The wife and I got $30 rain gear at Costco last year. Rode NW Canada in rain 9 of 11 days. Never got wet. Cheap is not necessarily poor quality.

 

I didn't read all of these posts, but I went out to a sporting goods store and for 40 bucks got a black field and stream jacket and pants that work really well in the rain for me

 

It is to each his own, we all need to do what WE need to do. Someone asked for advice, I gave it. Nine years on my GoreTex, that comes to about $30 per year and it is still gong strong. If I ever needed a new rainsuit, I would not hesitate to buy another, after 36 years of riding, 49 states and 100's of thousands of miles, I have never found anything that even compares. Breathes when it's hot, keeps me dry, doubles as a light jacket for riding (GoreTex has serious wind resistance) and the pants make for good riding pants when you are in crap conditions like sections of the ALCAN highway. Just my

 

Heck with 'rain gear'....

If youi get wet so what.... The wind and heat will dry you out pretty quickly once the rain stops and it saves taking a bath or shower later...

(Right now a little rain on the body would feel good here in the lower Midwest... In the upper 90's all this week, and yesterday the heat index was over 110 degrees.)

That being said some that I know do carry some cheap Frogg Toggs for protection in heavy rain, and it seems to work pretty good.

Main problem with the Frogg Toggs is that the right leg doesn't have any 'heat shield' or protection from hot exhaust pipes, but that is easily solved by putting a couple strips of duct tape on the inner leg area.

The Frogg Toggs might not be as pretty as some of the higher priced stuff out there, but if you are riding down the road in pouring rain the fashion police will probably be laughing at you for being so dumb and not paying that much attention to the gear you are wearing.

 

Check out the Nelson Riggs rain suits. I bought one last year. I ride everyday to work (except extreme cold/ice/snow). rain or shine. The Nelson Riggs suit I have kept me dry even in heavy downpour. It is vented so there is no ballooning, very tight elastic with velcro cuffs, heavy duty zippers, overlapping flaps ... very well made.. designed for bikers. I think their suits start at around $25 to $30.00 on up.. I paid $35.00 including tax for the one I have and it works great. it's the AX-1

 

I had frogg toggs......lasted about um..5 sec once they touched the pipe, once i fixed that problem...well i got into about a 30 min down poor.....they sucked i started getting wet about 5 min into it.........good for a quick shower i guess

 

i have one of the HD suits, not the most expensive but the next one down, and it works well. It's not compact at all but keeps me dry. I didn't shop around 'cause I needed one in a hurry and knew I could get one there but I'm happy with it so far.

 

I hate to get wet... If it's just a quick shower it's one thing but if you are travelling and they call for steady rain then a good suit is worth the cash..Some guy at the dealer the other day says to me... Man rain ain't gonna hurt you...you'll dry..I sayz...How far do you ride anyway...he says just around but i have 10k miles on my Sportster and it's a 05...I sayz...Figures oyu would say some crazy crap like that you ride 2500 miles a year...you ain't never been wet. Trying to act Macho....no thank you... idon't like to get soaked....sucks...specially on a 500 mile a day ride...

 

The Tourmaster pants that match the sentinel jacket have an optional "nomex" lining on the insides of the legs in case you touch them against your hot pipes that prevents burning a hole in them. They also have their own bag to pack up into.

The sentinel jacket has a bag that is sewn into it so that you basically pack it up into itself when you are done with it. There is also a built in liner you wear like a hood under your helmet that prevents water from dripping down your neck.

The jacket and pants don't take up much room. I highly recommend Tourmaster.

 

Just spray yourself with rain-x before each ride and the rain will just run off of you, no need for a rain suit.