Ridin' in the Rain

[CA G-Man]

I don't believe in separate rain gear. There are plenty of good riding jackets and pants that are perfectly waterproof and can be ridden in comfort whether it is raining or hot. I currently use a First Gear Kilimanjaro jacket and Motoport pants. The pants require a liner to be waterproof, but it is no big deal. They breath well and comfortable rain or shine. They are like mesh for really high temps.
The key is to get them that fit, particularly the pants. If they are too short, they will ride up over your boots, then the rain water will go inside your boot with predictable results. Also make sure you zip all the vents tightly and put the collar fairly tight around your neck so the water doesn't go down your back or in the zippers.

A pin lock system on your face shield will keep it from fogging up. With a pair of gortex boots, (You can get a pair of Alpine Stars for about $150) you are pretty much set.

+1!

I ride with my Klim Gore-Tex gear all the time, rain or shine. Yes, it's expensive but it's worth it if you can afford it. I never have to think about whether it's going to rain or not. The only consideration is temperature and the comfort range is impressive. Zip everything up and put on a warm layer or 2 (or heated gear) underneath and if there's no ice on the road you can ride comfortably. In hot weather, open every vent and wear a t-shirt underneath, and you stay cool enough (and of course the Gore-Tex breathes quite well).

I like to keep things simple: ATSGATT (all the same gear all the time)!

 

[TomInPA]

I don't believe in separate rain gear. <snip> The pants require a liner to be waterproof, but it is no big deal.
<another snip>

A pin lock system on your face shield will keep it from fogging up.

First, I will second the recommendation for a pin lock to prevent fogging up.

However, if you ride in changeable weather conditions, you don't want to stop, take off your pants, zip in the liner, and put the pants back on. Also, if it gets super wet, the jacket alone won't keep you dry and, therefore, warm. Frogg Toggs bundle up nice and small, and are easy to put on.

We have a saying around here: Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes. In this corner of the nation, a separate rain suit that doesn't take up much space is a sensible precaution.

Hmmm, who am I going to listen to about rain gear? The guy from San Jose CA or the gal from the Pacific North-Wet?

I agree. I have a very good Olympia outfit, but have encountered rain that will over come it's ability to stay dry. It's pretty good, but better with a Frogg Toggs thrown over the top.

 

[Bounce]

Service the locks on the ignition, fuel cap, and saddle bags at least annually. I find that aerosol silicon spray lube. Flood the internals and dust covers with the stuff. The spray lube "scrubs" away any residue and when it dries it won't leave a gunk magnet behind like WD40 does. I also spray the hell out of the moving parts on the latching mechanisms on the saddle bags.

Trust me... it works.

 

[Bounce]

The Kilimanjaro jacket is good for rain but the fabric does retain moisture so it gets cold. For that reason I put on a one piece REV'IT H2O rain suit that keeps all my gear dry and keeps you warmer as we'll.

Mine doesn't. I shoot it every year or two with that water proof spray shit.

Been all over the country with this set up. 120 degree days on the tarmac in the desert and frog chokers that the PNW can't begin to imagine. It's done its job without the need of a rain suit supplement.

 

[maggot]

+1!

I ride with my Klim Gore-Tex gear all the time, rain or shine. Yes, it's expensive but it's worth it if you can afford it. I never have to think about whether it's going to rain or not. The only consideration is temperature and the comfort range is impressive. Zip everything up and put on a warm layer or 2 (or heated gear) underneath and if there's no ice on the road you can ride comfortably. In hot weather, open every vent and wear a t-shirt underneath, and you stay cool enough (and of course the Gore-Tex breathes quite well).

I like to keep things simple: ATSGATT (all the same gear all the time)!

Many of us would like to have klim gear, but it's difficult to shell over that of money.

I have kilomanjero gear that works well for extended day long rides, but in the summer it's too warm imo. I have lighter weight gear for summer riding and in rain, wear a rain suit over it.

A great thing about the rain suit is once at the campground, hotel, pub, or house, I can take off the wet dirty rainsuit and have clean, dry comforable gear on under it.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Do you guys that don't use separate rain gear ride in real rain for multiple days? I have waterproof gear and one year for EOM got rained on for 6 days straight. That means my pants and jacket would have been soaked on the outside for all 6 days.

As it was, the few times the rain stopped, I peeled off the rain gear and kept riding. At night, its light enough that it dried while hanging in the hotel. My pants and jacket are too heavy and will stay wet.

No thanks.

 

[CA G-Man]

Do you guys that don't use separate rain gear ride in real rain for multiple days? I have waterproof gear and one year for EOM got rained on for 6 days straight. That means my pants and jacket would have been soaked on the outside for all 6 days.
As it was, the few times the rain stopped, I peeled off the rain gear and kept riding. At night, its light enough that it dried while hanging in the hotel. My pants and jacket are too heavy and will stay wet.

No thanks.

HR: I haven't had the misfortune of 6 straight days of heavy rain, but yes, I've been in heavy rain for multiple days. The exterior of my gear is a tightly-woven cordura material and it doesn’t seem to absorb much water (keep in mind this is a "laminate" type Gore-Tex product, not "regular" jacket/pants with waterproof liners). While riding it’s pretty much dry within about 5 minutes of the rain ending.

Now that said, I should note that I just bought the gear last spring so it’s pretty new still. It may not perform quite as well as it ages and wears.

 

[mcatrophy]

Do you guys that don't use separate rain gear ride in real rain for multiple days? I have waterproof gear and one year for EOM got rained on for 6 days straight. That means my pants and jacket would have been soaked on the outside for all 6 days.
As it was, the few times the rain stopped, I peeled off the rain gear and kept riding. At night, its light enough that it dried while hanging in the hotel. My pants and jacket are too heavy and will stay wet.

No thanks.

HR: I haven't had the misfortune of 6 straight days of heavy rain, but yes, I've been in heavy rain for multiple days. The exterior of my gear is a tightly-woven cordura material and it doesn’t seem to absorb much water (keep in mind this is a "laminate" type Gore-Tex product, not "regular" jacket/pants with waterproof liners). While riding it’s pretty much dry within about 5 minutes of the rain ending.

Now that said, I should note that I just bought the gear last spring so it’s pretty new still. It may not perform quite as well as it ages and wears.

Pretty much the same here, and yes, I have done multiple days of heavy rain. Gloves held water (but insides still dry)*, jacket and pants retained a little water but essentially dried overnight, jacket's neck padding did get a bit wet, but still stopped water running down my neck. Boots remained wet overnight (insides still dry).

One warning. Once after a day of heavy rain, a group of us over-nighted at a hotel that catered for walkers. They had a drying room, this consisted of a heated room with racks where you could hang your kit. We just about filled this room with our wet stuff. In the morning, the air in the room was very wet, and the insides of all the kit felt damp, the process had spread the moisture throughout. And it all smelled of damp bodies. Ok, we'd probably overloaded the room's capabilities, but I'll never use one again.

*It seems strange when you either ball your fists or squeeze your hands together, watch the water pour out, yet your hands remain totally dry.

 

[frankenfeejeer]

As another PNWer who rides rain, shine, snow, wind, etc...

I agree with this:

-I don't believe in "lined" gear. It took me awhile, but I have an Olympia AST now and it works tremendously well in the rain and is always dry for the next use (even after being stored in the top-case for an hour). I had similar results with the FirstGear jacket I had, but it seemed to take a bit longer to dry. I suspect I will have to treat the Olympia, but for now, it's great. Tourmasters are sponges.

-I have 2 pair of pants that seem to work pretty well for the rain. I have a cheap pair of Bilt pants that I wear most of time that seem to be completely waterproof and work summers with the zippers open. I also carry a pair of Bilt plastic pants for those days I get caught in my jeans in the rain. (This is Oregon, BTW)

-Under the cuff gloves seem to be the only way to go for me. I don't have any issues with wind/rain at higher speeds, and was really getting tired of my over-the-cuff gloves filling with water.

-The fogging is another issue I've fought using many, many weapons over the last 5 years of daily riding. With the touring size windshield on my FJR, I don't seem to get enough wind to help unfog. I found that riding with the visor just barely open seemed to help, but it was really a pain when it was really pouring. I thought my problems were solved when I decided to spend the $ to buy the Shoei Multitec with the Pinlock. For me, it was not nearly as effective as advertised. I was pretty bummed about that. At this point, I've drilled a couple 1/4 inch holes in the bottom of my visor to aid in airflow and keep a bottle of FogTec on hand at all times. A coating of that applied every couple days keeps the visor as clear as.... Well, clear.

Kinda repeating some of whats been said above, but I hope this helps.

 

[Lauren_TK]

The better your primary gear is at handling a wide variety of weather conditions the better. I won't argue there.

Given the weather conditions in this corner of the country, I still stand by good rain gear that can be put on or taken off quickly.

 

[ANZAC]

The better your primary gear is at handling a wide variety of weather conditions the better. I won't argue there.
Given the weather conditions in this corner of the country, I still stand by good rain gear that can be put on or taken off quickly.

Well put Lauren and I agree. My one piece REV 'IT H2O is easy to slip on like a pair of coveralls and not only helps keep the moisture from wicking into your jacket fabric, it keeps you warmer too and that's a good thing in the damp, cold PNW. It rolls up and stuffs into a small bag that I leave in the side bag. If your gear is dry - you will remain warmer and enjoy your ride.

 

[Bounce]

Do you guys that don't use separate rain gear ride in real rain for multiple days?

yep. been all over the country in rain, and heat, and cold (sometimes in the same week). like i said, gully washers that dump more in an hour than a week of PNW rain when i lived there. also torrents in fla, tx, nm, co, ok, la, and other places. laminated gear like mentioned is the key (to me). before popping for it, i used to haul various rain "suits" around. now i have that space free for important stuff like beef jerky and fireworks.

 

[Aasland]

Do you guys that don't use separate rain gear ride in real rain for multiple days? I have waterproof gear and one year for EOM got rained on for 6 days straight. That means my pants and jacket would have been soaked on the outside for all 6 days.
As it was, the few times the rain stopped, I peeled off the rain gear and kept riding. At night, its light enough that it dried while hanging in the hotel. My pants and jacket are too heavy and will stay wet.

No thanks.

My Roadcrafter dries out super fast. Day after day of riding in the rain ... hang it in the hotel wet, it will be dry in the morning. Out west it only takes a couple minutes of no rain for it to dry.

I got the 'stich when I lived in Oregon. I have a Firstgear Kilimanjaro that worked well in the cold/wet but didn't have much protection and it was a PITA to use. THen I went to mesh (summer) or leather (winter) with rainsuits for heat/rain protection. That worked OK but it became pretty clear that I hated guessing when it was time to pull over and put the rainsuit on. The 'stich was the obvious answer; just open/close the vents as needed while watching friends to the rain dance on the side of the road.

I find that boots and gloves do not dry overnight in hotel rooms if they get wet inside. Forunately, wool socks and heaters in the gloves help alleviate that. But the absolute worst is putting on cold wet helmets.

 

[Harald]

I have a 2011 FJR1300A that has the ignition cover half sticking open - looks like the metal is partially broken, so that sucks. I had a separate thread in the tech discussion regarding fixing it; if I can tear it out I could replace it - but I feel that that would be so much work as it's a critical piece.

I'll bet you can fix your ignition switch cover. It's a common problem where, over time, the insertion of keys causes the outer cover (with the rectangular slot for the key) gets bent downward and this binds the spring loaded cover. Simply take a small hooked tool and pull the outer cover up a little to free up the rain cover. A mini screwdriver could also work to carefully pull up on the outer cover.

 

[karnal]

Thanks Harald; I finally took five minutes to actually look at the bike a few nights ago (rather than just a quick glance and grumble before takeoff) and gently pried up that metal. Problem instantly solved! My main concern in riding in the rain I'll admit foremost wasn't about me, but was about the bike - I know getting water in places it shouldn't on metal equipment is not good for it; causing rusting etc. Sounds to me like this bike is sealed up enough to take me everywhere!

I'm definitely looking into rain gear at this point; there's some I can start with cheaply enough to see what will work best. Thanks everyone for your suggestions

 

[Harald]

Glad you got the igntion cover fixed. Mine has done the same thing a couple times in the 83,000 miles I've put on it.

I live in the Pacific NorthWET (the "s" intentionally left out) and ride virtually every day. We do get a lot of rain here and although my bike is parked in a garage at home, it gets ridden at least 50 miles each day and sits all day in an outside parking lot.

I've had no problems related to rain with the bike unless you consider that possibly my spider bite was related to dirty water contaminating the connection. Because other owners have been bitten that don't ride in the rain, I'm not sure my frequent rain riding is to blame.

The main rain related problem is that the beautiful black cherry color is muted under a coating of grime, but that is easily fixed with my semi-annual washing.