pritch
9th June 2007, 21:53
An aquaintance of mine, having ridden pillion for a year or so, now harbours an ambition to be a motorcyclist on her own account. For her most recent birthday she bought herself a riding lesson. This is getting serious...
What follows was written primarily with her in mind, but feel free to use it should it help you.
While riding to the recent KB get-together at Turangi in diabolical weather, and getting a thorough soaking in the process, I had cause to reflect on the subtleties of wet weather riding.
First and foremost you need to be able to see. There have been some great advances in the last year or two. Shoei have the Pinlock visor, and there are after-market items by ProGrip and Oxford etc that aim to achieve a similar result. As always, price may be indicative of quality.
Shark visors have a anti-fog coating which actually works, I understand HJC now offer a similar product, and there are sundry liquid solutions by Scott etc. There are also God knows how many “home brew” solutions, ranging from potatoes and dish washing liquid to furniture polish. Whatever works for you, as long as it really does work when you really need it!
Some glove manufacturers such as Held have windscreen wipers on the forefinger of the left hand. Brilliant! You can also buy attachments that fit over a glove to achieve a similar result. These may need hunting out, your bankcard and Google are your friends.
You should also be able to be seen. The cage drivers, operating with 90% of their vision obscured by fogged up windows, and probably lacking any knowledge of how to operate the ventilation system in their car, will likely be blithely driving along as normal, making no allowance whatsoever for the conditions. It would help therefore if you were able to be seen. But don't count on it! Fluoro vests or whatever, and riding with the lights on may help. Or not! Assume they don't know you're there.
The first rain after a dry spell can be particularly interesting. Light rain can make a paste of accumulated dirt, rubber, and oil that has miraculous lubricative qualities. Precisely what we don't need on a road surface!
The smell of diesel should ring alarm bells, as should round rainbows on the road. Diesel is really, really, slippery stuff.
That “green rain” encountered particularly in late May and early June has been the downfall of many riders. Literally!
Any ironmongery on the road surface: manhole covers, railway lines, whatever, should be ridden over while vertical, and and nearly as possible, at right angles. Anything else that reflects light: shiny tar patches, painted road markers, should be treated with caution.
Some countries use non-skid paint. This isn't one of them. The LTSA appear to be asleep at the wheel in this respect, as well as many (most?) others!
If in doubt as to the degree of traction available at any particular time, careful use of the back brake will allow you to assess this. If you are not an accomplished user of the back brake leave this idea well alone for now.
Bad weather demands good tyres. Preferably inflated to the correct pressures. I've seen advice to the effect that we should lower pressures in the rain. I've also seen advice to the effect that pressures should be increased in the rain. To split the difference I run at, or close to, the recommended pressures. It should go without saying the the tyres need to have plenty of tread, and it helps if they haven't been stored in somebody's shed for a few years...
In adverse weather there is a particular need to be smooth in your riding style. Avoid rapid changes of speed, either upward or particularly down. Be careful with engine revs during gear changes. Likewise, changes of direction need to be more gradual than on dry roads. All of this means that we need to think ahead even more than usual.
Having said that, there is also the need to be watching the road surface to check for potential problems. It would help if the eyes were used to scanning, but all this extra work could bring the early onset of fatigue if not previously practiced.
It is essential to have the proper protective clothing, and to be comfortable. On a trip of several hours duration there is a risk of exposure if the body is not properly protected from the elements. Long before exposure sets in, however, there would have been a dramatic loss in operating efficiency. You need to keep warm.
You also need to be fed. One particularly uncomfortable experience led me to the conclusion that if stopping for fish and chips, as the meal arrives one should order another lot of chips. This latter to be shoved up the jumper purely as a heater. These days we have options such as disposable handwarmers, or for the well healed, electric vests. Whatever, it is important to be comfortable whatever the conditions.
Finally: beware overconfidence. Race reports are full of stories of a hotshot new rider who passed all and sundry as if it wasn't raining at all. Inevitably he goes up the road on his arse and thereafter rides with the same degree of caution as everybody else. For my money it'd be better to achieve the same result without the sad experience...
Take care, vaya con Dios
What follows was written primarily with her in mind, but feel free to use it should it help you.
While riding to the recent KB get-together at Turangi in diabolical weather, and getting a thorough soaking in the process, I had cause to reflect on the subtleties of wet weather riding.
First and foremost you need to be able to see. There have been some great advances in the last year or two. Shoei have the Pinlock visor, and there are after-market items by ProGrip and Oxford etc that aim to achieve a similar result. As always, price may be indicative of quality.
Shark visors have a anti-fog coating which actually works, I understand HJC now offer a similar product, and there are sundry liquid solutions by Scott etc. There are also God knows how many “home brew” solutions, ranging from potatoes and dish washing liquid to furniture polish. Whatever works for you, as long as it really does work when you really need it!
Some glove manufacturers such as Held have windscreen wipers on the forefinger of the left hand. Brilliant! You can also buy attachments that fit over a glove to achieve a similar result. These may need hunting out, your bankcard and Google are your friends.
You should also be able to be seen. The cage drivers, operating with 90% of their vision obscured by fogged up windows, and probably lacking any knowledge of how to operate the ventilation system in their car, will likely be blithely driving along as normal, making no allowance whatsoever for the conditions. It would help therefore if you were able to be seen. But don't count on it! Fluoro vests or whatever, and riding with the lights on may help. Or not! Assume they don't know you're there.
The first rain after a dry spell can be particularly interesting. Light rain can make a paste of accumulated dirt, rubber, and oil that has miraculous lubricative qualities. Precisely what we don't need on a road surface!
The smell of diesel should ring alarm bells, as should round rainbows on the road. Diesel is really, really, slippery stuff.
That “green rain” encountered particularly in late May and early June has been the downfall of many riders. Literally!
Any ironmongery on the road surface: manhole covers, railway lines, whatever, should be ridden over while vertical, and and nearly as possible, at right angles. Anything else that reflects light: shiny tar patches, painted road markers, should be treated with caution.
Some countries use non-skid paint. This isn't one of them. The LTSA appear to be asleep at the wheel in this respect, as well as many (most?) others!
If in doubt as to the degree of traction available at any particular time, careful use of the back brake will allow you to assess this. If you are not an accomplished user of the back brake leave this idea well alone for now.
Bad weather demands good tyres. Preferably inflated to the correct pressures. I've seen advice to the effect that we should lower pressures in the rain. I've also seen advice to the effect that pressures should be increased in the rain. To split the difference I run at, or close to, the recommended pressures. It should go without saying the the tyres need to have plenty of tread, and it helps if they haven't been stored in somebody's shed for a few years...
In adverse weather there is a particular need to be smooth in your riding style. Avoid rapid changes of speed, either upward or particularly down. Be careful with engine revs during gear changes. Likewise, changes of direction need to be more gradual than on dry roads. All of this means that we need to think ahead even more than usual.
Having said that, there is also the need to be watching the road surface to check for potential problems. It would help if the eyes were used to scanning, but all this extra work could bring the early onset of fatigue if not previously practiced.
It is essential to have the proper protective clothing, and to be comfortable. On a trip of several hours duration there is a risk of exposure if the body is not properly protected from the elements. Long before exposure sets in, however, there would have been a dramatic loss in operating efficiency. You need to keep warm.
You also need to be fed. One particularly uncomfortable experience led me to the conclusion that if stopping for fish and chips, as the meal arrives one should order another lot of chips. This latter to be shoved up the jumper purely as a heater. These days we have options such as disposable handwarmers, or for the well healed, electric vests. Whatever, it is important to be comfortable whatever the conditions.
Finally: beware overconfidence. Race reports are full of stories of a hotshot new rider who passed all and sundry as if it wasn't raining at all. Inevitably he goes up the road on his arse and thereafter rides with the same degree of caution as everybody else. For my money it'd be better to achieve the same result without the sad experience...
Take care, vaya con Dios