Riding like Miss daisy

[Lou Girardin]

Goddamn rain! Since I arsed off I'm teetering around in the wet like a total wally. Wouldn't be so bad if I knew exactly what happened. Anyone got some brave pills?
Lou

[bluninja]

Another slur on female riders

LMAO Hope you had a big jar of vaseline to protect your bike from the elements.

TTFN

[Lou Girardin]

God No! Not all females, Just Miss daisy as in the movie.
(Cringes in fear)
Lou

[Big Dog]

The diff between making it and breaking it in the wet is to have warm tyres and hot brakes. When I ride in the wet (> 30% of the time being my main mode of transport) I weave a bit at low speeds with the brakes slightly on using as little steering input as poss this seems to warm up the tyres and brakes nicely.

According to the Hurt report most accident's in the wet are because of over braking, mostly due to people using cold brakes with the same urgency they would at the end of a long ride on a hot day.

Apparently in the dry it takes 5km at moderate speeds to warm up the brakes/tyres on a warm dry day. In the wet it takes 15km's. Which means that most commuters would get to where they are going before their tyre's and brakes are operating effectively.

It has been a 120,000kms since I crashed in the wet (touch wood) and that had more to do with diesel than water. I believe this is a combination af proactively heating my brakes/tyres and general defensive driving skills.

Also some books I have read recommend employing the rear brake a fraction of a second before the front to slow the wheight transfer down, which in theory anyway lessens the g's on the contact patch, as the weight transfer is not adding more momentum to the equation.

Also could help to practice skid recovery on a mountain bike on loose gravel. I reckon without doing that as a kid there would be a highside and a few lowsides more in my little black book!

Only my humble opinions / repeated research of others but I'm sure if you build up to it and keep those tyres and brakes warm you will recover all if not more confidence. To be fair I feel safer in the wet because I trust my abilities and there is less stupid behavior from cagers.

Here's to keeping the black bits down and the shiny side up!

[750Y]

Originally posted by Lou Girardin
Goddamn rain! Since I arsed off I'm teetering around in the wet like a total wally. Wouldn't be so bad if I knew exactly what happened. Anyone got some brave pills?
Lou

get thee out the back roads when it's wet.

[Big Dog]

Originally posted by 750Y
get thee out the back roads when it's wet.

lol Said in one sentence what I took 10 mins to write!
P.s You don't want brave pills it's fear that keeps us upright!

[Lou Girardin]

Yeah you're right. It's the 8km commute each day that gives me the shits.
Lou

[Dave]

I have seen lots of different styles of riding and racing on the track-some people are nturally smooth and will have less trouble in the wet. Others are more awkward and erratic in their riding,in the dry, this doesn't make much difference but in the wet, a moment of carlessness will push the tyres beyond their grip.
-Also lean off more in the wet-will keep the bike more upright and maximise the contact patch.
-Make a longer transition from braking to turning in,etc.
-relax.don't tense up.

and if you dont like riding in the wet- then do more of it.
go and ride every time it rains.soon you'll enjoy it.

[jrandom]

Originally posted by Dave
lean off more in the wet-will keep the bike more upright and maximise the contact patch

Hell yeah. I discovered this a while back on the FXR, with it's crappy rubber-band tyres. Since I've taken to hanging off like a drunken monkey around corners in the wet (actually since I weigh almost as much as the bike it only really needs one cheek off the seat) it's sooooo much more confidence-inducing. Hard out counter-steering and max lean just doesn't happen on anything other than dry roads and warm tyres.

[riffer]

You're so right Dave.

I've been back on bikes for exactly a month now. I'm commuting 80km a day and riding weekends for fun so getting used to it fast.

The first day I had to ride into work we pissing down and I was fair shitting myself as I discovered just how bad those in cages actually drive - I guess it's got something to do with them only taking the car when wet - anyway I found I was tensing up and trying to 'steer' the bike through the traffic.

I've since found out that a relaxed hand on the bars is a lot more comfortable - and that I actually have more grip than I think.

Today was shit weather all the way in from the Hutt - rain and wind - my bike gets pushed a bit in the crosswind 'cause of its fairing - and if I just loosen off the grip on the bars I can take up the slack and it doesn't get transferred through to the steering like it did at first.

Much has been said recently about how crap Dunlop Sportmax's are but I've found them to be quite good in the rain - once warm (!) I guess I'm just not thrashing the bike enough.

[duckman]

Daves right about gettin off the bike when it's raining hard.
I nearly kacked my pants the first time I went around puke in the pissing rain, but once I learned to relax and hang off as far as I could I actually found my riding was better in the wet.

With all that in mind - I'd still take the hot summer weather anyday!!

[Big Dog]

Originally posted by celticno6
Much has been said recently about how crap Dunlop Sportmax's are but I've found them to be quite good in the rain - once warm (!) I guess I'm just not thrashing the bike enough.

I reckon tyre choice has a lot to do with it.

My tyres are crap for thrashing (they get sideways to easy if you are not gentle enough on the throttle between 65000 and 10000 rpm) but will let me do stoppies in the wet (albeit unintentional ones).