How to see when riding a motorcycle in the rain? Wearing a helmet is always a safe bet to keep you well-protected from any incident, but wearing a helmet may become a lot more troubling when it’s raining. The visor of your helmet starts having condensation and steam on it when you have it fully closed.
Leaving it open will cause the rain to come in. therefore, you need to come up with a solution so you can ride safely when it’s pouring down. This guide will help you with all of that.
So, keep reading.
How to See When Riding a Motorcycle in the Rain?
So, how to see when riding a motorcycle in the rain? Seeing can be pretty difficult when it’s raining, and you are riding your motorcycles, no? Well, there are different ways to keep seeing clearly while riding in heavy rain.
Keep the droplets out of the helmet
Opening the visor even slightly will allow some raindrop to enter your helmet, falling from the top of your helmet. You need to turn your head slightly in either direction, and the wind will blow them off. You will have to keep doing that frequently to prevent them from entering into your helmet.
Clear fog on the glasses
If you wear glasses, whether they are your shades on your spectacles, you need to keep them clear of any fog as well. Keeping the visor open slightly will keep your glasses clear from any mist as well. So, you are killing two birds with one stone.
Changing the visors annually
You need to change the visors on an annual basis. Visors in great condition will make sure that you can comfortably see in the rain. With time they tend to scratch up, and you began to have difficulty in seeing through them.
Clear steam on the visor
You need to make sure no steam develops from your breathing on the inner wall of your visor. For this, you will have to leave your visor slightly open to keep it properly ventilated. This way, no steam will develop, and you will be able to see everything clearly through your helmet.
Anti-steam/fog sprays
There are commercial sprays available for you to use as well. You can spray them on your visor and won’t have to worry about steam or fog. But these sprays are expensive too. Make sure that they are approved for being used on visors, as some ingredients can damage your visors and make them unusable.
Weaning full-face helmets
Wearing full-face helmets is always a good option to consider when looking to ride in the rain. Full face helmets are great for safety and protection, and they will also keep the rain away from you pretty effectively. Other helmets are not that great because they will not provide you with complete protection from the rain.
How to Clear Your Droplets on the Outside of the Visor?
So, how to see when riding a motorcycle in the rain, and what about those droplets? When it’s pouring down heavily, you will notice that the rain droplets are sliding down the front of the top of your helmet to your visor. This can be a very disturbing situation as the wind can blow them inside your helmet, and some of them get splattered right back on the visor.
When you are riding, you need to make sure that you keep your visor slightly open, as we have mentioned above. But you need to turn your head to one side from time to time to make sure that the wind that is blowing right in your face can blow the droplets away as well.
This is the most effective way to keep your visor clear from any rain droplets. You can also clean them with your hand if you want to. There are different types of spray available to the market for this as well. With these sprays, water doesn’t run down on your visor, and rain droplets also don’t develop. You can also go for a visor with a bit of brim on top to keep the droplets from the front of the visor.
Driving in Rain With & Without Helmet
You might have done it a few times, riding in the rain without your helmet? As much as tempting it is, don’t ride on your motorbike without your helmet. Riding in the rain is already pretty dangerous, and if you are not adequately protected, you know what will happen.
There are more chances of slippage in the rain due to wet surfaces or brakes. Therefore, you don’t need to leave your helmet and your safety behind.
So, how to see when riding a motorcycle in the rain? You have to make sure that you wear your helmet when going out in the rain because it will keep you safe. To keep raindrops away from our visor, you need to use different techniques, as we have mentioned above.
You will also notice that riding in the rain without a helmet is also more discomforting because the raindrops are directly hitting your eyes, and you can’t keep them open at all times. This is a much worse citation when you are wearing your eyeglasses.
Should I Ride a Motorcycle in Rain with an Open Visor?
Okay, so you can’t ride in the rain without your helmet. How about riding with an open visor? We are afraid that it is only going to work if there is not much rain happening. If it’s only a drizzle, then you can ride around with a drizzle. But if it’s raining heavily, then you can’t do that.
You might be able to solve the problem, steam it off, but it’s only going to be temporary because all the rain will be blowing right in your face with the wind.
This can be a very uncomfortable experience. Therefore, it is not advisable to open your visor when it is raining. You can leave just a little bit of it open. This will easily fend off any rains, and with the slight opening, you will be able to keep steam and fog away from the inside of the visor and form your glasses.
How Do You Improve Visibility While Riding a Motorcycle on a Rainy Night?
Riding during the night when it’s pouring down like anything can make things pretty difficult for you to ride with your helmet. Most of the guidelines here are similar to what we have listed above. But you will need some upgrades as well.
Foggy Helmet visor
This one is quite similar to what we have elaborated on previously. For getting rid of the fog on your visor, you need to keep it open a bit. With proper ventilation, fog will not occur on your visor. This will also keep any mist away from your spectacles if you wear them.
Adjust Lights
You will have to go for higher beam settings on your bike when you are riding in the night. Make sure you have LED lights, and you can always go for some additional larger ones too if you do riding a lot at night and rain is your frequent partner.
Adjust your riding
You will also have to make sure that you ride at slower speeds. It would be a great idea to get going on time and get a head start to avoid any late arrivals.
Special visors
You need to go for a special purpose visor with silicone seal treatment on its outer surface with dry hydrophilic technology. The latter moisture is absorbed while the silicone seal doubles the shield between your vision and the water. Some of these visors also come with a brim on top to keep the rain away as much as possible.
Wear the Proper Riding Gear
You might be thinking, what types of gear do you need to wear in the rain when riding? Well here’s everything that you must wear.
Water-resistant/waterproof clothing
If you have to deal with a lot of rain, then you need to consider buying waterproof clothing to keep yourself dry while riding when it’s pouring down.
Water-resistant boots
Going for water-resistant boots would be another good option because your feet will be content with the moisture a lot.
Gloves
Some gloves come with a visor wiper. Check your motorbike gloves, most likely you will find a wiper on the left hand gloves index finger.
Goggles
You need to go for goggles as well that are specially built for rain. Some of them come with special treatment to keep moisture off.
Plastic bags
You can place all your electronic gadgets in these bags and keep them safe from getting wet. It depends whether you want to go with multiple smaller bags or a single larger one.
Deal with Wet Riding Conditions
So, how can you deal with wet riding conditions? Here are some tips that you need to follow,
Decreased Visibility
For decreased visibility, you need to use high-powered LED lights and also use water-resistant visors.
Hydroplaning
It is a layer of water that occurs between your bike tires and the road surface. For this, you need to keep your speed low to be in complete control and give your tires a chance to grip the road.
Reduced Traction
With hydroplaning, you will have to deal with reduced traction as well. Therefore, you will have to be a lot more careful while cornering.
Braking distance
With the reduced traction, your braking distance will reduce as well. Therefore, you will have to apply your brakes a lot more carefully and don’t press them all the way immediately.
Top 10 Tips for Riding in the Rain
Looking for some tips? Here are the top 10 of them for riding safely in the rain.
- You need to stay away from the puddles because you don’t know how deep they are.
- Also, avoid any shiny or smooth surfaces because they can cause slippage.
- Don’t ride aggressively and at brisk speeds.
- Keep your eyes on the road at all times.
- Try to find a dry line to ride along.
- Go for a face shield that is orange or yellow.
- Make sure to ziplock everything that you care about.
- Go for the gore-tex socks because they will keep your feet warm and dry.
- Don’t forget to wear your goggles.
- Check your bike and keep it well maintained at all times.
Conclusion
So, how to see when riding a motorcycle in the rain? Do you consider riding in the rain fun? Well, that’s great but make sure that you keep it safe as well. Some people have to ride in the rain in an emergency situation. Whatever your reason is, keep yourself safe and ride carefully with proper gear.
