so who rides in the rain on pavement & what can you teach me?

[Barry]

I think you guys with wet feet are doing it wrong. I run waterproof boots year round. My feet sweat like crazy in general, and my waterproof boots don't bother me in the least, no more than sneakers.

Also, I run some AeroStitch pants and have never had a problem with them or any other rain gear allowing water into my boots.

That said, I agree wholeheartedly with staying warm. You are distracted and do not function optimally if you are chilled. Being cold on a bike is unsafe... and uncomfortable.

Barry

[Fufo]

Well, I have always an extra clothes on my bike, after 30-45 min of heavy rain I couldnt find a good waterproof suit!

But I think the worst thing is to drive at night when is rainy, cannot see anything!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tg7D5q80rM

[Mambo Dave]

Originally Posted by Fufo

Well, I have always an extra clothes on my bike, after 30-45 min of heavy rain I couldnt find a good waterproof suit!

But I think the worst thing is to drive at night when is rainy, cannot see anything!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tg7D5q80rM

I did a ton of my commuting during the night hours ... and rain ... but all of it was on lit roads. Specifically, a lit superhighway for 35 miles each way, plus lit main thoroughfares. On the highway I was riding most all lights are mounted in the middle (on the Jersey Barriers), so in the rain at night it would be the left-most lanes I'd usually use just to see as well as possible.

I've come within inches of ghetto wanderers who typically start moving at night when I couldn't see them at all between the night, the rain, and the intermittent street lights causing light and dark spots on the side roads. I'll never understand why they chose to step out from the median when they did just to have that close of a call with my bike, but had I kept doing the route I was seriously considering installing metal hand/lever guards on that cruiser just to keep from breaking a hand when I would hit someone. Thankfully I quit that job.

Anyways, there is another tip for the OP if he decides to ride through Florida. The really random placement of ghettos and section-8 housing means that night pedestrian traffic will be higher in certain areas, and mixing the limited visibility of rain with it just makes matters worse. Be careful.

[glenn2926]

Here in the UK we are not allowed to ride on the pavement even when it's raining. The pavement is for pedestrians.

[ibafran]

Originally Posted by STUFF2C

Has anyone ever hydroplaned on a MC?

I've ridden awful fast in A LOT of "REAL" heavy rain (referred to as Toad Stranglers here in Floriduh) and I don't think I have ever felt that happen.

Yes. Several times. See the wiki link on hydroplaning posted elsewhere in this thread. Also, there are vids of dirt bikes crossing large ponds of water while completely on 'plane' at about 65mph on ADV. Near as I can tell, NOBODY on a bike carves a turn while on plane.

Very generally, the long, narrow contact patch of the front wheel does a good job of slicing thru water and leaving some rubber on the pavement. Think of the front wheel as like a battle ship at sea that does not come up on 'plane' mostly because it does not have a flat bottom like a car tire. That said. the front bike wheel will come up on plane given enough speed and water. The poster who said that he rides the x-way at 80mph in the rain w/o hydroplanning very likely does not have enough water on the pavement. Road engineers are well aware of hydroplanning and do their very best to keep rain water sheeting off the roadway.

Again, very generally, Cages tend to hydroplane with good tread depth tires at about 50-55mph in very little depth of standing water. Bikes will start hydroplaning in the same conditions at about 65mph. Due to the shape of the bike's front contact patch, it is possible to run a nearly bald (in the middle) front tire in the rain with very little loss of traction. Before anybody goes nutz about this, we are talking about a good clean road with nothing but rain on it.
Figure that if the cages slow down due to hydroplaning, bikes are going to need to slow down too as traffic is worse than traction.

If hydropaning was the worst/only part of the traction problem, we could compensate for that and do well. Knowing that we need to stay out of standing water at speed is good. We can ride in the cage tracks knowing that there is less water there. But any place that has standing water will have crud/slime collecting at the bottom of the puddle unless it is splashed away. How a rider decides that a given bit of standing water is splashed free of crud is not addressed here. Some riders crashing in 1/2" of standing water at 45mph may blame it on hydroplaning when the real reason is the slime on the bottom or the slick painted line. Touching the brakes while rolling thru puddles is not recommended. Let's fantasize that we are riding along a road at 65mph and come to a flooded depression. The edge of the road may be under a cuppla inches of water with the centerline crown under only 1/4". Good luck making the decision and execution for that given whatever traffic and conditions prevail at the moment.

Figure that if it is easy to spin-up the rear wheel in the rain, it is going to be easy to lock the front brake.
YMMV

[W4lnutz]

I ride year around and I have found that slow and easy are best but dont doddle in the intersectons and the rest has been said a dozen times!

[TheMuffinMan]

Besides saying dry the only thing I ever worry about is painted lines, brick crosswalks, and other "alternate" road materials. Painted lines are probably the biggest and most common thing. They are much slicker when wet. Depending on your bike and tires you'll have to watch out for hydroplaning. I almost always run a semi-agressive knobby so I don't worry much about it but more street oriented tires might.

Other then that just give other drivers lots of room for stupidity and life'll be good. Enjoy!