[5005]

Today I went riding in western Maryland over into the panhandle of West Va on route 11 which is a nice 2 lane road with some twists and turns and passes though some old citys , I left around 2 pm and the Sun was bright, warm yet not hot and little if no wind, perfect riding wreathe right ?

About a hr into my Ride , I stop at a 7-11 store to get some water and Gum. I look up at the sky and the clouds were so dark, so I figured I should go ahead and turn around and get home. I was almost home ( maybe 15 minutes away ) and the winds wiped up ( The bike handle the winds great) and on my way back on route 11 , I got hit by hail and a thunderstorm. I decided the best thing was to get on I-81 which would get me home a lot quicker then had I stay on route 11 into Maryland. I also figured I-81 would be safer as far as the surface of the road because there was more cars on it, where Route 11 was empty and I felt like the road was getting real slippery , if I am wrong tell me though ! The only part of I-81 that got me thinking was when I crossed over the Bridge that I think crosses a river and mountain, I never look down so not sure , ha ha if I wrong tell me so , any ways this 18 wheeler came flying up on me in the land behind me so I kicked it down one gear and got away from him pretty fast as I didn't want him to pass me. should I had let him pass me on a bridge or do you all think it was OK to speed up and try to stay ahead of him on a bridge in rain ?

Other then that part with the 18 wheeler , I did OK riding in it and ended up home safe with just a wet jeans and leather jacket and a wet bike. I parked it in my shed and wiped it dry.

 

[rjones91]

I haven't experienced riding in the rain yet but I can imagine its somewhat scary the first time. Quite an experience I can imagine.

 

[EmptySet]

More cars is always more dangerous! Even without the rain, cars are already out to get you. In the rain, you're less visible and stopping distance is shorter. Plus, on a less crowded road, you can concentrate more on your riding and less on what everyone else is doing...and would have avoided the 18 wheeler altogether.

If it's raining hard, more traffic isn't going to keep the pavement dry. I would have taken the path less travelled.

 

[Cdncbr]

Yip, I enjoy the side roads on rainy days. Less traffic, less headaches.

Rain is only scary because some people say it's scary. Average city driving, not trying to earn a squid badge driving, is perfectly fine in the rain and done every day all over he world.

If you're riding at your comfortable speed for your first time in the rain then let others pass you, no big deal. 18 wheeler, Porche, vw bug, other bikes, don't matter, give room and let them pass.
Maybe next year you will be the one doing the passing.

Remember, pro racers double or triple average street riders speed even on wet courses, so yes it's possible, but if you're riding near or below speed limit it's going to be rare or near impossible situation where the bike cannot handle it. Comes down to rider. Loosen up and enjoy mother nature! You'll be fine.

 

[Torchsport]

With proper gear, riding in the rain is a pleasure to me. I ride in the rain often.
It's mostly a mental barrier for many.

 

[RHarrod29]

Slippery when wet

I had a similar adventure to this when i had just bought the bike. When I bought it my dad and I thought one of the best things to do was to ride it down to a place called Inverloch, its about 20 minutes past Philip Island (for those playing at home, yes it is the awesome race track down here in Australia, and aptly named "gateway to hypothermia"). Got there fine, had a great time on my first ever open road ride, but the next day when i wanted to head home it rained. Left the bike in the garage and returned a week later to ride it home... when i pissed down rain again.

Having raced karts for about 8 years i figured it was time to man up and get on the bike. Thank god for leathers and dririder jackets otherwise it might have been a very unpleasant experience. I found sitting behind trucks wasn't as much of a problem as ones travelling in the opposite direction. The wind and the spray was an interesting new challenge to deal with. One thing i will say though is that i was surprised with the grip in the tyres, i thought it would be slipperier (although i dont have a benchmark with which to compare).

Personally, you did well to stay calm and think about the easiest way home, and i have found that any time you can travel with traffic on a divided road helps to reduce stress.

 

[FZ1RIDER]

Though rain has been scarce around here this year, I don't usually hesitate to ride in the rain. I prefer roads with less traffic when riding in the rain. If I'm going to crash I'd rather crash by myself than get ran over 10 times by traffic on the interstate. Like has already been said, having good gear that keeps the water out makes riding in the rain mostly a frame of mind issue, though there are definite safety issues too.

If it hasn't rained for awhile that first rain can leave the road very slick. If it has been raining for a few days then the roads usually aren't so bad. Lightning storms are what get my attention the most. But I don't always listen to that voice in my head that's telling me to take the truck instead. There have been a couple storms that I knew I was taking unnessary risk and should have left the bike at home.

As for the tires on the CBR, overall I'm not a fan of them in the rain. Don't know what it is exactly about these tires but I've had many other tires on other bikes that hooked up much better in the rain. Straight line riding isn't bad really but on curves I can feel these slipping/sliding. But I've read that others think they work great so I guess it's a case of we all have our opinions.

 

[5005]

Though rain has been scarce around here this year, I don't usually hesitate to ride in the rain. I prefer roads with less traffic when riding in the rain. If I'm going to crash I'd rather crash by myself than get ran over 10 times by traffic on the interstate. Like has already been said, having good gear that keeps the water out makes riding in the rain mostly a frame of mind issue, though there are definite safety issues too.

If it hasn't rained for awhile that first rain can leave the road very slick. If it has been raining for a few days then the roads usually aren't so bad. Lightning storms are what get my attention the most. But I don't always listen to that voice in my head that's telling me to take the truck instead. There have been a couple storms that I knew I was taking unnessary risk and should have left the bike at home.

As for the tires on the CBR, overall I'm not a fan of them in the rain. Don't know what it is exactly about these tires but I've had many other tires on other bikes that hooked up much better in the rain. Straight line riding isn't bad really but on curves I can feel these slipping/sliding. But I've read that others think they work great so I guess it's a case of we all have our opinions.

lol that is true, I don't want to get an over ten times in a row. You all make very good points. I figured if I wrote about this , a lot of you all would have good points , I def will think about all these points next time I am riding in the rain.


As for the tires, I thought they did OK in the rain, the more I think about it, I was more afraid of the bike tires being slippery then I guess they were slippery, of cause saying that this is the only motorcycle I have ridden so I have no other riding experience to compare to this.

 

[pete_falcone]

I admire your bravery. You actually braved through a thunderstorm in an open field. I'm used to running on anything that's not icy or deep, but a thunderstorm out in the open freeway is something that makes me very queezy.

 

[Jme250RA]

one issue to watch for when riding in the rain is in the first 15 minutes or so. the rain on dry asphalt brings out some of the oils in the road and can be quite slippery in places. railroad tracks and manhole covers are slippery when cornering also, usually just enough to give you a fright. i don't mind the stock tires in the rain at all. the big thing is to be aware and drive to the conditions. oh yeah! and turn your head to the side every once and a while to let the wind blow the rain off your visor.

 

[5005]

one issue to watch for when riding in the rain is in the first 15 minutes or so. the rain on dry asphalt brings out some of the oils in the road and can be quite slippery in places. railroad tracks and manhole covers are slippery when cornering also, usually just enough to give you a fright. i don't mind the stock tires in the rain at all. the big thing is to be aware and drive to the conditions. oh yeah! and turn your head to the side every once and a while to let the wind blow the rain off your visor.

oh that is how to get the rain off your visor , Thanks.... The oil from the roads as a CDL driver I know all about, that is why I thought I would had been better of the interstae where traffic had riden off the oil , but the other made good points about staying on the side roads still. It def gives me a lot to think about next time I drive in rain and it will happen

 

[pete_falcone]

oh that is how to get the rain off your visor

Or you can get this:

 

[WRXSTi0487]

Does Plexus (the cleaner for plastic used in aviation a lot) give any sort of a rain-x property to the visor? Seems like something like that would be nice to help clear the rain at low speeds, when it rains here I take a different route home and the cars tend to go very slow and I can't clear the visor without wiping.

I thought about buying some but haven't because it's so freaking expensive.


Sent from my iPhone using MO Free

 

[pete_falcone]

^ ^
Interesting. I usually use an anti-fogger like rain-X since helmet fogging to me is a lot more threatening than rain drops. It also does a good job keeping condensation off my glasses.

 

[WRXSTi0487]

I don't have any fogging issues with my RPS-10 helmet luckily just keeping the visor clear. I actually got caught in rain going home yesterday lol at 30mph turning my head did nothing to help clear the visor just had to continue wiping.
I guess I'm just going to have to break down and try it. Is the rain-x anti fog safe for plastics? I know the standard rain-x is not.


Sent from my iPhone using MO Free

 

[Jubis]

I wipe my visor, works fine. It's probably another part of the reason I'm looking at a new iridium visor, too

As for oils and other nasties on the road, if at all possible try to sit on the left/right areas of the lane, where the car tyres live and not in the middle, where it's highly probably the majority of the oil is sitting. If you do park your bike outside where mother nature can have her way with it, and it's been raining, don't assume the brake discs are dry when you start her up. Do a quick brake test as you ride off, the pads will get the water off while you're at low speed and not as you need to brake later on.

And yeah, no squid movements off of lights I commute to work in whatever the weather is, and the last 2 months have been about 30-40% rain. I took off from a set of lights on a slight right road and had two cases of "look that guy's drifting" as I was squidding my way to slightly beyond the speed limit.