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Riding in the rain

4K views 48 replies 35 participants last post by  Nando 
#1 ·
When riding in the rain on a long trip when do you call it quits? Also when its raining very hard and low visibility do you use your hazard lights?
 
#4 ·
When my boots are full of water...LOL Unless it's very low visiblility and at night, I don't use the hazards. In May I rode about 900 miles in the rain and no real problems. Disclaimer I am double darkside though.
 
#5 ·
Here in the Pacific NorthWet we call it quits when we get where we are going. I have never thought about using my hazard lights because of rain. My bike has more lights then the average car so I'm more visible then they are under low visibility conditions or at night anyway.
 
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#7 ·
They are legal out here.....required on slow farm vehicles and slow moving trucks...very common in the mountain passes for 18 wheelers.
 
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#9 ·
I was born wet , just sayin.
Hazard lights , sounds like not a wise idea .
I personally slow down , give my self more room , and ride with caution .
I own head to toe goretex and keep everything zipped/snapped .
 
#10 ·
Monday morning, I woke at 5:00 AM to ride to meet a friend and wife that were camping at the ocean.... GULP! It was pouring outside, :crying: OLE WELL, on goes the rain gear, and off I go,
190 miles to my destination, (their campsite) well I lived up to my promise, yep, I woke their lazy arzzzzz's up, the first thing he says to me is: QUOTE: "Want to go for a ride??" so off riding the coast line we went, maybe another 50 miles, till we found a nice breakfast place to stop to eat...

Ronnie
 
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#11 ·
We rode 250 miles in a rain that would choke a frog. When it's raining and we're at home, we have a choice to ride or drive the truck. We pick the truck. If we're traveling, well, travel on until we reach the destination. Stopping along the road is dangerous. If you must stop, get off the road and into a gas station or parking lot.
 
#13 ·
For us it depends on whether it's "rain" or a storm. If it's lightening or high winds, such as on the east side of a front, we stop. After getting caught in a heavy hail/lightening storm on a Colorado pass and then on the next trip getting caught in a TX storm with high, high winds, we decided we don't care for that much anymore. In "rain" we just press on. On our trip to Ohio that ended on Tuesday, we took two large detours, totally about 150 miles, to miss the front/storm that flooded Kansas City last week.
 
#14 ·
I generally find that while in the rain, I am riding faster than cars are driving. The focal length is much shorter on a helmet visor than a car windshield....so while cars cant see that much, I can see just fine. Outta my way.
 
#15 ·
I don't have a problem riding in the rain and typically push through. However, you have to be smart too.

I've stopped / detoured a couple of times. 1.) It was 2AM and we had already ridden 1000 miles. We were 200 miles from home and the sky looked like an electric light storm and the radar showed a bunch of heavy rain and wind between us and home. We probably could have made it but it seemed wise to stop and let it pass.

2.) Last year coming back from Glenn's ride in, we had started out North East and then turned back towards the West to get home. Our path was going to take us down I-20 from Tyler to Dallas but it was clear that there was a strong storm going through that area. We stopped in Nacadoches for about a 1/2 hr to let it pass and then worked our way south and west a bit until we were under the storm and then headed home. We later found out that a tornado was in that storm and had caused a couple of deaths and a lot of damage down that stretch of I20. I think we were pretty wise to ride around that one.

Now... earlier this month I came home from a ride in Arkansas and rode 200 miles through a really heavy rain storm and was just fine as it was just rain and no lightning or wind. Biggest problem with heavy rain is visibility and standing water on the road. I was on Interstate so standing water wasn't too much of a problem. (Interstates are built higher than the surrounding ground and have a crown so the water flows off well) Visibility was bad when passing 18 wheeler trucks. They throw up so much mist you end up in a cloud of rain that is a bit hard to see through at times. I typically just wait behind them for a few seconds where they can see me and then pass quickly when there is a break in the "mist". Once by them, I can see fine as I run my Windbender all the way down and let the rain blow off my face shield of my helmet.

Anyway....I probably end up riding a few thousand miles a year in rain. I don't seek it out, but if it's there, I'm not going to change my trip because of it unless I actually think I'd be putting myself in danger.
 
#16 ·
Toughest part of riding in the rain is riding in the rain at night. Oncoming cars scatter light on the windshield and helmet visor. Visor open means wet face but better wet than sorry. As for windshield, I often stand on the pegs to look way over in the rain at night. It's tricky riding but if you're proficient it's very doable.
 
#17 ·
Agree about rain at night. It can be done but I do try to avoid that scenario.

I'm fine with riding in the rain and I'm fine with riding at night but in the night and in the rain at the same time is something I'd prefer to avoid. The reason is that it is just very hard to see any debris or obstacles on the road early enough to easily avoid them. When you do see them, you see them later, with less time to react, and your ability to swerve around them is diminished because it's wet. It's a dangerous combination that can cause the best rider to go down.
 
#19 · (Edited)
When there's lightning -- I avoid it or stop. As long as I can see whether or not there's standing water on the road surface, I will usually keep riding. I keep my visor coated with rain x plastic or raincoat water repellant. Our riding gear is water resistant and we keep glove rain covers handy at all times, so we don't have to stop unless it's unsafe. I do not use my hazards unless stopped.

If we're not on a scheduled cert or rally ride and are just out enjoying the ride we'll stop for rain.... sometimes. We'll alter our schedule and end the day early, get some sleep, and wait for bad weather to move through an area -- then wake up early and continue the ride -- we've done that a few times that I can recall.

As long as I can see, and as long as we're comfortable, I really don't mind the rain. I actually kind of like it.

edit: I would add my agreement with a previous post -- rain and night don't mix well. A wet road surface hides a lot. There are times when it's best to stop.
 
#22 ·
Rain

Riding in the rain bothers me at night or in a lightning storm. In both situations, I stop as soon as I can do it safely. I also have had some "interesting" situations with the water being sprayed by the tires of an 18 wheeler. I don't get wet, but I hate not being able to see where I'm going even if it is only for a couple of seconds. I have ridden in rain multiple times when cars were pulling off the road because of the heavy rain.
 
#23 ·
For a couple of years, I only had my wing for a commute vehicle. If it rained, I dawned the rain gear. If it was foggy, I dawned the rain gear. Never used flashers in the rain. I did have a habit of carrying a spare shirt, just in case the jacket failed, but never needed it. I look over my windshield in all weather, so rarely did I need to slow down due to visability. Maybe it was just dark and I didn't know that I couldn't see.....>:)
 
#25 ·
I don't seek out riding in the rain, but if happens that's OK. I put on my Aerostich triple digit glove covers like RapidRay and keep riding...The only exception is if it's raining hard enough to reduce visibility. Sometimes you just can't see well enough (no windshield wipers) to safely drive, even in the daylight. Then I pull over.

But otherwise, if I can still see well, then I give myself a bit of extra following distance between cars in front of me and I reduce my lean angles and am more gentle on the throttle. The tires will offer more than adequate traction if you just use a little common sense. no 4-ways just ride with the traffic flow as best as you can.
 
#26 ·
Hmm. Hazard lights illegal. Hadn't thought of that.

IMHO it is in very poor taste in light rain so is fine to be illegal then. OTOH, those super low viz heavy rain storms cause you to slow down and be hard to see so it is a legit hazard and therefore hazard lights should be in play. It looks like they are exempted in that case in some states that generally disallow them while driving, but not all. I'd be stunned if anyone has ever gotten a ticket for using them in a no kidding, low viz downpour.

I am more likely to run my headlight modulators in the rain. Other than that, carry on, stop when you get there or become wretched, but then it's more a case of bad clothes than bad weather.
 
#27 ·
Rain

I got caught in heavy wind and rain on I80 coming into York, Nebraska. The wind was so bad I was leaning left just to stay in my lane going straight. Traffic slowed to 30 MPH on the Interstate. I pulled off at the next exit, (York) and pulled into a covered gas station with about 30 cars and truck all bunched up under the canopy. The storm hit so quickly I did not have rain gear on. I was soaked to the bone. I looked across the street and there was a Motel 6. I took that as a sign (literally) and checked in even though it was 2 in the afternoon. They had laundry facilities and I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up.

Normally I will ride in the rain if I have my gear on. I do not like to, but if I get caught it's OK. The above instance was the exception.

Rayjoe
 
#29 ·
Thank you for all the reply's. On my trip from Phoenix to Sturgis I was caught in 3 or 4 real down pours. It as my first time riding in that heavy of rain. I had time to put my rain gear on but it was a little scary. Vey low visibility at times. I had my hazard lights on to be more visible but after I got home I was thinking it may not be a good idea. I thought it may make people hit me if they were watching me instead of where there were going. My gloves got soaking wet. My hands were solid black due to the gloves. It was really hard to get the stains off my hands.
 
#30 ·
Rain doesn't bother me. Some of my most memorable rides were in rain. Lightning and hail will have me altering my route (done both and will avoid both when I can). Carrying rain gear is a must. Have done two 450 mile days back to back in total rain with no problems. Wings are the best in wet weather.


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