Riding in the rain tutorial

purplesea

New member
Definitely good for beginners. Or just to touch up on some skills. I know it was frightening for me my first time in heavy rain!
 

purplesea

New member
You should definitely check out this video. Great for beginners, of all kinds. I sure wish it was around before...:)
 

kateric99

New member
I don't think I'm still confident enough to ride my bike in raining conditions, but this tutorial had a few greats tips I will surely put in practice.
Thanks for sharing!
 

auroraantoinette

New member
I don't think I'm still confident enough to ride my bike in raining conditions, but this tutorial had a few greats tips I will surely put in practice.
Thanks for sharing!

Sometimes theres no choice, for instance, We had a blizzard last night, totally unprepared for it to. I was really low on food so i had to make a run to the store in the blizzard. It was either eat whats left and wait out the storm or be prepared incase its a super bad one. In a situation like that, its good to have the tutorial to help.
 

dilare

New member
However.. the only thing is that it might be a little too much for beginner, even a moderate level person might find this too easy to deal with.
 

LALUCIEN

New member
Not too bad but I would have liked to have seen more cornering.
Apart from that first left turn ( which was a good one ) there weren't really any more hard turns, and the thing about that is that, I would have thought cornering was the most tricky part of riding in the rain (well it is for me at least).

I know I have had a few close scrapes where the back end has slipped out on things like roundabouts ( I live in the UK ) in the wet but, I have managed to bring it back.

There was one occasion where I was starting off from a junction turning left in a big puddle from a burst pipe/overflowing drain and gave it a little too much gas and the back end slipped straight out from under me landing the bike nicely on my leg!

So, yeah, more cornering would have been nice.

Great camera set up though. Really nice ;)
 

Daboo

New member
I thought the video was good, but there are some more tips to consider...
  • As he wrote, get the right gear. I think when he was saying to not worry about motorcycle specific gear, he was talking about the layers under your riding gear. You have the most opportunity to fall in wet or cold conditions, so you'll want riding gear with the right pads in the elbows, hips, knees and back...plus the skid resistance so you don't end up with road rash.
  • Use RainX on your visor. I can't remember the last time I used the built in wiper on my glove. I have a bottle of RainX at both home and work so I can refresh the coating if I find it not working properly. Yes, I know the helmet manufacturers say to not use it. I've been using it now for about 86,000 miles in Seattle riding and have yet to see it do anything harmful to my visor. Of course as always, YMMV. The important thing is to make sure you can see.
  • Liquid dishwashing soap works wonders in cutting down the fog on the inside of the visor. Smear a bit on the inside, let it dry, then buff it off with a clean rag. The glycerin in the dishwashing soap that cuts grease on your dishes, is the same chemical ingredient that is used in the expensive fog products.
  • Ride in the summer looking for the hazards you'll encounter when it rains. This works especially good if you're a commuter, because you ride the same roads day in and day out. For instance, on the final turn into work, there are two metal manhole covers right in the turn. In the summer, you can run over them with impunity. In the rain, they'll be like they've been greased and you'll go down. So even on dry days, I avoid them and get used to picking your route between them.
  • Watch out for things like the white painted lines at crosswalks, lane dividers, etc. Metal is hazardous too. Railroad tracks. Manhole covers, the metal plate they put over areas when under construction. See them, remember them...and avoid them at all times. If you do this, it'll become habit, and one less thing you'll need to concentrate on when the rain comes.
  • Remember you can't see well...and either can the car drivers around you. Do what you can to make yourself visible. I put reflective tape on my bikes because the ground is grey. The sky is grey. The cars are grey. And the road spray that covers it all is grey. I also wear "don't hit me" hi-vis yellow riding gear, instead of "run me over" black.
  • Position yourself to occupy your lane. I noticed he stayed in the left tire track for much of the ride, which was next to the grass median. That invites someone to use the open area to your right. I would've stayed in the right tire track. You'll be more visible to anyone checking their driver's door mirror and keep someone from using the open 2/3 of the lane you're not occupying. Get used to changing the side of the lane you ride in based on where the threat is most likely to come from.

As one rider on another forum said, if you don't ride in the rain in Seattle...you don't ride. If you take the right precautions, it can be just as fun as riding in the summer. I wouldn't let rain put you off. Thunder and lightning, yes. When I went through the MSC, the instructor said you have about 80% of the traction in the rain as you have in the dry.

Chris
 

ballas123

New member
This is really a helpful video as I recently got my 1st honda cbr. I am a little scared to drive in the rain as my friend has had an accident before. Now I feel more confident in terms of riding in the rain but it is still easier said than done I guess. We will have to wait and see.
 

wander_n_wonder

New member
I don't think I'm still confident enough to ride my bike in raining conditions, but this tutorial had a few greats tips I will surely put in practice.
Thanks for sharing!

I have the same worry as you. I only drove under the rain perhaps less than 5 times and it was really scary because I cannot see well and I feel so self-conscious that other cars won't see me and then hit me as I pass along.
 

wander_n_wonder

New member
I thought the video was good, but there are some more tips to consider...
  • As he wrote, get the right gear. I think when he was saying to not worry about motorcycle specific gear, he was talking about the layers under your riding gear. You have the most opportunity to fall in wet or cold conditions, so you'll want riding gear with the right pads in the elbows, hips, knees and back...plus the skid resistance so you don't end up with road rash.
  • Use RainX on your visor. I can't remember the last time I used the built in wiper on my glove. I have a bottle of RainX at both home and work so I can refresh the coating if I find it not working properly. Yes, I know the helmet manufacturers say to not use it. I've been using it now for about 86,000 miles in Seattle riding and have yet to see it do anything harmful to my visor. Of course as always, YMMV. The important thing is to make sure you can see.
  • Liquid dishwashing soap works wonders in cutting down the fog on the inside of the visor. Smear a bit on the inside, let it dry, then buff it off with a clean rag. The glycerin in the dishwashing soap that cuts grease on your dishes, is the same chemical ingredient that is used in the expensive fog products.
  • Ride in the summer looking for the hazards you'll encounter when it rains. This works especially good if you're a commuter, because you ride the same roads day in and day out. For instance, on the final turn into work, there are two metal manhole covers right in the turn. In the summer, you can run over them with impunity. In the rain, they'll be like they've been greased and you'll go down. So even on dry days, I avoid them and get used to picking your route between them.
  • Watch out for things like the white painted lines at crosswalks, lane dividers, etc. Metal is hazardous too. Railroad tracks. Manhole covers, the metal plate they put over areas when under construction. See them, remember them...and avoid them at all times. If you do this, it'll become habit, and one less thing you'll need to concentrate on when the rain comes.
  • Remember you can't see well...and either can the car drivers around you. Do what you can to make yourself visible. I put reflective tape on my bikes because the ground is grey. The sky is grey. The cars are grey. And the road spray that covers it all is grey. I also wear "don't hit me" hi-vis yellow riding gear, instead of "run me over" black.
  • Position yourself to occupy your lane. I noticed he stayed in the left tire track for much of the ride, which was next to the grass median. That invites someone to use the open area to your right. I would've stayed in the right tire track. You'll be more visible to anyone checking their driver's door mirror and keep someone from using the open 2/3 of the lane you're not occupying. Get used to changing the side of the lane you ride in based on where the threat is most likely to come from.

As one rider on another forum said, if you don't ride in the rain in Seattle...you don't ride. If you take the right precautions, it can be just as fun as riding in the summer. I wouldn't let rain put you off. Thunder and lightning, yes. When I went through the MSC, the instructor said you have about 80% of the traction in the rain as you have in the dry.

Chris

This is a very comprehensive tips and tricks. Thanks a lot. I agree about getting the right gear. That's really the difficult part when it's raining really hard. There's no way you can drive using the usual gear on sunny days.
 

willstat

New member
Thanks for posting this. It serves as a good public service announcement. Believe it or not, when I got my first bike nobody told me anything about riding in the rain. I didn't know that many bikers at the time so the topic of riding in the rain never came up in any of my conversations. Boy, did I learn my lesson. My only crash came in the rain. I was luckily only in a parking lot. I tried to do a quick u-turn and my tires slipped out from under me. My head hit the pavement and my helmet suffered a crack. My leg skidded across the ground and I suffered a bad lesion to it that took months to heal.
 

Trellum

New member
Awesome vid! I was once caught in the rain when I was riding on the back with my cousin on his bolt! I'm so glad there is a tutorial covering this! I might be buying my own bike very soon, and this will definitely come in handy in the future! Because the place where I live has a really active rainy season, so sooner or later I'll have to face this on my own.
 

Trellum

New member
I thought the video was good, but there are some more tips to consider...
  • Liquid dishwashing soap works wonders in cutting down the fog on the inside of the visor. Smear a bit on the inside, let it dry, then buff it off with a clean rag. The glycerin in the dishwashing soap that cuts grease on your dishes, is the same chemical ingredient that is used in the expensive fog products.

Wow, Chris! Thanks a lot for sharing this, I was specially concerned about the visibility during a heavy rain! I was wondering if there was a way to stop the visor from becoming foggy! Thanks a lot man! This piece of advice is just amazing!!! It's a really good thing to know!
 
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