess 40% of my miles is at night. Pure magic.

Wildlife can be an issue...but it's probably no more perilous than my commute through Dallas nearly daily...

http://lifeisaroad.com/blog/2011/08/05/exploded-bambi-dismembered-his-mom-disposed-of-evidence/

[Rams]

I love riding at night.  It is much cooler and less people on the road.  Downside is the various animals, but we take it slower.

I agree, I actually prefer evening and early morning rides.  My only issue isn't with critters but with all the new LED and HID blinding headlights of the oncoming cages with  improperly aimed lights and those ass wipe (drivers) who refuse to hit the low beams.   Even when I do a quick flash of my own high beams, many don't go to their lows.   The blinding effect is scary.   

Edited:  This has led me to a decision that I will soon be part of the problem, soon will be installing LEDs on my own fat lady.  Hopefully I'll remember how those lights effected me.

Rams

That blinding effect has bothered me since I first started driving in 1974. I try to make sure I'm looking at the right side road marker strip when I'm on 2 lane roads and some idjit has his brights on and won't lower them.

Learned that about 50 years ago in my Drivers Ed class.  Works to a great extent but there is always that second or two it takes the eyes to adjust.    In that second, all kinds of things can happen.  It's all you can do but it could be so much safer if there were more courteous drivers out there.  Rant over. 

Rams

[MarkT]

For me, the cooler nights during the high heat of the summer is a lot more enjoyable.  But only in the country.  And given I have great lighting and watch the shoulders & ditches closely.  Muleys are out at night less than whitetails.  And they don't spook like whitetails either.  No whitetails in this part of the country.  But I have plenty of experience with them in WI.  Muleys tend to mosey on the road.  And where there's one, there are several more.  Rarely see other critters out.

[Jess from VA]

Once in a full moon (up and down the sparkling Potomac on GW Parkway (in VA, never MD or DC).

Not often, I live in town with the drunks and cops.













If you get a ticket on the GW Parkway, you get to go to Federal Magistrates (traffic) Court in downtown Alexandria (where the fines are cheaper, and the young prosecutors are nicer than in VA Courts).  But it's still not that much fun.  

[flsix]

I really enjoy an evening ride that starts at about an hour before sundown. So much cooler and more relaxing. Fewer cages on the road at that time

However I tend to be back home by an hour after sundown because of deer, hogs and other wandering gypsies.

To ride long distance late at night is a personal decision and sometimes circumstances necessitate it but I'll generally try to avoid it.

[Leathel]

A group of us ride most thursday nights when the weather plays ball, It's good to get out on the road at night, we choose a place to go on the night and generally do 100+ miles

Summer time we get to our destination before the sun sets, but the trip home is well after (stop too eat & drink) winter it's dark before we leave

A few evening ride pics

[RainMaker]

Yes, no issue with riding at night.  In fact, one summer, due to the heat, we had a couple of group rides that KSU'd at 10PM to head to a midnight breakfast, then took a leisurely ride through the country back to town, arriving around 3am.


May do that again this summer.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Yes, no issue with riding at night.  In fact, one summer, due to the heat, we had a couple of group rides that KSU'd at 10PM to head to a midnight breakfast, then took a leisurely ride through the country back to town, arriving around 3am.


May do that again this summer.

Dang, that sounds like an awesome idea. 

[Valker]

I just turn on ALL my lights and can see pretty well (yes, I fixed that MotoLight).

[rocketray]

after I coin flipped to take the car or bike at 4 am in Dallas to go fishing with my brother in Ft Worth- 5 minutes later a large dead cow was laying in my lane on I-635 visible some 2 seconds before carooming over it in my Lincoln..surely a car would have been doing the same to me minutes later

[Wizzard]

Not if I can help it. Too many critters around here to ride at night. Last summer a guy on a bike not far from my house died after hitting a deer. He got reported missing and they found him later that day in a very deep ditch.

[scooperhsd]

Just got back from a short ( ~20 mile) twilight ride - temperature is MUCH better than during our current summer temps - but just before getting home, I saw a deer cross the road about 200-400 feet in front of me...

[Flrider]

I like to but try not to.
I do ride to work every now and then and when I head home at night I light up my bikes like a Christmas tree 
Living in a city of tourist traffic one has to be ready for anything, you know how many times I have seen cars traveling in the wrong direction

Wish I could do more of it