Wrote by Boyd
Here's my tips for riding in the rain. Experience? I've done several trips 
in total downpours, on the Marauder with a crew behind me, alone and on the 
Kawasaki while pulling a trailer, on 2 lanes and interstates, night & day. 
Spacer Jim and I and a few other guys even rode through a hail / thunderstorm 
one time... 
Am I an expert? No, but I've been there, done that, and aint dropped one yet.

Slow down. You need more room to react without slamming the brakes or yanking 
the bars. However, you don't wanna slow down so much that you risk getting run 
over. Don't slow to 30mph on the interstate. Do get in the right lane and ride 
in the tire tracks of the vehicle in front of you. Do not get on the high crown 
of the road. Leave room between you and whatever's in front of you. If someone 
moves in on you, slow down some more to give yourself that room.

Don't tense up on the bars. You need to stay loose like you normally are. 
Don't squeeze the tank with your legs, don't get a deathgrip on the grips.

Stay very aware of what is around you. Keep some space around you. 
I tend to use more rear brake, because if the bike does slide, a rear slide 
is easier to deal with than a front slide. Also, the inside of the rear drum 
brake on the Rauder is less likely to get rain soaked than the front disc. 
I downshift only when I have to, to keep the engine from stalling, not using 
the engine / rear wheel to slow down. Do not use the 3 or 4000 rpm downshifts 
to slow down.

Modern motorcycle cruiser / touring tires are made to shuck water off nicely. 
As long as you're not going through really big, deep puddles (like a flooded road) 
at speed, hydroplaning is not too much of a problem. Again, slow down, putt 
through the flooded area, and keep going.

Watch your feet when you have to stop. I try to stop in the left tire groove 
of the road, and put down my left foot. If you put down the right foot in the 
center of the road, you might not have any traction and may dump. You can try 
stopping in the right tire groove and use your right foot, but there's likely 
to be more gravel and dirt over there.

Watch out for paint stripes. They get horribly, nasty, evil-slick in the rain. 
Although they go by really quickly, if you're in a turn, they can start you 
sliding that cannot be stopped once you come off them. I have slid on them 
and regained traction as soon as I came off them, but it was scary.

Vision. What can I say? It's difficult to see in the rain. Carry clear glasses 
or visor for rain. I've been in rain where I couldn't see thru my Arai visor, 
and couldn't keep it clear, so I cracked it open, trying to use the wind and 
airflow to see. Then my glasses got so wet I couldn't wear them cause I couldn't 
wipe em clean. So I yanked em off and tried looking thru the cracked-open visor, 
and got so much water in my eyes my contacts were floating. Sometimes, you just 
gotta stop and wait it out. By the way, that was a nasty downpour / thunderstorm 
on I-81 at night with tractor trailers hammering all around us in the mountains 
of Virginia, 3 bikes behind me, no overpasses and 10 miles to go to the hotel. 
Took us almost 3 hours to get that last 10 miles. Like I said... sometimes you 
just gotta stop.

Overall, be easy on the bike. Throttle, brakes & steering. Treat it like it's 
made of strong glass. Don't be afraid to ride in the rain... it's part of 
motorcycling, and actually adds to the fun and makes for great stories after. 
But don't be afraid to stop, either.