How fast do you ride in the rain?

60 is the max for me.

i usually ride about 45-55, rain or shine. on the expressway (I-75) i ride 62-70 as required but back to 55 or less in the rain. my givi windshield for some reason does not shed water. i am 67 yrs old with 63000 miles on my scoot have never slipped or slid even thru puddles but sometimes can't see through the water on the shield. no accidents or known close calls so far.

"Rain" is a general term that can be used for anything from light drizzle to zero visibilty downpour.
I think how fast I ride depends on volume of rain, road surface, and if I can get a clear car track to ride in.
There is no one set speed.

Dan

zero.. if I can help it, but I'm a biking wuss

Dan:
I would have to say that I pretty much use the same criteria as you to decide how fast to ride - rain or shine. In a "cats and dogs" scenario I will pull off the road under an overpass, but if it is a light drizzle, on good road, with no curves and light traffic I might go 75 to 80. It seems like the faster speeds keep the droplets off me better...

Visibility is the key for me although I do slow down by a few MPH.

It may be of interest that the French motorway speed limits are 130kph in dry conditions and 110 in the wet.

It's actually a very dificult question to answer easily I think.

There are so many variables with the rain, direction, visability, wind strength, condition of the road, (diesel, smooth or rough surface). Blah blah blah.

My political answer is;- as fast as conditions allow!!!! Be that 10 MPH or 100 MPH!!!!

However!! Saying all that I think a few of you are aware of my cautiousness with the Wing in the wet right now. Either my confidence or the tyres I am undecided as yet.

I posted a "report" of my first ever ride in the rain on this forum (Safety Section - "Do you scoot in the rain" - tankyoung) some time ago. Long story short, we (PGR/ALR group of four) went
thru relentless wind, max downpours, lightning and thunder for about
150 miles(down and half the way back). Most of the trip was made in
the 60/65+ range. Questionable? Maybe.
But what did I know? I was the inexperienced newbie of the group.

Waspie wrote:

It's actually a very dificult question to answer easily I think.

There are so many variables with the rain, direction, visability, wind strength, condition of the road, (diesel, smooth or rough surface). Blah blah blah.

My political answer is;- as fast as conditions allow!!!! Be that 10 MPH or 100 MPH!!!!

However!! Saying all that I think a few of you are aware of my cautiousness with the Wing in the wet right now. Either my confidence or the tyres I am undecided as yet.

I fully endorse this answer, except for the last paragraph I don't seem to have the same cautiousness and I rarely spell tires that way. Otherwise good on ya bloke! (Hope I didn't offend anyone by accident )

Depending on how hard it is raining I usually do the speed limit .How ever I don't use the cruise when it is raining so I keep creeping up over it .

jdeereanton wrote:

I fully endorse this answer, except for the last paragraph I don't seem to have the same cautiousness and I rarely spell tires that way. Otherwise good on ya bloke! (Hope I didn't offend anyone by accident )

Dale I maintain my right to spell 'tyre' in the English way as thats what I am.

Not offended either.

Must add I exceeded my previous caution best in the rain this morning, although roundabouts still prove to be more dificult on the Wing. I will get there, early days yet a mere 1300 miles clocked up on the Wing to date.

Speaking of which......when moving off in a hurry from traffic-lights on the Brugge ring-road this evening, I managed to spin the rear wheel very dramatically.
More by luck than anything else I stayed shiny side up but it didn't 'arf give me a surprise and quickening of the heart rate!
My pillion noticed the slewing from side to side but didn't think anything of it.
Says a lot for my riding style!

Mike you may have touched on my problem.

It could be that there is a lot more torque going though the Wing than my previous Burgman, (400), and I may just not have adapted to the additional power. (It's the start of a theory!!!)

Waspie wrote:

There are so many variables with the rain, direction, visability, wind
strength, condition of the road, (diesel, smooth or rough surface)

I agree with your your variables plus I have some more ... straight/curves/turns, lane contours/wheel ruts collecting water, drainage ability, road slickness (from oil residue accumulation), clouds (if I heading towards potentially worse rain), distance of cars behind me, 18-wheelers tracks spewing large mist clouds ... even internal "word-of-knowledge" forcing me to slow down even though there was nothing I could identify.

MikeO wrote:

when moving off in a hurry from traffic-lights on the Brugge ring-road this evening, I managed to spin the rear wheel very dramatically.

Besides the speed of travel ... my riding style completely changes.

If with all of my cautions, I have still had additional surprises that I learn from each and every time.

For example:

- I was on the interstate with a very very light swerve right and then left. I had no problem, but on the fourth or fifth time the front wheel felt like it slipped out a little.

- I have was in a slower speed turn and the front tire must of hit a rock cause the front wheel slipped enough to surprise me.

- I had no problem with front tire (OEM Bridgestone) when it was straight, but I was counter steering with no leaning for a very minimal rising turn ... there was water sheeting down the road ... all I can conclude is the non-center of the tire does not channel the water as well as the straight up center tire.

So be prepared for "learning experiences" when driving in the rain ... besides speed.

We occasionally have rain/mud here in Oklahoma and wind, hail the size of walnuts, and tornado's blow thru mostly in the spring. If I'm out on the highway and it starts to do any of the aforementioned weather events, I will pull off the road and get under some cover....any cover and wait it out.

DennisB

I've only ridden in heavy rain once...and I didn't have any choice. I was up in the Shenandoah and had to get home. On I-81, I rode at speed, but I kept a chamois rag under my leg, and wiped the windscreen fairly often, as needed. I also kept my visor in the up position, and wore yellow glasses. I wiped them when I needed to also. On the way down the mountain, I rode quite slowly (no faster than 30-35). Had I been on a regular bike, I wouldn't have gone out of second gear. Also, I didn't lean the scoot unless I absolutely had to. Since the road was filled with reverse curves, I had to a couple of times, but it seemed to work better to just slow down and stay straight up.

This is not something I recommend!!! It was quite scary, but both my husband and I survived without any mishaps.

I like sunshine a lot more!

Here in SouthEast Texas you never can be sure what kind of weather you'll run into, so when you leave out the suns shining then before you know it the sky opens up and your caught in the middle of it, so I never leave home without my rain suit. As far as how fast I go it depends on the conditions and whether or not I have a death wish at the time:) For the most part I take it slow and easy.

There are a lot of factors that will affect my speed. How heavy it is raining, how good my tires are, road quality, traffic conditions, etc... etc..... I'm sure you guys do the same. I rode on I-26 from Spartanburg, S.C. to Asheville N.C. in some pretty interesting conditions which included stiff winds going up Saluda Grade and rain. I probably kept it between 55-60 for the most part to keep up with the slower traffic. On curvy roads, I am very cautious and go way slower to make sure I have plenty of traction reserve in case I hit leaves, gravel, slick fluid, lines, or anything else that could cause the bike to break traction. I will usually pull to the side in inclement weather on 2 lane roads for cars riding up on me as I don't like to push things. However, in the dry........ it is usually the other way around

I still consider myself a novice rider after one season. (Albeit a season with 4000+ miles.) I was pleasantly surprised to find that rain does NOT equal instant death. But I have no idea what the limits are, and I have no interest in exploring them. I assume that anything except dry pavement is equal to glare ice and ride accordingly.

My last ride of the season ended with 30 miles of heavy rain combined with sleet, in the dark, and virtually blind.

I read about a homemade Weather Gauge intended to determine the suitability of the weather for recreational flying. It was invented by a retired airline pilot and Cessna owner:

1. Materials: A sheet of sky blue construction paper, scissors, some string, Scotch tape and a feather.

2. Cut a round hole in the center of the paper about 2" in diameter.

3. Attach a six-inch length of string to one end of the paper using the tape, and attach the feather to the other end of the string.

4. To use the instrument, take it outdoors and hold it up toward the sky at about a 45 degree angle above your eyes, with the feather dangling downward toward the ground.

5. If the color of the hole matches the color of the paper, and the feather hangs straight down, go flying. Otherwise, find something else to do.

This simple instrument can add years to a pilot's life, and I suspect it can do the same for a motorcycle rider.

Ronjr009 it sounds like you are an experienced rider. I try to stay with the flow of the traffic but back off if I feel at all unsafe. When on a road trip it is a little daunting to wake up with it raining and have to pack up in the rain. I have ridden all day in rain and made it out alive but did not enjoy it. I have to give credit to my 04 Swing because I have hever had electrical problems of any kind even in days of rain. When I am making modifications to my bikes I take special care in sealing all new connections. If at all possible when it is expected to rain most of the day I sleep late and quit early. I never go anywhere anytime without a rain suit and it has paid off.