Riding at night is one of the most challenging things you can do on a bike because of the way the headlight is designed to point only forwards on most bikes!

Fairing mounted headlights don’t bend their beam into a turn before you get there, and naked bikes don’t do it enough, leaving you with a guessing game as to what the corner is going to do, when and by how much? Added to this, the beam of light gets shorter when we brake as the front forks dive and compress under the forces we have generated.

Have you noticed that when you ride at night it is so much easier to follow than it is to lead? The restricted vision of your headlights are effectively doubled when you ride behind someone. And the further ahead you can see the better!

But how can this small piece of data help us with riding on the road at night-time?

It helps to know road signs and markers as reading them will help to tell you what is coming ahead, hidden in the dark shrouds of the night. The white lines in the middle of the road will be long and close together if there is an approaching hazard such as a bend, junction or crossing. Road signs are more obvious and tell you exactly what lies ahead.

How about lamp posts? Is there a ring of them in the distance? A sure sign that a roundabout is coming your way. More and more these days the council will light up a junction when all around for 50 square miles is unlit and foreboding.

When you get into a turn keep your focus right on the very edge of your beam of light, the furthest point ahead you can see. The Survival Reactions we have will want us to look as close to the bike as possible so be aware.

When a car comes the other way – don’t look at it! Look instead at the left hand edge (in a right hander) the same in a left hander of the road so you are not blinded and can still work out where you are. Otherwise the lack of space the blinding creates will make you grab the brakes and if you are in a corner at the time it will make the bike unstable and send it wide.

Don’t hang off. It will lower your head position and again reduce how far ahead you can see. I’ll accept that it’s ok on brightly lit roundabouts on a deserted industrial estate if you are a nocturnal knee down merchant, otherwise keep ya head up as high as possible.

Finally, always make sure you carry a clear and clean visor with you if your riding is going to spread between the daylight and dusk. Visorpouches are really good for this as they are unobtrusive and easy to carry.