Typical Florida summer weather

[mrlmd1]

It's happened again - 3rd time in 2 weeks.
You want to go out for a ride, or to the store, or for whatever.
You do all the pre-flight/pre-ride checks, including checking on weather.com and looking at the radar map for what's coming. All clear.
It's 90 degrees outside, but you put on the jacket, gloves, FF helmet.
You go out, all's good.
Typical, on the way home, about 5 miles to go, the sky starts to darken, you think you can make it and you speed up a little. Then 4 miles from home, the sky turns black, it starts to rain, like a MFckr, You think to yourself, should I stop and put on my cheapo orange vinyl raingear, or should I just make it home?
You continue, slowly, carefully, road wet with 1/2' water on it, visibility somewhat impaired by all the rain drops on your faceshield, all wet, especially sitting on that little puddle that collects on the seat in between your legs, and you make it home, the front half of you totally soaked, the back half dry. You park the bike and then the sun comes out, and it all dries up in 10 min. and you could never tell that it rained.
Happens all the time.
But still better than staying home and when you do, it never rains.
Found out that RainX on the faceshield really helps in shedding the drops and making it easier to see. It's safe for polycarbonate shields.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

You think to yourself, should I stop and put on my cheapo orange vinyl raingear, or should I just make it home?

There is a third option. Right after my nightmare ride a few years back......4 hours in a cold rain with no rain gear.....I found myself scouting places to stop in a surprise rain storm. Things like do-it-yourself car washes are always empty when it's raining; so are bank drive-ups if it's out of hours. A lot of gas stations are covered now and many motels have a canopy at the front door.
Most places won't hasssle you if they aren't really busy and the rain doesn't last too long.

I now have a good quality rain suit with me at all times......and have never really need it.
Except for my boots and lower pant legs, I can ride in a light rain and only get slightly damp.
Love those BIG windshields!! :cool:

Of course, the shield doesn't help if you are not moving at a good clip so if I get caught in town, that's when I look for an overhang to sit under for a bit.

[mrlmd1]

There's no place to stop on the roads down here except under a tree in the grass, and I don't like riding in grass, much less wet grass. If it's raining when I'm in town, I'll look for a place to duck under, can't do that so easily on the backroads.
Amazing how wet your legs can get from the knees down.

[Sarris]

Yeah, I know. On my HD only the front of my legs from the knee down and my face from the glasses up get wet. I ususally keep going and just wipe my shades often.

Here in the Tampa bay area, its the same way as in north Floriduh. Lately, it will cloud up and really piss down in a just a few minutes.

I like our usual summertime pattern better. It usually rains about 3:00 pm every afternoon like clockwork, but not this year.

A lot of folks have a tendancy to ride really slow and stiffly when wet and really gorilla grip the bars. That's almost as bad as riding too fast. Just relax and slow it down.