Give me some tips for riding in the rain!

[Erelyes]

Maybe you should give up riding then as just because you never drop it in practise it does not mean you will never drop it on the road but if you believe otherwise good luck.

Did you even read his post? He said 'could be the difference'. Not 'will be the difference'.

Fuck me you're a muppet

[biketimus_prime]

You know what makes me clench my buttocks, going around busy roundabouts when there's cars waiting to enter from all sides and it has just rained for the first time in a week. Had that last night. It was dry all the way home until I got to the off ramp roundabout.

Oh also I learnt to gauge how hard I'm braking by seeing how much my front dives. I do have a lot more to go before I lock up the front. I did lock up after braking hard once just recently and felt the front tyre squirm and deform, let off just in time as my front tried to wash out from under me. Good lesson!

So I was reading up on more riding skills and figured, wouldn't it be a good idea to lean your body into corners a little more on a wet day? It'll help cornering because you need to lean the bike over less so you have more tyre contacting the road right?

[george formby]

You know what makes me clench my buttocks, going around busy roundabouts when there's cars waiting to enter from all sides and it has just rained for the first time in a week. Had that last night. It was dry all the way home until I got to the off ramp roundabout.

Oh also I learnt to gauge how hard I'm braking by seeing how much my front dives. I do have a lot more to go before I lock up the front. I did lock up after braking hard once just recently and felt the front tyre squirm and deform, let off just in time as my front tried to wash out from under me. Good lesson!

So I was reading up on more riding skills and figured, wouldn't it be a good idea to lean your body into corners a little more on a wet day? It'll help cornering because you need to lean the bike over less so you have more tyre contacting the road right?

I've been practising that lately, "kiss the mirror". Dropping the shoulder & moving my weight into the corner. It feels very alien to me on a dual purpose bike and I've found that practising it is distracting me from other things. It moves me from my anticipated line if I get it wrong and the new body position makes the controls feel less natural, throttle & brakes are not as smooth for me. So far I have mixed feelings about it but will persevere, I can see the merit of it. Another string to the bow.
In a situation like you describe above where caution is paramount it would be the last thing on my mind, appropriate speed & observation would be my priority.

Certainly have a go at it in your practice car park but I would not suddenly decide to try it in traffic. Oh no.

[bogan]

Tyre profiles are formed so you get more contact area the more you lean the bike over, the reason you want to keep the bike upright is so the suspension is more able to deal with bumps.

Coming from a dirtbike background, if traction is a little scarce I'd lean the bike more, and me less, so it is easier to deal with any loss of traction; in addition to go slower of course.

[GTRMAN]

You know what makes me clench my buttocks, going around busy roundabouts when there's cars waiting to enter from all sides and it has just rained for the first time in a week. Had that last night. It was dry all the way home until I got to the off ramp roundabout.

Oh also I learnt to gauge how hard I'm braking by seeing how much my front dives. I do have a lot more to go before I lock up the front. I did lock up after braking hard once just recently and felt the front tyre squirm and deform, let off just in time as my front tried to wash out from under me. Good lesson!

So I was reading up on more riding skills and figured, wouldn't it be a good idea to lean your body into corners a little more on a wet day? It'll help cornering because you need to lean the bike over less so you have more tyre contacting the road right?

Biketimus if you are nervous cornering in the wet then the best idea for you is spend some time with a professional instructor. You're in Auckland so give Philip at Riderskills a call, he really knows his stuff and it will be money well spent.

I don't think you should lean over more in the wet because if the bike goes into a slide you will be off. I just slow down for bends in the wet so I can stay more upright if the bike starts to slide.
You will get replies from those who think different to me so good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Cassina you're skills are negligible and the advice you dish out is bordering on downright dangerous. Have you ever connected the dots and thought maybe the reason so few riders have the life saving skills they need is because they listen to the idiotic ravings of potential darwin award candidates like yourself on internet forums? Would you go under the knife of a surgeon that learnt his skills by reading about it on the internet?

[george formby]

Tyre profiles are formed so you get more contact area the more you lean the bike over, the reason you want to keep the bike upright is so the suspension is more able to deal with bumps.

Coming from a dirtbike background, if traction is a little scarce I'd lean the bike more, and me less, so it is easier to deal with any loss of traction; in addition to go slower of course.

I'm the same, probably why that technique is causing so many difficulties.
The last couple of times I have had to ride through Auckland in the rain I have made a big effort to stay relaxed on the bike. Being a yokel, traffic shits me & it's easy to get tense which slows down reactions. A wee slide is neither here nor there if it stays a wee slide.

[SVboy]

You would think differently if you had been put in hospital as a result of someone elses stupid driving which I have twice. It was my fault for going out my gate that day eh!!!

My sympathies to the two drivers. Hopefully they will have more luck next time. How-ever please dont give up on going through those amber lights. Give em a fighting chance eh! Where is Katman when you need him?

[FJRider]

I don't think you should lean over more in the wet because if the bike goes into a slide you will be off. I just slow down for bends in the wet so I can stay more upright if the bike starts to slide.

So ... in your considered opinion is ... it makes no difference being upright or leaning ... you "Might" get into a slide either way ... ???

If you are upright... you wont slide (sideways) ... you'll just fall over. The more upright you are ... the quicker you'll be on the tarmac.



Gravity is a bitch ... So ... don't ride in the rain. You'll feel much safer ...

[FJRider]

Maybe you should give up riding then as just because you never drop it in practise it does not mean you will never drop it on the road but if you believe otherwise good luck.

The sensible people practice their skid control practice on bikes that it matters little ... if they DO drop them. Such practice does not need to be on the open road (THAT would be silly AND dangerous)

NO amount of practice will ensure that you wont drop the bike on the open road. But it will (usually) minimize bike damage and injury to yourself.

[Berries]

In my opinion you do not have to be doing anything crazy to loose it in the wet. You only have to look at accident rates on wet days to see that.

Believe it or not tyres are designed to work in the wet, even when leaning, so are your brakes. If you don't have confidence riding in the wet, which you clearly don't given previous posts on white lines and braking fair enough, but no point spreading that particular downer to others and ruining their confidence.

I think you will find that crash rates on wet days go up not due to sudden and unforeseen loss of control due to a wet road but due to people who don't adjust their riding/driving behaviour to take account of the reduced grip and reduced visibility, not only for themselves but for all the vehicles around them. And of course due to those people who don't have the confidence to brake hard when they need to and thus ride in to the back of stationary traffic or drop it when panic braking.

When you are on a lean you are closer to the ground so your distance to hitting it will be less.

So now you are suggesting lean further in the wet because it will hurt less when you crash? I am confused.

[unstuck]

Believe it or not tyres are designed to work in the wet, even when leaning, so are your brakes. If you don't have confidence riding in the wet, which you clearly don't given previous posts on white lines and braking fair enough, but no point spreading that particular downer to others and ruining their confidence.

I think you will find that crash rates on wet days go up not due to sudden and unforeseen loss of control due to a wet road but due to people who don't adjust their riding/driving behaviour to take account of the reduced grip and reduced visibility, not only for themselves but for all the vehicles around them. And of course due to those people who don't have the confidence to brake hard when they need to and thus ride in to the back of stationary traffic or drop it when panic braking.


So now you are suggesting lean further in the wet because it will hurt less when you crash? I am confused.

Just give up mate, The lights are on, but everyone has moved to a different country.

[Berries]

I get bored poking the dog though.

[Erelyes]

In my opinion you do not have to be doing anything crazy to loose it in the wet.

If motorcycles spontaneously dump themselves in the wet, due to nebulous patches of oil, grit, tarsnakes, unicorn pee, or whatever, it would seem that the only crazy thing you have to be doing is riding a motorcycle. By your logic it's a wonder you're on this forum at all

[SMOKEU]

Lately I've been pushing myself harder and harder in the wet on the open road, and I'm surprised at how fast I can corner in the wet compared to in the dry. I've got a Michelin PP3 on the front and a PP on the rear, both near new so they're quite grippy in the rain.

Hard braking is still something I'm scared of in the wet.

[SMOKEU]

My message could be interpreted as causing others to loose confidence as you think or save their skin and a big bill if they crash too. So there is 2 ways of looking at it eh. I would say more crashes happen in the wet due to wheels locking up under hard braking rather than people being too frightened to brake hard. If from what you believe that wet roads are no less safe for you than dry roads good luck with your thinking and a few others on here think the same as you too. A few think the same as me also with their reluctance to brake hard in the wet too.

That's why I'm going to insist on ABS on my next bike. Fuck the haters.