My first longer ride was in a heavy, heavy downpour for some 160 Miles. Most of it on the Freeway at some 75 mph. No issues whatsoever (apart from the fact that I was soaked to the bones and actually later ended up in snow too. Great ride...not).

However, I'm still surprised where on the bike I can now find fine sand that was washed/pressed in there with the water coming from god knows where. Have not yet dared to look at the underside of the bike. Although that area gets washed anyhow. The nooks and crannies are the areas that worry me a bit...

And the fact that my left saddlebag allows water to come in is also veeery annoying. But that is already looked into at my dealer.

 

It may have been a let down for you who live in houston and was just flooded out about a month earlier but for somebody who only gets a few inches of rain a summer it was a big deal. But we make up for it in snow what you get in rain.

Batman

 

No problem riding in the rain for the Bike, sometimes the seat is the only dry spot on my Bike.

 

I have many miles in heavy rain and the bike performed like it was supposed to.

 

Not for me, unfortunately. When the rain reaches a certain intensity I have noticed that, apparently, water runs down my jacket and then pools around my crotch. I guess no more need for pitstops from that point on...

 

We would dump 600 gallons of water into 4 jet engines in 2 minutes to increase the power for takeoff. Who is willing to do a dyno tune using water to prove it is best to run in the rain?

 

BMW has a new model M3 intended for the track that has water injection that enables the engineers to tune the engine for more power (delays detonation).

I used to fly small Cessna aircraft in the rain with the filters mounted on the front of the cowling. Some water ingestion won't hurt an engine. But if the filter element is paper, then not so good, as it will swell up and clog the incoming air.

 

And Snow has been making water and water/methanol injection kits for years. There are lots of benefits to some water entering the engine... With heat being a major complaint with these engines, I'm surprised that someone hasn't already made/installed a water injection kit for them. A properly metered amount is good and major ingestion/hydro lock not so good.

 

I would... As I said in post#2 a little water won't hurt the engine. We used water injection on the big go fast boats that had twin turbos. about 4 lbs. of boost and the water would start going in the top of the spark/air filter. At speed with 2/3 big blocks running over 110 MPH you will never here if they start to detonate..

But not gallons.. lol..

 

Water is not an issue. Just keep it moving. In fact one of the funniest things I ever saw in my life (40 plus years ago) was the time my buddy took a garden hose with a spray nozzle on it told me to keep the revs up and sprayed it directly in my carburetor without the air cleaner on it. I started laughing so damn hard, and asked him what was he doing. His reply was that's what the old timers called "the racers edge".