Riding in the rain....

[placidfemme]

I did not like riding at night in Auckland in the rain really relied on my guardian angel then.

I think we all need a guardian angel riding in Auckland, regardless of the weather

[Fart]

I dont ride in the rain if I can help it. Thats what my car is for. Riding in the rain sux big time. Cant see cos helmet fogs up and as slippery as a salmon.

[hondacmx450]

i dont mind riding in the rain but year things r diffrent were i was living befor moving to hams was bad ie slips and the road gets washed away to but in the city first look of rain and all the dicks come out and then whatch out

[Wolf]

For me riding on knobs the difference is huge ,I was slipping and sliding all over the place yesterday

Hah, more fond memories.

When I was riding the TS in the wet it was very "hairy".

Took my friend Pauline out for her first-ever bike ride (much to her father's disapproval) on the TS, gave her her first taste of riding a motorbike - with me on the back (under 25 so my brain hadn't fully developed ) - and then rode around to her boyfriend's place.

The weather turned foul - it fair bucketed down - and her boyfriend suggested that he take her home in his van rather than me taking her on the bike, a suggestion I accepted as the safest option (brain had developed that much).

Visibilty was rat-shit as I was heading home down Grey Street towards the lights at Clyde Street so I didn't notice the lights had changed until it was nearly too late (inexperienced, trying to look in a million directions at once through the rain). I touched the brakes, possibly a trifle hard, and the bike started skidding. I released the brakes and put both my feet down on the road to steady the bike that was threatenening to fall over under me. I kept the bike upright by dint of standing on the road, boots sliding over the wet surface, and holding the bike up. Slid out into the intersection - into which cars were beginning to cross. Fortunately most the cars coming off Clyde were turning down towards the bridge rather than going straight ahead into the dead-end section so I angled leftwards toward the dead end, out of the way of traffic turning from my right. Came to a rest part way down the dead end with my front wheel against the curb. Left me a bit shaky.

Rode home, suitably rattled. Got in the door and the phone rang.

"Where the Hell is my daughter?" blares a voice when I answer. I then get a tirade about taking her around to that "Den of Iniquity" and how they think he doesn't know what goes on there but he does, etc etc.

When he paused for breath I opened fire.

I informed him that I knew nothing about what goes on there, neither did I know that she was not supposed to be going there for I had not been informed. I had taken her to visit her boyfriend in good faith. It had then started raining and her boyfriend had suggested that he take her home and, as a responsible rider, mindful of my pillion's safety, I accepted. And on the way home I bloody-near had an accident because of the slippery roads and "if your daughter had been on the back we'd've been in the hospital or the bloody morgue. I bloody-near died out there and I don't need an earful of abuse."

He apologised, acknowledged that my actions were grounded in responsibility and concern for his daughter's safety and hung up.

That was about the hairiest it ever got in the wet on that bike. Learned to brake early, take it slow - for braking and visibility purposes - even on machines with street tyres. Avoid road paint even in the dry whenever possible - I refuse to let the local council kill me.

[justsomeguy]

Also use you rear brake a bit more.

Using only your front is not a good idea.

[Quasievil]

Dunno, dont get rain in the Mighty Waikato, ok I lie ,we did get rain once but I was very young so thats at least 30 years ago.

[erik]

Bridgestone claim that the majority of bike tyres loose around 10% of their traction properties in the wet.

The bottom line (state the obvious time) - slow down, brake before you normally would, and progessivly. It's not just the wet road that's out to get you. That diesel spill becomes more of a hazard, as do they painted road markings.

I wonder what kind of road surface they base that 10% figure on?

Like you say, it's the diesel spills, road markings etc that become particularly bad in the wet. I'm sure you lose way more than 10% on stuff like road markings, the bits where they've repaired the road with tar or where the stone chip has been pushed beneath the tar, or manhole covers etc.
I think identifying the crap on the road/reading the road is even more important in the wet.
If the road was all nicely sealed chipseal or whatever, with no manhole covers, roadmarkings, oil, slippery tar bits, etc, then riding in the wet wouldn't be all that much different to riding in the dry. Take a look at how hard the motogp guys on their nicely surfaced racetracks can push it in the wet! It's bloody incredible (I know it's also of course due to their much better tyres and skill, but still).

[Wolf]

Dunno, dont get rain in the Mighty Waikato, ok I lie ,we did get rain once but I was very young so thats at least 30 years ago.

Ah, yeah - my above tale refers to Clyde and Grey streets in, umm, Waikikamukau, not Hamilton. It doesn't rain here.

[Ixion]

Dunno, dont get rain in the Mighty Waikato, ok I lie ,we did get rain once but I was very young so thats at least 30 years ago.

uh chaps, don't quite know how to break this to you, but you know the fog that perpetually blankets the Waikato? And you know how sometimes the fog gets especially wet ? . Well, that's what other (less fogbound) souls call rain.

[Wolf]

I think identifying the crap on the road/reading the road is even more important in the wet.

Agreed.

Bloody hard at night in town with all the streetlamps, shifting headlights, shop lighting/signage all reflecting off the wet surface - bloody impossible to see the road markings displaying what lane you're in, in some places.

I love those raised reflective "cats eyes" - they stick up above the surface of the water and show you at least the median strip.

[Waylander]

I have yet to see a rain storm here that I could not ride through. Don't like to cause I dont have proper waterproof gear but the heavy rain here is like a light drizzle in Dallas. When your streets turn into mini rivers after 3 minutes then you can call it rain.

[Lou Girardin]

It sure bloody rained last night, it even waited till 5.30 to really turn it on.

[jazbug5]

Well; I ride in wet weather, and so far so good.
However, it'd be good to see some more tips here for wet weather riding?
Obviously, good gear = Very Important.
Rear brake; well, I use mine proprtionally more in the wet, but I'm not *sure* that my technique is particularly spotless, as i've only been riding a few months and haven't had much formal training. If any.
What I'd like to know is, if you do go into a skid as Wolf did, what should you do? Come off your brakes and re-apply them more progressively?
Obviously, you want to be braking much earlier where you know that you will, but if, Heaven Forfend, you have to brake in an emergency..?
What's uppermost in your mind, experienced folks..? (Apart from 'Oh sh*t')

[Ixion]

It sure bloody rained last night, it even waited till 5.30 to really turn it on.

That it sure did. I came home about 6pm and it was pissing down. And the roads were as slippery still as a Very Slippery Thing. Wish I knew what the formula for that slipperiness was, synthesise and bottle it and you'd put KY out of business.

I try to avoid braking at all in the wet, use engine braking. And keep lane changing etc to a minimum.

I find one of the hardest things is that the mirrors stream with water, so with wet mirrors wet visor, I can't see well at night what's behind - the mirrors just show great blurs of light from the headlamps.

Rain riding on the open road is fun, but I'm not so keen on it in traffic.

[Ixion]

..
What I'd like to know is, if you do go into a skid as Wolf did, what should you do? Come off your brakes and re-apply them more progressively?
Obviously, you want to be braking much earlier where you know that you will, but if, Heaven Forfend, you have to brake in an emergency..?
..

Avoidance. Try to steer out of the problem rather than brake.

If I do have to brake hard in the wet I use a thing called pulse braking, which was shown to me years and years ago. I've never seen or heard mention of it so it may be horribly bad , and I do NOT recommend it (so don't blame me ) ; and if people who know more than me tell you it's bad then believe them. Works for me is all I can say.

Basically you "tremble" your hand / foot on the brake. Squeeze , let off a little but, squeeze, let off, but as fast as you can . And each squeeze a bit more than the last one, and each release a bit less. You don't let the brake off completely, just relax the pressure a little bit .

If I'm braking gently for lights etc I do use the back brake in an on off on off way, because I think car drivers take more notice mof the flashing brake light thaan they do of a steady one.