JonnyRider

Oh, I had that kinda experience in recent past...In the month of September...I went to Kanyakumari from Chennai, a good 700 km of ride. I wanted to take my chance and ride back in the night. On the highway, I lost certain signboard near Madurai and was forced to trace towards Dindigul. It's a solid deviation, from my Kanyakumari > Madurai > Trichy > Chennai route. On the way to Dindigul, it started drizzling...when I reached there, I had to ask few people to find a way towards Trichy. Somehow got a direction. At this point, let's share the timings:
1. I started from Kanyakumari at 04:30PM
2. I was near Madurai at 07:00PM
3. I reached Dindigul at 08:30PM

The road from Dindigul to Trichy (which I got from people), is under conctruction and a long 100Kms (consider road, night & rain). Rains intense by hen...my riding jacket wasn't giving me much support as it's a mesh type...I started anyway...soon I realized that the road is through small hills and is worst in condn., where at times I'm the lone rider and at times am fighting with mud & thick construction material on the road & trucks are bumping sidewise...believe me, that night I was the lone rider on a motorcycle and only trucks were there, not even public transport buses (forget cars)...at times I had to ride at a speed like 10KMPH. That road drained out all my energy.

Finally I hit the national highway near Trichy, at 00:15Hrs...stopped couple of time, to straighten my arms & legs...drank water...started again...the bike was in a horrible condition, covered with mud. Rain stopped by 01:00AM, only for a brief moment...found a road-side stall, drank tea...by now fatigue was slowly getting on me...I felt it few times when i actually dozed off while riding...finally at 03:00AM, i decided not to ride any more and stopped in a nearby fuel-station. Rains pouring in continuously...I slept off till 05:00AM...with my gears on ...By 05:30AM, I started back to Chennai and reached by 08:00 AM...

It's a near death experience on that road in that rainy night. Plus the mesh jacket was not helping me much. So choose your proper gear, have a proper route map, look out for sign and if any hint of fatigue shows up, stop at nearby fuel-station to take nap [never struggle with ur fatigue]...

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manubhat

The valuable information in this thread helped me a lot in my trip..
I had to travel 400kms at night on National highway without street lights..
i was tailing the four wheelers most of the time and in some places 4 wheelers used to rip past at 120kmph.. had to wait for another vehicle..
I had a stretch where there were no vehicles or lights could be seen
for 10+kms at 1am

mithun

Never ever use tissue paper. It will leave scratches. Use the soft cloth which is used for cleaning spectacles.

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antz.bin

Just floating an idea... I have always used wet newspaper to clean car windshields.. And I have always seen that works the best when compared to tissue paper / soft cloth / any rag cloth / etc. Can Wet newspaper be used to clean visors.. I have personally used it but it was done during the day so cannot comment on its usefulness at night. But I am sure it is a very good option since you can borrow old newspaper at the remotest of places/ smallest dhaba.

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princesirohi

if you follow a fourwheeler by keeping 200 meters in between, it will serve you no good. follow at a distance of 30-40 meters otherwise follow it in such a way that the cut-off line of you dipper is around 5-10 meters behind the rear bumper of the vehicle you are following....or whatever distance you are comfirtable at. it also depends on what speed you are riding, higher speeds require more distance and vice versa.

soft tissue paper.....not the hard one....

IMHO that cloths don't clean well, soft tissue paper along with some water...clears it to a sparkling shine. specially when there is wet dirt on visor.

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princesirohi

i have tried newspaper also, since as you rightly said - it is easily available at roadside dhaba or tea stall.

but since it is harder than soft tissue paper, it does not clean as good as soft tissue paper. but it is the second best option. just make sure that newspaper picked at dhaba does not have any oil on it, otherwise it will make your life worse.

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antz.bin

The way I found it better than soft tissue paper is when it is being used when there is some water involved(due to rain) since tissue paper lends to leave small fibre residue, not the case with Newspaper.. But still, Newspaper is always 2nd option. Microfiber cloth will be impossible to use in wet weather as once it gets dirty, you cannot just throw it away.

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Praful

News paper/tissue paper/cloth... There is not going to be a world of difference between either. Use whatever resources you have at hand, and clean the visor.

The best way to clean a visor is to actually keep it under running water to wash off the bigger particles and after that pour/rub soap on to it. Then with a gentle touch cleanse the surface. For drying use newspaper/tissue paper/cloth whatever. just ensure you wipe it completely dry and you are good to go.

As a best practice one should replace the clear visor once its scratched beyond a certain point, scratches are unavoidable.. They will happen, unless you don't ride at all . I usually replace my clear visor every 6-8-10 months depending on how much night riding I have done. The tinted visors since used primarily in the day are only change once every 1.5 years!

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antz.bin

Regarding part in bold... +1. I put the visor under a running tap in the wash basin and then clean it up... The part in blue was the topic being discussed.

Since I do quite a lot of night riding.. +1 to the Green part. Tinted visors are a strict No No..

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Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

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pads

very informative thread..... good points for riding at night..... almost all points are covered..... just wanted to add one thing from my side..... it regarding following a car in highways..... the idea is very good and advisable..... but there are now three types of roads in our country.....
1) 1st we have four lanes or expressways with dividers and very good road conditions..... and I found the drivers on these roads to be very helpful..... so, on these roads rather than tailing a four wheeler I lead them with few meters ahead on the other lane..... so, its me on one lane with another fast four wheeler with me on the other lane..... & make yourself visible by blinkers when you need to switch lanes or to overtake other vehicles..... even that four wheeler, rather than overtaking you will be more helpful with its brighter lights & overtaking other vehicles..... if you are leading such four wheeler, always take first decision..... like for overtaking a vehicle, give a signal way ahead in actually overtaking a vehicle.....
2) 2nd comes the two lane roads which are in good conditions..... here I'll also follow a four wheeler rather than overtaking it and leading it..... but its better to go ahead rather than following a slow four wheeler, which I faced a lot during my trips..... n always give signals near villages/towns & near turns how small it may be..... better blow horns if you even have a small doubt of seeing someone or having a feeling that someone might be on road..... better be visible and audible by others and avoid any mishap.....
3) 3rd & final comes the poor condition roads, which are very rarely taken, or under construction roads..... here whatever maybe the situation or in how hurry you maybe, always go slow..... by slow I mean the speed in which you are comfortable to stop your vehicle within few meters say 20meters..... very advisable to follow a four wheeler..... but if you are riding alone, always have a look at the road ahead and nearby..... the oncoming vehicles light helps very little, but helps in understanding the road ahead..... have good judgement..... n strictly no ride if you are tired..... these roads will take maximum of your energy even in daylight, let alone the night driving..... so, plan your journey properly for these roads can be covered in daylight.....

for rain riding, I always tail a four wheeler in every road..... but I choose a decently fast moving car.....

always clean your visor and your head light whenever you take a stop.....

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