Wheels Guru

Training, Travels, Racing – Motorcycles and Cars

Riding motorcycles in rain

Dear Bike Riders,

During raining season, your safety is of very important to you and your family:

Here are some tips to ensure safe riding of the bike during rains. Wear proper Rain Coat. It should not allow water to creep in. Make sure your helmet covers your face since rain above 40 km/h is going to hurt your eyes.

Make sure your tires are correct for riding in the rain, in other words, do not go out riding in the rain with slick/old tires.

Watch the road. What used to be kind-of slippery is now very slippery. White lines on the roads will have become ice rinks, metal plates/manholes are super dangerous, ‘please avoid’ them.

Watch out for water puddles. Yes, it can be fun riding through one, but since the water hides the surface you just don’t know what you are riding into. Shallow looking puddles, in fact, can be a 3 feet deep hole.

When riding and you see a colored rainbow on the ground, watch it & avoid it. It’s oil & it makes the road slippery.

When rain first starts after many days of dry weather, it’s when it’s the most dangerous since there’s a lot of oil and dirt on the road. Wait an hour or two for the rain to wash away the oil/dirt before riding since the road surfaces are at their slipperiest. If it’s just drizzling, then the road will remain slippery.

Railway crossing is to be taken as straight as possible. Remember the railway tracks are metal, and wet metal is slippery. Straighten your bike.

  • Avoid ridges/gaps arising at joints of concrete roads. The bike may get a skid and you may get into an accident.
  • When you need to brake, apply more rear brake than normal. If your front wheel starts sliding you’re done for, if your rear wheel slides you can easily correct.
  • Do not brake strongly if possible. Brake gently. If you need to urgently apply your brakes, *pump* them up so that your tires do not start wobbling.
  • Give yourself more space between you and the vehicle in front of you. Braking distances are much longer in the rain.
  • Avoid overtaking and be very very careful while overtaking heavy vehicles.
  • Relax when riding. Getting all cramped and bunched up is not good. First of all, you will get tired really quick and it is dangerous. Relaxed riding is much better.
  • Be visible. Rain makes it difficult for cars to see you. If you have high visibility clothing, now it is the time to put them on. put on the indicator lights.
  • An obvious advice, but here it is anyway: reduce your speed!
  • Since we don’t have wipers on our helmets (well, maybe some do) you can easily spray something like Rain-X or apply colegate on the visor to help you with your visibility. Rain-X keeps the rain from the visor.
  • When lightning starts up, stop riding. Head for cover (don’t stop below a tree)

Wish you Safe Bike Riding