Riding in rain. Where do you draw the line?
#132
Couple of reasons -
You're supposed to look over a windshield - not through it.
You can wipe your helmet shield while riding. Not so easy to do your windshield.
Having ridden through rain in many combinations -
- no helmet/no windshield - sucks really, really bad
- no helmet/windshield - sucks really bad
- half helmet/no windshield - sucks really, really bad
- half helmet/windshield - sucks bad
- FF helmet/no windshield - sucks
- FF helmet/windshield - sucks.
In my experience, nothing beats a good full face helmet for rain. ymmv
You're supposed to look over a windshield - not through it.
You can wipe your helmet shield while riding. Not so easy to do your windshield.
Having ridden through rain in many combinations -
- no helmet/no windshield - sucks really, really bad
- no helmet/windshield - sucks really bad
- half helmet/no windshield - sucks really, really bad
- half helmet/windshield - sucks bad
- FF helmet/no windshield - sucks
- FF helmet/windshield - sucks.
In my experience, nothing beats a good full face helmet for rain. ymmv
The following users liked this post:
piper59 (05-21-2019)
#134
Couple of reasons -
You're supposed to look over a windshield - not through it.
You can wipe your helmet shield while riding. Not so easy to do your windshield.
Having ridden through rain in many combinations -
- no helmet/no windshield - sucks really, really bad
- no helmet/windshield - sucks really bad
- half helmet/no windshield - sucks really, really bad
- half helmet/windshield - sucks bad
- FF helmet/no windshield - sucks
- FF helmet/windshield - sucks.
In my experience, nothing beats a good full face helmet for rain. ymmv
You're supposed to look over a windshield - not through it.
You can wipe your helmet shield while riding. Not so easy to do your windshield.
Having ridden through rain in many combinations -
- no helmet/no windshield - sucks really, really bad
- no helmet/windshield - sucks really bad
- half helmet/no windshield - sucks really, really bad
- half helmet/windshield - sucks bad
- FF helmet/no windshield - sucks
- FF helmet/windshield - sucks.
In my experience, nothing beats a good full face helmet for rain. ymmv
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BuzzCap7 (05-21-2019)
#135
Something does beat it - a full face helmet with a Pinlock insert. Cold rain on the outside and warm breath on the inside is the formula for fog. Pinlock eliminates that one problem. Nothing worse than the combination of rain on the outside of the visor and fog on the inside.
#137
For me the worse has been a matter of not having a choice if I want to get home. Two years ago in October I rode to Florida for Disney and daytona and the hurricane on the coast came in and I did not have a single minute of dry weather from Florida to the ohio border. Lashing winds and rain all the way through Carolina on 77. It was miserable. Wasn’t fun but had no choice.just went slow and stopped often. And let me say rain gear only helps for so long. Doesn’t matter how tight you are wrappedwith rain gear. You will eventually get wet from rain seeping in. And you will be cold. And tired. And cursing. And your pin lock WILL fog up after 50 miles in lashing rain. Only thing you can do is stop often.
Last edited by MiniWolf; 05-21-2019 at 01:36 PM.
#138
Another little tip for riding in the rain: When y'all carry your rain gear or even when you don't, place a large trash can liner wherever y'all have storage. In a pinch, it can be used to cover yourself if you didn't bring rain gear with you at the time. Just cut holes for the arms and one for your head. Otherwise it does come in handy for covering whatever you might be carrying.
I put all my stuff in plastic bag inside my gear bags anyway, second layer of protection. Water has a nasty habit of finding a way in if you don't. It's like rainsuits , no matter how good they or how well you wrap up somehow I always get that one little trickle of water down between the shoulder blades, not enough to get you really wet but just enough it annoys the hell out of you.
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Bonnie Storm (05-21-2019)
#139
I put all my stuff in plastic bag inside my gear bags anyway, second layer of protection. Water has a nasty habit of finding a way in if you don't. It's like rainsuits , no matter how good they or how well you wrap up somehow I always get that one little trickle of water down between the shoulder blades, not enough to get you really wet but just enough it annoys the hell out of you.
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TwiZted Biker (05-21-2019)
#140
I don't know.....my ride from Colorado (900 miles) was pretty brutal in rain that varied from drizzle to torrential. I really never got soaked under the suit. A little dampness here and there, but not bad. My hands definitely got all pruny. I need some better rain gloves. But my feet were dry as a bone. I wear Sidi Canyon Gortex and I will tell you, unless the water pours in from the top, I stay dry. The Harley rain suit did it's job too. I put the hood up, and the helmet on, so water stays out pretty well. Obviously the fairing, windshield, and lowers helps tremendously.
And for me, stopping often wasn't an option. I would never had made it home. I just put the hammer down and stayed at it. (Thank God for higher speed limits through Nebraska!) And the only reason I could do that was my heated liner. It was 40 degrees pretty much the whole ride. I would have entered hypothermia in short order without it.
But I'm still scrubbing road paste off my engine cases. That **** doesn't like to come out.
And for me, stopping often wasn't an option. I would never had made it home. I just put the hammer down and stayed at it. (Thank God for higher speed limits through Nebraska!) And the only reason I could do that was my heated liner. It was 40 degrees pretty much the whole ride. I would have entered hypothermia in short order without it.
But I'm still scrubbing road paste off my engine cases. That **** doesn't like to come out.
Last edited by nevada72; 05-21-2019 at 02:22 PM.
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TwiZted Biker (05-21-2019)