Wet riding

[chris-red]

When riding on wet roads I ride like a complete tool.

I can't work it out. I'm so paranoid about losing the front I crawl round bends and find my body stiff and find I'm looking infront of me and not through the bend.

I'm a pretty quick rider with bags of confidence in the dry. (None of my bikes have chicken strips and the edges of the 4's tires are bobbled and melted) Yet in the wet it is a completely different story.

I know I should be able to go faster and I know my technique is wrong, yet when I try to loosen up and look through the bends it feels even worse.

How I stop being a pussy.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
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[Wilson123]

Have you had an off in wet conditions before?
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Doug97 wrote: Fuck you, what they did was awesome. You just wish you had the balls to be like them, instead of being constantly afraid that there's a rule somewhere out there you might be breaking.

[chris-red]

Nope never.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[J D]

Im the same, total confidence in the dry but slow as fuck in the wet.
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m0l0t0v wrote: Chris, just so you know, JD is a nutter

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

There is tonnes of grip in the wet.

You just need to be smooth and trust the bike.

The best way to gain confidence is to do it more.

Relax on the bike and concentrate on being smooth. Choose your corner entry speed well in advance then hold it on a slightly positive throttle through the bend.
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[Ichy]

I found that my riding improved dramatically when I had to follow someone I trusted for 4 hours in torrential rain. I just kept the same speed and lines as them and found that I just relaxed and got into the flow.
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[D O G]

There is a very different sensation when cornering in the wet - starts to feel as if it is sliding at very small lean angles. I guess that is because it is, but it is very disconcerting, I know how you feel.

I don't trust my front tyre in the wet much tbh - I pushed it a bit the other week (on a slow corner) to see how much grip it had, the answer was not much, and I ended up stopping the bike from going down with a large dab of the foot.

Wet performance is one area where I think tyres do make a significant difference - the cheapo Metzler commuter that's on there at the moment is pump.

With good tyres though, there is plenty of grip. Certainly need to use positive throttle through the bend, and all braking done before any turn in.

If you go slower than you need to into the bend, you can get on the power early to push your corner speed up, but in a more controllable way than if you go in a little hot.

[Acemastr]

I'm exactly the same, considerably smaller bike with much smaller tyres but i crawl around now. i did have an off when i first bought the bike and they pumped the tyres up to 42psi and it was cold and wet and the front slid out.

I miss having confidence, it feels twitchy and i feel every little imperfection through the bike.

*Edit - now on Michelin Sportys and still no confidence
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[Mystery]

yeah i don't feel as good in the wet as i do when its dry but i have been riding abit faster recently because its been wet more and you get used to it the more you ride in it i guess
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[JAMSXR]

I'm not too bad, I fined myself always trying to avoid manhole covers.

I hate it when you get rear wheels slip, in the dry I'm usually confident enough not to be bothered because the tyre will usually always fined some more grip. When it happens in the wet I shit myself and usually tense up which is never a good idea...
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[yen_powell]

In a way what you are feeling is good, it'll keep you in one piece when the over confident mob are laying in the wet gutter wondering what happened.

You do have less grip in the wet, the trick is to allow for it, slower cornering, observation for stats covers, white lines, leaves etc, leave lots more stopping room etc.

Your best bet is just to go out and ride in lots of rain, it just needs plenty of practice.
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[Polarbear]

Funnily enough I'm a bit wary about how far I can go in the dry. I found (quite by accident) how much throttle I can give the bus in the wet and have it sliding quite controlably. If I ever get it to let go in the dry, I'll have probably well exceeded my ability and I'll lose it.
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[Jayy]

I have this same problem... just feels like you're losing it on the corners and I back right off an almost crawl round them.

Two things I found I can't do on the 600 that I could on the 125 in the rain.

1 - Whilst having a little burst of speed and coming to slow down and down gear, on the 125 this was fine in the wet. On the 600, I did it a few week back and as I down geared the back end fish tailed. I was going quite fast and maybe a bit too fast to down gear but on the 125 it wouldn't of happened.

2 - Obviously I didn't have the same power/torque on the 125 as the 600 but I accelerated quite quickly a few weeks back and the back end slid everywhere.

It's never bothered me before but I'm really not looking forward to this winter coming on this bike.

[JAMSXR]

This is another reason for me recently becoming a 'fair whether rider'.
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[instigator]

I tend to be the same Chriss but I'm content with it. Know why? Because I've yet to come off the bike. I'm quite happy to slow down and take corners slowly, if only to speed up on straights. Who cares about the people behind me...

I took a ninja out for a test ride yesterday for my flatmate and it was pissing it down. I wanted to make sure that if rode okay, all the way up the revs as it was down to me to spot any possible mechanical problems. The one time, this one time, I ride that bit quicker than I normally do (in the wet), the rear whips out under some diesel and I have the nearest off I have ever had in my 5-7 years of riding.

Think I'll just stick to the way I'm used to.

[angryjonny]

The roads were wet the day I bought my Fazer. Didn't know how much grip or power I had but I found out quickly. A couple of fishtails on a greasy country lane taught me to keep it in a high gear until the roads dried out. Taught me how to grip the seat with my buttocks too.

[chris-red]

[metalangel]

[Clanger]

I am the same, but then my accident was at night, on wet roads and a roundabout. Needless to say, I am so cautious in these conditions, but I don't let it frustrate me. It's just the way it is.

I would suggest you either go out with someone you trust and follow them (as someone has suggested), or book a local instructor to take you out on purpose in the wet.

I actually did and passed my DAS on a week in June, when it totally poured it down from first thing in the morning to last thing at night. By the day of my test, my entire kit was well and truly soggy!!! Nice.
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[bikedemon99]

I did 180 miles the other night alot of it in heavey rain and the rest on mostly wet roads, when I set off I was very careful but after a while I relaxed in to it and you will too, dont worry too much about a spill because it happens so quick and you slide better when the roads wet, just be careful and dont think you look like a pussy because your just being smart and dont think you can take the r/bout as fast as the other guy because he may have softer tyres, go out in the rain is the best way to relax with it and its really interesting, watch out for manhole covers, painted road lines, oil diesel especially on r/bouts, mud on the roads ect. It all helps you become a better rider, good luck
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Ride safe

[Jayy]

My first ever lesson and first time on a 500cc road bike was in the pissing rain. It was torrential down pour as well and we had a 2 hour lesson me an this other guy.

I swer, he went through a puddle and disappeared for a second before re-emerging on the other side. Okay, it wasn't that bad but it wasn't the best time to take a 2 hour lesson on a big bike you'd never ridden before.

At the end of it though, I thought that was probably one of the best lessons I had because if you can control a bike in them conditions, you should piss it in dry weather.

I ride my bike purely for pleasure though, I don't use it to commute so I tend to not go out if it's pissing it down.

[sickpup]

The secret is throttle control. When you use the throttle you actually gain more control.

Try this. When going into a corner use the brakes as normal but when you come off of the brakes apply a little bit of throttle, enough to move the bike forward with control so it's not free wheeling. See if that makes you feel more confident.

[Banned]

Interesting thread for newbies, i used to love the wet in a car, but came of a motorbike in it, thanks for replys mind learnt a bit there.

steve

[Blue_SV650S]

[hornetmike]

I am nervous in the wet, the one time I was being confident thinking this is easy I slipped on diesel of something on mini roundabout and ended up sliding on my feet.
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