A cold, wet, winter is more or less upon us, the worst time to be a motorcyclist in most Australian states. Unless you’re in the Northern Territory or Far North Queensland where it becomes the best time. For the point of this story we’ll go with the frostier states.
Riding in the cold is pretty straight forward – wear more clothes. Riding in the rain is where things get a bit pickled. I have been thinking long and hard about this while conducting motorcycle reviews as the skies open. Below are my hot tips on riding in the rain.
Let’s begin by giving everyone a wide berth. Their brakes aren’t working terribly well, your brakes aren’t either. Visibility is low, so it’s best to just pretend you are invisible on the road. They certainly can’t hear you so I wouldn’t even bother with the horn. If it’s raining hard enough your horn may not even work, that’s happened to me on more than one occasion.
Don’t ride at night. It’s dark enough in the rain during the day yet alone at night. If you’ve ever driven in the rain, you’re lucky to see pedestrians yet alone the Uber delivery riders. Think of that delivery driver as you because we riders all look the same in the rain – like really slow, wet, dark ninjas because I bet your gear is black, amirite?
No sudden changes in direction, you will lose grip far quicker in the wet than in the dry. Try to stay as upright as possible, keeping your lean angle to a minimum therefore maximising the amount of tyre that is connected to the road. Be slow with your throttle inputs and your braking to avoid wheels spinning or locking and you going down. Slow and steady wins the race for rain riding.
Stay away from puddles, you have no idea what’s in them, perhaps a swimming pool-sized pothole. There’s also the chance of a good old aquaplane which never ends well unless you’re riding a Robbie Maddison Waterbike. Also avoid white lines, this paint can be slippery in the wet.
The obvious one is wear wet weather gear – pants and jacket at a minimum. This is handy not just to keep you dry but also to keep you focused and comfortable. An uncomfortable rider is a dangerous rider. You need 110 per cent of your focus to be on your riding and the road. Having rain seep into your underwear and fingers so wet and cold you can’t feel them is terribly distracting. While travelling with my dad we often use dishwashing gloves to pull over our motorcycle gloves and plastic shopping bags for our feet. Cheap, cheerful and effective.
Got any fluro? Reflector patches? Anything is better than nothing in the rain. Moto gear is usually black (have a think, is your moto gear black?) which compliments you looking like a wet, sad, slow ninja. Fluro is daggy and lame yes but it means there is a higher chance you will be seen.
And finally, the best advice. Leave your bike and take a cab. It’s not always an option but if you can, the extra $50-100 could be well spent coin. If you have no option, think warm, positive thoughts. It’s actually the death defying, rain rides that you survive which stay with you the longest because they’re that awful.
Discussion about this post