Based on my experience with my MB, (which has included more than a normal share of night riding) I'd say good lights are the most important if you're doing any night riding. The crummy little LED bicycle lights won't do it at night on something going 20 MPH. And if you have trouble seeing the road, you'll have trouble seeing the dogs, deer, people, boxes, mattresses, tree limbs, car tires, and myriad of other things I've had to dodge on my MB. I use a forklift headlight and a clunky 12v battery on the front, a CatEye LED flasher on the back, and a couple of color-changing LED lights for my wheels. Not only can I see where I'm going with all that, I create a bright, flashing, shifting, multicolored spot in the road that's hard to ignore. I was told after riding home at 3 am in a thunderstorm that I could be seen from farther away than other cars.
Of course, if you ride only in the day, then what I've just said was hogwash. I'd also recommend good gloves - not fingerless gloves from wal-mart, go to the motorcycle shop and spend $40 or more on a pair of leather motorcycle gloves or gauntlets. Seem expensive? What does a skin graft cost?
A helmet and some goggles are just as important. They're so obvious, they shouldn't even be mentioned. But I'm mentioning them, for those who are invincible.
