Riding in severe rain?

[veeeffarr]

As anyone Northwest will tell you, the past couple of days have been a real shitter for rain, and I've been riding all the way through it.

Done about 100 miles in the past couple of days and I'm just wondering if there's anything I can get that will stop my visor from becoming useless when its rained on? I can't even lift it up because I wear glasses and they get wet too!

Also, as I've been staying round my girlfriends, it's been out all night in the rain for a couple of days, is there anything I need to do to it to protect it? Is there anything bad that can happen from leaving it out in the rain? (was out in last nights downpour, started first time).

Cheers,

Toby

[JodieWodie]

I use Holts Anti-Mist and Water Repellent.

You can see a little improvement in the vision, but I don't think anything you buy will be as good as a set of windscreen wipers

Coat your bike in wd40, especially underneath pipes..wash it off when the weather improves.

(Also, another thought, why not invest in some kind of light-weight tarp thing, stuff that down your jacket. When you get to gf's house, dry the bike off and tie the cover round it. Will do some good. Better than nothing. We recently bought 2, they are way big enough, blue, about £10 each as I recall. Whoops !! Another edit - B&Q btw)
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Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow"

[yorkshirelad3]

if its a 4stroke it will almost always fire up, however if mines been rained on heavy i try and clean and re libe everything as sonn as to avoid anything going manky or rusty.

i rode back from scarborough back in may and got caught it a horrible rain downpour, i couldnt c further than 2 metres and was following in the car infronts tracks as the water was making the bike skip around, i was waiting for a bridge to pull up under but no luck.

just take it steady and avoid the white lines, black joining lines and man hole covers!

i slipped on a white line only 2 weeks ago, it really does hurt.

[stinkwheel]

[JodieWodie]

I agree with stink, I always have my visor open a crack, stops the misting. Either that or don't breath for your journey !!

I use my gloves as a windscreen wiper too. These were from J&S and have like a chamois leather patch down the outside edge of both hand to swipe across your visor. They work a treat Ask in shops or on the net for something similar.
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Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow"

[map]

FWIW I think you should be able to get a little gadget that fits over your glove thumb and has a little piece of wiper blade on it. Useful for clearing water off the visor. I think you can get some gloves with a similar thing built into them (I know an old pair of mine had).

As for the bike try the Scottoil FS365, although you're supposed to put in on when the bike is dry as water washes it off. There's also prducts like ACF-50, but I haven't tried this myself.
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[veeeffarr]

Thanks for the advice!

My visor isn't steaming up at all apart from at a standstill, but once I get past 10mph the steam is just 'sucked' out... It's a great lid I have AGV Anti Fog

I have a sort of suede patch on my glove which kind of works, but will try the wiper blade thing.

I'm quite careful over what I put on my bike so I don't get condensation, so I think I'll invest in a proper one.

I have an Oxford cargo net, which I put my rucksack in over my pillion seat so it doesn't give me a back injury if I come off... And I've just started putting it in a bin bag on the way, starting to think like a biker now

My clocks are fine, keeping a nice seal and not steaming up at all, which is good

[fozberry]

I use 2 things for maintaining visibility in wet/cold weather:

Spray furniture polish on the outside of my visor.
Spray washing up liquid on the inside of my visor.

Furniture polish works because of the wax in it. Water doesn't stick so well to it, and beads up and slides off much easier and faster than it would on a 'clean' visor. Also, dead flies can be wiped off much easier!

Dunno how the washing up liquid works, but there is a knack to it. A lot of people try putting some on, then wiping off the excess - this doesn't work very well at all and isn't worth the hassle. But it is really easy to apply:

1. Buy a big bottle of very cheap washing up liquid. Last time I bought one it was 19p from Tesco.
2. Get yourself a squirty bottle - the sort people use to water plants with - make sure it's got a good fine mist spray. I think mine cost 99p from B&Q.
3. Fill it with a very strong mixture of water and washing up liquid (3 parts water, 1 part washing up liquid) and shake well.
4. Spray some on your visor and clean it as best you can using some kitchen paper or whatever.
5. Spray on another coat of washing up liquid on the indside only and leave it overnight (or at least a couple of hours) to dry. DO NOT wipe it off.

Things to watch out for though - when you first put your visor down after a treatment, it will have a residue on it and look dirty and you'll probably want to wipe it back off again, but don't! With your visor down and breathing normally, the residue will clear after a couple of minutes.

Also, please please please make sure you don't leave any washing up liquid on the outside of the visor - I did this once and it started to rain - I couldn't see through the bubbles!!

One coat normally lasts me about a week, although if it's particularly cold or wet, this gets reduced a bit.

This all sounds like a ball-ache, but you get used to doing it (I only spend about 3 minutes per week cleaning my visor now) and it's by far the cheapest way to keep your visor fog free!

HTH

fozberry

[stinkwheel]

[Kickstart]

[Wooly R6]

washing up liquid is a treat - works well until the visor gets pretty dirty - i always wash mine as soon as i get home so its ready to go next time i ride

[deputy]

[DAF]

FogCity visor inserts work really well. Can't get them to mist even if I try.
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2005 Yam Fazer (FZ6-S)

[bish777]

If you just rub your visor with the flat of your palm it breaks the surface tension of the water and the wind blows most of it off i find.

I'm a specco and get my glasses fogging or getting wet, i find just having your visor open a crack is the best compromise.
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GSXR1100J