Decent rain suit set of gators and a safe face mask works well for me in Florida. You can wear a 1/2 helmet or a non DOT with it. Safe face is the best protection I've found so far.

 

I put fairing lowers on my bike specifically because they keep my feet reasonably dry when it rains. Here in the pac nw, you either ride in the rain, or you don't ride much.

 

This sure makes my wife laugh, but I once posted that I used swim goggles with my open face helmet...
I saw Gore-Tex riding gloves that have a rubber pattern to grab onto the handlebars. They should be a safe riding complement for cable type throttle grips.
I even used (green) dishwashing gloves in the past because we had no offering; the bike was also green