How to Ride a Motorcycle in the Rain Without Hating It
Most riders' first wet ride is an accident of timing rather than a decision. It rains on the way home, the bike is at work, and suddenly you are finding out how you handle it.
Better to find out on your terms. Rain does not make riding dangerous. It shrinks your margin for error and punishes abrupt inputs. Both of those are manageable.
The first ten minutes are the worst
When rain first hits a dry road it lifts oil, rubber and dust into a slick film on the surface. That first period, before sustained rain washes it away, is the most treacherous window of the whole ride.
If you can shelter for fifteen minutes at the start of a downpour, do. If you cannot, ride like the road has nothing to give you, because for a while it does not.
Smooth is the whole technique
Every wet-weather skill collapses into one principle: make every input gradual.
Brakes. Squeeze the front progressively rather than grabbing it. Build pressure, feel the tyre load, then increase. Use more rear brake than you would in the dry to help settle the bike. If your bike has ABS, trust it, but do not treat it as a licence to be clumsy. ABS manages a locked wheel. It cannot recover a low-side you initiated with a stab at the lever.
Throttle. Roll it on, do not snap it. Wet-weather rear-wheel slides almost always come from an abrupt throttle input at low lean angle out of a corner.
Steering. Slower, more deliberate counter-steering inputs. Less lean angle. Take a wider, gentler line rather than a tight, aggressive one.
Gear selection. Sit a gear higher than usual. Lower revs means gentler power delivery and less engine braking when you close the throttle, and engine braking is an input you are not consciously managing.
Read the road surface
Wet asphalt in good condition offers more grip than most riders expect. It is the specific features that catch people out.
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Painted lines, arrows and pedestrian crossings. Slick as ice when wet. Do not brake, accelerate or lean on them.
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Metal. Manhole covers, tram tracks, expansion joints, steel plates over roadworks. Cross perpendicular where you can and neutral throttle across them.
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The centre of the lane. This is where cars drip oil. In the wet, ride the wheel tracks either side of it rather than the middle.
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Standing water and puddles. They hide potholes and can cause aquaplaning at speed. Roll off, hold a straight line, do not brake through them.
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Leaves, mud and gravel. Wet organic matter on a corner exit is one of the most common single-vehicle off causes.
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Roundabouts and intersections. Concentrated braking and acceleration means concentrated oil deposits.
Space and visibility
Double your following distance. Everything takes longer to stop, including the car behind you.
Assume drivers cannot see you. Rain, spray, fogged windows and wipers on high all reduce a driver's ability to pick up a motorcycle. Position yourself where you are most visible and stay out of blind spots.
Manage your own visor. Fogging is a bigger hazard than rain itself. Crack the visor a few millimetres at low speed, use an anti-fog insert or coating, and never ride with a visor you cannot see through because you are trying to stay dry.
Watch for spray from trucks. Passing a truck in heavy rain can blind you completely for a second or two. Do it decisively or not at all.
Dress properly and you will ride better
This is not a comfort argument. A cold, wet rider makes worse decisions, holds more tension in their arms, and rushes to end the ride. Being dry is a safety input.
What matters:
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Waterproof outer layer that actually seals at the cuffs, collar and hem. Water tracks in at the openings, not through the fabric.
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Gloves. Cold hands lose fine control of the front brake lever. This is the single worst thing that can happen to you in the wet.
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Boots over the ankle with the pant leg outside, not tucked in, so water does not run down into them.
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Neck seal. A tube or collar closure. Water down the back of the neck ends any ride's good mood.
Riding denim is not a wet-weather substitute for a waterproof over-pant, and no one should claim otherwise. What good riding denim gives you is the abrasion protection underneath, so that when the surface does catch you out, the outcome is a bruise rather than a skin graft.
SA1NT builds single layer riding denim with CORETEC technology, weaving UHMWPE around a lycra core and through the fabric. The 14oz Unbreakable Coretec is CE EN17092-2:2020 Class AAA certified. The 12oz Coretec is CE EN17092-3:2020 Class AA. Both are fitted for D3O Ghost hip and knee armour. Wear a waterproof shell over the top when it is genuinely coming down.
Practise before you need to
Find an empty, wet car park. Practise braking until you understand where the limit is at low speed. Do a few slow-speed turns. It takes twenty minutes and it converts wet riding from something that happens to you into something you are simply doing.
The bottom line
Wait out the first ten minutes if you can. Then be smooth with everything, sit a gear high, avoid the shiny surfaces, double your gaps, and dress so you are dry enough to think clearly.
Rain is not the end of riding season in this country. It is most of it.
SHOP OUTLET
How to Ride a Motorcycle in the Rain Without Hating It
How to Ride a Motorcycle in the Rain Without Hating It
Most riders' first wet ride is an accident of timing rather than a decision. It rains on the way home, the bike is at work, and suddenly you are finding out how you handle it.
Better to find out on your terms. Rain does not make riding dangerous. It shrinks your margin for error and punishes abrupt inputs. Both of those are manageable.
The first ten minutes are the worst
When rain first hits a dry road it lifts oil, rubber and dust into a slick film on the surface. That first period, before sustained rain washes it away, is the most treacherous window of the whole ride.
If you can shelter for fifteen minutes at the start of a downpour, do. If you cannot, ride like the road has nothing to give you, because for a while it does not.
Smooth is the whole technique
Every wet-weather skill collapses into one principle: make every input gradual.
Brakes. Squeeze the front progressively rather than grabbing it. Build pressure, feel the tyre load, then increase. Use more rear brake than you would in the dry to help settle the bike. If your bike has ABS, trust it, but do not treat it as a licence to be clumsy. ABS manages a locked wheel. It cannot recover a low-side you initiated with a stab at the lever.
Throttle. Roll it on, do not snap it. Wet-weather rear-wheel slides almost always come from an abrupt throttle input at low lean angle out of a corner.
Steering. Slower, more deliberate counter-steering inputs. Less lean angle. Take a wider, gentler line rather than a tight, aggressive one.
Gear selection. Sit a gear higher than usual. Lower revs means gentler power delivery and less engine braking when you close the throttle, and engine braking is an input you are not consciously managing.
Read the road surface
Wet asphalt in good condition offers more grip than most riders expect. It is the specific features that catch people out.
Space and visibility
Double your following distance. Everything takes longer to stop, including the car behind you.
Assume drivers cannot see you. Rain, spray, fogged windows and wipers on high all reduce a driver's ability to pick up a motorcycle. Position yourself where you are most visible and stay out of blind spots.
Manage your own visor. Fogging is a bigger hazard than rain itself. Crack the visor a few millimetres at low speed, use an anti-fog insert or coating, and never ride with a visor you cannot see through because you are trying to stay dry.
Watch for spray from trucks. Passing a truck in heavy rain can blind you completely for a second or two. Do it decisively or not at all.
Dress properly and you will ride better
This is not a comfort argument. A cold, wet rider makes worse decisions, holds more tension in their arms, and rushes to end the ride. Being dry is a safety input.
What matters:
Riding denim is not a wet-weather substitute for a waterproof over-pant, and no one should claim otherwise. What good riding denim gives you is the abrasion protection underneath, so that when the surface does catch you out, the outcome is a bruise rather than a skin graft.
SA1NT builds single layer riding denim with CORETEC technology, weaving UHMWPE around a lycra core and through the fabric. The 14oz Unbreakable Coretec is CE EN17092-2:2020 Class AAA certified. The 12oz Coretec is CE EN17092-3:2020 Class AA. Both are fitted for D3O Ghost hip and knee armour. Wear a waterproof shell over the top when it is genuinely coming down.
Practise before you need to
Find an empty, wet car park. Practise braking until you understand where the limit is at low speed. Do a few slow-speed turns. It takes twenty minutes and it converts wet riding from something that happens to you into something you are simply doing.
The bottom line
Wait out the first ten minutes if you can. Then be smooth with everything, sit a gear high, avoid the shiny surfaces, double your gaps, and dress so you are dry enough to think clearly.
Rain is not the end of riding season in this country. It is most of it.