"What's your biggest complaint with riding in the rain?
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Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 210
Likes: 108
From: East Central South Dakota
"What's your biggest complaint with riding in the rain?
What's your biggest complaint with riding in the rain?
Mine, cleaning up the bike afterwards. HATE IT! It's the first thing that goes thru my mind, how much of a pain cleaning the bike will be.
Not that I enjoy riding in the rain, but if out on a rode trip I won't sit it out if it is raining. Once on a multi-day trip, I had a friend ask me what I was going to do if we got up some morning & it was raining. My response, take a look at the radar and if it looks as if it will pass soon wait it out, but if it looks like it was going to be raining for a while put on my rain gear and head out.
I will also say that sometimes when out on a trip, my wife (she rides her own) and I will travel a few miles out of our way to avoid or go around a rain system.
Heavy heavy rain with very low visibility and lots of pooling on the rode I will pull over for and wait for conditions to improve.
As far as rain gear, I have gotten smarter with riding experience. I used to carry rain jacket with rain pants, plus riding jacket & chaps for cooler situations. Now I carry riding pants that serve as both rain gear and cold weather gear. Fly Butane overpants that are 100% waterproof and have a zip in & out cold weather lining, and I have went to multi function 100% waterproof riding jacket. Why carry a rain jacket & pants, riding jacket, & chaps? Plus the overpant liner doesn't take up much room if you don't need it.
Mine, cleaning up the bike afterwards. HATE IT! It's the first thing that goes thru my mind, how much of a pain cleaning the bike will be.
Not that I enjoy riding in the rain, but if out on a rode trip I won't sit it out if it is raining. Once on a multi-day trip, I had a friend ask me what I was going to do if we got up some morning & it was raining. My response, take a look at the radar and if it looks as if it will pass soon wait it out, but if it looks like it was going to be raining for a while put on my rain gear and head out.
I will also say that sometimes when out on a trip, my wife (she rides her own) and I will travel a few miles out of our way to avoid or go around a rain system.
Heavy heavy rain with very low visibility and lots of pooling on the rode I will pull over for and wait for conditions to improve.
As far as rain gear, I have gotten smarter with riding experience. I used to carry rain jacket with rain pants, plus riding jacket & chaps for cooler situations. Now I carry riding pants that serve as both rain gear and cold weather gear. Fly Butane overpants that are 100% waterproof and have a zip in & out cold weather lining, and I have went to multi function 100% waterproof riding jacket. Why carry a rain jacket & pants, riding jacket, & chaps? Plus the overpant liner doesn't take up much room if you don't need it.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 8,129
Likes: 1,981
From: Ottawa, CANADA
Having to put on the rain gear sucks - it's restrictive and uncomfortable. Long hauls in a cold rain suck. Cagers are even more blind to our presence. Slick roads. Those are the things I hate riding in the rain. I never wash Reaper anyway, so the cleaning part doesn't come into play. 
Cheers!
Cheers!
Last edited by Clammy; May 10, 2017 at 10:21 AM.
Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 635
Likes: 29
From: Bakersfield, CA
Cleaning the bike up later. Every time I ride in a hard rain, every nook and cranny on the bike seems to be covered in a hazy, dirty film... necessitating at least a multi-hour 'deep clean' wash & polish.
When the rain is so torrential that you can't see. We get those kind of rains a few times a year here, you can't avoid it, you're riding on the highway and that wall of water is coming towards you in moments. No time to stop and wait it out, nowhere to stop safely or no shelter. Woosh, you are drenched there is water in your eyes and you can't see the bike in front or behind you, or the car next to you. All you can do is point the bike and pray.
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Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 631
Likes: 153
From: Brea, CA
I don't mind it honestly.. only part i don't like is if i get caught without bee wax for the visor
though i had to get off the freeway once cause it was like riding through a river during one of the "once in a decade" storm so cal has every 8 months..
though i had to get off the freeway once cause it was like riding through a river during one of the "once in a decade" storm so cal has every 8 months..
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Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 11,613
Likes: 7,087
From: SoCal / AZ
Cleaning the bike. After the first couple of rain rides, my wife no longer wants to ride in the rain after having to clean her own bike. Now she knows what I went through for years when she was just a passenger. Back when I was on sport bikes that were covered in plastic, ridding in the rain was not a big deal. Just wash it like a car.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 11,166
Likes: 1,801
From: Puget Sound, WA.
Other than getting soaked, my concern is always the cagers on the road who barely look out their windshields on a clear day from texting, and probably haven't kept up on new wiper blades in the rain.