For me, personally, because I like FXR'S and they don't have RDRS. I don't care for the new bikes and all of the additional complexity, either.

 

But now you are taking the bus when it rains. It has rattled your confidence.

I would never stop someone from buying a new bike.. And you cannot have to many tools in the toolbox. What worries me is you will do the same thing again, because you have traction control. Which may or may not have saved you.

 

RDRS make be extra complexity but it appears to be a proven technology- I haven't read any posts where it has failed and plenty where it has saved someone's butt.

 

I have learned my lesson and will be more careful in the rain in future. Like I said before, you can be as careful as you like, but the time will come when you will make a mistake.
RDRS is a good risk mitigation factor in the equation making a repeat offence unlikely, as you will be pairing careful riding habits with the added safety blanket of electronic rider aids.

 

A good skill set has saved a lot of butts as well. I'm just old fashioned about these things, I suppose. Riding in the dirt has taught me how to drift my bike in the rain. Loss of traction doesn't automatically mean that you are going to crash. You have to practice these things.

 

Riding a dirt bike is very different to riding a 400Kg behemoth. Drifting (even a little bit) a FLHTK is asking for trouble.....

 

Oh I've gone done. Slid down the interstate once doing 85mph in morning traffic, totaled that bike. Lots slow speed dumps. Lots of tip overs.

 

If the rear tire breaks loose, you have to stay on the throttle until the bike straightens out or the road catches up with the tire. If a bike is sideways and you suddenly let off of the throttle, then the bike is going to high side. Same thing happens if you lock up the rear brake and you let off the brake when you are sideways. It's going to high side as well.

 

I was just going to say slow down.

 

Thanks for the tip - I'm gonna plan on feathering the clutch more carefully on take off in the wet so the tyre won't spin faster than the road. Still gonna upgrade my bike though - once bitten....