I was riding in some heavy and light rain yesterday, and I didn't feel safe going pass 65 mph. Pretty much just stayed at 60 mph the whole way in the middle lane of the freeway, but when it started pouring, I was at about 45-50 mph in the slow lanes. It felt like I was the only bike on the road, lol. Anyways, just trying to figure out if I was being too cautious, and with good tires(Metzler M6's).

Also, My visor what getting fogged up so fast and rain didn't slide off it, so for the whole trip I had the visor open and got the inside wet. Any solutions? I've tried Rain-X, but found out it's not good on plastic.

I don't really ride in the rain too much, but that was my only transportation yesterday. So I'm just trying to be more safe for the next time.

GS is my one mode of transport ,So ride in all weather condition.I recently got Avon Roadriders rear and have pretty worn Bridgestones in the front,ride at regular speed in light downpour and around 50 in heavy downpour.Only thing that scares me is overtaking the big ass trucks.

I have installed HJC Universal breath box in my helmet,it reduces fogging about 50% and when i wear Balaclava fogging is almost eliminated.HJC makes these breath box mostly for their range of helmets but universal one would fit most helmets i think.I also wear bug eye goggles they prevent fogging and riding with visor open during heavy downpour.

For fog, Fog City Fog Shield beats the pants off anything else I've ever tried. I rode a lot in bad weather and as deep into winter and as early in spring as possible for several years and swear by the things.

For rain, Any sort of wax, buffed out, should help with rolling off. Pledge works...

But I find proper rain gloves with a chamois knuckle or finger strip (for wiping the shield, usually with your left hand),  or a thumb wiper are still useful when you'd like to clear the view. IME, "proper rain gloves" and "overgloves" are not the same thing. Here are some add-on thumb wipers.

I started using a pinlock insert for my shoei.  Frigging awesome.  It's impossible to fog the inside of the visor, no matter what you do.  Here's a review from webbikeworld.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/anti-fog-visor/

On the rain caution thing, do whatever you think is best.  You are the best judge of if you are riding beyond your limits or not.  Having said that, I did a track day in the rain last year.  It's absolutely amazing and eye opening when you realize how fast you can go (and how far you can lean) on good tires in the rain. 

Have you tried turning your head side to side in the rain? When water starts to collect on your visor just turn your head all the way to the right and all the way to the left. The wind will blow the water straight off your visor.

I used to ride my bike rain or shine. Never had too many problems. Obviously you had to brake and turn easier, but riding in a straight line isn't too much of an issue. Ride in the left tire mark and you should be fine if you keep your distance from cars infront of you. I've been on the highway going 80 in a downpour so heavy that the only way I made it home was by following the faint tail light of the guy 10 feet infront of me. I don't recommend it, but my tires held fine.

Half of it was me being a jerk 20 year old, but every time I left a stop sign or redlight in the rain I used to snap my throttle open and break my rear tire loose. It was dumb and immature, but it made my feel much more comfortable riding around in the rain because I really knew how well my tires were holding. You can also keep pressing on the rear brake to see how hard you have to push before it breaks traction.

In south Florida, getting caught in a torrential downpour is just a fact of life.  I leave my visor cracked open a little bit, enough to give it some extra ventilation, but not so much that rain comes in (a few drops).   And like someone said above, turning your head side-to-side every now and then to blow the drops off helps.

Yeah, Rain-X isn't great on plastic.  I've never tried wax, but don't try a car wax on your visor, as most of them contain mild abrasives and you'll put a million little scratches in your visor.

Good stuff guys, thank you. I'll look into some of those products for fogging, and for the GS handling in the rain, I'll just have to experiment with what my bike and tires are capable of.

Now since it stopped raining, we have all these wet leaves everywhere, felt the front slip sometimes when going over them.

+1 for turning head side to side occasionally. Works the same on those foggy mornings when condensations gathers on the outside of the visor while riding.

You rode with the visor open in the rain? Well, now you now how Hard the rain can feel. But don't do it again. Your eyes might be able to take a small rain drop here and there, but who knows what else could be flung up into your face. When I ride at night with the visor open I also wear clear safety specs - yeah, I know, the Harley guys would drum me out if I owned one.

I've done 130kph (about 82mph) in pissing down rain. The GS took it in its stride.

If you are concerned with corners, lean your body more into the corner (no need to get half a cheek off the seat, just the top half of your body will be fine). This way your bike is slightly more upright and less centripetal force is being applied to the wet tires.

Wet leaves... I HATE them. Specially on the twisties. Also HATE HATE VOMIT riding twisties and water is seeping from rocks across the road on the apex of corners.

Michael

I've used rain-x anti-fog on the inside of my visor and it works great and i've had no problems with it on the plastic. In fact rain-x is used on plastic aircraft canopies so I wonder about the claims that it is no good on plastic. Why would aircraft manufacturers recommend its use if that is the case. They would have done much more testing than us average joes would have.

I just apply it with a microfibre cloth to my visor, and nearly straight away buff it clear with another wet microfibre cloth. You can also use soft tissues if you want.

Quote from: galahs on December 14, 2009, 04:39:19 AM
I've used rain-x anti-fog on the inside of my visor and it works great and i've had no problems with it on the plastic. In fact rain-x is used on plastic aircraft canopies so I wonder about the claims that it is no good on plastic. Why would aircraft manufacturers recommend its use if that is the case. They would have done much more testing than us average joes would have.

I just apply it with a microfibre cloth to my visor, and nearly straight away buff it clear with another wet microfibre cloth. You can also use soft tissues if you want.

I heard on the clear plastic, it turns it brown later on, and when I applied some to my visor, it left some oxidized streaks and now they never wipe off. It must be the type of plastic you put it on.

Quote from: mister on December 14, 2009, 02:09:16 AM
+1 for turning head side to side occasionally. Works the same on those foggy mornings when condensations gathers on the outside of the visor while riding.

You rode with the visor open in the rain? Well, now you now how Hard the rain can feel. But don't do it again. Your eyes might be able to take a small rain drop here and there, but who knows what else could be flung up into your face. When I ride at night with the visor open I also wear clear safety specs - yeah, I know, the Harley guys would drum me out if I owned one.

I've done 130kph (about 82mph) in pissing down rain. The GS took it in its stride.

If you are concerned with corners, lean your body more into the corner (no need to get half a cheek off the seat, just the top half of your body will be fine). This way your bike is slightly more upright and less centripetal force is being applied to the wet tires.

Wet leaves... I HATE them. Specially on the twisties. Also HATE HATE VOMIT riding twisties and water is seeping from rocks across the road on the apex of corners.

Michael

Yeah I kept getting rain drops in my eye, blurring my vision sometimes. I'll have to try turning my head to the side and see if that works. And your cornering tips sound really helpful. I'll try that too.  Thanks

Quote from: mister on December 14, 2009, 02:09:16 AM


If you are concerned with corners, lean your body more into the corner (no need to get half a cheek off the seat, just the top half of your body will be fine). This way your bike is slightly more upright and less centripetal force is being applied to the wet tires.

The same amount of force is applied whether you're leaning or your bike is leaning. That measurement is completely based off of your weight, speed, and degree you're turning. What leaning your body will help though is to keep the middle of your tires on the ground, where they'll probably do a better job of cutting through water collecting on the road.

Another possible thing to try for inside fogging are those hand wipes (moist towelettes) you get from places like KFC. They are particularly good at cleaning the outside from bug strike. And once I used it on the inside as well and the visor Seemed like it was now Anti Fog - could have been a coincident as Conditions might have been slightly off, but it Felt like it was preventing fogging on the inside. The effect seemed to last a while too so I didn't need to do it daily.

Haven't tried it, but Heard that appling some baby shampoo, rubbing around then Wiping off will help with fogging on the inside of the visor.

Michael

what about rain-x anti fog?

I have used it on glass but never tried it on a motorcycle visor.

 
For cheapies, try any kind of liquid hand soap that has glycerin in it. Glycerin is the magic ingredient. Apply the soap to the inside of your visor, making sure you get good coverage. Buff it out with a soft towel, let dry, and it will leave a thin film that is great against fogging (and may even provide a pleasant scent). The film lis very effective, but only lasts about a day. It is a cheap alternative!

- my $0.02

Cheers,

I think I've tried soaps before, and even if they keep it from fogging up, that rainbow glare you get when you're riding at night and headlights are pointing at you are awful. I never clean my glasses so maybe that makes it worse, but I've always avoided putting things on my visor because I don't like the glare.

Yup, the bike will handle well in the Rain just don't ride out of "your" comfort zone. If it is just a straight downpour pretty much ride like I normally do. What makes me slow down is the cross winds or the inconsiderate cagers!

Don't know if the law is the same as here in Florida but unless you ride with glasses on your visor must always be completely shut. I ride in the rain with my Oakley Half Jackets  with yellow lenses and a tiny crack in the visor opening only have fogging issues at red lights which I'll pop open the visor for 15 seconds and good as new. +3 pm , moving head from side to side!

Mary

For fogged visors, get a Scorpion! I had exo700 in a crash so I replaced it with a Shoei rf-1000. The scorpion never fogged on me, and I live in Seattle where the winters are cool and wet. The shoei, on the other hand, not so good. So now I have a Fog city shield installed and it works great. Only complaint is the extra glare at night.

This video isn't the best quality, but it shows you the speed they're going and all the splatter from the bike in front gives you the feel of riding in traffic....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0P3tYskn84

This one's not a bad video either...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfmWx0tYRV8

Quote from: dohabee on December 14, 2009, 12:35:32 PM
what about rain-x anti fog?

I have used it on glass but never tried it on a motorcycle visor.

That's what I use and it works really well