Anybody Enjoy Rain Riding?

[mfifer]

We have been in our Rainy Season here in New Mexico.
As luck would have it , it has also fallen in our Hot Season.
I am starting to enjoy the afternoon cloud covers and the cool mornings with the smell of wet mesquite and greasewood bushes and the gentle to moderate showers and calm winds in the afternoons , on the way too and from work.
I find my RT not as protective as the ST1300 Honda was but it is such a superior bike that it is easy to forget.
I do hate it though when the sun does come out and feels like you are an ant standing under a childs magnifying glass!

Mike

[Gilly]

Sometimes it's not too bad. Like you said, just a gentle or moderate rain and short-lived. Especially cool when you sense that it's going to be a short one (and are right!) and pass others under the overpasses suiting up. HAH! The smells are nice and on a hot day you get to cool off for awhile.
I hate it in the situation I had last week. Pouring rain for 10+ miles and the rain suit staying nice and dry at home, because the weather forecast was good. I did have a dry pair of jeans and a shirt, and a leather jacket with me. Had to go to the get the front tire replaced, then was going to go to a Bike Nite type event so had other clothes with me. Was "almost" to the soaked to, the, ah "bone" stage but not quite. Wrung socks out in the mens room at the dealership and changed clothes. It was done raining by the time they were done with the bike, and the ride afterwords had me feeling OK, I know I was still a bit "humid" in the shoe dept.
But a ride in just a short refreshing rain feels good at times, just enough to dam up some water on the "S" windshield and drips back a little. Ya do have to watch for oily white sludge on the road when this happens though. I've had guys describe what it's like when the K Bike splines let go, well I've had the same sensation, only it wasn't splines that were letting go, it was the rear tire!

Gilly

[kreinke]

My coworkers and frends think I'm insane but love riding in the rain. I especially love rainy nights and glancing down at the front wheel to see the water swrling around the telelever.

[rdalland]

I like the kind of rain that makes other people change their plans and stay home. Leaves the roads clear for me. I'll ride all day under these conditions.
I'm not saying I like torrential downpours, but rainy days are fine by me.

[pffog]

I don't mind rain at all, good time to assess smoothness, bruch up on reading corners, getting confident of the traction modern tires have etc.

I have even done several sessions at track days in the rain, same thing, slow down, experiment on lines etc. All fun.

[Paul_F]

Two or three years ago, I rode to the Finger Lakes Rally, all of it in the rain . Enjoyed every minute of it; the riding, not the camping. When my wife and I first rode, it was in England back in '71 and we always had lots of rain to ride through. When it rains now, it always brings back pleasant memories of that trip. The air always smells so fresh in a rain.

[glennhendricks]

I didn't used to have rain gear back when I first was riding.

My jacket, pants and boots are waterproof now and makes a huge difference.

[GrafikFeat]

We have been in our Rainy Season here in New Mexico.

You should ride up to Seattle and explore the Seattle RainFest. It normally runs from January 1st to December 31st but looks like it may be longer this year!

~ Jim

ps. Seattlites don't tan. We rust.

[mfifer]

You should ride up to Seattle and explore the Seattle RainFest. It normally runs from January 1st to December 31st but looks like it may be longer this year!

~ Jim

ps. Seattlites don't tan. We rust.

LOL , we usually have the same problem with the cronic sun !!
:D

[jdmetzger]

Unfortunately the weather situation hasn't been so good, here. It's been REALLY rainy, and while I'm not afraid of riding in rain (I've ridden in PLENTY of rain that I should have probably pulled over for), it all seems to come with lightning and/or severe winds. By severe winds, I mean complete sideways rain that blows through the door seals at work.

This morning I checked the doppler before I left and it looked clear, but once I got out of the neighborhood (lots of tall trees) the sky looked mighty ominous. It was one of those "day and night" differences. I was dressed for it so I decided to go for it, and it worked out in my favor; light traffic (I was going in early) and my commute took me around the storm. :)

[DwayneH]

I love rain riding, don't know what it is about it, just don't mind it, and actually don't even try to avoid it.

[ARValkguy]

It was suppose to be a beautiful weekend getaway on the bike to Eureka Springs, AR with my wife Sandy. Friday we rode zigzag from Paris,AR up to Bentonville. Next morning another beautiful day more zigzaging throught the Ozarks ending up in Eureka Springs. Nice dinner couple drinks, wonderful time plus there was some kind of bike rally going on in Branson so lots of fellow bikers to visit with. So far an incredible weekend with my wife. Early the next day eating breakfast, suddenly rain. "Where are the rainsuits" Oh they are in the trunk honey, let me run out nd grab them, guess what? I said hey no worries we will just wait it out, well it was looking worse and worse. We decided to go for it. Heading south out of Eureka on HWY 23 south. It is not very fun in a downpour. By the time we made it back home in Paris it was beyond crazy, we were both laughing like crazy. It was a great ride in the rain!

[mfifer]

I love rain riding, don't know what it is about it, just don't mind it, and actually don't even try to avoid it.

That is how I feel now and never did before ?????
I too hate wind though!!

[JK]

A warm steady costal rain in the middle of the summer, sneakers, shorts, and shirtless, her laughing, holding on tight with daisy-dukes and a halter-top..., can you sense and feel the sizzle? :clap

Moments like those make for riding memories that last for a lifetime, and one minute after.

J.K. :wow

[rocketman]

The best kind of rain is the kind I encountered on my way up to Fof while riding thru WV, it was hot, humid and bright when a good shower came along as I topped the second mountain pass, 10 minutes of cooling rain, just enough to wet you down without totally soaking you. Came out the other side cool and refreshed, the sun came back out and dried the roads and I never bothered to stop and don rain gear. If felt wonderfull!

Nice steady light rain can be nice on a warm day as well. On a kool day with raingear I'll keep going, as long as I can see the way ahead. When it gets so hard you start to lose visability to other dirvers or condition impar your ablity to see ahead, I'll find shelter, those usually only last for a little while anyway and I try to always leave time so I don't feel rushed, the destination will always be there, whether you get there today or tomorrow or the day after that.

Also see my post of a while ago, The Ramblings of Rain Soaked Lunatic...

so, yeah riding in rain has it rewards, and sometimes its down side, just like most things in life! Funny how that works, eh? :laugh

RM

[SugarHillCTD]

Being the neat freak that I unfortunately am, I hate for the bike to get filthy in the rain.

Otherwise, with the proper raingear on, I am mostly warm and dry.

But it does remind me of years ago when I was doing amateur roadracing. Had a few practices in the rain and one race. That taught me how to "tip toe" through corners and be smooth with all input.

Tires are SO much better 30 years later......

[flgoff]

I love riding . . . period. If it rains, it rains. I carry appropriate gear, and don it when the occasion calls for it. If seeing becomes problematical, I pull over till that short, heavy segment is over, then move on. This approach worked quite well on last year's trip through New England, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, and back where it rained 9 of the 18 days of the trip. What I don't love is packing up a wet tent every morning, but that's another thread. I often leave the house in the rain on what is no more than a pleasure ride, with no real destination.

By the way, if your area is suffering from drought conditions, let me know,and I'll try to schedule a trip through there.

Floyd:bikes

[hlothery]

A warm steady costal rain in the middle of the summer, sneakers, shorts, and shirtless, her laughing, holding on tight with daisy-dukes and a halter-top..., can you sense and feel the sizzle? :clap

Moments like those make for riding memories that last for a lifetime, and one minute after.

J.K. :wow

Hey, man......you'd have a real opportunity on South Padre Island today!!:D :nyah

[JK]

Hey, man......you'd have a real opportunity on South Padre Island today!!:D :nyah

There's a major difference between rain that is falling, and rain that is flying. ... Then again, whatever blows up your skirt.

Having landed and taken off planes during actual typhoons/hurricanes, I prefer the comfort and hospitality of a dry roadhouse, and a warm-hearted waitress, any day.

J.K. :wow

[rmarkr]

It was one of those storms that just didn't stop bucketing down. The highway (I26) was flooded, it could not drain fast enough. After taking shelter for about an hour, I felt I needed to get moving as it was not letting up.
So I set off gingerly, not knowing what to expect. My visor held the rain drops, the spray off the front wheel was striking my feet, but it felt OK. Upped the speed to try and blow the water off the visor - no problem. Tried more speed - still felt in control. Soon I was doing 80, enjoying every minute of it, the bike tracked perfectly with no hint of aquaplaning. It was almost a let down when I out-rode the storm, I was loving it!
:)

13964

[26667]

My first solo xc trip; Chicago to San Diego back in '82, it poured from Chicago to Hobbs, NM, (the AZborder)and all the way back from, yep. ...Hobbs NM, to Chicago. By the time I reached Chicago on the ret, it was raining so hard cars were stopping under the bridges. On the way out I went south first to try and get warmer weather. With each fill-up the gas station attendants said "...think it maht raiiin?" as i slogged in from the pumps to pay.

But after a while, if you're determined to get somewhere, you become more and more comfortable with the driving. These machines handle pretty darned well and you can go "fast". With the obvious caveats... There were times when the wind and the motion and my windshield put me in a perfect cocoon of still air, and the view of the rest of the world was...well as great as it always is from the seat of a motorcycle. Ok. Other times it was not so pretty. But given the right mind-set...ie crazy, it can be a whole lotta fun.

Especially if you can enjoy your mistakes; like putting on my rain gear in the wrong order one day so that the rain poured from my helmet into my jacket and from my jacket into my pants and gloves, and from my pants into my totes. The top of my head was dry. Or the night I thought I'd parked in a good spot at the motel. But the corners of the roofs met there and as I looked out of my room, my uncovered bike was not only getting rained on, but poured on by ALLLL the water coming off both roofs.

Ya gotta laff.

[hlothery]

It was one of those storms that just didn't stop bucketing down. The highway (I26) was flooded, it could not drain fast enough. After taking shelter for about an hour, I felt I needed to get moving as it was not letting up.
So I set off gingerly, not knowing what to expect. My visor held the rain drops, the spray off the front wheel was striking my feet, but it felt OK. Upped the speed to try and blow the water off the visor - no problem. Tried more speed - still felt in control. Soon I was doing 80, enjoying every minute of it, the bike tracked perfectly with no hint of aquaplaning. It was almost a let down when I out-rode the storm, I was loving it!
:)

13964

Hyjack on:

Mark,

I was just on Hilton Head last week, stayed at the Main Street Inn. Played Harbor Town Links, The Club at Indigo Run, the Robert Trent Jones course at Palmetto Dunes, and the Nicholas course on Daufuskie Island. Great seafood, too! What a marvelous place....I envy your choice of locale!

Hyjack off.

[hlothery]

I have ridden in the rain, trained (Army) in the rain, camped in the rain, fished in the rain, and sailed in the rain. I can do it, but I cannot say I ever enjoyed it. Had a friend of mine go down two weeks ago in the rain in Bastrop, Tx on his Gold Wing....luckily no one was hurt more than scrapes and bruises. While I realize the bike will do pretty well on wet pavement, there is the matter of physics, which concerns me. :D

[sgtboring]

The other day I got caught in a down pour and it felt great. It was almost 100 out.

October last year drove from TX to PA 1,400 miles in 33 hours. It was between 40 and 50 and rained the whole trip. That was not fun.

The heated vest and grips combined with my whool sweater and socks kept me from falling into a full hypotherma.

My gortex (expensive) raingear, boots & gloves help out the water for the first 8 hours. Then the cold water found ways in (at my neck, wrists, waist ect..). My boots and gloves filled with water and my silk and whool under layers became waterloge for the last 24 hours of the trip. My feet and hands were blue and numb when I got home.

Being in the weather is part of the experiance. If you ride you should learn to ride in the rain. Otherwise you may not be prepared when you are forced to do it!

I endured that helish ride to be home in time to see the first altrasound of my son RJ. I think it was worth the discomfort.

[535is]

Rain? Meh. I've been wet before; I'll be wet again.

Yesterday, the only rain that fell all day long was the light shower that fell from 11:55 to 12:10 ... while I was on my way to lunch. :banghead

Last Wednesday, Road America got literally pounded by a storm that, if there was no actual tornado in it, missed a really good chance. I was working the race, but the RS was sitting in the nice dry Tech area. Even as the storm left, the rain remained and I had to ride home in it. I still don't know what the hell I've done with my rain pants this year, so I put on my jacket and set out. What I discovered on my 20-odd mile ride was a philosophical approach I do not usually have. I am often furious that I could see, but not skirt, a small shower, but this time there was no escaping it. :bluduh

After I settled on a traction strategy and speed for the standing water, I found myself in a detached academic exercise discovering what got wet and when. I was a bit surprised to see my feet getting wet since they're above the lower fairing bottom. The apparent difference between riding wet surfaces (where my feet stay dry) and in a driving rain is that the water runs off the upper part of the fairing into the cylinder area. My gloves stayed dry. My jacket 'ballooned', but I got only a little water at my neck, running off my helmet, since I hadn't paid much attention to that last top button. My legs got wet from the inside out. Maybe it was coming off my jacket and the tank; I don't know. The seat was mostly dry since I ran the trip virtually nonstop at ~60 mph. The biggest surprise from the RS's aerodynamics was that my outer thighs stayed completely dry. :eek

This is a far cry from my old Shadow cruiser where nothing stayed dry. But on the Shadow, one cold night with my open face helmet, I learned a Life Lesson I shall never forget: Sleet hurts. :(

[Troutluck]

Raced a thunderstorm coming back to Vegas from Pahrump a couple weeks ago. Don't know if you've ever seen a storm come in over the mountains in the desert, but it's an epic sight. Managed to beat most of the storm before the downhill s-curves into Red Rock area. Rain felt great, although it was difficult to clean the desert sludge off the bike later. The bike got an early bath this year.

[Braddog]

The original post said "enjoy rain riding".

I guess I don't mind riding in the rain, and won't let a rain shower stop me from riding if I've got plans, but wind and storms are a different deal. For example, if there's rain forecast for the afternoon of a workday, it's no big deal to me. I've got a waterproof jacket, rainpants and boots. But if they predict thunderstorms, some severe, then I won't ride the bike. I've been caught in a sudden thunderstorm with wind and heavy rain, and it was no fun at all.

I've commuted several times on rainy days, and didn't really find it a problem. I don't know that I could say "enjoy" it, though. My wife and I got caught 50 miles from a rally site a few years ago, and wanted to get back for dinner. We tried waiting out the rain, but it didn't stop. It was really the only time we've EVER ridden any distance at all 2 up. She was terrified, even though the ride went without a hitch.

[Random]

Being the neat freak that I unfortunately am, I hate for the bike to get filthy in the rain. Otherwise, with the proper raingear on, I am mostly warm and dry...

I really like riding in the rain now that I have rain proof gear. An additional benefit is the bike gets a power wash at the same time.

[rmeisen]

I'd rather ride a bike than drive a car in the rain. Seems to me like I am among the rain drops rather than watching them puddle up on the windshield and windows 2 feet away. I can see much better, have a better feel for the conditions and can really see what is on the road right ahead of me. I never feel like I have less control, although I'm kind of a slowpoke anyway, just hanging out in the breaks in traffic most of the time.

[mfifer]

13964


Wow a Waffle House across the street and you stopped at a Phillips 66!
You are a sick man!

:)

[dpryan]

Add me to the "don't mind it all" crowd (except for lightning/thunderstorms! :uhoh ). And it IS a good excuse to clean the bike once in awhile..... :D

[rmarkr]

Wow a Waffle House across the street and you stopped at a Phillips 66!
You are a sick man!

:)

I know.. I know!
I used to have a superiority complex but now I'm perfect.

:D

[crazydrummerdude]

You guys are crazy.

Riding in the rain is not fun. Well, maybe a little.

But, I keep it to about 55mph. Or 60.

It's those tractor trailer mist blasts that suck.

[Rpbump]

Don't mind riding in light rain at all. Heavy rain in traffic is another matter. The ABS on my bike is a confidence builder, if I had to ride in rain all the time I'm sure that several rain outfits would have to be bought and used before I was satisfied with the performance of the gear. When the opportunity to tour arises later this year i will be buying boots, gloves, and a one piece rain suit just so I'll not be unprepared while on the road. The "Waffle House" can be a welcome break when inclement weather strikes whether driving a bike or a cage. Hot coffee and a "snack" gives you a break from the stress of traffic. Ride Safe :D

[Charlie_K]

I'd rather ride on a sunny 70-degree day but I can handle the rain if I have to. I taunted the rain gods yesterday. The forecast was 20% chance of thunderstorms but I still rode my freshly washed bike 114 miles to Turning Stone Casino to play poker. The ride out was dry but Zeus hurled a few thunderbolts at me on the way home.
When I was leaving the casino's garage a storm had just passed. Since I was heading east I knew I'd catch up with it so I geared up. Putting your rain gear on in a safe dry place is much better than standing beside the road with traffic whizzing by. I got everything zipped up and all the Velcro flaps closed correctly before I headed out.
Soon I was riding on the New York Thruway in a downpour. It wasn't too bad; my R1200RT's fairing offers a lot of protection especially if there are no other vehicles near enough to disrupt the airflow. Then things went downhill; I overtook a slug of cars creeping along with their four ways on. There was nothing I could do but follow a minivan going 45 mph in the left lane. This is one of the worst situations you can be in on a motorcycle; riding in marginal conditions surrounded by white-knuckle drivers. I stayed in the left lane and rode in the left wheel track trying to stay out of the blind spots of cars in the right lane.
The rain was easing up when suddenly there were brake lights ahead, then the bright LED light bar of a State Police car. There was a newer Jeep Grand Cherokee on its side in the median; the caved in roof showed that they'd rolled over at least once. This was my break, as cars ahead of me moved to the right lane I moved right but only to the edge of the left lane. As soon as I was clear of the accident scene I accelerated past the line of cars. In a few minutes I was out of the rain and back at my normal 74 mph cruising speed.
Just when I was thinking of making a pit stop to shed my rain gear I rode into another storm. There was a lot of lightning around me but the flash-bang interval was long enough that I didn't seek shelter. Traffic slowed down but didn't bunch up so I just found a spot with good spacing from other vehicles and rode out the storm.
It was sunny when I got home so I washed the bike planning to repeat the trip today. That's not happening. It's raining now and the forecast is 40% chance of severe thunderstorms. Riding home in the rain is a lot different than leaving a warm comfortable house to put yourself in a place you'd rather not be.

[PGlaves]

I like hitting my head with a hammer. It feels so good when I stop!

Or, I really like it when the sun comes back out.

[GrafikFeat]

...I really like it when the sun comes back out.

What's it like riding in the sun? I missed it here in Seattle... I was at work that day.

That reminds me...
I notice the "YearRounders" have a 3 spoke wheel logo.

Aren't there "Four Seasons"? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Seasons_(Vivaldi))

Seattle has two, Rain then showers.

[PGlaves]

The Chihuahuan desert in the Texas Big Bend has about 330 sunny days a year. A few cloudy days. Maybe 10 actually rainy days a year at any given location.

That, among several other reasons, is why we retired there.

I have ridden in more than my share of midewest thunderstorms. Hard rain, lightening, and wind. 40 gusting to 50 isn't all that unusual.

I don't really enjoy that all that much.

A nice slow steady rain isn't too bad - but those things usually last for days on end.

I like sunshine and I'm not afraid to admit it.