My rear wheel slips out all the time, though only went down once because of it.

I ride in the rain all the time but it's not terribly enjoyable.

 

Commute every day and I ride in the rain if it rains. Not a big deal, the best was a real toad choker and then catching a slow moving freight train. Sat there and felt like a drowned rat for 10 minutes.

 

I remember taking a trip home on the highway. Started downpouring so bad I could only dimly see tail lights in front of me. People were pulling off the road to wait it out, bikes were pulling under the overpasses. Semi trucks were ruining my day.

I just kept on the road because I knew if I pulled over I probably wouldn't get back on. That was my first long ride.

 

Harleys handle the rain just fine...come on, they are not made of sugar. When I ride on wet pavement, rather it just rained or it is down pouring on me, I just go slower. Then, I don't worry about cleaning my bike...I just ride it.

 

I don't own a car. My Deuce is my only transportation so I ride to/from work rain or shine. The bike runs fine in the rain. Like others have said, you just have to slow down, give more room for braking, and watch out for cages, paint lines, and standing water. Wear the right gear for the weather and you're good to go.

I will say I'm not a huge fan of the stock dunlops in the rain though... I actually found this thread because it was raining on the ride home tonight and I'm trying to find better tires for the water.

 

You city guys who are **** about clean bikes make me chuckle. You should live down a 3 mile long dirt driveway like I do. If I spit shined my Dyna every time I rode, it would still be a dust covered mess by the time I got to the mail box anyway. Rain or shne, I ride cause I love it.....not to impress anyone with my chrome.....makes for way less stress.....sort of takes the terrifying idea of a possible bug strike out of the realm of worry as well.

 

I will ride in the rain and my poor little Miss Denim rests out doors and gets rained on everytime it does. I've had her for six months and only wipe her down. Damn Pollin burns me up more than road dirt. I earned that dirt, Pollin just gets everywhere.
Cool/funny story (in my opinion) I was at Daytona Bike week in 2006 and the weather report said rain the day I was returning home. My Grandmother lives down there and I asked her if she wanted to go to lunch and if she could show me where a Motorcycle shop was. While the sales person was gettin my size suit I was checkin out the Gremlin bells. She asked if I planned on getting one and I explained to her someone else had to give it as a gift for it to work. My sales person brings me the suit and I went to try it on. My GM bought me a bell and gave it to me the day I was leaving. (after I told her I didn't think anything of it) Anyhow, Sunny the morning I was leaving I didn't put suit on right away. I stopped to gas up at one of the stations at 95 and 44 or 404 or whatever it is.. And saw a Dark cloud. No big deal, just put on my suit and jam. Well, by the time I got on 95 it opened up. Cool, planned on it.. on my 950 mile ride home to Northern Virginia every time I stopped to gas up I'd check the tv at the gas station. I couldn't believe it. I was keeping perfect pace with the rain storm so much so everytime I looked I was still central to it. That damn storm followed me all the way up 95. I ended up having to stop overnight because during the night hours it started freezing on the road in NC. Damn, almost home too. Did I mention.. I lost a chain guard, clutch started to go, Fuel filter was so bad It got to the point my bike would bog when I tried accelerating. I however was dry as a bone. Long story short Good gear will do wonders, and Grandma's surprising you with a G bell helps too. I called and thanked her cause the bell helped me get home I told her.

 

in the UK we seem to get more rain than shine,
Rain ? thats why they invented the car.
I also own a black iron , use it in poor weather and it will look old very quickly.
have a look at other peoples harleys, you will be able to spot the ones that are ridden in the rain.

 

I'm a newer rider so the MSF stuff is still relatively fresh in my head. Definitely avoid typical slippery spots like the middle lanes at toll booths and heavy intersections because rain and oil are very slippery. In these heavy traffic areas the oil doesn’t always was away with the rain. I almost dropped my bike because my foot slipped coming to a stop in the rain at a busy intersection. I would also say to just be mindful of your throttle in turns. You definitely don't want to accelerate, or decelerate too much in a turn in the rain.

I ride in the rain sometimes and it does suck to clean the bike afterwards.

 

Ugh a weekly clean ? Hahaha I don't ridE in the rain because I don't have a windshield and wear a half shell, it hurts like hell taking rain to the face !! Plus I don't trust people will see me ... I'm not worried about my bike it's just rain !!