I took several night trips (hundreds of miles) back in the 60's, then down to a few morning or evening hours, and now the only night riding I do is going home from the Legion or visiting my daughter (if that counts, less than a mile). Have to be very careful of the deer in Minnesota, they're all over the place, so I don't like to do any high speed stuff at night any more. Kind of a shame, just seems more peaceful at night.

Those little spots on the forks really light up the road good, but I suspect other drivers don't like them; I often turn them off for oncoming traffic. The right one is drooping in the picture, loosened up on the two hour ride to this lake. Solid mount engine...

 

Another thing to watch out for is busted up truck tires. Heading south to Alabama a few years ago going through Atlanta beltway I never saw so many shredded tires on the road and this was during the day and very hot. Sun went down and started to cool some and wanted to put more miles in and got south of Montgomery middle of nowhere and just missed a huge tire in the road. Got off at the next exit. Wonder if those LED's would have given me more warning.

Just being safe is all that matters.

 

I like to start early in the dark but don't plan to ride after getting dark unless just want to come a day earlier from a week or longer trip.

 

Hell yea. Full moon in the desert and kill the light and ride. Really surreal.

 

Usually several times a summer, my friends and I do a booze cruise, hit 4 or 5 bars, 1 beer per hour between towns and hit the county roads in Iowa, I love the rush of riding at night!

 

I love to ride at night In the Summer Months,better for me and the Bike and less traffic,don't worry about the Animals,and I don't do back roads at night only in daylight hours,on longer trips I'll ride from 6 or 7pm till daylight !!!

 

I love it. On our way home from Oregon last year, after being awoken by the truck stop sprinklers at 3 am, we decided "screw it, lets just go". Headed south on I-15 in middle-of-nowhere, Idaho we caught the tail end of the most amazing meteor shower i have ever seen. Nothing like cruising next to your 2 brothers, in pitch black, having stars scream across the night sky lighting your way.

 

Awesome to ride on a cool summer night with a full moon. Used to do it a lot and still do occasionally. Not as fun as it used to be since the deer and wild hog populations have multiplied so much. When I choose to ride at night, I make sure my head and spot lights are working right and take care not to outrun my headlights. I've got some of those deer whistle things that probably don't work too. Previous poster mentioned tire carcasses to watch out for. Also, deer and hogs that were killed by trucks or cars are often lying dead on the road. Hitting a dead deer or hog lying on the highway can't be a good thing either.

 

I like taking off on IBA rides at midnight. Ride thru 'til sunrise and stop for breakfast (fuel stops during the night).

Sometimes I leave home in the dark and often return after sunset too.

 

I live in deer country and avoid night riding. When I do ride at night I am on high alert. The first time I rode on a wide city boulevard, that was well lit, it was strange how relaxing it was to ride at night. So I would ride more at night if I was in an urban area, but I think it is foolish to ride in deer country at night.