Riding your motorcycle in the rain
Riding your motorcycle in the rain is clearly no fun. If you have ever had to do it, you will understand how quickly the experience can turn into a veritable nightmare. Okay, we do have to admit that there are folks out there who just love the experience of having rain wash by while going along at a steady pace, but for the majority of people, riding a motorcycle in the rain is something that is best avoided.
- Visibility: Rain proof your helmet
Visibility is, without doubt, one of the most important concerns when it comes to riding a motorcycle in the rain. There are a wide range of rain repellents that can be used on motorcycle visors.
One of the questions that you will hear being asked often out there surrounds the use of RainX to stop motorcycle visors from fogging up. The consensus is that RainX does not actually work well on plastic and could end up damaging your helmet.
What most people do not realize is that there is a version of RainX that’s specifically made for plastics. The RainX Plastic Water repellent works well on motorcycle visors and should help improve your visibility when Riding your bike in the rain.
- Proper Rain Gear
A major reason why people hate riding in the rain has to do with the fact that they, more often than not, do not have the right kind of clothing. If there is anything that can get a human being miserable, it is getting soaked to the bone in the rain.
Add to that the fact that you will have the wind whipping by you as you ride your bike, and you have everything that you need to begin loathing the rain, or your bike.
The good news is that there are thousands of options out there when it comes to protecting yourself from the elements, including the rain. Revzilla is one of companies that can be found out there that carry a wide range of protective rain-gear for motorcycles.
- Riding your bike in the rain: Visibility
Whatever the raingear that you are going to opt for, you should make sure that it gives you visibility in the gloomy conditions that are brought about by rain. One of the reasons why so many fatalities occur on the roads is the fact that motorcyclists can be difficult to see.
That is particularly the case when it is raining. The good thing isn that there are hundreds of options out there when it comes to highly visible rainwear. This gives other motorists the ability to see you.
- Rain Tyres
One of the potentially dangerous mistakes that motorcyclist make involves going out with tires that are not suited for wet conditions. Make sure that the tires that you have on your ride have been designed specifically for the slippery conditions, and you should be fine. You should also make sure that your tires are properly inflated.
- Stay away from hazards
Rain makes the road particularly slippery. That is the reason why you should be on the lookout for potential hazards while riding in the rain. Metal surfaces such as manhole covers, become even more dangerous and you should do everything in your power to stay away from them.
- Puddles can throw you off balance
It may be tempting to ride through a puddle and watch the water splash spectacularly in your wake. However, puddles are another of the hazards that you should avoid at all costs when riding in the rain. For one thing, you do not know how deep the thing really is, and there is a good chance that you will hydroplane should you try to go through one.
- Oil Spills
The thing that makes motorcycles dangerous is the fact that it takes so little to get them off balance. You only have to watch the countless fail videos that are on YouTube to get what we are talking about. Oil is one of your major enemies when riding your bike in whatever conditions. That becomes doubly the case when riding in the rain. What you should do is watch out for rainbow patterns on the ground and do everything in your power to avoid these spots.
- Be gentle on your brakes
Another thing that you need to do when riding your motorcycle in the rain is stay off your brakes as much as possible. Trying to come to an abrupt stop can be enough to send you clattering to the ground.
Even when you are stopping, make sure that you apply more pressure on the rear brakes. The front wheel is much more difficult to control and if you are not careful, you increase your chances of falling to the ground.
You also need to give yourself enough time and space to stop. Remember that the conditions are entirely different from what you are used to. Leave your braking too late, and you could end up under a lorry or some other vehicle.
- Reduce your speed
The daredevil in you may tell you to speed up or ride at your normal speed even when it is raining. This is a good way of ending up in a ditch. Riding your bike in the rain is a difficult proposition, even under normal conditions. In rain, the dangers are increased a thousand fold. That is one of the reasons why you need to slow down as much as possible. Where possible, why not wait out the rain somewhere or the other?
How to ship your Motorcycle
Transporting your motorcycle from one part of the country to the other does not need to be a complicated process. At AA Motorcycle Shipping, we have perfected the art of motorcycle shipping. All that you need to do is get a quote from our site, get in touch with us and we will collect your ride and transport it anywhere in the United States and the stated cost. What’s more, we make sure that all the motorcycles that we transport arrive in place without suffering any damage.
