How to ride a motorcycle in the rain

[SentraSE-R]

I regularly rode an hour commute in Denver, down to 10 F (-12 C).

One time I rode to work in Anchorage in -6 F (-21 C) temperature.

Another time, to win a bet, I rode to work in Salt Lake City in 6" of snow.

[mechman600]

Last year I rode my '78 CB400 all winter. Here in BC, it rains ALL winter long, which filled my ancient throttle cables up with water. This was all fine and good until the rain stopped and the temperature dropped. I think -5C was the threshold where my throttle cables would start to freeze about 2 km from home. The first time it happened I just about pood myself. I managed to let it freeze in a position that would keep me at 60 km/h. There were 4-way stops, traffic lights and all sorts of stuff after that which required unbelievable skill to negotiate with a stuck throttle. But I always made it. Parked the bike inside at work to thaw it out. It happened a few times.

In hindsight, it was kind of stupid.

[alvaro84]

You should have filled the cable with some grease to keep the water away.

[mechman600]

I tried that. Many many times. Didn't work. BC gets so much rain in winter that NOTHING can stop it from getting into unsealed places.

[alvaro84]

Then.... I don't know

[TX_Dj]

As long as the throttle isn't stuck such that you're pegging the redline without a load, keep in mind you can use your friction zone to regulate your speed... and of course the killswitch to shut 'er down when needed.

If you're getting that much water in there, I'll bet rust is contributing factor inside the cable housing. May be a good idea to buy/build new cables, and really thoroughly fill them with heavy grease with some manner of injection method.

Are you sure it was actually the cables causing the problem, and not water inside the throttle mechanism itself, or water/ice around the cam on the carb-end of the cable?

[mechman600]

No, it was one of the cables. Water was getting into the throttle and collecting in a low spot under the tank. It started once I put straight bars on and had to reroute the cables, creating this low spot. It's someone else's problem now. I sold that bike last year and bought a wrecked DR-Z400S that I fixed up. Much much much more fun, but I am a huge fan of dual sport bikes.

[euromodder]

I've ridden my motorcycle in anything but icing conditions.

Snow, downpours, cold (getting frost on the inside of the helmet screen), .. been there done that.
I've always loved the unbelieving faces of the cagers when waiting on a light in appalling conditions

Greeting a fellow crazy nut during the worst of winter, gives a far, far better feeling than nearly getting RSI while greeting fair weather riders on a good day

Originally Posted by mechman600

Here in BC, it rains ALL winter long, which filled my ancient throttle cables up with water.

A friend of mine used to grease (read: fill) his cables with a fairly thick homebrewn mix of oil, graphite powder, and some molybdene powder if memory serves me right.
Anyway, it was a thick goo of assorted lubes.
NO water could go where that stuff was.


I used to liberally spray everything with WD40, except the brakes, chain and the sidestand. That's after I learned the hard way that you'd better not grease the sidestand .
Didn't look too shiny, but it kept working.

[TX_Dj]

Originally Posted by euromodder

Greeting a fellow crazy nut during the worst of winter, gives a far, far better feeling than nearly getting RSI while greeting fair weather riders on a good day

Absolutely! We are few and far between. It's been too long since I've ridden as primary transportation, but that is now changing.

I waved at this guy as he was enjoying some sun this afternoon- Won't see them out on the roads in the cold, nosir!

[mechman600]

When it's pouring rain and I show up at work all soaked (dry underneath, or course), everyone thinks I am nuts. Truth be told, I love riding in the rain. I don't know why. I'm weird, I guess.

The coldest morning I ever rode to work was -23C. Before I had the frozen throttle cable CB400. It was on my XT350, I think. Balaclava under the helmet. Full snowmobiling gloves. Long johns and rain pants for insulation. Visor cracked an inch open the whole way with frost still forming inside my visor. I was bloody cold, but the commute was only 8 km. I will never forget the guy in the car next to me at a traffic light laughing his head off.