Wet weather riding.......
Discussion
Just wondering how everybody in here tends to ride in the wet....I ask as on the road up to the circuit on my last trackday, there was a few boys who frankly looked like they were already on the track...I like to push my limits don`t get me wrong...but near knee down in a downpour is not my idea of fun...just seems like asking for trouble to me...saying that, once on the track...I get better & have seen some nice ripped patterns on the surface of the tyre...but on the road ...I`m happy to play it safe & arrive at my destination sunny side up.
F.M said:
Just wondering how everybody in here tends to ride in the wet.... <snip> ...I`m happy to play it safe & arrive at my destination sunny side up.
Same here. I used to be terrified of riding in the wet going everywhere near vertical but I'm loads more comfortable with it now. I just try and give myself a load more room to brake though while still making progress.I ride much more carefully in the wet.. especially in the corners. I was lucky enough to pass my test last October so my first 3 or 4 months were filled with wet riding so gave me a lot of respect for the wet as well as the chance to feel some of the limits of the bike so as not to be scared of a wet road too.
The key is being smooooooooth as a cashmere codpiece in your riding style. You'll be surprised at how much grip you can generate even in very wet conditions, just easy on the throttle and even easier on the brakes. You can generate loads of braking force, but you have to squeeze it on to load up the tyres.
I've done some pretty daft riding in bad weather, it was dangerous, but I'm glad I did it... it made me feel alive in a very stupid way.
I've now become soft, after a few years riding a bike (no car) I got tired of being ill all the time and bought a car, so I dont ride much in the wet now.
You can ride pretty darned fast in wet weather, you just need to be smoother on the power, smoother on the brakes and use common sense to avoid standing water. I'd say that I used to be able to ride 90% as fast in the wet as I did in the dry (when I was really going for it) but I wont do anywhere near that kinda speeds again.
Main problem with rain riding for me is alway, aaalwaaays the visor up / visor down issue. I'd be better taking it off n wearing swim goggles.
I've now become soft, after a few years riding a bike (no car) I got tired of being ill all the time and bought a car, so I dont ride much in the wet now.
You can ride pretty darned fast in wet weather, you just need to be smoother on the power, smoother on the brakes and use common sense to avoid standing water. I'd say that I used to be able to ride 90% as fast in the wet as I did in the dry (when I was really going for it) but I wont do anywhere near that kinda speeds again.
Main problem with rain riding for me is alway, aaalwaaays the visor up / visor down issue. I'd be better taking it off n wearing swim goggles.
Exactly what Stig has said, be very smooth even to the point where you are almost resting your hands on the grips and above all be very relaxed and do not grab the brakes . There is a suprising amount of grip from modern sports tyres and the best I've experienced is with Michelin Pilot Power 2CT's. Obviously the things to watch out for are man hole covers which we all know are as slippery as a slippery thing and white lines can be rather entertaining as well.
Last year I spun up the rear and had a huge back out slide while joining the motorway, at night, in torrential rain, somewhere in Austria with a full set of luggage on the bike. Since then my ar5e muscles have dictated to me whether they are comfortable with my riding in the rain or not. I usually only ride for fun and pleasure so I don't tend to go out in downpours unless I know the traffic will be hell.
Having ‘grown up’ riding large capacity shaft drive bikes (mostly twins) fitted with narrow cross-ply tyres around mud covered country lanes, I have a great respect for the limited grip available in the wet. As has already been said, being smooth is the key, but even so, I take it very easy and plan a long way ahead. I too would rather arrive with the black side still down and sunny side up.
R1_JON said:
I don't if I can avoid it !! 
Snap, thats what a car if for.Last time i went out in the rain it was a 6 hour downpour and i got soaked completely within about 15mins of riding. Visor steaming up, cars that cant see you because of spray, potholes in the road that fill with water and vanish.
What is the point, why would anyone who has a choice ride on the road in the rain. Beats me!!
slim_boy_fat said:
What is the point, why would anyone who has a choice ride on the road in the rain. Beats me!!
I wish I lived in the same part of the world as you where the weather is that predictable! Scotland must have paid a lot of money for the ‘predictable weather upgrades’ since I lived there! 
While I take the car if it is already raining, or even looks likely to rain I find that in the UK where I do most of my riding it is not uncommon to leave for a nice days riding with glorious sunshine and then find, 75 miles from home and 4 hours after you left, it has decided to rain - hard!
I don’t often ‘choose’ to ride in the rain but I quite often 'have' to ride in the rain!
slim_boy_fat said:
R1_JON said:
I don't if I can avoid it !!
Snap, thats what a car if for.Last time i went out in the rain it was a 6 hour downpour and i got soaked completely within about 15mins of riding. Visor steaming up, cars that cant see you because of spray, potholes in the road that fill with water and vanish.
What is the point, why would anyone who has a choice ride on the road in the rain. Beats me!!
dern said:
slim_boy_fat said:
R1_JON said:
I don't if I can avoid it !!
Snap, thats what a car if for.Last time i went out in the rain it was a 6 hour downpour and i got soaked completely within about 15mins of riding. Visor steaming up, cars that cant see you because of spray, potholes in the road that fill with water and vanish.
What is the point, why would anyone who has a choice ride on the road in the rain. Beats me!!
Good kit is essential in order to make riding in the rain even bearable. There is nothing more miserable than riding along feeling the damp seep in through poor kit (Why does it always leak at the crotch – or is that just my age? 
)
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