gotta newby question.....

How do you get the rain off your visor when riding in the rain? Not that I purposely go riding in the rain, got caught a few times. :mad: Friend of mine said to turn your head and the wind will blow it off, tried it and that didn't work for me. Maybe doing it wrong. I have a Scorpion 400 helmet and the pamphlet that came with it said to not use use rainX which works wonders on car windshields.

Thanks

Later

NB.

Ive only been caught in the rain twice while riding, but i found that turning my head works only if youre on the freeway going a decent speed (above 60mph)

You might want to give this stuff a try though

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-helmets/visors/raincoat-water-repellent/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn-XLJzeOEE

Seems to work pretty amazing! I might have to try it out myself

Also, on some forum I was on, (I forget which one) some guy stitched a section of a car wiper blade to his glove so all he had to do was wipe his visor with the blade that was attached to his glove every now and then. Seems like a neat idea.

Friend of mine said to turn your head and the wind will blow it off

That's what I do, but you need to be going like 50mph or so. Also, the visor needs to be clean for it to work.

For any lower speeds they have gloves that have little squeegees on the left hand pointer finger you can use to wipe away the water.

I have been caught in the rain a few times, I use a car wax type stuff that you spray on, wipe with a rag to cover the area and then buff it with a fine rag. the wax says it is good for plastics, and I have not noticed any issues degrading the visor at all. All I know is the rain beads and drips away, even at low speeds :D but for high speeds, turning your head works well to clear the visor, just watch you don't vear off your path.

There's these winter gloves with wipers on the thumb, works great!

You know I just found out whats worse than riding in the rain, 42mph wind. I didn't do it, but I could barely keep balance pushing the bike.

for all the replys, the last several days have been on and off rainy, and it seems where I live is a rain magnet, it will rain here and 3 miles down the road be dry. I know what you mean about the wind, the highway that I leave out on just about always has a crosswind. A few days ago I was in a constant lean windward to keep from being blown off the road. I weigh in a 135 and the light heft of the 250 makes it easy to blow around.

Anywho, thanks to all for the help on the visor issue, I am going to have to try a few of them.

NB

I also have the joe rocket gloves with the wiper. Works great. But also I use a Glass Cleaner with Rainx on the headlights as well as my helmet visor. Then when you turn your head or get into the wind the water beads up and rolls away.

I also have the joe rocket gloves with the wiper. Works great. But also I use a Glass Cleaner with Rainx on the headlights as well as my helmet visor. Then when you turn your head or get into the wind the water beads up and rolls away.


i have only had my bike for a week and a half or so. i have never heard about the head turning trick before. i got caught in the rain one day and i turned my head to change lanes. yup, the water flew off the visor. good tip about the rain-x though. gotta do that one.

oh, btw... first post! woohoo!

i have only had my bike for a week and a half or so. i have never heard about the head turning trick before. i got caught in the rain one day and i turned my head to change lanes. yup, the water flew off the visor. good tip about the rain-x though. gotta do that one.

oh, btw... first post! woohoo!

Congrats on first post....When you find things in the future that works for you or new products, please share with all of us.

I turn my head... I don't do twisites in the rain mind you. At that point I pull over. To many surprises when I can fully see.

I also suggest, for random stormy ness is a pair of Frog Toggs... If your luck is like mine, you get 'em, lug 'em around, and it never rains... Forget em though and thats when it comes down. :D

I also suggest, for random stormy ness is a pair of Frog Toggs... If your luck is like mine, you get 'em, lug 'em around, and it never rains... Forget em though and thats when it comes down. :D

Or GoreTex riding boots. :)

I have the Joe Rocket gloves that have wiper blades on the thumbs. I actually thought they were for protection.

Rain-X would work great on a visor. I use it on my car and the smallest of raindrops instantly disappear.

If you read fine print on the Rain-X, it says not to use it on plastic.
I just use car wax and works good, and turning my head.

If you read fine print on the Rain-X, it says not to use it on plastic.

I can't say if it will affect the visor or not, but I can say I learned abut rain-x from glider pilots who used them on their canopies. I know it must have been made out of some sort of plastic. With no windshield wipers, they would use that stuff so that when they would go through rain clouds the water would just slide right off. :)

They used to be fanatical about keeping the canopy spotless.

I read that it was originally designed for those canopies.
But as far face shields go, too many mixed reviews. I'll stay with my wax.:thumbup:

I usually just shake my head back and forth. The water usually just runs to the front of my helmet and drips off. Granted, it doesn't work perfectly, but it works well enough that I can see. I dunno though, 'cause my helmet's not the same as yours. Difference in angles and visors 'could account for that.

Yeah um, shake your head at freeway speeds and switch to visor-up, laugh-like-a-madman for offramps. ..And battlecry for onramps.

Like others have posted, turning your head to one side then the other works great (like checking your blind spot). You can also try tilting your head downwards a bit, at higher speeds the wind can push the water down and away leaving the upper portion of your visor clear.

I have recently found that if you are able to tuck down far enough, with my aftermarket DB scren, there is a point where the wind circulates down and will clear my visor.

I keep my visor clean and apply car wax to it and the water just beads off just like in the rain coat video.

I have recently found that if you are able to tuck down far enough, with my aftermarket DB scren, there is a point where the wind circulates down and will clear my visor.
hmm... thanks for the tip. gotta try that one next time i get caught out in the rain.

I keep my right hand on the throttle and my left at head level to wipe every few seconds. :D

Ack. I rode in the rain again today and my problem today was water on the inside of the shield. On with the wax on both sides!

Ack. I rode in the rain again today and my problem today was water on the inside of the shield. On with the wax on both sides!

water seeping in? or just fogging up? cause if it's the former, I think you have other things you should be worried about :rolleyes:

nono, I have a feature on my helmet to half crack the shield so it won't fog up.

Note to self: Get Waterproof Gloves...
I swear I'm going to start buying Dual Sport gear...

Ok- another rain question. I've ridden in the rain quite a few times since its not uncommon for it to just start downpouring out of nowhere. This morning on the ride in to work I switched to the R hand lane so I could turn into my parking lot. I was already going pretty slow since the roads were super wet, so I started my usual downshift. When I hit 3rd gear the rear tire started fishtailing. I kept it cool and managed to straighten the bike out. I slowed even more so that wouldn't happen again but when i shifted into 2nd, the same thing only more exxagerrated. Rather than risk eating **** trying to make the turn I just stabilized and kept going straight and wound up riding around the block and turning in on the other side.

Does anyone know what couldve caused it to fishtail like that? I figure something to do with a loss of traction with the downshift but Im not entirely sure. Even more helpful would be how to prevent it. I've put in some miles in the rain, exercising caution the whole time, but never encountered this. thanks.

what was the RPM range when you down shifted?

Hard to tell definitively from your post, but if you lost traction just when you were letting the clutch out in the lower gear, it sounds to me like you were letting the clutch out a little too quickly for the low-traction conditions, and the back-torque from the engine (as the engine was spinning slower than the rear-wheel wanted it to be spinning, taking into account the transmission ratios) caused the wheel to spin slower than road speed.

In dry conditions, there is enough traction between the rear tire and the road that even if you drop the clutch immediately when downshifting, the rear tire will usually force the engine to immediately match speeds; our 250cc 4-stroke doesn't have that much inertia and it can adjust speeds almost immediately when that external force is applied. In low-traction conditions, that same action will not work as well, and can cause a fishtail of sorts.

This is exactly what a slipper clutch is designed to prevent, but usually in higher speed situations. On a downshift, if the rear wheel is trying to force the engine to turn faster than it currently is, and the backtorque would be enough to break the tire's traction loose, the clutch freewheels in that one direction, allowing the rear wheel to spin faster than the engine would normally cause it to. Makes it so easy to go into corners hot on the racetrack: get up to whatever max speed is appropriate prior to braking zone for corners, pull clutch in, downshift 2 or 3 times immediately, and just dump the clutch, and continue braking for corner. Slipper clutches work better in fact if you do dump the clutch immediately; rather than trying to somewhat match revs and blip while downshifting. This is one of those things where you can see the difference between old-school motorcycle racers (like Mat Mladin or Troy Bayliss), and the new-gen folks (like Stoner and Pedrosa, for example). Even though all 4 of them have/had the latest and greatest slipper clutches on all of their racebikes, the first two can be seen to blip the throttle on downshifts, while the latter 2 don't even worry about it and just downshift and dump the clutch.

Anyway, got off on a tangent, sorry. And I've never heard of anyone putting an aftermarket slipper clutch into a ninjette. :) So you'll likely have more success by being more careful when letting the clutch out (do it slower), and it would also help to blip (raise the revs with the throttle slightly during the downshift when the clutch is out to better match engine speed to road speed) a bit when downshifting in the rain.

Downshifting on a slick road can be disastrous. Start stopping way before you need to, apply the brakes gently, and downshift at lower RPMS than you normally would. You have to even be careful letting off the throttle if you're at fairly high RPMs.

how deep was the water?

Does anyone know what couldve caused it to fishtail like that?

Simple loss of traction. Your rear tire suddenly was spinning slower than your bike was going. The tire lost it's bite on the wet pavement, and it skidded.

Thanks guys. It all makes perfect sense. I wasnt going through water, the road was just wet. Come to think of it, I wasn't even really watching the RPMs, I was basically just judging it off of rate of speed. I guess next time I'll just have to be more conscious of how fast the engine is spinning when downshifting.

Reading your post, it sounds like you were dumping the clutch far too fast. I have done it a few times and a few less times while going around a corner, it is not the smartest thing to do and gave me a fright the first time, but once the engine and wheel match speed, all straightens up, so the rear wheel slides a little, but corrects automatically it the RPMs are not a huge difference. It was fun when I was expecting it :D

I have recently found that if you are able to tuck down far enough, with my aftermarket DB scren, there is a point where the wind circulates down and will clear my visor.

just wanted to report. that method works GREAT!!! it COMPLETELY blew all the water off the visor. :thumbup:

thanks again for that tip.

No problem, happy it works for someone else!

Would it work if you wrapped a sweat-band around your wrist or forearm and used that to wipe the visor?

Would it work if you wrapped a sweat-band around your wrist or forearm and used that to wipe the visor?

as long as it didn't get too wet from the rain, i don't see why not.

the thing i like about viper-bytes way is that you don't have to let go of the handle bar.... no need to turn your head... just duck down a bit and the visor is clean. i would suspect it would work for the stock windscreen as well. you would just have to duck lower of course.

Hey everybody,
I got stuck in the rain for the first time last night and kinda paniced becuz i didnt know what to expect. I made it home fine it was just a bit hard on the nerves, im just looking for some tips or advice to getting stuck in the rain. I know i could have just pulled off but i needed to get home and didnt want to stop and try and wait it out.

Don't panic. Your tires have more grip then you think.

Aside from packing rain gear (if your current gear doesn't have WP layers) all I can think of is basic stuff you've probably already been told. Stay out of the middle of the road to avoid oil and all that fun stuff. Adjust your riding to the conditions and use more gentle inputs. Not much to be afraid of riding in the rain. Just don't get overly confident and start riding like you're on a dry road and you're good to go.

Hey everybody,
I got stuck in the rain for the first time last night and kinda paniced becuz i didnt know what to expect. I made it home fine it was just a bit hard on the nerves, im just looking for some tips or advice to getting stuck in the rain. I know i could have just pulled off but i needed to get home and didnt want to stop and try and wait it out.

You're closer to your traction limit, slow down and leave more space. Brake earlier and easier. That center space in the lane gets very slippery, especially near intersections. The whole lane is at it's slipperiest just as it's first getting wet, especially if there hasn't been any rain on the road for a while. Keep an eye out for standing water, hydroplaning the front tire sucks and so does oncoming traffic hitting it as you pass them. RainX on your helmet shield is your friend (unless it's a Suomy).

When I ride in the rain, I generally:

Keep it as upright as possible, taking turns considerably slower than usual so I don't have to lean it over as much
Avoid metal and be wary of paint (Which typically means no lane splitting for me in the rain)
Allow myself a greater stopping and following distance
Only ride 5 over the speed limit instead of 10-20 :p

So just exercise a bit more caution, and you should be fine. It's really not much worse than driving in it- which also isn't difficult at all. Honestly though, I kind of like riding in the rain. It'd be more fun with proper rain gear, I imagine (wet leathers- not great), but there's something soothing about seeing the raindrops sliding along the sides of my visor making it look like speed lines as I'm hitting warp speed :D

Good tips. I ride in the rain several times a week down here, and with such poor drainage in developing country rain means mud gets washed onto the road, not off. Makes the roads really slippery during and just after the rain. In addition to below, I do the following:

-Use less rear brake than I normally would, which is already very little, so pretty much zero. I find rear wheel on deceleration is the first thing to go in really wet, slippery conditions.
-Blip the throttle more religiously on all downshifts to keep deceleration as smooth as possible, and use less downshifting until I'm already at speed I want from front brake use.
-Allow a bunch more space for slowing down before a corner or stop or with a car in front of me.
-Use more body in corners. Might look silly with a big hang off the side of the bike in a 30MPH corner, but the more you use your body, the less you need to lean the bike. And an upright bike has more tire to grip with.

Rock, just out of curiosity, why no RainX on a Suomy?

Rock, just out of curiosity, why no RainX on a Suomy?

You may get by with it on a clear or tinted shield, I've never tried, but I have yet to find anything that I can use on a suomy iridium or iridium mirrored visor that doesn't ruin the iridium. The difference in iridium and iridium mirrored shields is that the iridium mirrored is done over a dark smoke shield while straight iridium shields are done over a clear shield.

Within the first couple months of suomy ownership I ruined suomy iridium shields with the following:

RainX
poly carbonate cleaner
diluted windex
Tap water with cotton towel
Tap water with micro fiber towel (tap water was in a different state this time)

Yeah, and about $60.00 plus shipping a pop!

If you're wondering why I'd try to use these things on a shield, I've purchased shoei helmets for the most part in the past and I've used all these things, and more, on shoei iridium visors with no damage. I usually use full strength windex on them.

The visor I use on my spec-1R now was an iridium mirrored shield ruined by tap water. I took full strength windex to it and removed all the iridium. Now its just a dark smoke shield.

-Use less rear brake than I normally would, which is already very little, so pretty much zero. I find rear wheel on deceleration is the first thing to go in really wet, slippery conditions.
-Blip the throttle more religiously on all downshifts to keep deceleration as smooth as possible, and use less downshifting until I'm already at speed I want from front brake use.
-Allow a bunch more space for slowing down before a corner or stop or with a car in front of me.
-Use more body in corners. Might look silly with a big hang off the side of the bike in a 30MPH corner, but the more you use your body, the less you need to lean the bike. And an upright bike has more tire to grip with.



Awesome tips! The only one I find where I differ is that I tend to use more rear brake in the rain as I'm stopping. I don't know why other than I think I read that tip in Proficient Motorcycling when I was learning to ride, so it's always just been part of my habit set. It just keeps things smoother for me. Also, begin stopping sooner than usual because you'll need to apply the brakes lighter than if the road were dry.
In a light rain or drizzle, somply turning your head to the side helps the rain (or fog) clear up.
Wear your gear, not only because of the increased risk, but because rain drops at 60mph smart a bit. :)

-Use more body in corners. Might look silly with a big hang off the side of the bike in a 30MPH corner, but the more you use your body, the less you need to lean the bike. And an upright bike has more tire to grip with.
Bingo.
Lean body MORE in the rain, bike less.
They race SS in the rain, don't they?

I like to burn out all the way home in the rain too. No wear on the tires.
That is, when I get stuck in it.

Otherwise, I don't ride in the rain at all.

I remember from my MSF.

Once it starts raining, take a coffee break. The first 5-10 minutes of the rain is the slickest. Washes up the oil and stuff up from the road, So if you can spare the time, at the start of rain pull over and take a break.

Riding in a moderate rain can be therapeutic. Thunderstorms or heavy rains with high winds are definitely nerve wracking. Great tips given. Keep the bike as upright as possible, and be SLOW AND DELIBERATE with ALL of your INPUTS.

Thanks for all the tips everyone i will keep them all in mind for next time i get stuck out there

/merged with main "riding in the rain" thread. FYI - this is linked from the sticky at the top of the riding skills area