Riding a scooter/motorbike in the rain/wet

[Jambooboo]

Do not do this. Not only will it unbalance you (a bad thing in the wet) it is entirely useless at determining the nature of the road, for obvious reasons. If you do it on a motorbike then you deserve everything that will happen to you.

Eh? All it involves is me moving a foot from the peg six inches or so down to the. surface for all of half a second - doing so involves little or no transference of weight to one side. I'm not the tallest guy in the world, but either feet can touch the floor while the bike is perfectly upright.

What are these obvious reasons why it's useless at determining the nature of the road? I'd expect having a physical feel for what traction the road offers provides a more accurate reflection than how it looks.

I'm here to learn though, so if you can explain why it's more dangerous than not then I'm all ears and will change my riding habits accordingly.

 

[Spymaster]

Oh one thing I periodically do n'all in the wet is put my right foot down for a half second, to check the friction of the road surface - some surfaces that appear slick to the eye aren't so, and vice versa.

I thought by 'putting my right foot down' you meant testing the rear brake and I was .

Now it seems you mean you're putting your foot onto the road surface while moving and I'm more with a touch of and a load of

 

[Jambooboo]

I thought by 'putting my right foot down' you meant testing the rear brake and I was .

Now it seems you mean you're putting your foot onto the road surface while moving and I'm more with a touch of and a load of

I'll refer you to my previous post - post 31 - as to why doing so is so bad? Is in not good to know how slick a road surface is?

 

[agricola]

Eh? All it involves is me moving a foot from the peg six inches or so down to the. surface for all of half a second - doing so involves little or no transference of weight to one side. I'm not the tallest guy in the world, but either feet can touch the floor while the bike is perfectly upright.

What are these obvious reasons why it's useless at determining the nature of the road? I'd expect having a physical feel for what traction the road offers provides a more accurate reflection than how it looks.

I'm here to learn though, so if you can explain why it's more dangerous than not then I'm all ears and will change my riding habits accordingly.

Briefly (though given that your advice earlier on was to just ram cars, and bearing in mind previous threads, its probably going to fall on deaf ears):

i) for that half-a-second you are not in control of the rear brake;
ii) you get very little actually useful information from a road by dragging your (presumably) well-shod right foot along the road surface for half a second;
iii) you are checking the conditions of the road that your front wheel has already gone through;
iv) dragging your foot along the ground is, for any amount of time and at nearly any amount of speed, incredibly stupid. You are affecting your balance, and you are putting at least some drag on one side of the bike.

Though dont take my word for it, try to find some reputable group who teaches what you are advocating as a reasonable thing to do.

 

[Spymaster]

I'll refer you to my previous post - post 31 - as to why doing so is so bad?

a) It'll wear your shoes out and your mum will tell you off.

b) Your right shoe will wear down quicker than the left and you'll walk funny.

ETA> I don't believe you really do this btw.

 

[nick h.]

It's risky - for the half second your foot's off the peg you've lost your ability to stop quickly because if you break hard your weight and the steering will go all over the place.

Even if you don't have to break hard the bike is fundamentally less stable than it should be because you've put the centre of gravity all to cock. As soon as you take your foot off one peg the bike wants to head off in the other direction. You can actually steer the bike by pushing on the pegs - try it.

Also try doing U-turns at walking pace with your feet on the pegs and off and see how much stability you gain by putting your weight through them. If you lean forward and put all your weight on the pegs you'll be able to do the turn without waggling the bars.

As for judging the slipperiness of the road, you can do it by looking. That's how everybody does it! What's the use of finding out how slippy it is with your foot when its too late to react? Besides, putting your foot down won't tell you anything unless you press really hard. It's such a bad idea I thought you were trolling at first. Maybe you are! But if you're not, just look ahead and judge slipperiness with your eyes - look for paint, mended patches, loose stuff, puddles, mud, diesel or whatever. It's obvious. If you're talking about small differences in friction offered by one type of asphalt versus another, forget it. An ordinary bit of road surface in this country always has a decent amount of grip. So stop worrying and concentrate on your road positioning. If you get that right you should have so much room to stop in that tiny differences in road friction are irrelevant.

And don't forget to check your tyre pressures often, with a proper gauge. (Not the one on the garage airline, which won't be accurate.) Having the wrong pressure can make a big difference to your grip.

 

[stupid dogbot]

As far as I'm concerned, the only time you should put your foot down on a bike is when you've come to a complete stop, spin-turning a moto x, or you're riding speedway.

Doing it above about 5mph in motion is insane...

Definitely 2nd the tyres thing. Make sure they're at the correct pressure once a week.

 

[RubyToogood]

Anyway, Upchuck, don't worry too much about the wind. It's very unnerving, specially when you're not used to it, but I've never been blown significantly off course by the wind, even going over Waterloo Bridge in near gale force winds.

 

[Upchuck]

It's really blowy here in Nth London but I'm going out tonight.

Got some waterproof trousers today

 

[Corax]

It's really blowy here in Nth London but I'm going out tonight.

Got some waterproof trousers today

Tarmac can take half your flesh off if you ditch even as low as 30.

Proper helmet, gloves, jacket and trousers always.

Yes, I'm a boring bastard. Yes, it gets hot. Yes, I don't look that cool on my bike. But I do still have all my skin.

 

[Upchuck]

I don't have proper trousers yet unfort. I do jeans which I know is a risk.

 

[stupid dogbot]

Tarmac can take half your flesh off if you ditch even as low as 30.

Proper helmet, gloves, jacket and trousers always.

Yes, I'm a boring bastard. Yes, it gets hot. Yes, I don't look that cool on my bike. But I do still have all my skin.

You're right, though, boring or not. For me, it's textiles in wet/winter, leathers in summer. The people you see on superbikes in shorts are idiots.

Horrid, horrid weather coming home tonight. Soaked. Well, my jacket is. My leather trousers were surprisingly ok. Summer gloves were less ok. Saturated, in fact.

*drip*

 

[stupid dogbot]

Wore proper winter gloves this morning. Made no difference. Hail, rain, more rain, and a bit of rain meant I was a very, very wet bunny indeed on arrival at work this morning.

Visibility was about 8 ft.

I love motorbikes!

 

[weltweit]

I used to use fingered leather gloves all year round and waxed overmitts when the weather was really foul.

Trouble was I was used to popping a finger or two over the brake to stop with and reduce my reaction time.

When I was wearing the overmits that was not possible and occasionally in emergencies I would try to lift a couple of fingers forwards to the brake and find I could not move them .. cue awful panic ..

Beware waxed overmittens !

 

[stupid dogbot]

Just bought these, today:

Waterproof, Goretex.

No more wet feet this "summer"...

 

[RubyToogood]

I was thinking about you earlier Upchuck when I was out in the rain. One thing that will really help your confidence in the wet is having some good waterproof kit with knee protection etc. I feel a lot happier when I've got mine on. The suit I've got was expensive but I wear it constantly, far more than any other garment I own, so on a cost per wear basis it's worth it.

 

[Upchuck]

Thanks, and nice boots mate.

Do you know, can I get extra lights for my vespa as the headlight does not light up the road enough. Can I ask a mechanic to pop another on the side or summat?

 

[5t3IIa]

 

[RubyToogood]

Also I forgot to say the suit's lasted me 3 years so far. The trousers could do with replacing but the jacket is still going strong.

 

[Jambooboo]

The problem with biking gear is that you need to take a change of clothes everywhere with you, and then find somewhere to get changed, which makes social gatherings etc a chore.

Edit: I've barely touched my courtesty YBF125 - my Varadero got totalled a few weeks back - in the rain. S'been a case of only using it for very short journeys using roads I know - anything else can wait. Should have a car soon - a MR2 Roadster or similar for about a £5k budget - and so wet riding should be a thing of the past.

 

[RubyToogood]

NB I should point out that I posted the above whilst sitting at home waiting for the rain to stop...

 

[stupid dogbot]

All weather, me.

I commute on it, though, and the car's not really an option.

Forecast is for rain in the morning. I've got dry clothes at work and I'll wear my waterproofs, no bother.

 

[Upchuck]

I have bought a pair of armoured pants for the scooter and I expect they will help with my confidence (well my legs will feel more confident)...

 

[mattie]

wtf are armoured pants?

 

[Upchuck]

 

[mattie]

I interpreted pants a little differently!

Very good idea to wear those, a mate of mine dropped his bike a few years back and had almost worn through the leather by the time he came to a halt. God alone knows* what would have happened if he'd just been in jeans.


Well, sadly, probably A&E doctors as well.

 

[stupid dogbot]

Nice. They have knee sliders, are you planning to get them down?

 

[T & P]

Seeing as you look like a complete twat wearing leathers while riding a Vespa-type scooter, I'll take my chances riding it with jeans & other street clothes tbh.

 

[hipipol]

Rain is no problem. The trick is to keep all your actions smooth and steady.
You should do that anyway on a bike of any sort but more so in poor road conditions.
Snow is a piece of piss but only on a trail bike. Road bikes are impossible to ride safely.
Wind is another story. A high cross wind as you pass a street can take you across a road. More so for a lightweight person on a lightweight bike.

The most important things about any riding is your eyes and your brain. Use them and you will be safe enough.
Read 'roadcraft'. the police motorbike riding manual. It's a cracking book and well worth whatever you pay for it.

Excellent advice - smooth and steady, and feel the bike. If the back steps out, it will come straight back into place IF you dont overreact.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I have bought a pair of armoured pants for the scooter and I expect they will help with my confidence (well my legs will feel more confident)...

Proper armouring is probably about the best thing to happen since I stopped riding, which was back when good padding was the best protection.