Most people will tell you they use their gloves to wipe off the raindrops on their visor. But there is a glove available with a rubber strip that acts like a wiper when you sweep your visor. Also, you should use a water repellent spray or liquid to get the raindrops to dissipate.
Overview
We have a look at some products that can help you to see better in the rain and also what you should not do when riding in the rain. For those who have never had the chance to ride in the rain, I’ll give you my own insight.
We will discuss the following:
- My recommended products to see better in the rain
- What it’s like riding in the rain
- What you shouldn’t do when riding in the rain
My recommended products to see better in the rain
These products are what I find to work best when riding in the rain and even in the fog which we have a lot around the region we live in.
My no.1 favourite is the motorcycle glove that has its own wiper blade on the back of the thumb. To use this glove, you simply wipe your thumb over the visor.
If you already have quality gloves, you might consider a finger visor wiper. Though if you buy a set of these, you should pull them over the glove before you put your hand in the glove.
I think these might just be better because you can throw a few of them into your backpack and lend them to someone who might need them. You can’t really do the same with your gloves.
Water repellent spray is the must-get item on this list, although, I wouldn’t say that this specific brand is better than any other brand out there.
It does take some time spraying the liquid on the visor and spreading it across, but you will notice the difference very quickly if you didn’t use it.
I usually remove my visor and give it a quick wash with regular dishwashing liquid before applying the water repellent spray.
This product doesn’t help you see better in the rain, but I’ll add it as a bonus hack. It’s something I found quite annoying while riding in the rain.
I found that riding in the rain at higher speeds lets water travel over the tank and lands on the front of my seat. This creates a pond of water between my crouch and the tank.
Slowly the water starts draining into my pants, giving me a freezing butt and a sea turtle. The only way I can get rid of this water is to stand up every few seconds only to sit on the water spread out over the seat.
So my hack is to get a tank pad but stick it upsidedown. This is to change the direction of the raindrops coming together at the centre of the tank.
The result; most of the raindrops travel down underneath my legs which is much better than having a frozen sea snake.
What it’s like riding in the rain
The first time was scary. I thought any little movement on the bike would make the wheels lose traction.
Only later did I learn that you should wait about half an hour when it starts raining to let the oils on the road run off to the sides.
But I was so careful I don’t think this would have made a difference.
Riding in the rain is actually fun once you get over the fear of losing traction. Don’t get me wrong; you can still lose traction much more quickly than in dry conditions.
If it’s hot outside, the rain cools you down kind of like trying to fix a burst pipe in an attic while the fan is on. Don’t worry; it’s much better than that.
You should always watch out for puddles on the road. These puddles might look innocent and fun to ride through, but in reality, they might be a pothole waiting to swallow your bikes front wheel.
Also, riding into bodies of water at high speeds could cause your bike to aquaplane. This means that your wheels start riding over the surface of the water, leaving your tires without much grip on the road.
On all of my motorcycles, I removed the rear mudguard, and this always resulted in my backpack being soaked and full of mud and dirt.
Sometimes I can feel the water splashing on the back of my helmet as the rear wheel flings the water over towards me.
For some reason, a standard mudguard doesn’t look good on a sportbike, but it does seem to look good on a sports naked bike.
So for my second hack, sell your sportbike and get a naked to have a much dryer backpack and a good looking bike. Not really, just put a raincoat over yourself and your backpack.
What you shouldn’t do when riding in the rain
I think it was the second time I was riding in the rain. I was on a highway and didn’t know much back then.
I couldn’t see as the raindrops were all over my visor (I didn’t use any of these products at the time), so I decided that I should go fast enough to make the wind blow the water off my helmet.
So I ended up doing 100mph is heavy rain and puddles all over the place.
Well, it did work. But if I think back now, that is probably the dumbest thing I could have done without knowing it was dumb.
The dumbest thing I did back then, knowing it was dumb, was to ride my street bike on a muddy gravel road in the rain.
Besides having the radiator overheating from all the mud stuck on it, I almost flipped my bike countless times. I’m talking about the bike rotating close to 90° underneath me and then viciously coming back to smack me.
Final words
I hope you learned something from my experiences. If you did, give it a share to Pinterest if you like. Stay safe and keep the round stuff on the ground.
Featured image by vega83 on Instagram.
I always try to keep my articles interesting and informative. And I’m always thankful when they are shared on social media platforms or Pinterest.
