Riding in the wet

[devilsyam]

Hardcore pisstaker!

ok dont get this did i say summat to offend?

[Old un]

I'm not a fast, racer type, but I do ride in all weathers and don't really worry about it. I just slow down.

Like someone else said, you need to relax your upper body and relax your grip on the bars. Use your knees against the tank to give you a feeling of stability when turning. If your tyres are in good nick and are proper sports-tourer types, they'll probably outperform your skills, so don't think they're suddenly gonna give way under you - they're not!

Just avoid hard accelleration and braking. People will tell you to avoid manholes and white lines, but if your speed is constant, there's no need to slalom around everything as though they're bags of nails  :lol
Absolutely on target - nothing to add - man you've said it all.....



Tom

[Bitfik]

Consider stopping distances.


If the car behind is too close... Make some space for yourself


Allow space for you, and the vehicle behind to stop!

[SEPTIKANGEL]

Hardcore pisstaker!

ok dont get this did i say summat to offend?

Nah, no one was offended here Devilsyam, really thought you wuz pisstaking tho!  MadogMcQ had said peeps will tell you......... and then you did just that!  LOL  :lol  Sorry it waz wasted on you mate, but think Old 'un got onto it right away.    Best adice for wet riding is keep it smooth and upright as u can, or keep it in the shed 'till the sun shines.....  :rolleyes

[DryRob]

I personally don't care if I'm slower in the wet, I'd rather take my time and stay upright than push the limits and end up on the deck. Even motoGP riders adapt their riding style to wet conditions so I wouldn't worry about being slower if the road conditions dictate a more consideration.
I'm still learning about riding and I've found that being out in the wet encourages you to be smoother and makes you pay more attention to what you're doing. Can't see this as a bad thing as it'll probably improve dry riding skills.

[Jamieg285]

Thanks for all the responses and information, all very useful


Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to hoon around like a nutter in the wet, it's just at the moment it feels like I am being too cautious and I'm losing the flow as a consequence, which makes it feel even worse.


I'm using the bike for daily commuting, so with the current weather it won't take long to get plenty of wet riding experience.


Once issue I do have, with dry and wet riding is the throttle response. I find myself cruising into the tipping point, with the throttle closed, as I hit the apex I start to thottle, but find it a bit snatchy.  I'm getting used to it, trying a higher gear, but it's taking me a lot longer than I'd hoped to get used to it.

[Slaninar]

Just two rules:


1) Never trust the road surface:

If a part of road has a certain amount of grip, you can never know when you will come across wet leaf, diesel stained, or oily part of road - you just can't see those things when the road is wet. Also, whenever there are small pools of water, you never know if there is a 2 foot deep hole beneath them!

2) Be smooth:

Assuming always the worst possbile road surface, make no quick turns, brakes, acceleration, as little lean as possible.


Things like staying visible, using horn, looking far ahead should be used in both wet and sunny - nothing rain specific IMO.

[markaboot]

Dont know what tyres you are running but having a set I know I can trust really helps my confidence.
I'm running Michelin pilot road 2 on the rear and the first pilot road on the front, waiting for it to wear down then i will put a 2 on the front as well.


http://www.michelin.co.uk/motorcycles/mi...lot-road-2


There is also a pilot road 3 but that was a little out of my budget at the time of buying.




Other than that, go out on a quiet road, plan a little circuit and ride it. Build up your confidence riding the same corners a little faster each time with a little more lean each time. You slide a little when your getting close to the limit, you wont drop it (unless your get it way wrong) but tbh if its doing that you are riding too fast anyways.

[taylor]

i  just passed my test, and feel much the same out in the rain, do what your comfortable with it will come with time.  .

[Chillum]

Once issue I do have, with dry and wet riding is the throttle response. I find myself cruising into the tipping point, with the throttle closed, as I hit the apex I start to thottle, but find it a bit snatchy.  I'm getting used to it, trying a higher gear, but it's taking me a lot longer than I'd hoped to get used to it.

Hope you don't mind me saying but I think you're not setting yourself up for your corners properly.

The powerband on the Fazer is around 6k, so heading into a corner you should probably have around 7k and maintain a steady speed with that - whichever gears that ends up being.

Your bike will be in a state of 'readiness' and under a slight load.

Any advanced riders on here care to put that into English?

[richfzs]

Don't go into the corner with a closed throttle??? :lol

[Grahamm]

[quote author=Jamieg285 link=topic=3827.msg31573#msg31573 date=1342440000]
Once issue I do have, with dry and wet riding is the throttle response. I find myself cruising into the tipping point, with the throttle closed, as I hit the apex I start to thottle, but find it a bit snatchy.  I'm getting used to it, trying a higher gear, but it's taking me a lot longer than I'd hoped to get used to it.

Hope you don't mind me saying but I think you're not setting yourself up for your corners properly.

The powerband on the Fazer is around 6k, so heading into a corner you should probably have around 7k and maintain a steady speed with that - whichever gears that ends up being.

Your bike will be in a state of 'readiness' and under a slight load.

Any advanced riders on here care to put that into English?
[/quote]

I agree with Chillum, you should probably be in a lower gear, rather than a higher one and I'd say you're getting on the throttle much too late.

I had similar problems when I started to ride, ie cornering in too high a gear and trying to use power instead of revs to give me the drive through the bend.

When you approach a bend there are three main things to consider: Right position, right speed and right gear.

1) Right position. The simple version is that when you're coming into a left-hand bend you should position to the right and for a right-hand bend position to the left (presuming there's no junctions, driveway exits, crud on the outside of the bend etc that could compromise your safety or stability).

When you are going through the bend, stay positioned as you were on the entry, you're not on a race track and clipping the apex isn't necessary or necessarily safe as it can put you in a dangerous position and/ or will reduce your view ahead.

2) Right speed: Use the Limit Point to judge your approach speed, ie look at where the left and right hand sides appear to meet. If that point is coming towards you, slow down, if it's staying constant you can maintain your speed.

3) Right gear. You want to be in a gear that will give you the best power response and have a "balanced throttle" ie if you open it you will accelerate, if you close it then engine braking will decelerate you. If you're in too high a gear, the engine can bog down if you try to accelerate and you won't get any engine braking if you roll off the throttle. As Chillum mentions, this means you need the revs around the 7000rpm mark.

As you get to the point where you start to turn into the bend, you should slightly open the throttle to compensate for the reduced rolling radius and drive the bike around the bend, that way you shouldn't get the "snatchy" response you mention.

I'd strongly recommend reading "Full Control" which is a comprehensive and concise guide to biking with some excellent advice on cornering.

[Jamieg285]

The problem I get when trying to go in with a lower gear to keep the revs up is that when I try to drop the revs slightly, it seems to react even more, engine braking making me lurch forward and upset the balance.


Aiming for 6K+ would mean taking every bend/corner at 25+ mph, regardless of how tight the corner is.


What gear should I be looking for (I know this is subjective, but different opinions will help me work out where I'm going wrong).

[dazza]

Get off and push it   or leave it at home and take the  :car

[Lazarus]

What gear should I be looking for (I know this is subjective, but different opinions will help me work out where I'm going wrong).

best gear is one that allows best pickup acceleration but also allows deceleration when rolling off.


It can vary depending on bike / gearing / preference.


as said before - revs should be btwn 6000 - 70000 rpm. so you could be 2nd / 3rd gears into corners

[Slaninar]

as said before - revs should be btwn 6000 - 70000 rpm. so you could be 2nd / 3rd gears into corners

Yup, below 70000 definitely!

[Lazarus]

[quote author=Lazarus link=topic=3827.msg31815#msg31815 date=1342626923]

as said before - revs should be btwn 6000 - 70000 rpm. so you could be 2nd / 3rd gears into corners

Yup, below 70000 definitely!
[/quote]

lol!! (sorry - typo)

DONT EVER go above 70000 revs :|

[Bitfik]

Hehe, not sure how many times I revved above 6-7k yet! I should buy a scooter!

[Grahamm]

The problem I get when trying to go in with a lower gear to keep the revs up is that when I try to drop the revs slightly, it seems to react even more, engine braking making me lurch forward and upset the balance.

That sounds like you're in too low a gear or you need to be a bit more delicate with the throttle control. I'll admit that I still have problems with the latter, sometimes I roll off too fast and the bike lurches a bit which isn't very smooth  :\

Aiming for 6K+ would mean taking every bend/corner at 25+ mph, regardless of how tight the corner is.

What gear should I be looking for

For slower bends you'll need to use fewer revs, but it's really a matter of getting a feel for what the bike can do and that really comes with practice.

When I'm riding through the twisties these days I very rarely go above 4th gear unless it's a sweeping bend (ie not tight) that I can pretty much see all the way through or, at least, know that I can stop in the distance I can see clear on my side.

What I would do is to repeatedly ride a piece of road I'm familiar with (ie I know I'm usually taking a bend in 5th gear) and instead deliberately select one gear lower and pick the revs up to keep the same speed (using the Limit Point to judge how fast I should be going).

After a while I got a better feel for which gear would give the best power response to the throttle position such that, as mentioned, rolling off would give a controlled deceleration rather than an abrupt lurch, but giving it a twist would give a steady acceleration.

[DryRob]

This might highlight my inexperience but does clutch control come into any of this?