[BouncingRadical]

It rained lightly on the way to work today, which was just enough to raise the grim to the surface.
At the end of my 30 minute commute it was difficult to see through my visor. The dirt and oil coating my mask was surprisingly thick when I took it off.

Anyone had similar experience?

[Gary856]

When it’s raining you’re in a steady supply of fairly clean and fresh water. In light rain or after the rain has stopped, you get the dirty, muddy spray kicked up by cars around you.

[eon]

Can’t say I’ve had that experience but I think my windshield deflects a lot of the crap that gets thrown up. It gets much dirtier than my visor ever does. And while it is a rare (and it might depend on your geographic location) it is possible to get ‘dirty’ rain. If there is dust/dirt in the atmosphere it can get washed to the ground by rain. Usually easy to tell after the fact as you can see the dirt on cars once the water has evaporated.

But light rain by itself can be a PITA. Very soon after I started riding I was out in a very fine light rain in an urban area, lots of shops, parked cars, cars coming out of side streets hidden by the parked cars. That light rain just coated my visor and I couldn’t see anything. If I had been going 60mph it would have blown off but at 20mph, it just stuck to the visor. And with all the traffic and hidden dangers I really needed good visibility. I ended up just riding with my visor up. Not too bad at 20mph but it was a rude introduction into the world of riding in poor visibility.

[briderdt]

Who ever invented that thing, I hope they’re tipping back a cold one at noon every day… Yep, it’s THAT good. $2.50 at Cycle Gear, worth its weight in gold. Get two, just in case you lose one, and keep it in the tank bag.

[JackTrade]

First time I got caught out in the rain (a flash summer afternoon t-storm), I made the rookie mistake of unconsciously trying to wipe my visor clean with my hand. :-0

[Rab]

Yes, that’s what you need, a finger wiper/squeegee to slip over your left-hand glove fore-finger. Put it on the glove before putting the glove on; goes on much easier that way.

Rain-X is good stuff too for riding in the (clean) rain.

[BouncingRadical]

Finger squeegee, I am going to have to get one of those for sure!

[owlie]

That ain’t nothin’ compared to what we get when it warms up a little. I have a one hour commute home in the evenings. Before leaving town, I typically clean off my headlights. When I get home, I’m lucky if I can use my brights to see the road… It isn’t unheard of for me to stop in the middle of the drive to clean the head lights.

I don’t even want to think what my helmet would look like if I was driving in that nastiness..

[BouncingRadical]

Where is that at? Someplace dusty?

[eon]

I think it’s a combination of snow and salt/grit = gray dirty water that sticks to everything (also corrodes everything it touches). Takes forever for the grit to get washed away so you are driving in dirty sticky water for months.

[Ixecapade]

I’m not okay with rain at this point cause I don’t have the money to buy good rain gear and past that I’ll ride in the rain for the most part and I’d much prefer real rain than a mist- even in my truck…

and my gloves totally come with a thumb squeegee- coolest thing ever. thank god for that man who invented that!

[eon]

I’ve been riding around with my rain jacket from my cycling days for the past month. It is PERFECT for motorcycling. It is so good I’ve been meaning to do a review of it for this site. As it’s marketed for cyclists it is not something you are likely to see reviewed on typical motorbike sites, but if you think about it the needs are pretty much the same. In case you missed my original post, it’s a Gore-Tex Bike Wear Pack-Lite jacket. Okay it’s not exactly cheap (retails around $250) but I’ve seen it online for a lot less. And I believe this is the premium rain proof material (according to mountaineering types whose demands are probably more exacting than ours) so there could be alternative brands out there that work well enough for us. Might be worth popping into a local bicycle shop for a look.

[Ixecapade]

I remember your orginial comments about that- genius idea!!! At this point mid jan in Jersey if I had the funds I would totally look into it- I ride in a 3 season joe rocket so it would do the trick most of the time for the shorter riders I’m out- I have real leathers that I haven’t waterproofed (and I’m not sure Scorpion did that for me). But past that a fully H2O proof cycling jacket would be good- and more colourful- i do ride about as much as night as I do durning the day.

But definitely on the GO LOOK AT LIST. *sigh* so much stuff (need disklock/alarm first though- want a tinted visor as well- eyesight is super sensitive in the light)

but past that its as much real riding gear as I want to make sure I’m fully competent in ideal conditions before I start trying to vary the conditions to ride. So I’m leary and we haven’t had enough ‘just rain’ days to wash grime off and not enough warm temps to combat ice.

[Author]

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