Night riding vs wet riding

[rick]

I'd also add knowing your roads.
I name every corner on my commute so, even in limited visibility it helps me to know exactly where I am and every detail of the corner ...at least in normal conditions. Then you start to memorize where rocks slides are common, where drainage runs across the road, where mud collects, etc. Then you know what's there before you see it.


...Alternately, that can have some negative consequences too. My commute used to run across skyline, down the 9 and back Santa Cruz. My headlight burned out at night one time and I was just trying to get home. There was enough moonlight that I could sort of make out where I was and I put my knee down on a favorite corner. Scared the crap out of me. Just went into auto-pilot even though I couldn't see much of anything.

 

[ctwo]

Sometimes I will play wingman to leverage the light of the leading car.

This was yesterday morning.

first image is carpool diamond. About 3x further ahead there is a road hazard that I cannot yet see. I can usually see the diamonds about 2-3x further ahead from this, but only because they are reflective.

second image the road hazard is now where the carpool diamond was. You can barely see it and this is about when I saw it.

I swerved a little and just missed it, mostly because it was already to the side and relatively small. You can see it in the third image at the right corner of the windscreen. This is about how long it took me to react.

It may have been a raccoon, cat, or just rolled up clothing.

Actual dark has never been a problem, even when I had an oldschool wimpy single headlamp, as berth says, don't outdrive your headlight.

 

[dadsafrantic]

i ride every day rain or shine. my commute is shorter these days. it just dropped to 400 or so miles a week. vallejo into sf on 80 and home out 101 to 37. good rain tires, slow riding and rigid led lights work for me. i try to never out ride my reflexes especially splitting lanes in the rain in the dark.

the last 4 years was about 700 miles per week inside the bay area. glad thats over.

i do love riding in the rain. up through napa to berryessa and back is great.

 

[ST Guy]

Rain isn't as bad as most riders think, though if it's a first rain and the oils are still coming up out of the asphalt, it can be dicey at times.

One of my all time favorite rides was coming back to California from Idaho through Oregon. I'd just crossed the border into California on 5 when I found myself in one hell of a downpour. I had planned on riding 96 out to the coast and heading all the way down 1 to SF, but I started questioning the wisdom of doing that in the rain. I'm glad I stuck with my original plan. Not long after getting on 96, the rain slowed to a nice light rain and after a stop to put on some different gloves and rain covers over them, I continued my ride. I had well over 100 miles of rain heading southwest on 96. And it was just me. I didn't see a soul for 100 miles. It was overcast of course, the road was wet the whole way, and there were patches of fog lying low over the river. An almost mystical experience. Loved every minute of it.

 

[ST Guy]

OP: Sounds like you need a lighting upgrade. Don't do the HID retrofit, though. Either get a quality high output bulb in the stock configuration, or better yet, get yourself a pair of Clearwater LED driving lights.

 

[nickb]

Night in the rain is very visually challenging because of the water reflection and dispersion of light.

I commute every day in whatever weather. Used to say if you don't ride in the rain you don't ride. But, night+rain is my least favorite. Not just glare issues and reduced traction, bikes are even more invisible and drivers don't expect MC out in the rain. i.e. increased risk of getting cut off, lane-changed into, etc. It feels dicey.

 

[Entoptic]

If you are afraid to ride in the rain go find a parking lot and play with the motorcycle.

You will quickly see that a slide can be fun/manageable if it occurs.

 

[gixxerjeff]

Riding in the dirt is best for this.
Once you get used to the bike moving around under you it becomes second nature.
Just like most things, get the brain out of the way and let muscle memory take over......almost always your best option.

 

[bradlys]

Well, I haven't ever ridden in the rain until tonight. Maybe a tiny sprinkle here or there. Just the, "oops, it's raining a tiny bit" kind of thing. I've ridden on some wet roads but nothing obscenely wet.

Tonight... that was different. I put on my gear. I rode out to Oakland from San Carlos. My god... that moment when you're on the freeway going, "oh yeah, helmets don't have windshield wipers. This is gonna suuuuuuuuuuuuck" That was me...

I didn't get particularly wet underneath but I did get quite cold. But I was riding through a lot of rain, nothing super intense tonight. Little windy, some decent rain. People were going stupid slow. My bike was saying 60mph and it runs quite fast.

Eventually I was riding home and I just couldn't take how cold I was going to I bumped it up to 90 and just blitzed home.

Never experienced anything too scary. Tire slipped out a bit when I was in a neighborhood giving it the beans a bit but nothing unusual. Used to that kind of stuff. Mostly scared of not being able to see potholes. Saw some mighty scary ones with my car recently. Riding blind sucks.

Was gonna go to Docs clinic tomorrow but I'm exhausted. I'll pass on it. I've had enough wet riding for the weekend.

 

[Climber]

Well, I haven't ever ridden in the rain until tonight. Maybe a tiny sprinkle here or there. Just the, "oops, it's raining a tiny bit" kind of thing. I've ridden on some wet roads but nothing obscenely wet.

Tonight... that was different. I put on my gear. I rode out to Oakland from San Carlos. My god... that moment when you're on the freeway going, "oh yeah, helmets don't have windshield wipers. This is gonna suuuuuuuuuuuuck" That was me...

I didn't get particularly wet underneath but I did get quite cold. But I was riding through a lot of rain, nothing super intense tonight. Little windy, some decent rain. People were going stupid slow. My bike was saying 60mph and it runs quite fast.

Eventually I was riding home and I just couldn't take how cold I was going to I bumped it up to 90 and just blitzed home.

Never experienced anything too scary. Tire slipped out a bit when I was in a neighborhood giving it the beans a bit but nothing unusual. Used to that kind of stuff. Mostly scared of not being able to see potholes. Saw some mighty scary ones with my car recently. Riding blind sucks.

Was gonna go to Docs clinic tomorrow but I'm exhausted. I'll pass on it. I've had enough wet riding for the weekend.

Just like in skiing, the proper gear completely changes the experience.

Also, most wet weather riding gloves come with a squeegee on the thumb. You can also buy one to add to gloves that don't.

You have to venture out to see what adjustments you need to make. Glad it doesn't scare you, some aspects should definitely make you more cautious.

 

[Smash Allen]

The thumb squeegees never worked well for me.

Rainx coating on the visor before heading out (and reapplying every time you stop for gas) let’s you simply look your head to the left, then look right, and the rain is blown off the visor. Keep your eyes ahead though

 

[Gary856]

If the glove has no built-in squeegee, you can use the edge of the index finger to wipe off the water droplets on the face shield. Above about 30 mph the wind will blow off the water when you turn your head a little.

Cold saps energy and spirit. Last Sunday Skyline from 4-corners to Black road was so cold the 6 miles felt like forever. With wet gloves, my right hand went numb after the pain. A day later my right hand still felt a little weak. (I wonder if there's a website that shows actual temperatures at various spots along Skyline and the Santa Cruz mountains.)

This morning I was thinking about riding over Mt Hamilton to Livermore, but I checked Lick Observatory's website and saw the temperature at the top was 25F - I stayed in bed.

 

[davidji]

I commute every day in whatever weather. Used to say if you don't ride in the rain you don't ride. But, night+rain is my least favorite. Not just glare issues and reduced traction, bikes are even more invisible and drivers don't expect MC out in the rain. i.e. increased risk of getting cut off, lane-changed into, etc. It feels dicey.

One think that I think is fairly recent is tail and brake lights are brighter (now that they're mostly LED), and tend to light up the rain and fog on my faceshield more, making it harder to see.

I agree that motorists don't expect bikes as much in the rain. But aux lighting really helps. At night a bike with only a single headlight lit looks like half a car in the rear view mirror. Add amber photon blasters, and drivers more quickly recognize a motorcycle approaching.