My car is out of commission and I'll be riding the bike exclusively until it fixed and we do have a good chance of rain over the next week. I have a pair of FroggToggs but I'm not sure what I should be doing to the bike to get it ready for rain riding and what kind of clean up , e.g. chain maintenance and the like.
What do you rain riders do for your bike?
I ride mine rain or shine, no extra maintenance for rain riding, just regular chain lubing and I got waterproof spray from duck's sporting goods store and sprayed my saddlebags to help with waterproofing. :cheers:
Just more frequent chain maintenance.
I figured it would just be increased chain maintenance.
So like every 200 miles?
Whenver I ride through a storm, I wipe down the chain to get the drops off, then lube it up so it doesn't rust.
Give it a good wash and wax before the rain starts, hit any rusty spots with some WD40.
I have a brand new chain so I'm babying it at the moment.
I have an air compressor that i used to blow the water off my bike and chain after the last time I rode. Then I hit the chain with my spray lube. Figure I'll actually clean it tonight after I get home from work.
a good wax chain lube will be more resilient in wet weather and unless the conditions are extreme should only need applying at normal intervals.
The only thing I do after a wet ride, assuming conditions will continue to be wet for ensuing rides is a light hose down with a gentle spray to remove loose road grime, makes cleaning easier when you do get around to it. Also if the bike is dry and I know I am going to ride and conditions may become wet a quick spray in susceptible areas with silicon spray helps to keep the moving parts moving and repel water. Areas such as indicator/switch housings, ignition key, seat lock etc. Previous owner (all weather rider like me) of the Bandit I have must have near broken his thumb cancelling the indicators, they were stiff as. Quick squirt of silicon spray and they are good as new now. That sort of preventative maintenance keeps your bike going longer.
Makes sense. I'll see if I have some around.
My dad is an every day rider. No matter what. 20000 miles on his bike since January and 170000 miles total.
Trying to keep up. ;)
Don't crash!!! :-D
Keep the original rear fender (no fenderectomy) and add a rear-hugger if you want to stop the bike from spraying road grime all over itself.
Already did a fenderectomy. It looked so bad before. A rear hugger would be nice.