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Top 8 Tips For Motorcycle Riding In The Rain – and enjoying it!

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Well, I remember the first time I ever rode in the rain and I was really, really nervous. I thought there was no way the bike would stay upright! Luckily I had a good teacher who took me to one side and gave me some tips that were gold and it wasn’t long before I realised that I really quite enjoyed it.  So I came up with my Top 8 Tips For Motorcycle Riding In The Rain.

Nowadays it doesn’t bother me, which is good because guaranteed, as riders, we are all going to get caught in the rain at some point and the last thing you want to do is get stressed, tensed or panicked over it.

TOP 8 TIPS

1.  GOOD QUALITY, REFLECTIVE OR HI-VIS WET WEATHER GEAR

–  My first tip is to get some good quality wet weather gear, Hi-vis preferably.  When the weather has low, flat light it makes it really difficult to see you. I know it isn’t the “look”, but I would rather be able to ride another day than to say, “but I looked good”. .

I have been caught many times in the rain and if you are a million miles from home out in woop woop, the last thing you want is to be cold and wet for the rest of the ride. Been there, done that and I had to thaw out many times in a hot bath.   It does make it miserable for the longer rides if you are cold and wet and makes it very tiring.

The wettest I had been was when a few of my crew rode from QLD through the back way to the Oxley Highway, Waterfall Way in New South Wales, Australia for four days. It rained and was foggy all the way down there. I left at 5am meeting everyone in Beaudessert at 7am and we arrived at Wauchope at 10pm. There was thunder, lightening, downpours, fog….you name it, we had it and we were EXHAUSTED.

But we had the best time for the rest of the weekend. It stopped pouring once we got there and we would have missed out if we hadn’t braved the weather on the first day.

Back to my tips……

– We all wore good, reflective wet weather gear so we arrived at our destination fairly dry.  Another tip for wet weather gear is…..try not and let water pool in your lap. Stand up occasionally if you can because the water can eventually seep through the stitching making it look like you wet your pants. Yup! Happened to me on that trip.  I ride a cruiser so it is a bit hard to stand up.

2.  TYRES

– This is common sense.  Make sure your tyres are in good condition before you ride and has the correct PSI.  You should do this before every ride anyway.  Check out my blog on “5 Signs You Need To Change Your Motorbike Tyres”. This is very important.  Because the water stops the rubber  from heating up so the grip isn’t as good as when riding in the dry, but tyres are designed for all the weather conditions so if you know your tyres are all good then TRUST YOUR TYRES.

3.  VISION

– Another common sense tip…Make sure you can see through your Visor.  Again, I have done this before, if your shield is covered in bugs or dirt, wash it at the service station.  It takes 2 minutes but really if it starts to rain and you wipe your visor with your glove….Yup you got it….bug bodies squashed all over and it becomes very smeary…also prevent face shield fog by using an anti-fogging treatment.

While I was researching, I came across a HACK FOR KEEPING YOUR VISOR FROM FOGGING UP. Please note I haven’t tried this yet, but I am definitely going to.  Shaving cream…that’s right….shaving cream. Wash and dry the visor thoroughly, wipe the visor with shaving cream on both sides with your fingers, leave for 5 mins then carefully buff with a clean microfibre cloth and there you have it! I love HACKS! I will let you know how I go. Please let me know if you have done this or have any other HACKS .

Rain on motorbike screen

CREDIT SHUTTERSTOCK

Ok, the first 3 tips are really just preparing you for the wet weather.  The next few tips are when you are actually riding in the rain.

4.   DON’T STRESS AND STAY RELAXED AND SUPPLE

– Sit upright, stay loose and keep your regular riding pattern. The more tense you are, it is going to amplify all your movements and bike twitches. You are also going to get very, very tired quickly.  Don’t grip the bars and have smooth control.  Use the rear brake in combination with the front and don’t grab the brake. Using the rear brake also helps stabilise the chassis. Really though, this is the same as with riding and braking in the dry weather. So squeeze the brake, don’t grab the brake. If you need to brake strongly then pump them so you don’t aquaplane.

5.  PICK A DRY LINE

– When you have a car in front of you, ride in the cars tyre line . Car tyres are moving the water out of the way so it makes it drier and more contact with the road.  Don’t ride in the middle where it is wettest as this is where the oil is dropped by cars onto the road.   But again, I do this in dry weather too. It is a great habit to get into so when it does rain,  with you automatically riding in the cars tyre line, you don’t have to consciously think about it.  Oh and  when it first starts raining, that is the time the road is slipperiest.  That was just a side note…the first 20 mins is when the oil and dirt comes to the surface so a little extra care is needed at this time.

6.  AVOID THESE THINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE SLIPPERY

  • Avoid swirls of rainbow on the road. Trust me they are not some sort of cool weather phenomenon, it is oil and oil is not your friend. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!
  • Manhole covers because they are made of metal and metal is slippery.  Saying that,, the only time they become a problem is if you are braking heavily or leaning .  Going over them straight on is no big deal, but I never go over them if I can help it, just in case.
  •  Painted lines on the road. They are more slippery and that is just the way it goes. Don’t stop on them and don’t put your foot down on them when stopped at lights or a sign.
  • Railway tracks for the same reason as manhole covers. You can’t really avoid railway tracks so when you are going over them take them on at an angle of 90% as much as possible to reduce the risk of sliding on the steel.
  • When stopping at lights or signs, stop in the dryish tyre line as cars leak oil into the middle of the road and you don’t want oil on your tyres or your boots. Which reminds me, avoid putting your foot down in liquid on the road when stopped.
  • Avoid puddles and potholes. Puddles can be hiding potholes, and potholes could be a bottomless pit!  No really!  And  puddles can cause aquaplaning, so just try and avoid them.  Potholes?  Just don’t go over them…anytime…
  • Wooden bridges can be slippery so just be aware of the metal studs in them (thinking of Lyons Road in NSW at the moment- I shudder).

7.  LONGER FOLLOWING DISTANCE BEHIND CARS

– Drive to the conditions otherwise the conditions will get you. The road is also slipperiest the first 20mins of first rain, so be aware of that. All the dirt and oils raise to the surface and it isn’t a problem, you just have to be aware.  Also keep an eye on the vehicles behind you, if there is some idiot too close then I would pull over and let them pass. I would rather not be stressing about whether they are going to go up my beeeehind and just concentrate on what I was doing and the car in front. Keeping a good distance behind the car in front also prevents you being hit with the splashes from the car driving into the puddles.

8.  CARRY ZIP LOCK BAGS AND PLASTIC BAGS

– I always carry these to put my purse or phone in or my partners wallet, keys and anything else.  The plastic bags can be used to get your wet weather gear on quickly too. When it first starts to rain and you are already riding , put the plastic bags over your boots and you can just slide your feet through your rain pants easily.

CONCLUSION

So there you have it, my tips for a safe ride in the wet weather.

I believe if you learn to do this in the dry, then it will become automatic when you are riding in the rain and you will have a lot more confidence.

So in a nutshell:

  •   PLAN
  •  REDUCE SPEED
  • RELAX
  • BE SMOOTH
  • LOOK WELL AHEAD
  • AVOID ANYTHING ON THE ROAD THAT COULD BE SLIPPERY
  • ENJOY THE RIDE.

Oh and one last tip…”If it’s flooded, forget it”.. Don’t be like this guy below.

CREDIT SHUTTERSTOCK

Cheers and Stay Upright.

LJ