Might have to ride through some light showers tomorrow...

[docb91b]

Howdy all,
I have to take a business trip up to Bakersfield CA tomorrow, and I might have to ride through some light showers. Any recommendations for my ride? Less leaning in the turns? Try to keep the bike more centered underneath? Your help is appreciated.

D

 

[dduelin]

On good clean wet pavement our tires generate about 70 to 80 percent of the traction available on dry pavement. Know that first and foremost and ride with confidence, not tensed up and on a hair trigger with jerky control inputs. The latter is important to being especially smooth when braking and shifting. The tires can generate massive wet grip when loaded up smoothly and steadily but sudden loads on the tire can overwhelm available traction. Let the bike do what it naturally wants to do by relaxing your arms - don't stiff arm it. Avoid painted stripes, manhole covers, and the greasy center of the travel lanes - and on concrete roads don't ride exactly in the middle of the car tire tracks where the concrete is polished from the passage of countless tires and water may tend to pool.

Have fun and play in the rain!

 

[Big Thump]

Stay off the shiny painted lines when braking. Other than that, ride a little easier than you normally do. Have a good ride!

 

[silverhound]

Agree with the other posters and I'll just add that you should use the most caution when the road first gets wet as that is when all the oils and grease float to the surface before being washed away. Riding in the rain should be nothing more than a little annoyance as long as you're prepared. Some of my most memorable rides have been in the rain. Have a safe trip.

 

[ADW]

One good piece of advice I heard somewhere was, watch out for the first few minutes of a rain shower, that is when all the junk that had built up on the road, oil fuel etc starts to move and spread, after more rain it just gets washed away no worries. This is only relevent if it has been dry for a while, as may be the case in southern CA.

 

[ADW]

Sorry just noticed the double, guess great minds think alike

 

[Chestnut]

Just stay smooth. And be especially careful of the cagers. These drivers in soCal get unbelievably stupid when the sky starts falling.

 

[Hakea]

As well as the good points mentioned above, it's worth remembering that a) Thanks to the seating position on a bike the rain often tends to pool in the crutch area, so pants that are waterproof rather than just 'showerproof' will keep you dry where you want to be for longer. Nothing worse than arriving with that 'incontinence look'.... and b) The cars on the road will probably all have worse vision than usual, and the rain on your own visor won't be helping either.

But riding in a light shower shouldn't be too bad. If you've got room on board, a bit of clean cloth to help dry off sections of you and the bike might be handy though. Enjoy the ride.

 

[SergeantChuck]

I'll point out one thing I haven't seen posted. This applies to my situation and may not apply to yours. I ride a lot in the Little Rock area. Lots of overhead bridges with corners that connect one interstate to another. In the summer when the roads and my tires are hot I take these corners around 70mph. The bridges have corners that are built in sections and each section is attached/reinforced by large metal plating. I can feel my tires trying to slip on that wet metal surface when taking those corners a little to fast. It’s only for an instant until the front tire hits pavement again but I can feel it want to slip.

One last thing. I know this one from experience. Give yourself a little extra room when following a car. You never know when they are going to lock up all four tires and you only have two tires with much less of a footprint. You cannot stop as fast as they can. I have first hand experience with this and we'll just leave it at that.

The more comfortable you get riding in the rain the faster you'll travel and the more relaxed you'll be. Just keep in mind the situations mentioned by all and you'll be good.

 

[670cc]

Just as with the wet metal bridge sections mentioned above, be aware of wet tar snakes on the pavement.

Greg

 

[Chabu]

Also, keep in mind the first minutes of rain are the most dangerous as the oil rises to the surface. After a bit though it washes away so just relax and enjoy the cooling rain (as long as you have proper gear). I actually have come to enjoy riding in rain as long as its not a soaking downpour with no visibility.

 

[Mike Cash]

Stay way the hell away from cattle trucks and garbage trucks when it is raining. You don't want on your bike or yourself the kind of water that gets flung off of those things.

 

[Old Can Ride]

Mike Cash is right, but if you are riding the interstate stay away from all 18 wheels they all throw a lot of water. Have to slow down a little just to see. But I love riding in the rain on hot days..

[video=youtube;W0dXcMSbQ3s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0dXcMSbQ3s[/video]

 

[ahernandez74]

Also, my favorite thing to do. Sometimes you'll see a car ( normally some performance car ) with super grippy tires... Their tires will be throwing up lots of water behind it..and leaving a nice clean trail of dryness. I like to ride in that little trail of dryness. Way more grip. I typically do this on the freeway, Fast lane...

 

[DanH]

Here in the PNW, we ride in the rain so much that we have to remind ourselves to ride more aggressively when its not raining.

When riding in the rain, make sure you are dressed properly. If you are wet cold and miserable, you aren't thinking about riding safely; you are thinking about being wet, cold and miserable.

 

[anglachel]

Stay way the hell away from cattle trucks and garbage trucks when it is raining. You don't want on your bike or yourself the kind of water that gets flung off of those things.

I'd advise staying away from livestock trucks in general... I've had to clean the windshield of my car off too many times when pigs decided to void themselves out the side of the truck...

I can't (and won't) imagine what that would be like on the bike... yuck.

 

[CorEnFa]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is your visor.

It's going to get wet and it's going to be hard to see through.

Leather gloves don't make good windshield wipers. I'll keep a microfiber cloth in tucked into my dash board that I can, at stops, grab and wipe off the visor.

Some advocate using Rain-X on the visor, others say that it's a terrible idea and that you'll surely die if you use it. But let's face it, if you can't see, you're going to have a bad time.

A clean, scratch free visor is MUCH better in the rain than an old, scratch-and-bug filled screen. Clean it up before you hit the road.

Cheers-

 

[ziggie]

Or one of those shameo,the towels that soak up water.also good for wet seats

sent from the mayflower

 

[Old Can Ride]

My gloves have a face shield wiper built into the glove.
So, with the face shield wiper built into the glove, I never even slow down as my riding gear has built in rain gear also. Like the guys up northwest, along the Texas
Gulf Coast we have to be water proof also. Lots, and lots of lots and lots of rain. But once you are use to driving in the rain, it just becomes second nature.

 

[DanH]

I use Rain-X on my visor all the time. I've been told that it will eventually cloud up the visor but it hasn't happened yet. and the visor is $30 bucks and 30 seconds to replace so its worth being able to see in the rain.