Riding in the rain

[Jammy-G]

This may sound a stupid post but what do people do when its raining and you need your bike for commuting?

I need to go to college but don't really want to leave it out in the rain. Would it hurt the bike if I do?

Cheers.

[Laura]

I ride to work every day on my bike. It wont hurt it in the rain just make sure you look after you're chain. Remember in the rain you're tyres will be more slippery and you will need to brake more softly to avoid the back end slipping. Watch out for white lines on the road drain and manhole covers as well.
____________________
Good girls ride motorcycles bad girls thrash them.

[hush]

Unfortunately my girl still doesn't have a rain cover, and so has sat out in the torrid rains of the past fortnight, and seems none the worse for it. I give her a rub down after the rain to stop any excess water laying on the seat/body work. Also make sure that she's cleaned at least twice a week (once thoroughly and once quickly).

Mind you, a cover won't be expensive, and as soon as I'm getting the chance I will be getting one, I suggest you do the same.

As for riding in the rain, I just get out there and go, love being out in the rain... Hoping for a lightning storm one evening when I'm riding, just to see what that will be like

[Laura]

[hush]

Because I have a mad obsession about my bike

I really enjoy cleaning it, that's all, not as a practical measure really... But it does look a lot nicer (especially as with each clean, I get rid of a little more rust...), and the wheels look terrible when dirty, The shiny chrome look is definately better...

[Laura]

So to his origanal post which was how to ride in the rain you suggest cleaning it Tarts.
____________________
Good girls ride motorcycles bad girls thrash them.

[Hex]

The rain shouldn't really hurt your bike (unless its a ducati, then it will dissolve ), however giving it the odd bit of love and care as hush said will actually keep surface rust from forming and corrosion at bay.

WD40 or the like sprayed on your wire connectors will help prevent them from corroding as well, but that and cleaning should really be done anyway to help keep the bike at its best.

As Laura said regular care of the chain will keep that sorted, as the rain and watter will help wash the oil off it so more regular lubeing needed when its wet etc.

As for riding in the rain (you didn't really ask how to do it), use the back break more, say even up to 50/50 front and back break. Watch for drain covers and painted lines on the road as these become VERY slippy and if you break on these or bank the bike over on these the front may slip from under you.

Basically just be careful, and when riding through the rain more/leaving you bike out in the rain more just give your bike a bit more frequent TLC.

[MarJay]

Careful Gav, you just said break instead of brake!

Actually you can brake up to 80% as hard as you can in the dry, because you don't lose that much grip in the wet. However rain tends to bring a lot of nastiness from the roads up to the surface such as diesel etc, and so it is a good idea not to brake to hard where diesel collects (unfortunately this tends to be on the approach to junctions and roundabouts).

In an emergency stop situation on good surface with no diesel, you can actually probably brake as hard as you normally would because most people don't break as hard as they can in the dry anyway.

I guess that the key word for overall riding in the wet is smoothness.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Hex]

Yeah I agree, and to my incorrect brake use (I blame my dyislexia).

Yeah you can break just about as hard, but as Marjay says its all the oil's and nasty stuff that float to the surface and gather when it rains that cause the problems.

Just take it easy.
____________________
The BCF's very own Party boy! Though he's getting old and feeling it!
Monkey hanger, Born and bred
My little photo portfolio

[hush]

Huh, call me a tart if you will

(no need to point out the obvious, that's already been done for me), a clean here and there never hurts, and being as all I've done to the bike since getting it is ride it and clean it, I could possibly claim that the 5-8MPH top speed increase (indicated) since I got it was down to just cleaning the dirt and rust off

Where's my sponge, I want another 5 MPH out of her yet

[McJamweasel]

[MarJay]

[carvell]

[Jammy-G]

Few hours after my post I learned my friend came off his Datonya because of the wet roads. Looks like i'm going to be extra careful now and might catch the bus (god forbid) if it is too wet.

Cheers.

[Stevie Northants]

Used my gixer right through winter in all weathers,left outside work everyday,none the worse,so a bit of rain will do yours no harm.
____________________
Stevie
'98 Gixer 600,red and black(the fastest colour )
Why put off until tomorrow what you can get someone else to do for you today?

[Bendy]

A bit of water won't hurt it. My CB lived on the street through rain and snow for a year and was none the worse for it.

There's a school of thought that says leave it dirty, then the dirt acts as a protective layer.

And yeah, be smooth, think further ahead, avoid manhole covers, look out for diesel and generally be more switched on. If you're going to get the bus every time it rains, you'll be getting the bus a lot.

[dainesefreak]

Rain's just another part of riding a bike, just get used to it. The more you build it up in your head the worse it will be and the more tense you will feel.

Take your time, relax and ride smoothly, no harsh braking or acceleration and if you are concerned/worried about it, go out and get some practice in. Don't wait until you need to ride because you'll be under more pressure, go out for a ride in the rain and have some fun with it. Take it easy and as you become more accustomed to how the bike feels/handles pick the speed up a bit more (I'm not talking about speeding around though).

I spent a good deal of my bike lessons out in the rain and it's not a bad thing really. You accept that you're out there for a good while so you might as well relax. When you relax it helps with concentration and riding a bit slower gives you more time to assess hazards and react to them, which will help later on as you develop your riding skills and the speeds pick up.

I wouldn't worry too much about the bike being out in the rain, as everyone has said, just look after the chain and anything that can rust. A good buy is GT85 from Halfords cycle section, it's like WD40 but water resistant.

Good luck, now deep breaths and rrrreeelllllaaaaxxxx!

[Stevie Northants]

The simplest tip I ever heard for riding in rain is to let your tyres only do one thing at a time.

In the dry you can be accelerating hard out of a corner,so not only are the tyres stopping you lowside,they are also being pushed from another direction as you power up.
In the wet it is better if you smooth everything out more,be further out the turn so the tyres aren't used as much for sideways forces before you start accelerating.

Also,resist the urge to stare at the ground 3 feet in front of you,you will tense up.Look as far ahead as possible.Its not as bad as you imagine,you can get the bike quite far over,you would be surprised.
____________________
Stevie
'98 Gixer 600,red and black(the fastest colour )
Why put off until tomorrow what you can get someone else to do for you today?

[AcIdBuRnZ]

Another thing that helps in the wet is confidence in the grip of the tyres. This comes from practise, so, erm...practise. You need to get out of the frame of mind that makes you think that the bike is going to slip at every bend.

Also, I generally take corners that bit slower (5-10Mph) just to allow a little extra time if something does go wrong. Example the other day on way home from work - coming round a bend in the wet and half a bloody tree on my side of the road - had I been riding at dry road speed I would have had a lot less time to react, and therefore would have had to brake harder, which could result in locking the wheels\skidding.


____________________
Past: Honda NSR125R >> Kawasaki ER-5a2 >> Kawasaki ZZR-600e1 >> Suzuki GSXR-750Y >> Honda VTR 1000 Firestorm
"Chickity China the Chinese Chicken..."