I was curious if any one has ever rode in down poring rain. I have had my bike over a month now and it has rained almost everyday although I have just rode in very light rain. Today I almost got caught and started thinking if it rains really hard do you have to worry about the air filter getting soaked because we have more of a ram air style inlet. I have seen the clear plastic tube that hangs down under the air filter housing. Any one ever notice any water in it?
I've ridden in a torrential downpour. Bike ran fine, no problems with water in the airbox. (there's a plugged drain on the right underside you can see if liquid gets in there) Bike ran great. I have a Strada, (#Currently for sale#) so I've got anti-lock brakes which worked great in the rain.
I live in the NW so yes, all the time. No issues with water. As for cloths after 35 years of riding rain I find fleece and light layers are best.
I have a full rain suit so I wont have any problems with the rain actually looking forward to it. We get high winds or tropical storms looking forward to the adventure lol. My wife thinks I am crazy to ride the bike everyday but I wanted to break up the normal routine of going to the office working 12 hours and with the bike it gives me a hobby again. Thank you for the information on the bike was curious if any one has seen water in the plugged drain.
Think there are 3 separate issues when riding in the wet: Potential bike issues, which so far this thread has focused on Keeping things dry such as the rider and things strapped to the bike e.g. luggage and the contents Vision issues - that is one that has me stumped, at least in the fog. I almost started my own thread on that one. Ran into a large amount of fog and was completely blind. I've no idea.
Fog is difficult if you're wearing goggles. This time of year the fog in the morning is like riding through pea soup. If I ride my Husky to work I either wear my supermoto helmet and "Rain-x" the flip down shield or use my offroad helmet wearing amber lens glasses (also rain-x). The rain x helps keep the glasses from fogging up. I ride alot in the rain, we get it 6 months a year here. I much prefer the heavy stuff to drizzle, drizzle just makes everything slick.
Good tip on the rain x! I road in the rain the other day and had to wipe helmet every chance I had to be able to have some usable vision.
Thanks! I'll try Rain-x. I wear glasses (which desperately need replacing), and dual sport helmet (basically a street bike helmet with visor). I rode California Highway 128 all the way to the coast, but once I got to the coast it was pea soup, or at least I think it was because I could not even see what the conditions were. The road was slick not just because of the moisture, but also because of all the grape juice on the road because they were harvesting the grapes around there.
My swing arm gets full of water and pukes out rusty looking goop all over the garage floor. It really let's loose whenever I loosen the axle to tighten the chain. Someone said to drill a small hole in the bottom of each side of the swing arm as a remedy but that's asking for trouble it seems to me. Any other ideas to keep this from happening...other than the obvious of not riding in the rain?
If you can find where it's getting in make sure the swingarm is dry inside and then put a dab of waterproof grease where the water's getting in. You'll have to put grease there after every time you wash the bike but it will keep most of the water out of the swingarm.
Rain-x is a great product. Although in the research I have done they do not advise using it on plastic. There is a company that makes a Rain-X type product that is for the plastic shields. Here is one for poly shields http://www.motosolutions.com/raincoat.html or you can wax them. I use the synthetic wax that I use on my bike. I have a HJC IS-MAX BT helmet designed to use a pin lock insert that is supposed to reduce fogging as well.
That's funny, back when I went to the motorcycle shows, there was always a booth for rain-x with them trying to sell it exclusively for bike helmets. I've done a bit of rain riding on the Strada. Rode through some pretty good rain down in Oklahoma and no problems at all. I have a Scorpion EXO-500 helmet and those use a coating on the lens that I guess was developed for hockey masks. Short of it is, I've never had a problem with fogging that shield up. It works really well for me. My only real problem with riding in the rain is that it will NEVER rain if I put my rain liner in my jacket, but if I'm out without a good place to pull over and put the liner in or if I leave it at home, then I'll get rained on. As soon as I do get it on, then it stops raining.
Interesting. You seem to be correct, although I'm not terribly worried about the face shield which can be replaced, I am worried about my glasses - although as noted I am due for new glasses and could test with the old ones: http://www.rainx.com/tips-information/faqs/
For fog, have you used Scotts Anti-fog? I use it on my goggles and sunglasses. Should do the trick.The more you use it, the more effective it is.
Did a race during a downpour and it was also about 92 degrees out. My goggles fogged up so bad I had to pull them off. Fatal mistake. My dry/clean rag under my jersey was a soppin mess too. Oh well. Picked dirt and grime out of my eyes for 4 days after the race.
That's interesting because GoPro recommends it for their cameras when using in them in water. I haven't noticed any changes in my face shield but good info anyway.
