How to ride a motorcycle in the rain

[Ed-in-Maine]

Originally Posted by thomaswilliam222

Its very risky to drive motorcycle during the rain because it may get skipped, mostly in muddy areas. I advice you to go in public transport during rain period.

Nice thought but in the US public transport is a bad joke. I used to keep a real beater car for backup. But then a 1960 VW bug with rusted floor pans really wasn't a whole lot better than the bike

[alvaro84]

As I live outside any settlements, public transport is practically non-existent here.
If I walk (or pedal, leaving the bicycle at a public place without a roof for a half day) 4km to the village bus stop, then I walk another 3km after arriving to the city, then I can reach my workplace. Do it twice a day and add 12 hours of work and you won't have enough time to sleep. I've tried it in the winter, no thanks.

[sendler]

No public transport can make my commute. But I don't have any mud either. My CBR250R handles like a dream in the rain and wind. Keeps me warm and dry and offers good visibility when I lay on the tank and peek just over the top of the wind screen.

[alvaro84]

Originally Posted by sendler

Keeps me warm and dry and offers good visibility

And makes me jealous of your FE

Anyway, I have some mud, the pavement ends before I get home. And a steep hill too. Two weeks ago I just couldn't make it up that hill, it was steep and muddy enough to get Teresa stuck at the bottom and dig a hole with the rear wheel... it was worse than thin snow.

[sendler]

Originally Posted by alvaro84

muddy enough to get Teresa stuck at the bottom

So did you have to walk the rest of the way? My brother lives on top of a hill with a dirt road and no wires to his house. He rides a KLR650 but not in the winter.

[alvaro84]

Originally Posted by sendler

So did you have to walk the rest of the way? My brother lives on top of a hill with a dirt road and no wires to his house. He rides a KLR650 but not in the winter.

I managed to turn around and go back down a "street". That had enough gravel to keep away the mud, and I could park in the bottom end of the garden. So I didn't had to walk more than 50 meters, I was just a bit angry for wasting fuel on that attempt.

This also contributes to my last, worse-than-3l-per-100km tank. Not as much as babying the dying drive belt with sluggish accelerations and seldom shifting to 5th lacking the necessary speed, though. And not as much as pouring rain over one of the commutes. Those surely didn't do any good to FE.

[Ed-in-Maine]

Originally Posted by Creasey

Most riders get used to riding in the rain by accident. I'll Take Mine Straight Up and Slow Please

Not me I had to borrow a car for my first drivers licenses. Then for a year or two it was all weather riding in Northern VA. But I did learn snow by accident. I was a roofer, ceder, riding my then pretty new RD400F loaded with tools. Can't work in rain/snow. Left Potomac MD heading home to Reston VA. Light rain turned to snow in Herndon Was doing OK until traffic stopped going up a slight hill. Came to a stop and bike slid sideways in to drainage ditch

[TX_Dj]

Definitely impressive riding in that vid.

Rain rarely phases me, but I've done a lot of riding in it. Hail, on the other hand, something we get plenty of (with great size)... that is something else.

When I picked up my bike this morning, it was raining like crazy. I was more concerned with fresh tires (mold release compound makes new tires slippery as I'm sure most know) and had no issue whatsoever, even in one hard braking event. I don't have the ABS bike, and even still I was very impressed with how well this bike stops in the rain.

Cold on the other hand, we don't get cold around here like sendler gets up in NY- but I have ridden in 17F with 1F wind chill. My snowmobile suit and winter gloves/balaclava/etc make that very bearable, in fact, leaving me sweating when I'm stopped. I just LOVE seeing the expressions on other drivers faces either in extreme cold or rain. It just cracks me up to see their mixture of disbelief, sympathy, etc... One winter, someone rolled their window down to say "YOU'RE CRAZY TO BE RIDING IN THIS WEATHER!" My response, "I wish the light would change, I'm sweating like crazy!!!"

[alvaro84]

The coldest I've ever ridden in was -7C (19F) this winter and I felt that it was about my limit. That snowmobile suit might be better than my cordura suit with 2 sweaters and a pair of underpants. Fortunately my heated gloves were still enough at that temp, but my hands would freeze without that. I don't even know if there's any glove that insulates like my body clothing or better (so it doesn't need extra heating) yet it's thin enough to operate the clutch, brake and turn signal switch. Aerogel wool, maybe?
(Aerogel wool socks would be nice too!)

[TX_Dj]

LOL alvaro, yes we need us some aerogel winter gear! Maybe with heaters!

I used Frank Thomas (i think it is) winter gloves. I probably had two pairs of socks on too, with my motocross boots. I will admit, the tips of my fingers and the tips of my toes were a bit numb by the time I arrived, but it was only a 25 mile drive, and the ground was dry other than some icy spots in the shadowy shoulders of the freeway. The great thing about the snowmobile suit is the bib overalls, so you get some extra protection on the torso, and then I purposely ordered the jacket a couple sizes large and wore my normal leather cool weather jacket beneath the insulated snowmobile jacket.

I mentioned this story to a friend last night, he said "you know what I like to wear when it's rainy or cold and I need to go somewhere? a car."