Better to ask than crash through ignorance.Originally Posted by Bonmaklad
What gear to be in will depend very much on the bike. But a general rule of thumb is whatever keeps the tacho needle between one third and two thirds of redline.
Rain, it happens. There are various considerations. Visibility: Heavy rain can make it hard to see. Slow down if necessary and if it's realy bad don't hesitate to find some place of shelter and wait for it to ease. There are various tricks that can help; turning your head sideways will help blow water off the visor; if your visor is fogging, crack it open just a tiny bit; in really bad rain you may be better to open your visor, push your helmet forward and tilt your head forward so you are looking upward. Traction: Heavy rain is actually less of a problem for traction than light rain after a dry spell. The heavy rain washes the crap off the road. Are you blipping the throttle when changing down? That's quite important on a V twin, even a small one, and should prevent rear wheel lockup.
On a dry road it is almost impossible for you to lean too far (though parts of the bike may begin to scrape). If you do lean too far, you may roll off the tread part of the tire. This is a fairly noticeable feeling sort of a dip and lurch. In the wet you can (maybe, if on low quality tyres) lean too far. If you do you will feel the back start to slip - impossible to describe but immediately obvious when it happens. If this happens DO NOT BRAKE OR BACK OFF THE THROTTLE. That is *REALLY* important. Keep a steady throttle, lift the bike a wee bit and adjust your line. I repeat though, at this stage it is very unlikely (unless you are a squid) that you will lean too far.
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