How to ride in rain? Need tips!!

At any legal speed limit without actual puddles you don't need to worry about hydroplaning. Our round tire profiles create a boat shaped oval contact patch that is very good at wedging water to the sides.

In the rain, or indeed on ANY slippery surface, pushing the bike down into the turn more than yourself ala dirt or motocross style is a better way to deal with any sliding issues. The bike may let loose a bit but it won't tend to want to high side you when it hooks back up.

Once the roads are washed clean after a couple of days you'll be amazed at how much traction they actually have even in a hard rain. It's the half to full day after a long dry spell that things are really UGLY and Chris' idea of walking it around isn't that far fetched for as long as that condition lasts.

In the rain I always use a combo of front and rear brake. First, you'll get more stopping force that way. Second the rear acts as a traction sensor for the front. If it starts to lock up then you know that's as much as you're going to get for that stop. But it may not be the same a block away. Wet traction is very linked to local conditions and that may be as simple as a spill in one area at a previous time. So you never really know.

And of course there's the common sense things as well. RIde a bit slower but stay with the traffic. LEave a little more distance between you and the vehicle ahead. Slow down a touch more as you come up on a left turner wanting to cut in front of you. DOn't make it TOO obvious or the left'er may take it as you're turning or slowing for them to cut out. Just a little and be ready. And stay of the center of the lane where all the oil drips out of the cars and trucks. Stay in the wheel tracks. Watch out for the BIG white painted zones like in cross walks if you're trying to turn while going over them. They are typically quite a bit slipperier than the regular wet pavement.

And install a big power face shield wiper on your helmet with a wad of duct tape.....

Read Kieth Code's "a Twist of the Wrist" and understand the physics of a bike in motion. It applies to all riding, but riding in the rain just makes for a much smaller margin of error. So if you are doing it wrong now, you'll screw up that much easier in the rain.

In the rain, you're dealing with all the same forces as in the dry - except now you have less traction. Traction is a concern only when you are changing forces - like when you are accelerating. When you are cornering, if the bike is already banked over and turning, and the throttle is constant, it will keep turning forever, no matter what the surface adhesion is. However, it's the transition into and out of a corner, and how smooth you are in a corner, that matters (see "changing forces" above!).

The simple deal here: be super smooth. Get you're braking finished before you start a turn (and your question about "no front brake"? Don't be stupid - the front still is giving you 90% of your braking power, so don't NOT use it. Just be smooth, and don't use it in a corner (until you know how). Using the back brake in conjunction with the front is always smart (unless you're racing - another chapter...), as it settles the bike better and minimizes dive. When cornering, use a constant amount of throttle (not NONE) to maintain your speed (i.e.: don't slow down in a corner, or speed up, until you know you got the traction, or that you are straight up and down).

And modern tires have really good traction in the wet - more than you think (but don't force the issue!). But make sure you're not using super-performance tires intended for warm use (like a Bridgestone BT012SS versus a BT014 or BT020). This is where sport-touring tires shine - they may not be great on a race track, but they work well in the wet.

And I swear by a double lens face shield (a second lens applied to the inside of the regular shield - get it a most bike stores). Doesn't fog up hardly ever, so I can leave it closed all the time, which keeps water drops from getting on the inside. And I'll say it a gain - it doesn't fog!

1. Can we take a normal corner with a gentle counterbalanced lean (going lets say 10kph, 15kph)?

A/ At that speed there is no problem. Street tires have surprisingly high grip on wet road (excluding oily wet road).

2. Can we go straight at any speeds and as long as we are relaxed on the handlebars, the bike will continue to go straight (even if we begin to hydroplane)? or will the hydroplaning take the bike sideways regardless of your steering?

A/ Yes, the bike will track as long as you're not doing the death grip or abrupt with the throttle.

I will also assume that the weight of the bike + biker will play a role on keeping your tires contacting the ground, so slower speeds would probably be best to get the best traction.

A/ Not rocket science here, in the wet, slower is safer because there is more time to react.

3. How much is no sudden moves? like the gentle curves on Westminister highway I use countersteering at 120kph. So lets say we drop it back down to the speed limit of 90kph and taking it easy. Is that enough?

A/ Just watch that throttle hand and no hard braking while leaned over. Smooth is the key. As for sudden moves, you should not be doing that regardless what condition it is. Its bike riding not break dancing.

4. If we hit an oil + water patch while turning, is there a recovery method to keep the bike from sliding, or to let the bike slide until it regains traction? now all this is probably at speeds of only 10-15kph so I don't expect to skid more then a few feet?

A/ Depends on how big is the oil patch is but if you hit is while leaning over, chances are the front will slide or even tuck. If it's wet road and you're doing reasonable speed for the condition it may slide a few inches. Anything more and, either you're on a supermoto or Gary McCoy, you're down.

Rear end slides occur , more often than not, is you been too hard on the throttle.

5. when do we walk the bike around the corner? as I'm sure the traffic would love you for that.

A/ That was a figure of speech.

6. No front brakes? just rear brakes?

A/ Use both but still rely more on the front.

7. New pirelli tires with chicken strips on the side. Worn the middle but not yet the sides. More dangerous in the rain? (I would assume so). Can we sruvive the rain if we ride gently? ie. just easy leans enough to get around the corner at slow speeds?

A/ I would not worry about it. If you got chicken strips from dry condition, I guarranty that you would not go past them in the wet. If you do, you most likely go down.


I would appreciate your inputs and hopefully with your pointers I will again practice in the neighborhoods before heading out to the highways for a full rain ride. The next few days seems to be raining so this would be a good chance to practice the Vancouver winters.

These answers are based on my many years riding over the winter months. I may not be right on all of them but I don't think they will lead you wrong. Ridinng in the wet is not that bad really. Heck, I even rode up and down SFU in the winter when I used to atend school there (one time in in the snow..haha)

Its the cold, icy roads in the early morning that worries me. If that is the case keep your bike at home and take transits.

Commander Keen said:

Hahahaha OH NOES NOT GRAVEL, MY DIRTBIKE WILL SPIN OUT! I wonder why they put the word "dirt" in front of "bike"? I could swear they were meant for clean pavement...

Give it a week and he'll write us a manual on "how to ride an R1 in wet weather".

Click to expand...

Yes Commander Keen, I lowsided on the road on a dirtbike, took out the foot pegs and got knee scrapes and my pride bruised at that time. I have been fearful of corners ever since. I didn't expect the gravel patch on a corner.

When you are riding in actual gravel, dirt and sand, you learn to dig in and pack it. On pavement they act more like ball bearings and they tend to glide you over the road.

This was when I'm young and foolish; and I will admit that now I am just foolish.

I figure I can edit/summarize your feedback and some from the R1-forum right here on this thread. Why wait a week :rockon but I think bafflebrain did the best in answering all the questions.

I did about 5 hours of rain riding today, through westminister highway and through the alex fraser bridge to find that riding in the rain is very much like dry weather riding except it is wet.

Did a few hard braking to see what traction I had and other then the fact that the disc brakes were wet and takes a bit longer to react, the traction was fine (especially on my new pirelli tires :rockon ).

The other interesting fact, to me, was that all the oil patches were colorfully marked. So as long as I avoided the circles of colors, I was fine. I accidentally steped in a circle of oil to find that they were very slippery indeed.

The most valuable lesson that I learn today is to trust your tires; otherwise your fears will tend to move the bike in the wrong direction. The words of PRS echoes in my head as I found myself turning wide on westminister highway, drop your elbows, relax your arms, countersteer, push the handlebar to get a tighter turn; and all this, while rain was streaming down my visor thinking that the tire wouldn't hold and this will be the day I slide into the median.

Thanks indeed to all that shared. I am now an official rain rider and will continue to do so. Love the rain!!!

Ralphael

Sounds like you did quite well and learned a lot on this ride Ralphael. Riding in shit weather is good training.

So you found people kept sneaking in front of your safe zone. There is a lesson there. 4 seconds of space between you and the car in front is too much. If you tighten up and you feel you are going too fast with that amount of space then you should back off on your speed and let people pass you. If that gets too dangerous then you have to figure out another strategy. But 4 seconds is too long between vehicles as people will tell you. 2 seconds is considered the safe median space. In the rain, my guess in your situation would be about 2.5 seconds. If it is too hairy with that distance then you shouldn't be on the road, new rider or veteran.

You will find that heavy and/or blowing rains are easier to ride in than a light misty rain as the visor will clear off easier. The rain will bead and fall off when the rain is coming down.

I do a lot of commuting style riding and loathe the light mist. If it is going to rain, bring it on.

I can't recall... have you taken a motorcycle safety/riding course?

And thank you for not mentioning the brand or model of bike you are riding.