What to do in the rain
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 6,235
Likes: 65
From: Joliet, Illinois
A helmet with faceshield is pretty much a must in any significant rain. Turning your head to the left and right usually clear the raindrops off the shield. Of course, in very heavy rain, even that doesn't work well. In that case, the best option is to ride to the nearest safe place to get off the road and wait until it slows a bit.
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 599
Likes: 2
From: Montana
Just got back from a 1K roundtrip and 230 miles of it were in various degrees of rain. I had gotten a "J&P Cycles 2-Piece Top-Quality Rain Suit" ($69.99) and a set of their "Deluxe Rain Boot Covers" ($24.99). Man did they work great! Put the boot covers on first (over my boots and chaps), then the rain pants (over the boot covers and chaps and under my leather jacket), then the rain jacket (over every thing). The boot covers zip open and have an elastic/velcro top to keep them tight. The rain pants are zippered and gusseted to the knees to make it easy to slip over your boots (they also have stirrups at the bottom to keep them down). They come up to your chest with adjustable elastic straps to go over the shoulders to hold them up. Jacket has elastic/snap cuffs, velcro collar, and a wide velcro storm flap over the zipper. It also has an adjustable sewn on belt at the waist. The jacket and sleeves have a wide, orange reflective horizontal stripe, bordered by two smaller silver reflective stripes. All in all, a great rain suit at a reasonable price. Kept my a$$ dry for 230 miles!
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 438
Likes: 6
From: Kamloops BC
A lot of the roads up here there could be 300 miles between overpasses lol. And so far as pulling off the roads, not a swell idea either as some/most of our roads don't have a load of shoulder room, so pulling off at a random spot to wait it out is not overly smart as the rains we get are fairly stiff/hard to see, hate to get side-swiped standing still by a log/chip truck...
Club Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,815
Likes: 16
From: Virginia
Rode through about 3-4 hours of rain last year and had Frog Toggs on. I had put some duct tape on the right leg where it would come in contact with the pipes and it held up fine. It did get a little sticky residue on the pipes but it washed right off. My Frogg Toggs didn't tear or leak except for some rain getting up under the pant legs some around my boots. I think they work pretty well.
The thing I don't like is the pants are always way too baggy.
The thing I don't like is the pants are always way too baggy.
Road Warrior
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,807
Likes: 33
From: TEXAS
I have a Harley branded set of rain gear, the silver and orange stuff, it has worked great for many years. I am all for pulling over when the bad stuff starts. I am just not in that big of a hurry. My daughter and I got caught in a hail storm (pea sized) in Colorado a while back. That sure sounds weird on your helmet, I had on the full face that day and was glad. Came back from Sturgis a couple of years ago and followed a front all the way home, one of those it is just barely raining but the road sure is wet trips. You talk about a dirty bike, and clothes. Jeez.
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,898
From: Bedford UK
We just got back to our UK home from a 2,500 mile round trip to Poland. It rained a lot, heavily sometimes. Worst day was 200 miles heavy rain, but the hotel in Germany put our stuff in the tumble-drier for us!
When I ride I wear a MOTORCYCLE SUIT. It's weatherproof in all but the most extreme rain (like that 200 mile day). I was sitting in a puddle on my Corbin and didn't get wet (there!).
When you ride you do NOT have to get wet! Just buy the right gear....
When I ride I wear a MOTORCYCLE SUIT. It's weatherproof in all but the most extreme rain (like that 200 mile day). I was sitting in a puddle on my Corbin and didn't get wet (there!).
When you ride you do NOT have to get wet! Just buy the right gear....
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,456
Likes: 11
From: PacNW; Beacon of Conservatism in a Sea of Liberals.......AZ Snowbird; Just another Conservative
The last day of our ride home from the AZ RoadTrip was miserable. We left Pendleton OR bound for Tacoma WA and were in pretty thick rain from The Dalles to home. Fortunately, it was relatively warm (50's). I was just in jeans and my leather jacket and tennies. Both of the other guys were in raingear. When we gassed up about 100 miles from home, we were all equally drenched. Being the most well-padded of the three, I was still warm enough; my nephew was shivering pretty bad. We stayed inside the gas station/convenience store for about 15 minutes (missed the hailstorm anyway!), then jumped aboard again for the run for home. I soaked for about 2 hours in my big soaktub when I got home...finally warmed up.
Lessons learned: Raingear likely won't keep you dry if the rain is heavy. Make a gas or food stop every hour just so you can get indoors for a quick warm-up. When/if visibility or standing water get too bad, get in the slow lane and make it your own, no matter how slow you need to go to feel comfortable; don't feel obligated to keep pace with a warm, dry cager sitting behind his Rain-X and wipers, sipping hot coffee and rocking-out to In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Riding in the rain just sucks; it's just a matter of trying to limit how bad.
Lessons learned: Raingear likely won't keep you dry if the rain is heavy. Make a gas or food stop every hour just so you can get indoors for a quick warm-up. When/if visibility or standing water get too bad, get in the slow lane and make it your own, no matter how slow you need to go to feel comfortable; don't feel obligated to keep pace with a warm, dry cager sitting behind his Rain-X and wipers, sipping hot coffee and rocking-out to In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Riding in the rain just sucks; it's just a matter of trying to limit how bad.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 6,899
Likes: 3,412
From: OH
Visibility is the driving factor for me. If you can't see then it gets to be a little dangerous. If you are in traffic it gets tough to see with all the spray. Like stated above the full face bucket helps out a lot. If I am on back roads I typically don't have an issue.
We got caught last year and it was raining so hard combined with the spray I actually had to pull my glasses away from eyes every so often as they were filling with water inside.
We got caught last year and it was raining so hard combined with the spray I actually had to pull my glasses away from eyes every so often as they were filling with water inside.