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Best Motorcycle for commuting in wet weather

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jazzinspace This post is not being displayed because it has a low rating (Redundant). Unhide this post / all posts.

Monkeywrenche...
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PostPosted: 08:51 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Re: Best Motorcycle for commuting in wet weather Reply with quote

jazzinspace wrote:
I had previously been thinking about cruisers and naked bikes for the badass styles but it has pissed it down this week in London and my shit bike has already hydroplaned; and let's be honest... it rains every other week in the UK so it's a big deal for a commuter.

Important criteria:
- Turning circle in traffic jams
- Small wheel surface for hydroplaning
- Upright position and tall seat height for visibility in traffic.
- Storage options

Am I correct in thinking the adventure line of bikes is the best for wet weather technically speaking; I.E - R1200 GS or Honda Africa Twin?


C90
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Matt B
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PostPosted: 08:58 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Re: Best Motorcycle for commuting in wet weather Reply with quote

jazzinspace wrote:
- Small wheel surface for hydroplaning


How well the tread pattern evacuates water, correct pressures, water depth are also factors here, tyre width is probably less important.

Buy decent tyres.
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 09:22 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is just a continuation of your what bike? thread.

You clearly want an NC750X DCT. No need to turn it into a soap opera, it's a perfectly reasonable choice.
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jazzinspace
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PostPosted: 09:53 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is a continuation in my mind I guess yeah; tried to make it about a different topic for the other forum members.

I am not sure what I want, I feel consumed by researching it atm.
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Nobby the Bastard
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PostPosted: 14:04 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

As ayear round commuter...

Fairing
Heated grips
Litre engine.


That is all...
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Monkeywrenche...
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PostPosted: 14:15 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Re: Best Motorcycle for commuting in wet weather Reply with quote

jazzinspace wrote:

Important criteria:
- Turning circle in traffic jams
- Small wheel surface for hydroplaning
- Upright position and tall seat height for visibility in traffic.
- Storage options


you should get a honda nc750x, it'd be perfect for your needs, no need to look any further, Practical but exciting and dynamic.
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kgm
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PostPosted: 14:24 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's more about the tyres and how it's ridden than the bike. Michelin Pilot Road 3 or 4 are great in the wet. If you don't ride smoothly though you'll have problems no matter what setup you have.

I have no problems with either my CG125 or my ER6F in any conditions (except snow, I avoid that if I can). That said the ER6 grips a little better when it's slippy.

Adventure bikes are no different to any others when it's wet, although an upright riding position and wide bars help with control at slower speeds IMO. Knobbly or semi knobbly tyres are worse on tarmac in most conditions, particularly when it's wet.
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Fizzoid
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PostPosted: 14:27 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

BMW C1?
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owl
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PostPosted: 14:33 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fizzoid wrote:
BMW C1?


damnit beat me to it
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Itchy
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PostPosted: 14:38 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Re: Best Motorcycle for commuting in wet weather Reply with quote

jazzinspace wrote:

Important criteria:
- Turning circle in traffic jams
- Small wheel surface for hydroplaning
- Upright position and tall seat height for visibility in traffic.
- Storage options



A Honda...














A Honda Jazz
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Fizzoid
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PostPosted: 14:46 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

vice wrote:
Fizzoid wrote:
BMW C1?


damnit beat me to it


Used to see one regularly parked up at the station, in its Williams livery. Haven't seen it for a couple of years though
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M.C
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PostPosted: 16:03 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Re: Best Motorcycle for commuting in wet weather Reply with quote

Matt B wrote:
Buy decent tyres.

^ This, but I'll add tyres that give you confidence. Conti's seem to be a bit marmite with regards to the wet (I hated them). Guess what the striple has Sad
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Copycat73
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PostPosted: 17:59 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

one with four (4) wheels ..
Transits have nice heaters and drivin position...
most excellent heater and de-misters too...

storage is never an issue either ..

is your girlfriend pretty ...
likely you won`t need her much longer ..
since havin read your 2 wheel hydroplaning comments ...
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MahatmaAndhi
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PostPosted: 19:09 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds like a job for Burg Man!
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barrkel
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PostPosted: 19:49 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scooter with blanket, a good jacket, and muffs.
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Teflon-Mike
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PostPosted: 20:57 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Re: Best Motorcycle for commuting in wet weather Reply with quote

jazzinspace wrote:
it has pissed it down this week in London


Y-e-r-s.. it does that a LOT in this country! How long have you lived here?

jazzinspace wrote:
and my shit bike has already hydroplaned; and let's be honest... it rains every other week in the UK so it's a big deal for a commuter.


Very little to do with the weather; ad only a little do with your not-so shit bike, a little more lmost certainly its rather shit tyres! But MOST to do with something else..... which I'll get to.

125 Marauder, ISTR takes a rather uncommon 15" tyre sizing, in which ISTR there are only two on the market; both intended for bigger heavier cruiser-style bikes not so likely to see 'rain' that might take the shine off the chrome, and which would have the power and weight to put some heat in the rubber from time to time, the marauder doesn't!

It's a compromise born of that token cruiser-styling I am afraid, and yes, it is over tyred, and they will step out or skid, because they don't have the wight to cut surface water, and too much 'Ooooh! Fat-Back' for tread to pump it out the way. But....

The 'Problem' isn't the rain... that's to be expected in this country!

The 'Problem' isn't the 125 Marauder... its not helping much, and its 'handling' is compromised for the cruiserified styling, but not too inordinately.

The 'Problem' isn't even particularly the not so wonderful tyres available for on the 125 Marauder, or even that yours may be a little out of shape... they aren't wonderful bits of rubber for a bike (I cant believe I'm saying this about the 140Kg more-order!) that light! BUT

Problem then must be? You probably wont like the answer, BUT if you look in a mirror it will be staring you in the face!

You're Doing DAS, still? Have you passed tests yet? Even if you have, you're still learning. And, here and now, you have however many hours on a bigger, heavier bike, plus the lesson-learning., and your confidence IS likely to be getting ahead of your competence..... more, horizons opened by time on a bigger bike, you are becoming ever more irreverent of the 125... most do!

You keep referring to it as 'shit'.. if you think it's so shit... why did you buy it? Or did you not think it was shit then? So when did you think it became so... and has it? It's the same bike it wont have changed that much, surely? So what has?

Hmmmm....


If you go watch some you-tube Moto-GP footage, you should notice that those lads don't hang about in the damp! If you check race results you are likely also to discover that the difference in lap times between wet and dry are incredibly small! Certainly less than 15% difference, more likely within 10%... And those folk are running dedicated 'slicks' in the dry... check results for Proddy Racing where they have to run on molded production tyres wet and dry, the gap is even smaller....

The cult of the fair-weather rider over the last 25 years, has hugely influenced common mis-conceptions over how, on the public road, much grip is diminished in the wet! Seriously if you put a poll up on here, and asked folk to check a box suggesting the % of dry grip they 'think' they have in the wet, majority would likely check boxes in the 50 or 60% range, you might get a few that suggested they had as much as 75%, but almost no-one would check a box that said 90-100% of the grip they had in the dry.... BUT as race times suggest THAT is actually closest to the truth!

It's rather like the folk who suggest that winter riding is 'too dangerous'.. a lot of that is self justification for their own not riding in the winter.. because, yeah, it's NOT NICE! So if you don't like it, why do it! But, it's actually no more dangerous! More bike accidents occur in the summer. Yep, there's more bikes out in the summer! BUT, per mile, accidents still go up! And big art of that is that riders UNDER estimate risks in the summer, when most of them are less obvious, than they do in winter, when they are more obvious.

Same in the wet to the dry.

The wet on British roads does NOT turn them into a ruddy ice rink! They were before it rained! Take heed! "Oh! Its raining!" yes this is Britain.. it does that... quite a LOT! "I might skid"... no shitsherlock! SO SLOW DOWN! Be more predictive! Leave more room! Be SMOOTH! Compensate!

NOW.. ponder, "Its Sunny! Whey! I can go fast!"..... err.. can you?

Sun shining doesn't mean roads are dry. Even if they are, rain will lift road slime out the tarmac, and if it hasn't rained enough to wash that away, whilst it was raining, or has washed most away, but only recently dried and left a film of oil on the top of the tarmac, it will actually be as or more slippery than when it was raining! Mid to late summer more often, THIS is actually a bigger danger to more bikers than ice is in winter!

But ALL the time, wet roads? Grip is diminished, and obviously so and every bludy where! In the dry.. Yes, AUGHT t be pretty grippy; BUT, not guaranteed, and where it isn't grippy, wont e so obvious ad Oh-so-more likely to catch you out! Patch of banding; spill of derv; a junction gravel wash or some tractor tyre 'throw'; could be anywhere, any time, and you will likely come on it suddenly and unexpectedly!

So it's not so much that you should be riding more slowly, more smoothly and more predicatively in the wet... as to be that you are riding LESS slowly and less smoothly and less predicatively than you should in the dry.....

Its not the bike its not the tyres, its not the weather... it's the RIDER.

Who should NOT have tyres steppng out on them, aquaplaning or skidding, If they are dong what they aught to ad riding within their own capabilities ad those of the machine and the conditions....

Conditions you cant do anything about. Machine? Well you could pick a different one, BUT, the RIDER remains the critical factor!

Take the hint; it wasn't the bikes fault it got a little squrrely in the rain on you.... it was giving you some warning... you are pushing the limits... STOP IT!

ANY bike will do that at some point! Some much more viciously than others, that will do it by spitting you in a ditch, possibly at high speed!

Little marauder was a tad more friendly about it.... so don't blame the bike.... thank it! It was giving you a lesson you didn't have to pay for!

And don't look to the technology to make up what you lack in technique... of you will constantly be chasing the cheque-book trying to find 'something' t better do what you cat, and never managing to get it, no matter how much you spend.

Meanwhile; take the other hint; accidents happen when confidence starts to get ahead of competence.... and your confidence has been growing doing the lessons, and your frustration with the bike you have growing....

Say it so often, but 125's are not toys or kiddie bikes; they can go as fast as anything else is legally allowed in this country and you are dealing with the same idiots and crap roads as any-one on any other machine irrespective of displacement... DON'T ridicule or belittle them, JUST because they don't have a big engine!

Take the knock; recognize what the bike was trying to tell you, and tackle the real problem, which is that you are still relatively inexperienced, ad the problem was you expected too much of your machine....

Other machines may be more confidence inspiring in the wet; other tyres may be more confidence inspiring in the wet... BUT that doesn't mean that another machine or another tyre is the solution, or even the whole solution to the problem you encountered, or guarantee to avoid it in the future... far from it!

Back up; back off; take the hint; Slow down, make space; be smooth, e progressive; and don't expect more of the bike than it can deliver, ride to its capabilities, and the conditions.

Chalk it up to experience, AND go get more... not a 'wet weather bike'!!!

In this country, such a device would be in use 361 days a year! And what you going to do on your 'Dry Weather bike', if you go out in the sun, and then it starts raining!!

In THIS country, ANY bike could be a wet-weather bike... it's only the rider's that aren't!
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 21:49 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now I don't want any bike.

It's all pointless.

Run me down with a Land Rover. Tell my wife I said "Hello".
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colink98
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PostPosted: 21:59 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Re: Best Motorcycle for commuting in wet weather Reply with quote

jazzinspace wrote:
it has pissed it down this week in London


No it rain for a bit of time for a couple of days.

man up or get a Toyota yaris.
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NJD
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PostPosted: 22:03 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not a Lexmoto Arrow because they stop working when it rains.
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M.C
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PostPosted: 23:43 - 19 May 2017    Post subject: Re: Best Motorcycle for commuting in wet weather Reply with quote

ColinK98 wrote:
jazzinspace wrote:
it has pissed it down this week in London


No it rain for a bit of time for a couple of days.

man up or get a Toyota yaris.

It was quite bad actually. A puddle pulled me slightly towards the kerb and everything.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 00:46 - 20 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just woke from a terrible nightmare. I dreamt I was Teflon Mike's proofreader Shocked Pale

Oh, life is so sweet!
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The Shaggy D.A.
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PostPosted: 09:42 - 20 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

chickenstrip wrote:
I just woke from a terrible nightmare. I dreamt I was Teflon Mike's proofreader Shocked Pale


On the plus side, it's a guaranteed job for life - you'd never go hungry.
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 11:52 - 20 May 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

You physically can't hydroplane a 125. Even if it was on totally slick tyres. They simply don't go fast enough.

You slid on a wet surface by exceeding the available grip of your tyres.
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