wet weather biking

[Dave]

Take the car. Safer, dry, warm, music. Who gives a poop if you get called a fair weather biker, at least yer not like a droont rat.

Unless your car happens to be a Freebender!

Or there is no car parking near work

Or lack of filtering more than doubles the journey time

[CBRXX]

REmember it'll take your tyres longer to warm up but once they have you should have plenty of grip

[cbr1100]

i love riding in the wet, being from Aberdeen, it makes sense to ride in the rain as it's the most common weather we have.
like CBRXX says, once you get some heat in the tyres you'll be surprised at the grip you have.
Most important is wear the right gear, if you wear a one piece wet riding condom or something similar you can be lovely and warm, and don't forget heated grips, the best thing i ever bought for my bike........
Go out on roads you know well and like Big Kneed Al (master of the emergency stop & "stand up" comedian) say, put your wait on the pegs and keep loose, if your tensed up its not helping because it means your nervous.......If you go a decent run in the wet the longer you ride the more comfortable you will be.....
As far as which lines you use is basically down to road conditions, try to stick to normal lines but keep out of puddles which tend to be at the nearside of the road, and if overtaking get in to the overtaking lane before accelerating to much as the white lines and cats eyes can give you a wee twitch on the back if not careful. also try not to overtake if you see the car infront approaching a big puddle as he may move out to avoid it or give you a right drenching as you pass, see Big Kneed Al (master of the emergency stop & "stand up" comedian) for details on that one REF: West coast run 2007
Most important relax, enjoy, be progressive with your actions.......
Im not an expert, or instructor but ride a lot of miles if anyone disagrees with above and can advise you differently then fine.......

[rodsquad]

The thing i have found catch me out more than anything else in the wet is following too closely behind the vehicle in front. Like Big Kneed Al (master of the emergency stop & "stand up" comedian) said earlier - Be smooth and keep a good distance.

[Zax]

be progressive with your actions.......

Unless a car comes round the corner overtaking a lorry on a bend and the person in front Hauls on the Brembos
In that case just aim for whatever gap there is left !

And a fine job you did too managing to miss everything whilst locked up and sideways

[cbr1100]

OOOOh yes, i do remember doing that Zax.........
Good point, keep your distrance from the bike infront, unlike me....on that day......good those Brembos of yours......

[Baza]

I don't mind the rain, quite enjoy it with the right gear on. I suppose it did take me a while to realise its more in you're head than anything else. Most things have been said

I was briefly behind a bike last week in the pishing rain going through Aberdeen, I spotted him doing a few things I wouldn't like to do now, such as...
Plan avoiding slippy manhole covers and other slippy things early, if you don't see it until the last second DON'T suddenly swerve to avoid it. Its better to go over it smoothly and upright. A mate of mine came off doing this and ruined his confidence on the bike. Get you're observation up to scratch.

Approaching and coming to a stop on one of Anderson Drives particularly greasy roundabouts without the use of the rear brake, I used to be gulty of hardly ever using the rear brake. Makes such a difference.

[johncat68]

anyone tried this

A flappering kneeWhen you do this for the first time during a storm, you will be surprised about the effect:
If you stick out the knee at the side where the wind comes from, and you relax your muscles in your leg, and let your knee flapper about, your motorcycle will ride a perfect straight line.
The effect is simply baffling, especially when you were used to pull every muscle during heavy storms, to keep your motorcycle on the road, because you were certain that the wind would blow it aside.
But how is that possible?You can imagine that your flappering leg will function as a sail, when the wind blows from an angle with your bike.
If the wind comes from the left, that means that the left side of the bike will try to decelerate. In the mean time, the wind blows the bike to the right, and both forces together compensate: as a result, the bike will lean in to the left, exactly as much as is needed to ride in a straight line.

http://www.lazymotorbike.eu/tips/weather/

[Gazza]

anyone tried this

A flappering kneeWhen you do this for the first time during a storm, you will be surprised about the effect:
If you stick out the knee at the side where the wind comes from, and you relax your muscles in your leg, and let your knee flapper about, your motorcycle will ride a perfect straight line.
The effect is simply baffling, especially when you were used to pull every muscle during heavy storms, to keep your motorcycle on the road, because you were certain that the wind would blow it aside.
But how is that possible?You can imagine that your flappering leg will function as a sail, when the wind blows from an angle with your bike.
If the wind comes from the left, that means that the left side of the bike will try to decelerate. In the mean time, the wind blows the bike to the right, and both forces together compensate: as a result, the bike will lean in to the left, exactly as much as is needed to ride in a straight line.

http://www.lazymotorbike.eu/tips/weather/

Wow. You could even turn your engine off and save a bit of fuel.