Riding in the rain

[ou365]

Just wanted to see what others thought. We got caught about 100 miles from home Saturday, and a nice little thundestorm rolled in. Wanting to get home before dark we put on our rain gear and off we went. I've had my Nomad since February and this is the first time i have had to ride in the rain. As we started our way home it was only a light rain, and we had no probelm, and then the final 30 miles was in a steady hard rain, but to my surprise the Nomad handled the rain with no problem,the ride was solid as a rock,two up and 50 miles an hour. Also had just put on new metzler 880's very satisfied with the combination. My fondness for my Nad grows daily...wish i hadn't waited so long to get her. ride safe guys

[coacha]

Well, Joe, my wife, and I ran into some pretty big storms on the way back from Elkins. We geared up and road through most of it. With slower speed and utmost awareness of what is going on around you, it isn't all that bad. However, we did park them for a bit when it got really heavy and lightning.

[audiogooroo]

The Nomad has always done just fine in the rain. It me trying to see that's a problem. :-/

[cactusjack]

Gee, I don't think my Nomad has ever gotten wet, unless I was hosing it down for a cleaning.

You can ride a Nomad around in slippery conditions at 50% wheel slip and have perfect control. It is a little strange at first unless you've done a some flat tracking on a thumper. The engine's power is so tractable compared to high RPM bikes, that it almost never will get completely out of hand, no matter how loose the traction.

Not so with a high strung multi-cylinder bike where you better not dare break traction or the rear wheel will whiz out of control at the least opportunity. That's the difference between a machine that primarily uses torque to make horsepower and one that relies on high RPM.

But do pay strict attention when braking. I've had her crossed up when braking under very slick conditions and it's a real eye opener on a bike this big. Getting her crossed up under acceleration is one thing, but under braking it's another thing entirely!

[jussmatt]

Being that the Nomad is my main commuter cycle...I've been caught in the rain a bunch of times. Sometimes it's a light rain...other times, it's a SHEET of rain and down right brutal!! The only problem I've ever encountered was when the water rolls over the top onto my sunglasses/goggles... I have to stick my head outside the windshield to let the rain water blow off!!! The Nomad is very stable, but of course you have to be sensible....it is rain!!!

[ianicky]

The second time that i took the wife out with me we got caught in a rain storm, i have a one piece rain suit but as the wife has only just started coming out with me she doesn't, I thought it would be more than my life was worth to stop and put my rain suit on and leave her on the back getting soaked :-/ but as you say the Nomad felt very secure and at no time did i think that i might spin out, and this was the first time that i have ridden in the rain for many years and also only the second time with a pillion. Although we were both soaked to the skin when we got home i did feel chuffed how well the Nomad had handled

[fish]

Originally Posted by ianicky

The second time that i took the wife out with me we got caught in a rain storm, i have a one piece rain suit but as the wife has only just started coming out with me she doesn't, I thought it would be more than my life was worth to stop and put my rain suit on and leave her on the back getting soaked :-/ but as you say the Nomad felt very secure and at no time did i think that i might spin out, and this was the first time that i have ridden in the rain for many years and also only the second time with a pillion. Although we were both soaked to the skin when we got home i did feel chuffed how well the Nomad had handled

same here word for word

[dantama]

Originally Posted by caddmannq

You can ride a Nomad around in slippery conditions at 50% wheel slip and have perfect control. .........

Wow, I have a hard time picturing that. As many know, I get enjoyment out of trying to find the physical limitations of a Nomad, but I don't think that I could keep a Nomad up with anything near 50% wheel slip.

It has been my experience that as long as the front and rear tires are in perfect alignment, you can get away with some wheel slip from the rear tire in a straight line (with either braking or acceleration).

The front wheel isn't nearly as forgiving and will set you down on the pavement with very little wheel slip laterally. And once the rear wheel gets out of alignment with the front wheel, you are in danger of high siding when it regains traction.

That all said, the Nomad does very well in the rain. I've never felt any instability at freeway speeds in the rain. But do watch out for oil on the road at intersections. If you live where there is infrequent rain, the oil will build up in those areas and when it does rain, it will float up on top of the water and make for a very slippery condition.

I've ridden in the snow before, but didn't dare get anything near 50% loss of traction.

[1stgear]

My '03 has been real stable in the rain. I only can think of 2 times I had trouble: once was because my tires were about worn out, and the other was on the interstate going from Missouri to Oklahoma City, with heavy rains and wind, and real deep tire grooves. First time I ever experienced hydroplaning! I just moved to the center of the lane (it was definitely washed clean) and was okay. Scary though!

Dan, maybe I've overstated this a bit, and I wouldn't think it easy to do except in pretty flat conditions, but I've ridden the main street in the rain here and achieved a very high degree of slip and never felt like the rear was going to wash out. In fact, I was amazed that I could hold a line on this bike with no fishtailing nonsense either. Coming off the line hard and dodging between cages I found the bike amazingly steady.

Yeah, if the front end slips in a turn it's going to be hard to keep up. Impossible most of the time. I've hydroplaned the front wheel and locked both wheels stopping on black ice and did not go down. Oh it was an act of extreme balance to stay on top of her, but I did it and I'm an old fart!

I've ridden lots of bikes in snow and mud, but I have not ridden the Nomad in snow yet. I have ridden in slick mud, with a passenger, and in deep, loose gravel too. I was amazed at the the way she went through it all.

[damark115]

I have been caught in steady rain about a dozen times. I ride almost every day to work and I just never trust the weather reports. It has happened enough now that I have been thinking about getting rain gear. I keep an extra set of clothes at work in case. Never had a bad experience yet. Very happy with the handling.

[formikec]

My wife and I actually got caught in the rain this weekend, for the first time. The only problem we had, other than being soaked, was with me trying to see because it had just turned dusk as well.

I did have another incident a couple of weeks ago where I guess I hit some oil at an intersection. I was only going about 40 when I tried to stop for a "way-to-fast" traffic light. Locked both wheels up, let off, tried again, locked them up again, finally figured out locking them up was the only alternative. A little shook up over it, but never felt close to dropping the bike. I did have the attention of everyone in the intersection, though. Skid for about 10 feet before stopping.

[dank]

I have ridden in a great deal of heavy rain, light rain, and everything in between. I find you have to really be careful on secondary roads with traffic lights. Very easy to slide on braking. I prefer the freeway in a rain storm. Also a good idea to pull off, if you can, right when it starts raining if it has been dry for a while. An amazing amount of oily scum floats up in the first few minutes of a heavy rain after a dry spell. Some cars must really leak oil.

[rksaw]

There are worse things than riding in the rain...riding in the fog is one example.