If I look out the window and it's raining I take the cage.
If I'm planning to ride and there's definite rain in the forecast, I'm not going.
If I'm out riding and it starts to rain I'm getting wet.
I ride to relax and enjoy, riding wet is not enjoyable for me.

 

I am not going to intentionally ride if it is dumping. But! in FL, one minute it is blue skies, the next minute it can bust loose. If you haven't ever dumped your boots out and wrung out your socks after a good one, you don't ride

 

It is funi abt seeing the posts about how dumb in 1 way or another the OP was. But......... 1) see how much GOOD GOOD GOOD info came from this post and 2) look how many posts there have been.

OP ................... GREAT JOB mate, GREAT JOB.

Got any other questions we can hopefully assist you with?

I have an all day ride so hearing back from he will be delayed. (And I am sure some will say that is a good thing. LOL)

 

Now, I don't believe that for a minute.

 

Opinions are like U-Know-Whats, nevertheless, there's lots of good advice on this thread. Comfort and visibility should be common sense issues. Rider safety issues should be emphasized. Good tire tread and ABS are immense helps to maintain traction, which of course is decreased when roads are wet, especially when it first starts raining and the "road snot" rises to the surface. You would be surprised at how good traction is in the wet, as long as you don't add too much lean angle and throttle (this applies in the dry as well). A well-faired bike can help keep you dry, as long as you're moving.

OK, that said, I won't start a ride when it's raining or likely to rain, life is difficult and uncomfortable enough without voluntarily going out of the way to make it more so. I had a 180 mile round trip commute to work, and was caught in the rain regularly day and night (love those "10% chance of rain" forecasts!). My old Honda ST1300 sport tourer handled like it was on rails and deflected near 100% of the rain, even in torrential downpours at 65+MPH speeds. My Harleys, not so much.

Cleaning the bikes after a ride in the rain is a royal PIA-hate it, it's totally avoidable drudgery.

And, no matter what you see written here, you WILL get wet no matter how much your rain gear costs.

Final thoughts-carbon (as in tires) is a conductor, NOT an insulator, and a motorcycle is a moving ground rod for lightning, AVOID!

My $0.02.

 

Rinding in the RAIN oh Nooooo

 

An excellent demonstration of the kind of traction available in the wet.

BUT I'll bet they don't have to detail their own bikes after the race!

 

Dress for the weather. I get asked a lot, "aren't you miserable riding in a downpour like this?" Fact is, I'm dry and comfortable. It really is no different than wilderness hunting, dress for comfort. Good rain gear, boots and gloves, and a helmet that allows your collar to be tucked inside. Places where people get wet, then miserable are, the neck, the hands, the crotch, the feet.

Im not talking about a 45 minute thunderstorm, im talking about wrath of God, Pineapple Express days of wind and pouring rain, or a Yellowstone series of downpours, each lasting 4-5 hours.

If you buy cheap rain gear, frog toggs etc, then you are not equipped to ride in the rain. Maybe a sprinkle, even a thundershower. If you think plastic bags over your socks will keep your feet dry, you are not equipped to ride in the rain. If your hands get wet, or your seat fills with water and soaks through, or your helmet does not have a face shield, you are not equipped to ride in the rain..........unless you are younger than me, tougher than me, meaner than me. It can be done, but when we take off for a month of more, no little 10 day downpour is going to slow us down.

Riding in the heavy rain is always worse when you have to stop. Moving, even a basic windscreen helps a lot, Hwy bar lowers help, hand guards help, but stopped, for traffic, you need good gear.

 

If it's pouring rain when I leave the house I will take the truck unless I'm committed to a ride. Once out on the road rain doesn't deter me much unless it's raining too hard to see or be seen, then I will find cover. In a hailstorm I look for cover immediately, I've been beat up pretty bad by it in the past. Sucks when I'm in the middle of Kansas, Nebraska, or somewhere and can't even find a tree to get under, then I trudge on slowly.

I've been on plenty of trips where it rained for days on end, it pays to have good gear. If around local and I'm heading toward home, I usually don't stop to put on rain gear, I'll wait and put on dry clothes at home. Like Bonnie I'm not made of sugar either but my wife tells me to be careful because turds will float away...

 

It's *their* problem if they don't think you should ride in the rain. Quit worrying about what they say.

Personally, I draw the line if the rain turns to sleet and it starts to stick to the road and makes the road too icy. That's when I start to look for a place to pull over if it's temporary or for the rest of the day/night. Other than that, I can ride all day in the rain if it's not too cold (autumn and winter) and all day long (spring summer).