Are you confident riding in the wet?

[discotex]

thanks for the adive will take that into account when rain riding,

P.S good work on the ride back from kaiua with gijoe's ride a few weeks ago it was cool riding with ya through the twisties

Thanks dude - ditto. Was a nice little bunch eh. I'm keen to get out for another ride sometime soon. Working this weekend and sitting my restricted next. Somewhere in there trying to buy a house. Looks like the market is going my way now

That rain at the start of the ride musta been freaky if you don't like it. You got good tyres on that blade? If you don't it'd make all the difference to how the bike feels in the wet.

[sarahtvet]

Damn...Beat me to it!!!

but yes, I'd tend to agree with JR...It's all about smooth throttle control...Make it purr instead of bark, stroke it featherlite and move gently across the seat...be one with your mount and it'll be a very pleasurable indeed!

We still talking bikes here or has this turned into a horse riding or dating agency

you obviously have considerable talents in the wet

Jokes aside, it is great to ride nice fast roads with lots of twist on a dry day but I have had some awesome rides in the wet. Cheated recently because I could shelter behind the guy up front but that will change when the bike lands which is

I will be grateful for the hints and tips from all you more experienced types at that point

[Mekk]

Better to BE confident, just not over confident. Being under confident can be just as deadly. My first bin many years ago was because of a lack of confidence. I straightened up too late in a corner that I could've taken easily.

You truncated the "sometimes" from my quote.

I meant for increasing your awareness of hazards in the wet, referring more to experienced riders.

[007XX]

you obviously have considerable talents in the wet
:

How did you know???

But as you said, all kidding aside...I like wet riding as it all becomes a bit more challenging. It's not that I don't have still heaps to learn in the dry, but I find myself really pushed when it's raining.

It is really about making sure that all movements are smoothed out, the clutch and throttle control used carefully and gently.
It almost becomes like a dance, wih the bike having to become an extension of yourself...

It feels awesome and i get a buzz everytime I do it...

*see? I can be reasonnably serious...from time to time!

[babyblade250rr]

Thanks dude - ditto. Was a nice little bunch eh. I'm keen to get out for another ride sometime soon. Working this weekend and sitting my restricted next. Somewhere in there trying to buy a house. Looks like the market is going my way now

That rain at the start of the ride musta been freaky if you don't like it. You got good tyres on that blade? If you don't it'd make all the difference to how the bike feels in the wet.

yeah got almost brand new front and rear dunlops but the are like a sport/cruiser tyre so i'm not sure about them. i guess i made it to kaiua and back so they cant be to bad aye

[Jimmy B]

Absolutely 100% confident from 20 years plus of riding….until 3 months ago and that 100m tankslapper just out of Raglan and then a near high side out of Tuakau on the same day…now I’m well….sort of OK with it.

[McDuck]

Absolutely 100% confident from 20 years plus of riding….until 3 months ago and that 100m tankslapper just out of Raglan and then a near high side out of Tuakau on the same day…now I’m well….sort of OK with it.

bummer......

[07fatboy]

Had to take the bike to the dealers today to get a little weep that turned to a big weep,which in turn started to drip oil onto the rear wheel(warrantee work of course).IT was abit drizzly to showers for the whole 45k to the shop and every bloody round about and corner it was motard style with 1 foot down it was that slippery.It was sometimes fun when it was intentional but wasnt when i didnt expect it...i dont think the public appreciated it nor did the niceman who flashed me down.But after some explanation and showing him the issue and that i was heading down to get it rectified...he told me the any NORMAL human being would have TRAILERED the F@#$kn P.O.S down there.And just to make sure i got there safetly he followed me the rest of 15k to the shop...stay safe

[Kflasher]

Smooth on and smooth off, squeeze gently and release gently, shift weight to reduce bike lean, and feel tyre feedback.
All learned over a time period & one or two avoidable slides… hehe

[Jimmy B]

bummer......

Absolutely mate, not a fun experience by any stretch and while I’ve spun the back wheel up a few times (usually overtaking in the wet) it is certainly something that has given me plenty to think about. Normally I can feel the rear start to slide and adjust my riding accordingly.

First off I initially put the slapper down to inappropriate speed in too tall a gear on a cold poor road surface that was marked as a temporary 50kph zone. Shiny and devoid of any chip or seal. I was doing 80kph and I think I squeezed the throttle open just a bit, next minute I’m all over the show. A few of the other lads had minor traction problems in the same spot but hooked up pretty quick.

A positive is I didn’t bin, the negative is I’m not sure I could say the same thing if it ever happened again and it took seemingly forever to get back under control.

The near highside would have looked flippin cool, same shiny surface around a 90 degree corner. Speed and throttle control were OK, she just slid out, hooked up, good headshake and away. Dented the confidence a bit.

Now the bike has been a bit twitchy in the wet since winter came on, my tyres would not heat up to the same degree as my mates (they of course put that down to their superior skills). I had a service recently and the mechanic asked me what sort of gauge I was using….it was 10psi out. I had been riding with close to 55psi in the rear and 50ish in the front. Why didn’t I notice, well I had installed Ohlins in the rear and quite simply they soaked up the additional bumpage. In summer the bike felt great, on rails even. Not so in cold weather.

So, I have learnt that before you rely on a gauge make sure that it is calibrated correctly. Also if stuff like this happens for no apparent reason, there is a reason and revisit the basics like tyre pressure, suspension settings, riding style, speed etc. A mate of mine has had problems with his rear skipping under hard braking. Thought it maybe the profile of his new rear tyre. His rear shock died 10 days ago. In any case slow down and listen to your gut until you get it 100% sorted

[Solarwind]

Riding in the rain never bothered me, since I started off by riding to high school every day, along both country backroads and inner city streets, I just had to get used to it. As long as you have decent waterproof gear (I always wear my Aerostich, waterproof gloves and boots regardless of the weather), and can deal with the rain droplets and fog on your visor so you have nothing to distract you from the road, it's no big deal. If your jeans are soaked through and you can't see a damned thing through your fogged-up visor, then your riding skills and the quality of your tires are the least of your worries, imo.

[Guided_monkey]

No real probs so far with the worst Ak can throw at me. 45 minutes on the motorway system. Only probs being cagers with fogged up windows/side mirrors.... morecaution with distances the only requirement.

Just love the Ak CC's idea of a 'safe' road. Newton Rd what a problem with metal service plates.

Got too love the low down torque of the V twin. Easy to mantain a good pace without spinning the rear.

[GaZBur]

.... What I guess I'm asking is

Are you confident riding in the wet?
And if so how did you become confident?
And if not what are you doing about it?

A few have sort or hinted at but I am surprise nobody has said outright you got to "read the road". I mean read how the traction is.
To read what traction is there try a few things - like at a modest speed roll the rear brake on till it locks, open the throttle till the rear spins. Do this reasonably often on the different surfaces and you then get a feel for things as traction changes. One piece of road usually has 5 distinct surfaces on it from edge to middle and they each behave differently in dry and wet. The slick looking patches of tar are almost always deadly in the wet but traction over the rest of the road varies a lot. Ashphalt and chip roads can give real good grip in a heavy downpour yet be like glass after a light drizzle. When the rain starts the first thing that happens is the oil and diesel floats up to the surface to coat your tyres, so damp conditions are often worse than flooding. Telling you how it is doesn't help - you got to get a feel for it yourself on your bike with your tyres and your abilities.
PS. The people who say they prefer riding in the wet also probably enjoy being tied up and whipped. Personally I don't enjoy being wet and cold but sometimes you got to put up with it.

[swbarnett]

PS. The people who say they prefer riding in the wet also probably enjoy being tied up and whipped. Personally I don't enjoy being wet and cold but sometimes you got to put up with it.

I don't prefer the wet but I certainly don't mind it. If you're getting cold you need to look at what you're wearing and wrap up a bit more. If you're getting wet, your gear probably needs waterproofing. Go down to your nearest camping store and look for some nikwax or similar. They have products for leather and Cordura. Water was getting through my jacket and gloves quite badly until I retreated them a few weeks ago. Been in some heavy rain since then and remained bone dry.

[EZAS]

I never felt overly confident riding in the rain. The hardest part I found was visibility. when your trying to fly but can't see anything past the front wheel it gets abit scary in saying that, the last time I took my bike out in the rain i had a ball. Got the rear spinning up at about 50-80k, which gave me a bit more confidence knowing how hard I needed to push the bike before the rear would give out.