Riding in the rain

[Gremlin]

Very comprehensive Biff, but a couple of essentials missed. I'll try to chip in, although not nearly as articulately.

Goblin touched on shiny patches, basically the road surface has to be watched out for. I've found that the road guys use several different types of seal, ranging from chip seal to smooth tar. Bitumen almost as rough as chip seal is quite good in the wet, water is in the grooves and you have a reasonable surface.

But as the bitumen gets smoother it gets worse and worse in the rain. Had a moment today where it was a lumpy patch of tar. Didn't look too bad, until I went over it and the whole bike slid to the left and carried on

Other would be water running across the road like a stream. Found it just about always results in a lateral shift...

[2wheels in Red Beach]

I for one am grateful for all the advise, help i can get. As a newbie i figure its better to hear it from riders that know what they are doing than wing it myself, so keep up with the advise folks, im loving it

I am with Mrs Old Farts on this keep putting this stuff down cos' whats obvious to the more experienced riders is not that obvious to all the newbies out there. Paying attention here may stop this

[Drum]

Dont mean to be nit-picky (but will be!)
There is no 'tar' on our roads. Tar comes from a large pit in South America.
What we have here is bitumen. Bitumen is manufactured from crude oil. Sealed roads are either 'chip seal' - a thin layer of small 'chips' stuck to the road with bitumen, or a thick layer of Ashpaltic Cement (this is the stuff on the motorways)- which is a mix of very small chips, air, sometimes sand and of course, bitumen . The big difference between the two (and the relevance to this thread) is that with chipseal the water runs off to the side of the road (or ponds if the road is poorly constructed) and with AC (which is porous) the water runs down through the surface (or ponds if the voids get filled up with crap).

[Goblin]

Oooh, and keep your following distances at least twice what you would on a dry road. If dickheads in tintops push in and close the gap just keep that gap there as much as possible. Pretty much common sense really, but common sense aint so common any more, infact they're quite rare.

[Gremlin]

Drum: Can see your point, but when riding in the rain, or when it's wet, it's not actually that easy to divide the road into two surfaces (ignoring gravel, dirt etc).

Say Twilight Rd near Clevedon (up here in Auckland), the smoothness of the surface actually varies. Some is very smooth like the motorway, and then varies through to loose chip seal.

With that comes very different levels of grip as well, so you really need to pay attention and not assume its one particular surface type and ride accordingly.

Oh, and tar snakes: beware of those on humps parallel to the road in the middle of the lane. Ask tristank, my bike suddenly moved to the left by a few centimetres.

[GR81]

i had to do my restricted bike test yesterday in the pissing rain... made it interesting
passed tho

[Drum]

Agreed Gremlin. One of the biggest mistakes any motorist (bikes and cages included) is to assume anything. Assume they have seen you, Assume someone will Give Way, and of course assume that the road surface is consistent.

[fishb8nz]

After heavy rain, especially on country roads, be mindful of mud slips. Left hand bends are the worst, if there's a bluff on the left, when you're coming around the corner, blind. Meeting a slick of wet clay slurry half way around a bend isn't fun.
If you approach a left hand bend, slow down and take the bend closer to the centre line than normal, to improve your forward vision.
There's a bend in River Road from Ngruawahia to Huntly that has a slip after every heavy shower.

[Huntaway]

Thanks Biff and everyone else for the tips. Always get nervous about riding wet roads. Have also noticed freezing up over a scary bit of road is not helpful. Must keep faith, relax a bit and handle it

[Leong]

Thanks for starting the thread Biff, and all other contributors. Being a newbie I'm quite nervous about wet roads, and when in the rain for the first time last week, couldn't believe how much oil there was on the road between wheel tracks in the city. Never noticed this before while driving the cage!!

[metric]

Thanks for starting the thread Biff, and all other contributors. Being a newbie I'm quite nervous about wet roads, and when in the rain for the first time last week, couldn't believe how much oil there was on the road between wheel tracks in the city. Never noticed this before while driving the cage!!

yep

same situation for me... new bike, all I want to do is ride, and it's pissing with rain

noice.

nah, to be honest it's been a bit of an experience - "patience is a virtue", and it seems the more I read on this site, patience while riding isn't a virtue, it's a necessity

[oldrider]

I ride a lot in the rain if I can, it brings a whole new dimension to riding.
I have my own thoughts and approach about it but must stress that I live in the country not in the city.
What you people in the city have to put up with allways makes me think of what it would be like riding through a mincer every day.
I am not intimidated by the city but I don't go there by choice if I can avoid it. Cheers John.

[Gremlin]

Have to agree with riding the rain. Best is if you are learning then doing on a 250.

Went down the pohutukawa coast, and although I was safe, I was enjoying it and I reckon its actually good to ride in the wet on a 250. Everything tends to happen slowly and you can begin to expect things, how to react etc.

Like coming out of a corner and trying to make the rear break traction a bit, you learn. Trying to learn the responses on a thou would be a little mad...

Like ngapipi road near tamaki drive. Awesome in the dry through the curves, but in the wet, it is very slippery. Tiptoeing along at the recommended speed and the bike is still sliding sideways...

practice practice practice

[sunhuntin]

those tar snakes are mongrels. got them all up the road i use to get to work. make the front end wobble like nothing else. also the hill i used to live up has a large number of manholes, fire hydrants etc on the corners. who knows why? caught a turn arrow of white paint on the way home from work in the rain a few nights back. good thing i was slowed right down, otherwise i likely would has dropped her. back wheel slid out a bit as it was. normally try and avoid those.

best one with a give way is the paint and the potholes in the rain at night. dont see the holes until your right on top of them.

really good advice...cheers for this. i figure im never gonna learn to get used to wind and rain unless i ride in it...which is why i ride no matter what the weather. not too sure about snow yet!

[ManDownUnder]

I love riding in the rain.

When you're fully kitted up you stay 98% dry (wet fingers through the gloves probably... and possibly a spot on the back of your neck).

But I love the fact it's right there - and yet can't touch you. You're "cheating" or defying it...

Like being in a tent when it's hosing down outside - I llike that too.

Is that normal?