won't hurt the bike aside from getting it filthy in a hurry. You'll want to lube your chain after each rain ride (or at least I would)

 

Be carefull on high rev/speed downshifts... Better yet try not to
downshift at all.

 

Better yet try not to downshift at all.

You'll have to rev the snot out of it pulling into your driveway in 6th gear. :lol


My advice, be smooth will all control inputs and try to avoid standing water if possible. Give yourself more time to react as your braking distances will increase. Avoid the paint stripes on lanes whenever possible.

 

will the seat or anything get messed up?

 

Not a bit, but I'd suggest carrying a towl to dry the seat before you ride so you don't have a wet :butt

 

I would short shift it.In OK. The oil start coming out of the asphalt when its warm and rain making the road pretty slick.Dont be in A hurry.

 

You'll be fine dude, just keep it smooth (no drag racing). I try to stay away from paint (lines and traffic arrows and such) and tar where DOT has fixed the road... and metal (like grates or man holes). Also, if it's just starting to rain, I like to wait a while so that the road isn't so slick. The first few minutes that a road gets wet are when it is at it's slickest. If you wait a while for the rain to "wash" the road you are less likely to loose traction.

 

Very good advice :thumbup Especially on the painted surfaces....back tire will spin up real quick.

 

ok thanks guys i was a little worried about leaving my baby alone but you helped me out

 

Most trouble I had was riding through a down pour. There was water in the ruts in the roads but none in the hump between them. I couldn't figure weather to ride in the ruts where there was water or the hump where I figured there would be a greater likelyhood of oil.

Using commen sense you shouldn't have any issues.

 

all of the above, only input is, be ready to hop in a hot shower when you get home, got stuck in the rain once, felt like i jumped in a pool then got on the bike and rode, very cold, had to try and look cool, as if i didnt know it was going to rain (everyone in cars prob thinkn, stupid biker), anyhow i had to get home and did safely, was just drenched... got home and after about an hour long shower, felt fine, cleaned up messy bike and lubed chain. tell you what though, ill never ride in the rain again, rather call someone with a trailer and just wait.

 

if it sits in the rain or your get caught riding in the rain i always blow all the water out of the bikes electrical stuff and hand controls/cables. i use an air compressor but if you dont have one a leaf blower or a clean shop-vac works just as good.

 

Stay out of the center of the lanes ( This is where poorly maintained cars drip all their crap. ) When going around on/offramps take the inside track. ( When cars haul arse around , centrifugal force tosses their crap toward the outside track. ) And most importantly what others here have already said.......................No matter what make every action a smooth one and every reaction from the bike will be the same. A smooth mistake is recoverable. A spastic mistake will have a lightning fast and spastic reaction from both you and your bike.

I won't ride my R1 in the rain unless it's absolutely necessary. The Harley on the other hand...............I don't have much choice in the matter. Another thing that will make a ton of difference (which I've learned on the Harley) is being prepared with adequate gear. It's alot easier to relax and ride smooth when you're comfy i.e. raingear . When you're soaked to the drawers you can be as smooth as you want but still not as close to smooth as the guy next to you with dry underwear and a dry torso. Smooth brakes, smooth clutch , smooth shifts and some smooth rain gear and you'll make it home everytime.

 

I won't ride my R1 in the rain unless it's absolutely necessary.

:iamwithst

 

I rode my R1 in the rain several times and never had a problem.

I rode my old Honda VFR in the rain a lot. Once on I rode it in the rain for over 2000 miles on a trip to Oregon. The biggest thing is that it will never get as clean as it was before.

 

Love riding in the rai...activly will go out actually if it's a nice downpour.

Trust us...if riding in the rain were bad for the bike, you think they'd allow a million dollar GP bike out when its raining?

 

:stpd: HE SPEAKETH THE TRUTH!!!!!

I've driven ONLY bikes for the past three years...raingear is PRICELESS!!!

When caught in the first downpour without proper gear, I was SOOO frozen half way home that I pulled over at a "side job" I had and spent the night there...

Now, with the rain suit, I could go 500 miles, and be a bit soggy, but CLEARLY make proper decicions considering I'm riding in elements that the "knucklehead" cagers don't have to deal with...

Everything Solidus said, (and all the others) is 100% true! Preparation is the key...I wear my rainsuit even if it's just "cold", because a comfy rider is a relaxed rider. Make proper preparation, and you're more likely to make proper decisions... :thumbup

 

make sure you have a nice anti fog face shield. It will fog real quick. Also keel light on that rear brake it can break loose pretty easy under the right"wrong" conditions.:thumbup

 

It seems to rain every year at Laconia, so i've ridden lots of miles in the wet. Lots of good advice here, One more thing, I have a pair of gloves w/ a piece of windshield wiper on the first finger for wipeing off your shield at low speed. I never wanted to ruin an $$$ shield with dirty gloves, so this works great.

 

rain snow wind shine ride it

I unfortunately do not have the luxury of car and bike - so when i was forced to choose - the bike won hands down. But it has led to some scary moments - we get a lot of rain ere in UK and once when i was filtering traffic on the M6 last year at about 60mph and the rain was so bad the water from the trucks was splashing over the top of my bike, soaking me through - i have to admit - for the first time in my 17 yrs of riding i was shit scared. i had metzeler racetecs on (which are basically a dry track tyre) and all i did was keep it smooth and pray....
just wasn't my time i guess..........

hopefull never again

 

I got caught last week in rain. It sucks, but I just took it easy. Gave myself extra braking room, took my corners easy, watched out for lines, and didnt downshift at high rpms. Pretty much the collective advise from everyone in the thread...

..when i got home, i wiped down the bike and put some grease on the chain

 

I find that rain will break a lot of bad riding habits if you survive. If you are not smooth when it is dry you may never realize it. If you are not smooth in the rain you will find out how bad your throttle control is very fast. First time I was in the rain on my R1 I came off of a light to fast and had the rear end tail whip. Didn't have that problem the second time because I scared myself straight the first time.

 

very true!

lol i just think its kinda funny that u got a brand new r1 and u never ridden in the rain before, maybe thats just me though

 

thanks for the tips

 

I rode today, and if you're near dallas you know it was raining like a mofo. I had no choice my truck is hitched to a trailer we're taking to MO driving my sister back from spring break with the rest of her crap she didn't take when she left for college.

It's not that bad, be smooth, watch the down shifts, lube chain after the ride, and I'd wear something warm that stops the wind and hopefully is at least a little water resistant. The riding is easy, the wet cold is what ****s with me.

 

I love riding in the rain its great. Hiking boot type tread on your shoes helps a lot so that your feet don't slip on the pegs. If you use a tank badg with a rain cover it won't get as wet while riding as a back pack will.
You have to be smoother and preload the front a little more to get her to stand up in a down poor thow :sing:

 

I ride my R1 everyday no matter what. I have a wet weather top that I leave in my bag that I carry everyday. Here in Louisiana the weather changes all the time, In the summer it will be sunny at lunch and raining at quittin time so I have ridin many a days home in the rain. Everyones advise is true. Smooth is key. Don't think you can take off like usally. roll smooth on the throttle and take caution in the turns and you will be fine. Break early andtay alert and DRY is key good luck.
P.S. Rain wont hurt the bike at all if you are worried about dirt then afterwards take off the plastic and wash it again. Lube the chain and put back together... No problems......

 

It's just water. Your bike will survive just fine, and you'll dry out. You'd be surprised at just how much traction you have availble if you have good tires on the bike. Only downfall is that when you do reach that traction limit...you don't get any warning. Like others have said...ride very smooth and deliberate, use both brakes evenly, and take your time. Riding in the rain is a lot of fun, allowing you to get squirrly with the throttle if you know what you are doing.

 

One other bit of advice is to ride even more like you are invisible than normal. You & your bike stand out even less to distracted drivers. When stopped at traffic lights, leave space between you and the car in front of you to pull up in case someone comes skidding towards your butt (means leaving in gear and paying attention) and flash your brake lights when you see a car approaching. You should do those regardless but even more important at night & in rain.

 

heres a little tip that works for me. When it's raining your face sheild can get pretty wet and all the little water dots get hard to see through. if you have alittle speed 30mph+ you can just turn your head to the side and wooosh most if not all of the water on the outside half of your face sheild will go bye bye. then just turn your head the other way to clean the other half. its cool to watch the water get pushed off the side of the face sheild. but if its raining hard it will only stay clear for a few seconds.