[B_palmer22]

Any of you guys have to ride in thunderstorms? Its raining its butt off here on the east coast and since I'm in the buisness of selling cars I'm on SMJ instead of trending to an empty showroom. But it got me thinking about the probablity of getting struck by lightning while on the bike

 

[mcjasonb]

hahahah, i doubt you'll get struck by lightning. unless maybe you are in a huge wide open field and you are the highest thing in sight. i doubt most people plan to ride in thunderstorms but eventually you'll get caught in one.

 

[b.h.]

I pretty sure I rode in the makings of a tornado last sunday. I was at the track. everyone else was hiding in their trucks, but it wasn't raining yet, so I said f*ck it and kept going. I could see lightning flashing occasionally, but wasn't too worried about that. there's plenty of other tall pointy things around that it will hit before a bike that's isolated from ground. the big problem was the wind. I was practically going in reverse down the back straight.

 

[B_palmer22]

yeah im sitting here just watching the storm get worse knowing that im going to have to ride home in that wearing kaki's and a polo...DUMB... i should have checked the weather this morning

 

[mcjasonb]

the weather is sooooo unpredictable here in the northeast. just ride carefully and be alert and you'll be fine.... just wet.

 

[chrishillwashere]

When I took my safety course, it was raining like crazy and the thunder hit a few times. The instructor let us vote wether or not we wanted to come back the week after and we all decided to stay and ride in the rain. It really boosted my confidence in riding in the rain.

 

[B_palmer22]

ahh i hate riding in the rain i know that the tires will stick but i just never want to push it, im usually getting passed by the 80 year old women that i scare the hell out of on any other day

 

[HPIguy]

We rode in a thunderstorm on Saturday. The tires on an SM have a surprising amount of grip, even in the wet. Rain gear in a backpack is your best friend :thumbup:

 

[r6mace]

No better street-bike in the world to ride in the rain than an SM. On a somewhat related note I rode my 250f (mx trim) in hurricane Charlie... that's an experience all its own, especially cross-winds thunderstorms shouldn't be an issue for ya.

 

[HPIguy]

^^

 

[ADG]

You sell cars, you don't "work" for living. :lol:

 

[tallboy350]

Here in FL its best to pull over instead of riding in the thunderstorms in summer. Most of the time it'll be clear in 30 minutes or less. Stop get some food, park under an overhang in an abandoned shopping center, etc... But if its going to rain all day and you have to leave work to get home, its a different story. Just be extremely careful of using too much front brake in wet conditions.

 

[LilMoney]

I have the most fun riding in the rain!!!!!

 

[PROJECT-X]

Here in FL its best to pull over instead of riding in the thunderstorms in summer. Most of the time it'll be clear in 30 minutes or less. Stop get some food, park under an overhang in an abandoned shopping center, etc... But if its going to rain all day and you have to leave work to get home, its a different story. Just be extremely careful of using too much front brake in wet conditions.

+1 commuted for 4 yrs there on a Kaw Z-1. The worst thing is when you are trying to keep enough distance between you and the vehicle ahead of you, so that you'll have enough distance to stop, and other vechicles keep cutting in front of you reducing that distance. Then suddenly traffic halts and you don't have stopping distance so ya gotta split the lane between vechicles to stop( can't dive to the gutter cause it's full of water and you can't see the drop inlets). Also, watch out for slick oil spots at intersections which you can't see in the rain.

Now if you really wanna be scared just get caught windsurfing in a thunderstorm at sea so far out the condos are about 1/2 in high(only when your at the top of a wave can see them) and have a mast/boom/u-joint break on you, goes from bad-ass fun to survival real quick.

 

[toaster]

even more fun is to ride in the rain with slicks. been there, done that, they forgot to mail me the damn tshirt. the day that happened, i had gone to dinner, and when i left it was raining, but the worst part of the rain had passed. i remember reading that slicks had more traction in the wet than regular tires up to the point where they hydroplane. i found out that this is true and riding on the slicks was actually not as bad as riding on street tires. i did make a point to see if the rear tire would break traction, and it will, but it was not as bad as a street tire.

on a side note, that was also the night i almost lost it for the first time. i was pulling into my apartments parking lot and there is a 2X2 piece of steel in the middle of the driveway. i wasnt thinking and i went over that while still leaned over and about lost it. the front end went all the way to the left to the end of the metal and finally caught when it hit the pavement. if i had not ridden over the middle it would have slid far enough that i couldnt catch it.

 

[LittleJoe]

Riding in the rain is fantastic. The first few minutes of rain is the most slick because all the oil and crap on the roadway rises to the top, but after that traction gets more predicable.

 

[Bucho]

I commuted through some of the same bad storms here in Maryland! Tuesday evening on my way into work I was wondering if I'd get hit by lightning. I was stuck at a light, and it was hitting pretty close.

I agree the supermotos are great in the rain, arguably not a better bike to lose traction on and have a chance at saving it. Its too bad I'm always on my concours for my commutes.