The TRUTH About Riding Motorcycles in the Rain

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CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:34 Your Motorcycle & Rain
1:05 The Right Tires
2:30 Waterproof Gear
4:14 Adjusting Your Riding Style
7:26 Your Mental Game
8:19 The Most Unsafe Time To Ride
8:51 Obstacles To Avoid
9:42 Staying Visible
10:06 Knowing When to Stop

[graf]

this video dropped around an hour after my first time biking in the rain - buddy of mine said it's my baptism lol.
legs soaked, felt like I was sitting in a puddle of water, got water in my jeans under my thighs.
got home soaking wet, doing well.

[Archangel]

Practiced rain, night, and rain at night extensively in my first couple months. You're right; once you're soaked, you just accept it and keep riding. Seeing through rain at night is insane and not something I'll intentionally do now that I have the experience.

[fleckek]

Always good to follow in the tire track of a vehicle in front of you. The water has already been pushed away and there is much better contact. This is good to follow in a car as well!

[Wintersdark]

All weather. Rain. Ice. Snow.

Honestly though I like heavy, cold rain the least. Heated gear is phenomenal even down to -25C, but once you get wet you're not going to be warm. Got hypothermia once in a trip riding in 9C - not even near freezing - because it was pouring rain.

[lbeliel]

When I was young, I rode my motorcycle to school rain, snow or shine. These days, I ride to enjoy the ride, not fight the elements. I’ll stick with dry road conditions as much as possible.

[streetsandpeaks]

Literally rode home in a down pour on my Streetfighter V2 after a track day meeting. Up here in the Canadian Rockies it can rain (or snow) any given time. You have more grip than you think - but like Yam says, the rain has no tolerance for your bad decisions and gixer tendencies. It’s rain, respect it and it won’t kill you.

One other comment here … if you’re not confident in the rain on your bike, maybe your bike isn’t the right bike. My dual sport ES700 is a demon in the rain and snow and the SFV2 takes some serious attention (it always thinks it’s on track). How is your confidence on dry? If it’s lacking, there’s a sign to build your basic handling skills.

I’ve been riding 49 years and never crashed on road … should I even say that out loud? But off road, many times. That’s where skills are really learned and tuned. Food for thought youngsters! Haha

[matteo]

My one and only crash was in the rain when I wasnt even in a corner so Ill stay in the sun thank you very much

[hyenalingo]

the biggest thing i learned riding in the rain is to be aware of shit like dirt that returns to mud around driveways and stuff. almost made me eat shit in a parking lot.

[marwood]

The advice about relaxing and letting the bike do the work is so true. Last year on a European tour we had terrible weather and I could not understand why I was so weak on the twisties. It took me a couple of days to realise that I was tensing my arms and fighting the bike rather than just tipping into the corner and allowing it to do its thing. As soon as I realised this and implemented the change the problem was solved. I’ve had to remind myself a few times since but every time it does the trick.

[Kim_Miller]

There's a famous 1962 Honda rider manual warning that has six safety warnings. One of them is :
Go soothingly on the grease mud, as there lurks the skid demon. Press the brake foot as you roll around the corners, and save the collapse and tie up.

[jsn]

I don't use the thumb wiper to clear my visor. At decent speed, turning my head to the left for a second and right for a second will blow off the water.

[doodskie]

The most dangerous part is when it just started to rain. The oil and dust float on top of the water, the mud from the road also begins to loosen. Id prefer to ride in the rain if the roads have been soaked for 10-15 minutes as the water and roads are now cleaner.

[exothermal.sprocket]

Stuff that's rather slick when wet:
Paint stripes
Metal grating (drain lids, sewer covers, slatted bridges)
Metal rails (as in RR crossings)
Wooden surfaces (as in RR crossings)
Tar snakes
Patches of pavement where the pavers messed up the mixture and made essentially "black ice" out of tar spots.
And good word on the "sport-touring" type tires. These tires heat up much quicker to operating grip temperature than "sports" tires, especially in cold temperatures (air and road surface).

[igaman]

"You can't become more wet than totally soaked." 🤔😂🤣

[captainnutzlos]

The most dangerous when it starts to rain, and the dust gets slippy. If its washed away after enough rain, the road is pretty grippy 🙂

[SpudsMcCat]

oil comes up out of tarnac for first half hour of rain. if you're someplace like California, that can be 6 months worth of oil, turning the riad into a skid pad.

[jamesrindley]

The thing that catches you out in the rain are the things that can suddenly reduce grip like painted lines, metal covers and worst of all, diesel spills. Following the tire tracks of cars can help because they act to scrub the road clean after rain.

[ar-pxp]

After I got soaked the first time I rode in the rain, I bought rain gear. Now, the only problem I have is having to go slower than normal.

[CactusCycles]

Old grey beard here that happens to own a dual sport amongst several bikes...

Rain is easy, snow isn't bad, but ice sucks! No wonder I live in Southern Arizona!

[Mr.DMZ.]

I rode through a tropical storm in Florida on a Kawasaki Vulcan with zero ABS. Storm came out if nowhere or i just didnt watch the weather when i left for work that day
Key, dont go too fast, stay calm, and pray the wind doesnt push you to the next lane