troll Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I find visibility to be the biggest issue for me. In steady rain I find it difficult to see the road well. I use Rain-X on my windshield and helmet visor which helps and I still find it problematic. As far as throttle, brakes and cornering... I pretty much tip-toe... easy and smooth... Coming to you from the frozen wastelands of the barren north Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member jimf Posted July 22, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted July 22, 2015 I'm with Rodan. Michelin PR2's are by far the best tire in the wet I've ever had. Two friends currently riding on PR4's and report they are pretty awesome in wet. I'd go for Michelins.On my old bike I ran Pilot Power front / PR2 rear for awhile, worked great in even stupid hard rain. I loved that combination everywhere. Then I flatted each of those, independently, and ended up with PR3s front and rear just because they were in stock when I needed them. They were also great in heavy rain. And cold. And pretty darn good in the dry too; I had been skeptical of dual-hardness on the front, I like as much grip as I can get, but while I felt the Power was a little better in the dry it was not a big difference, and the PR3s were a bit better in cold and wet. I do a lot of cold/wet riding, so that became my new favorite tire. I think the D222s are at least a match for the PR2/PR3 in the cold, high praise. They're also pretty darn good in the wet, but seem to hydroplane easier and get surprisingly slippy on wet painted lines relative to the PR2/PR3. Given my choice I'll take the PR3s, and I will next time I'm shopping. FWIW, Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa Pros are the worst rain tires I've ever used. Like riding on ice. After a few years of that *everything* feels good! 2015 FJ-09 (Mary Kate) 2007 Daytona 675 (Tabitha, ret.) 1998 Vulcan 800 (Ret.) 2001 SV650S (Veronica, Ret.) 2000 Intruder 800 (Ret.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member jimf Posted July 22, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted July 22, 2015 Regarding rain on the visor, the Held gloves often come with a squeegee built into the left first finger. That's the only solution I've ever found that worked worth a damn for clearing. Unfortunately in very heavy rain the held gloves saturate pretty quickly, but at least I can usually see. You can buy slide-on squeegees too but I haven't ever tried one of those. At speed if you give your head a look left and then right the wind will often blow off rain drops. For light to moderate rain that works reasonably well and is nice because your hands stay on the bars. As long as you're upright and it's been raining long enough to wash oils off the road (a few minutes of heavy rain, 10 or 15 minutes of moderate) basic traction is still pretty good -- MSF says 80% or so of dry traction, and with a good rain tire I think that's about right for pavement as long as there isn't puddling or sheeting. I use some care when leaning over because many tires drop the sipes on the edge for superior dry grip on edge, but if you're riding easy you shouldn't come close to that point. Watch for metal plates (those are death), paint lines which may be plastic (especially wide lines like on crosswalks), and tar snakes. All of those are very low traction and particularly troublesome at low speed. My big hate in the rain is riding at night. Oncoming headlights on rain-spattered visor can easily wipe out all vision. One time I was aiming about 6 feet to the right of the rightmost oncoming headlight and just hoping that's where the road was -- that was terrifying, and I'd slow to almost a walking speed until the other vehicles passed. I was very happy to get to my destination that night. The good headlights of the FJ will probably be a big improvement in this respect, none of my previous bikes were that good, and weak lights make it all the harder. To be honest, though, I would be happy not to ever find out how good to FJ's headlights are in that situation. Other than that, good rain gear is worth its weight in gold. I like the First Gear overjacket and pants for bang for the buck, but Tour Master's stuff breathes a lot better and is just as good at moisture rejection. (It ought to be better, it's not cheap.) In really heavy rain, especially when cold, overgloves can be very helpful. I prefer lobster claw style gloves -- three fingered -- to mitten style. A friend recommends extra large dishwashing gloves, which have the advantage of being thoroughly waterproof, dirt cheap, and having excellent grip, but I hate trying to get the riding glove fingers inside the dish gloves. Spare dry gloves will make you absurdly happy too. My Sidi boots have very good waterproofness, but I have rubber overboots that are good in super heavy rain for long periods. In a pinch, supermarket plastic bags over your socks and inside the boots are way better than riding with wet feet. That's a particularly good solution on the second day when the boots may still be wet in the morning. That's about all I can think of at the moment. Things you learn when every single long trip you go on for the first decade of your riding career was accompanied by torrential downpours. 2015 FJ-09 (Mary Kate) 2007 Daytona 675 (Tabitha, ret.) 1998 Vulcan 800 (Ret.) 2001 SV650S (Veronica, Ret.) 2000 Intruder 800 (Ret.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest branthopolis Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Rain riding doesn't have to be a nerve-wracking, white knuckle experience. In fact, I find rain to be oddly soothing. The wonderful smells when it first starts are incredible and one of my joys of riding. I agree... I actually enjoy riding in the rain.... as long as its not a driving downpour... The one thing I HATE about riding in the rain though is that I know its going to take a couple hours to clean the bike up afterwards.. Road grit, grime, and yuck in every crack and crevice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodan Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 On my old bike I ran Pilot Power front / PR2 rear for awhile, worked great in even stupid hard rain. I loved that combination everywhere. That's the combo I ran on my 'Busa for quite a while. Worked great in all conditions, and I liked having the softer tire on the front. I've been thinking about the Power 3 for the front, and Road 4 for the rear on the FJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member jimf Posted July 22, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted July 22, 2015 On my old bike I ran Pilot Power front / PR2 rear for awhile, worked great in even stupid hard rain. I loved that combination everywhere. That's the combo I ran on my 'Busa for quite a while. Worked great in all conditions, and I liked having the softer tire on the front. I've been thinking about the Power 3 for the front, and Road 4 for the rear on the FJ. Great minds think alike :-). I like good front grip. Ideally I'd like the front and rear to have similar longevity with sticky rubber on front rather than longer life. That's the bargain I was trying for with the PP front and PR2 rear and it worked well. I'm still skeptical of the PR4. I've heard some commentary that makes me think they might have gone a little too far on the hard-wearing side. I'd like to see them make a tire with the PP compound but siping similar to the PRx series. Sticky but with really excellent water rejection. I'm not sure if a compound that soft will support the horizontal slits of the PRx series, but if not it would still be a great tire. 2015 FJ-09 (Mary Kate) 2007 Daytona 675 (Tabitha, ret.) 1998 Vulcan 800 (Ret.) 2001 SV650S (Veronica, Ret.) 2000 Intruder 800 (Ret.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodan Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I heard a few complaints about the PR3 being "squirmy" due to the siping. No one I talked to said they had a problem with grip, but the feeling wasn't confidence inspiring. Michelin may have gone to a slightly harder compound with the PR4 because of those complaints. I never tried the PR3 myself, so I don't have any firsthand experience with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xpress Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Rain on the visor (or INSIDE of it if you neglect to lock it fully closed like I did the other day) is probably my biggest concern. My ColdTex TourMaster gloves seem to work well for wiping enough rain out of the way in order to see, thanks due in part to the leather stitched in in between my thumb and index finger. Would be nice if the rain didn't have a tendency to cling to the visor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brmidd Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I heard a few complaints about the PR3 being "squirmy" due to the siping. No one I talked to said they had a problem with grip, but the feeling wasn't confidence inspiring. Michelin may have gone to a slightly harder compound with the PR4 because of those complaints. I never tried the PR3 myself, so I don't have any firsthand experience with them.I ran the PR3's on my FZ1 and after 2 rides in the rain went right back to Pilot Power 3's. None of the sketchy feeling and still had good wet grip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringman Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 We have special bikes in the UK. They are treated with a miracle material called Dontbesuchapoof that makes them impervious to the effects of precipitation. It fights off everything clouds can throw at the bike. What was I said about your humour............ The Dunlops are pretty good in the wet but got a bit perplexed by the hailstones thrown at them by a Cotswolds thunderstorm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adieefc Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 I rode home from Belgium in pretty torrential rain on Monday and noticed something I'd not seen before. Had the bike in standard mode but every time I slowed below 80 is also showed the B (rain) mode. Guess it was kicking in when there wasn't enough traction. Odd that it was on exactly 80 though. Himselfs KTM just lit the ABS light so he knocked it down a setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adieefc Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Oh and before I forget...the hepco and Becker 30L panniers were stunning so much I didn't notice they were on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepinoutwest Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 +1 on the Michelin PR4s 2001 Honda Saber - sold 2003 Yamaha FZ1 - sold 2005 Yamaha FZ6 - sold 2007 Yamaha Vstar 1300 - sold 2008 Kawasaki Versys - sold 2009 Yamaha FZ6 - sold 2010 Yamaha Raider - sold 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 - sold 2014 Yamaha FJR - sold 2015 Yamaha FJ-09 - lemon back to dealer 2016 Yamaha FJ -09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member keithu Posted August 28, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted August 28, 2015 Oh and before I forget...the hepco and Becker 30L panniers were stunning so much I didn't notice they were on. I'd like to see a pic of your FJ with the 30L bags. I have a set of the H-B 40L bags on mine. I like the capacity but they are huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adieefc Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 http://i.imgur.com/XKpA5ei.jpg Hoping this works. If not check adie_efc on Instagram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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