Longest distance in the rain?

[dpotter58]

I did about 200 miles two years ago in the remenants of a tropical storm. The wind got pretty intense on the Chesapeake Bay bridge. Oh and the cars that were going by adding to the deluge. Add in the wind and the grating at the top and the pucker power required to hold the seat made for a long trip. I left Ocean City a day early because of the forcast. Funny part was it never rained the next day. I can't say enough good things about Frog Toggs.

[The Lorax]

I've only been caught in the rain a couple times. both thimes I was across town and decided to haul for home before I got wet. I do not own any rain gear...yet. the last time I was on my XS. about fifteen miles from home. had bad wires, foud out on the road....the plug wires were shorting to the tank, I had to hold the tank up with my left hand and throttle with the right just to keep it running. yes, made up a new set of wires the next day.

[oseaghdha]

Up Nort

Was running naked bikes from Door county to Waukesha one time, with the kid. Woke up to rain.
We grabbed some crappy rain suits at some mart or other when we left, but they were completely shredded by the time we got home. It was about 150 miles.
We get like six blocks from the house with no errors, when coming down a hill to a stop light the kid downshifts, locks the rear and dumps it! Fortunately, not much more than broken signals and bruised ego.
Mostly I ran with my feet on the back pegs and laying down on the tank.

[MAXIMAN]

Re: Up Nort

Originally posted by oseaghdha

Mostly I ran with my feet on the back pegs and laying down on the tank.

And that's the beauty of a fairing.

[Pain]

I enjoy riding in the rain, so I really have no idea what my maximum distance is. I know I did the Mississippi river to Indy in the rain, but I am sure I've gone farther. So long as it is not raining so hard I can't see, I say saddle up.

Of course, I also ride in the snow, so wtf do I know?

[trbig]

I can't say for sure (becuase I don't use them) but I'd be willing to bet if you were in a driving rain storm for a 100 miles or better it would be a different outcome.

Maybe it's true, but how long does someone have to be underwater before they drown? All the conditions were there... it wasn't going to get any wetter 80 miles down the road. I ride all the time in the rain, but it's generally just to work. Next fairly warm rain though... I'll be your guinea pig!

I take it to the car wash and spray it all over with it idling also.. including the carbs and filters... never a problem then either and I KNOW that's alot more water than is going past them in the rain.

Tod

[oldbiker648]

Just my 2 cents worth on the rain/pods issue. My 80G is totally naked with K&N pods. I got caught in a "frog choker" thunderstorm coming home from work 2 summers ago. Literally raining as hard as I have ever seen it rain. After about only 5 miles, when I was within 1/2 mile of home, I lost one cylinder, and then within 200 yards of my driveway, I lost another. The bike finally died at the bottom of my very steep uphill gravel driveway and I left it parked there. When the rain quit, I somehow managed to push it up the hill into my garage, and when I tried to start it the next day it did fire up. I have always wondered if it was electrical or the pods, but I believe it was the pods, they were soaked. I may not have had them oiled heavily enough. I have to believe the factory airbox would be better in heavy rain.

[jeffe]

Years ago my friend Dennis and I did a 3 day weekend trip down into W.Va and back ...Around 1300 miles. Did not hit any dry roads. Went from a slight drizzel into full fledged rain storm. We had one of our best weekend trips ever. Don't know why but it was fun. Worst spot was having a sherrif wave us thru water that was about 6 inches deeper that the foot pegs. When we protested he said that the bridge we went over a couple miles back had just washed out. This was the only way. We went slow to keep down the wake. My 650 Seca did great, Dennis R80 Beemer was ok untill he got some water into the clutch. But it dried out and every thing was great.

[TopCatGr58]

That XS East ride to Penn. in the rain WAS with Pod Filters, the Unifilter types, compressible foam cylinders! Had no problems, my legs routed lots of the rain from around the tank down to the seat. Darrell Newcomb had ridden to meet me outside Baltimore, but his was acting up, and it was due to the water messing with his electrics! Mine ran fine the whole time. Once or twice when I was in city traffic and very heavy rain, I reached down and compressed the filters to squish the excess water from them.

I'm now running the Cone stiff ones, so those MIGHT perform differently?!
T.C.

[webbcraft2150]

'Bout 170 miles in steady rain. Everything from drizzle to frog floaters. Scary thing was, we were on two lane roads and you could not tell if the water on the road was 1/4" deep or 6" deep. I had a $29 rain suit from Dennis Kirk that worked perfect. My buddy on his HD (who scoffed at me when I asked him if he had a rainsuit before we left), well lets just say EVERYTHING was shriveled and wrinkled when he got home.

[Czekus21]

On a Honda 650 Nighthawk from Weed Ca. to Stockton Ca. rained all the way. Got interesting from Stockton, East on Hwy 4, Turned into snow after Angels Camp. Snow all the way to Dorington Ca. Feb. 1985

[50gary]

Longest rain ride 19 miles. Not the longest in miles but I was on my way out and it was late October 55 degrees, hadn't eaten. Rode 19 miles out and turned for home into the wind as a cold front came through and the temp dropped like a rock and hard rain came on very quickly. Now it's about 40 degrees, dark and windy and driving rain. Boo Hoo you say only 19 miles, but I wasn't riding my XS I was doing my race bicycle training ride, cycle shoes no socks, spandex bike shorts and jersey. Hypothermia, couldn't breathe, convulsions got lost in the dark (very bad judgement and I've riden this same route 25 years. Dumbest thing I've done on two wheels. Took forever to get home as I train out in the rural country. Funny at 20 MPH it would take less than an hour to get home, but you slow from lack of energy and the wind and rain so when you get to 15 miles from home you're down to 15 MPH, still an hour to go then you make it to 12 miles from home and you're down to 12 MPH 8,5 miles to go and 5 MPH it's hours freezing, basically naked ugh 2004
On my motorcycle about 200 miles no biggie, dressed for it.
Cheers, 50gary

[beegshot]

Maybe not too far, but...

I rode from Clemson, SC to Charlotte, NC in a driving rain at night when it was 35 degrees F to see my wife (then girlfriend) before we were married. To this day, some 20 years later, I still get hugs and kisses for making that journey. The cold was terrible, the rain beat right through my gloves. My hands were stuck in a "grip" shape for a couple hours. But, the worst part was riding with a fairing, with a full face helmet, and prescription glasses. All three surfaces had water on both sides...seeing was a nightmare. I'm glad there weren't any 4" X 4" boards on the road, I never would have seen them. I will say this, without revealing too much about my wife, getting warmed up from that trip was part of the reason I married her. Hubba-Hubba!

Robert

[Snow]

About 120 miles on a brand new Ninja EX500 ... the first 120 miles on it... for my brother, transporting it from another city. Oh, and it was about 35-42 F during the trip. Talk about frozen to the bone...

[Erik the Red]

Probably about 300 miles. I and a few friends rode down to The Dragon in NC/TN, and going through Milwaukee, WI was the worst part of it.

On my Honda 750. Downpouring -visibility less than 100 yards. And it was 40-45 out. Naked bike and no rain gear. Going through downtown on a 4 lane section of superslab just pre-rush hour. Far left lane. Starts to sputter. Hand's too numb (and wearing 2 pairs of gloves) to switch tank to reserve. Only a 4 foot shoulder with a concrete wall on the left side of the highway. And cages don't slow down much there.

Yeah, I may have been slightly concerned (i.e. "oh F---, oh F---, oh F---, etc...). Fear-fueled adrenaline helped my grip and I finally got it switched to reserve, and took the next exit to get gas, only to find out that this was not the part of town I was really looking to be in. The bars on the gas station windows were a nice touch -not used to that growing up.