Riding in the rain.

hlxbravo

hlxbravo

hlxbravo

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Joined
6 May 2006
Posts
1,107
Location
Rowley Regis, West Midlands
Having only passed my test Feb this year, I have little wet weather experience, as I only bought my bike on April 1st.
I commute a round trip of 20 miles a day and still love it when I get on it. Obviously I have ridden in the rain on and off but I don't know if I am being too cautious, as all the talk of keeping away from man hole covers and white lines etc scares me to death, especially as all the big white arrows seem to be slap bang in the centre of the lane!
If I am turning right at say, a four exit roundabout, I seem to spend more time worrying about the car behind than my own progress. I know its all about confidence, which will grow as time goes by, which I understand completely but does this sound fairly normal for a novice rider? Last thing I wanna do is try and go just that little bit faster next time cos it will only end in tears and I would hate to drop the bike!
Had a slight scare few weeks back in the damp, exited a roundabout onto a dual carriageway, coming off onto the right hand lane, as I was in the filtered lane for that lane, 80 metres away was my exit junction, left filter, so obviously needed to change lanes, pretty much alongside a taxi as we both exited roundabout, so I gave it a little bit of the beans to pull clear...... once well clear, about 4 car lengths, I did the full observation, indication routine and moved to change lanes.....at which point I was in 2nd gear I think, a little way up the revs.....and whoaaaaa, the back end was suddenly snaking like on ice.....made the hairs stand up I can tell you. Looking back its obviously gonna happen; akin to booting your car off in the wet in 1st gear. I was told that my bike, an er6f, is quite torquey for what it is, dunno myself as i have no comparisons. After that little moment, I take extra care changing lanes etc.

So bottom line guys, how much should I try to avoid white markings when wet and does the grip level change dramatically dependant on your speed....I would imagine so, or is it a constant, cos afterall, wet paint is still wet paint.
 
As a rule of thumb just be in a higher gear most of the time in the wet, your still going to be faster than 99% of cars but its not enough whack in the rear tyre to loose traction :) third gear should be enough on an ER for roundabouts, not too low its going to lag but high enough that you should not have to worry about grip.

But as you said its all confidence and experience, which will come in time, like saying only break in a straight line, staying away from metal man hole covers, its all something else to think about while you are still learning everything else :p as soon as everything else becomes instinct you are really only looking out for obstacles on the road then :) then you might find yourself revving up over the man hole covers for the sole purpose of spinning up ;)
 
What do you ride?

Confidence is key in the wet, and not being hamfisted with the throttle. I had a few moments in the wet, but just relax and be smooth. If you are making your observations properly you will spot white lines and drain covers way in the distance and avoid as necessary. Btw unless you happen to get unlucky drain covers and white lines won't always as a rule throw you off. They might if you happen to catch your front wheel on one turning into a junction...

Also make sure your tyres aren't bald, that they are the correct pressure and that your comfortable with your suspension. ;)
 
Confidence is probably the main thing, I don't know if you've even thought about it yet but I pretty much memorise the positions of all bumps/drain covers/road markings along routes I travel frequently, and plan my line to avoid as much as possible, this makes it nicer in the dry and probably more importantly helps a lot in the wet as you'll avoid most stuff without thinking :p

Also try not to worry too much, there's plenty of grip on wet tarmac, and even wet paint isn't that bad, drain covers whilst leant over are the biggest issue but as mentioned if you're paying attention it's fine.

And finally gears, like Fireskull says try to use higher gears, and certainly avoid wide open throttle/high revs until you're comfortable with things.

Ultimately you can ride quickly in the wet with no real issues, just takes experience and confidence :)
 
Try not to stiffen up when riding in the wet, it's natural as your tense but it will make the bikes harder to handle which will just panic you more.

Just be careful and riding through any deep puddles carefully, if you can follow cars through so the clear most of the water out the way.
 
SKILL said:
....I don't know if you've even thought about it yet but I pretty much memorize the positions of all bumps/drain covers/road markings along routes I travel frequently, and plan my line to avoid as much as possible....
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This is something I have done/are doing, there is one set of large keep left white arrows on a left hand filter road I travel, that I am especially cautious of.

Thanks for the words of advice folks. :)
 
The only thing that I would add to this is a little trick to do when you're cornering at speed on a wet road, taught to me on the Enhanced Rider Scheme.

Slide your arse off seat in the opposite directing to which you are cornering. E.g, if you're cornering right, hang your arse of the edge of the left side of the seat. This helps to reduce the likelihood of the back wheel slipping.

Try it in the dry first and remember this is more suitable for curves on fast roads (dual carriageways, A-roads).
 
dnc316 said:
The only thing that I would add to this is a little trick to do when you're cornering at speed on a wet road, taught to me on the Enhanced Rider Scheme.

Slide your arse off seat in the opposite directing to which you are cornering. E.g, if you're cornering right, hang your arse of the edge of the left side of the seat. This helps to reduce the likelihood of the back wheel slipping.

Try it in the dry first and remember this is more suitable for curves on fast roads (dual carriageways, A-roads).
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That seems completely contradictory to common sense, sliding your arse away from the corner will cause the bike to be leant over *more* giving less contact patch/grip...

What does definitely work is doing it the other way (so right hander sliding your arse, and torso, to the right) so that you can have the bike itself more upright for better grip, but for a new rider it's better to just concentrate on the basics imo.
 
In the wet, I just try to stay loose - loose shoulders and wrists. And I try not to just sit there like a big puddin', but to concentrate on having my weight through the pegs, legs engaged a bit, rather than just sat there.

What tyres do you have on? I used to use Pirelli Diablos, and wasn't overly confident in the wet, but since I switched to Michelin Pilot Road 2's, I feel much, much more in control. I rode from Hawes to Richmond in that epic monsoon downfall we had a couple of months ago, and was completely comfortable, two-up. Drenched, but in control :D
 
Soon, you will start to feel your bikes reactions to all sorts of surfaces and know those reactions before you hit the surfaces.

Like I can fly over a roundabout and hit the whites knowing my bike might fish a very little but due to knowing it will happen, knowing the feeling and knowing if I keep my cool I will love it. Which I do.

Ever see moto GP when the guys bikes fish under heavy braking? I have had that happen a few times, at first I thought I was coming off into a nice row of trees, after repeating the mistake. Yes, mistake, and having the same reaction from the bike I realised it's simply the tyres telling me they are getting close to letting go.

After a while, I adopted this, and on those insane rides my braking became very effective as I could really apply some heavy braking and tell when my bike was getting close to losing control.

So, in short, after time you will understand your bikes movement, reactions and hopefully be confident in understand what each movement was about and how you are able to control it.

All about confidence in your bikes abilities :)

I love when my rear starts losing grip as I gun it round a corner, the little fish tail feeling knowing I am at my bikes extreme.

Of course, I never ride above the speed limit... :)
 
SKILL said:
That seems completely contradictory to common sense, sliding your arse away from the corner will cause the bike to be leant over *more* giving less contact patch/grip...

What does definitely work is doing it the other way (so right hander sliding your arse, and torso, to the right) so that you can have the bike itself more upright for better grip, but for a new rider it's better to just concentrate on the basics imo.
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Sorry but I have to correct you here! Leaning into the corner does not give you more grip. It allows you to take the turn at a sharper angle. For example when you're turning right. The bottom of your tyres are pushing out to the left. The more you lean into the corner, the more pressure there is on the tyre to slip.

Think of a windmill with two blades, both pointing vertically. Looking at the two blades head on represents looking at your bike straight on, from behind. If you put weight on the right, on the top blade (your body) the bottom blade will begin to swing to it's left, or clockwise. However if you put more weight on the left, that begins to counteract the movement by slowing the blades from going counter clockwise.

At speed and counter-steering right, the total exerted force on the bike of your body hanging over the left is less than that of the bike wanting to lean right. This is thanks that you are travelling with momentum and the fact that the front wheel is facing left.

This is method does not allow you to corner at greater angles! This allows to corner with more grip, while at speed, on wet roads.

Although this message is quite long winded, I do agree with SKILL that keeping it simple (decreasing speed) is the safest and easiest method.

hlxbravo, I recommend this book of you want more of where that kind of riding theory comes from.
 
2 things:

1) Be SMOOTH with everything - opening throttle, when braking, when cornering etc. Can be quick if smooth but if you are ragged you'll quickly learn not to be.

2) with that smoothness comes confidence which can be a good thing. If you snap the throttle shut because the rear wheel slid a little shutting that can be a bad thing. Neutral throttle in MOST situations is the best way out but it depends on what you were doing.
 
dnc316 said:
Sorry but I have to correct you here! Leaning into the corner does not give you more grip. It allows you to take the turn at a sharper angle. For example when you're turning right. The bottom of your tyres are pushing out to the left. The more you lean into the corner, the more pressure there is on the tyre to slip.
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I'm not sure I quite get the rest of your post, I'll re-read later when I've got more time, but I'll comment on this bit now:

I'm not talking about leaning the bike more, I'm talking about transferring your body mass to the inside so the bike leans significantly less, at the same speed. Therefore the bike is more upright, so you're on the better section of the tyre to handle water as well as a larger contact patch, eg best for grip.

Assuming the same speed, if you moved your body mass to the outside you would need to lean the bike more to get around the corner, hence on a smaller contact patch of the tyre (and generally also further from the majority of the grooves)
 
Leaning the opposite way to the bend would just defeat the object of leaning the bike over as you might as well stay upright and go slower...

Not only that but it'd probably increase the turning circle and make the bend harder to make at the current speed.
 
this dnc bloke is clueless.

Leaning your body off the bike INTO the corner causes the bike to be at less of a lean angle, therefore you have more tyre on the road thus more grip.

Leaning your body the wrong way causes the bike to lean more... thus reducing grip.
 
WTF is all this nonsense about lean angles and leaning into/out of the corners?

In the wet all you do is slow down a bit, leave more room than normal between you and the vehicle in front, be extra observant of the road surface in corners, and avoid riding over white lines and man hole covers/ drain covers when cornering.
Also, buy gloves which have a soft piece of material stiched onto the index finger for clearing your visor with.

Done, thread closed.
 
chaparral said:
Am still a little nervous every time i ride in the rain

As i come off a few times in the wet because of these :(
Wet man hole cover on a corner
Wet leaves
Mud on the road
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:( Hope you were alright.

I just tend to ride slower, more carefully and watch for slippery things and avoid them so long as it's possible i.e doesn't catch you out on a corner.

As for these leaning techniques, I think were all getting a bit lost as people are talking about different ways of doing it.
 
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