ok i am lets say for lack of a better word new to two wheels and every now and than i might have questions to ask, so i thought i would make this topic hell it make it easier for me to find the replys.   Ok i sort of have two question right now that i have been worried about so some help with these would really start the ball rolling so to speak..   1:. need some advice for wet weather riding, i have had a few spills in the rain, ok my fault a, have been a little heavy hand with the front brakes and come off, not hurt or broke the bike yet.   2:. if i did fall off at speed what do you do, go limp like on a dirt bike or falling off a horse or what ?   anyway thanks in advance for any help giving.                                                                                                                                                                             

  I reckon if ya fell off at SPEED you won't have time to THINK about WHAT to do, it will  just happen. Just make sure you obey the 'Mother's rule' "put clean undies on" lol   I hope you won't have to put any plan into action, safe journeys all the way.                                                                                                                                                                             

Wet Weather Riding Tips   Ride like you do in the dry, but a bit slower   Advice On What To Do If You Fall Off   Say "Ooo, Ughhh, Ouch" and repeat until you stop moving.  Then get up.  If you find you can't get up, ask someone to call an ambulance.                                                                                                                                                                             

Not much point in worrying about clean undies... if it's that bad, the old sphincter muscle's about the first thing to go!                                                                                                                                                                                 

1/. Wet Weather RidingRide normally, ie at sensible speeds. Watch out for diesel and other such slippery surfaces. Avoiding manhole covers etc should be second nature during favourable conditions anyway, so get into that habit now. Try and avoid sharp movements. Allow double the stopping distance and be careful on the brakes. Other than that, maintain observation, expect the unexpected, assume everyone's out to kill you and ride accordingly. Pretty much as per the CBT   2/. Falling Off At Speed. There is nothing to do but squeal, scream and hope it doesn't hurt. Having hit diesel at speed, it kinda goes like this - Riding normally, the bike will go from upright to lying down in about 1/3 of a second. You will realise it has done this a fraction of a second after it has happened. From here, your brain will process things rather quickly. You will likely realise you are surfing the tarmac at quite a speed. You will worry about the state of your bike. You may even realise that, as you slow down, you could even stand up out of the slide... but it's best not to as you will then trip over the bike that's still sliding along in front of you and injure yourself further. Once stopped, you will likely be concerned about being in the middle of the road with oncoming traffic, so best to try getting up and shifting your bike. Once at the side of the road, you can then appraise the damage to the poor machine. You will probably want a ciggy too. As you calm down, you may suddenly realise that you could also be injured and then proceed to check yourself out, discovering scrapes and bruises that only just started hurting. You then have all the ambulance, recovery and other such issues to think about and deal with. Things may be different if you come off and are suffering serious injuries. There will likely be lots of pain and breaking/wrenching sounds, with visions of SkyGroundSkyGroundSkyGroundSkyGroundSkyGroundSkyGroundSkyGroundSky. You will likely not be able to move afterward, in which case you can do nothing but rely on the kindness of passing motorists, who may or may not just leave you there. You may pass out entirely, in which case the adventure begins when you wake up somewhere between upright on the bike and the hospital bed. All of this will vary depending on what happens and how fast you are going. And yes, it does all happen that fast, in one solid paragraph of painfully confusing and brain-busting action!!! In short, there is nothing you can really do if you're definitely coming off, since you will realise it just after it happens. If you are feeling a wobble or skid, chances are that you may be able to recover it.                                                                                                                                                                               

if yu suddenly find yourself riding in warm sushine with an open road in front heading to a coast with a bikini clad girl waving at yu with a cold lager in her hand youre in heaven!!                                                                                                                                                                                

Ok, maybe my advice on wet weather riding wasn't the most helpful.  Allow me to try again.   Wet Weather Riding Tips   Slow down first and foremost.  Better get there late than in the back of an ambulance.   Look as far ahead as you can and try to control the bike's speed with the throttle as much as possible.  This means being in a good gear for starters.  Being in top just because you are going downhill is not a good place to be in the wet .... or indeed at all!   When you do need to brake, junctions, queues etc, do slow GENTLY and by using both the front and the rear at the same time, using more rear brake than you would in the dry (if the rear locks the resultant sliding around of the back wheel can be scary but is very unlikely to dump you on yer bum).   Slow down in advance of corners and then gently accelerate through them.  This would involve have the throttle open just enough to maintain "positive" drive, but not necessarily enough to increase the bike's speed until you are clear of the corner.   If you understand the concepts of centripedal acceleration then you'll understand why this is important!!  If not just think that a bike is most stable through the mid part of a corner when the weight distribution between front and rear wheels is around 40%/60% and this is created by gentle acceleration.   Avoid braking at all, apart from emergencies (see above comment on looking ahead) on corners, manholes, cattle grids (I've seen it done!) etc.   Final tip is get a pinlock visor insert or similar and good waterproofs - being uncomfortable and unable to see properly are as dangerous as riding like a numpty.   Hope this helps.                                                                                                                                                                             

Ttask wrote "You may even realise that, as you slow down, you could even stand up out of the slide... but it's best not to as you will then trip over ..."   I saw this on a track day at Croft!  After sliding on your back at over 80mph, slowing down to around 30 probably feels like you've stopped - the poor guy has undoubtably never run so fast in his life.  Or at least for the four seconds that he managed to stay on his feet before doing a very impressive face plant into the gravel.  He wasn't hurt.                                                                                                                                                                             

Be careful on newly tarmaced roads as the first rain fall brings out the oil in the tarmac.                                                                                                                                                                             

I saw this on a track day at Croft!    I did do this - And promptly fell over the aforementioned still-sliding motorcycle!!!                                                                                                                                                                                 

Good to remember that  muck left by farm vehicles swinging in and out of fields etc, needs to be well watched in wet riding conditions. Agriculture road signs, are our first pre warning of the possibility, and are definitely a bikers friend. Also, as someone has already touched on, diesel is a bad enemy to us in the wet.  Learn to spot the tell tale rainbow glisten as far ahead as you can. Eventually, you'll actually be able to smell it!                                                                                                                                                                               

Excellent thread Blitz - we should make it a sticky at the top of the forum and direct every new rider to it - good work BM folk! :o)                                                                                                                                                                             

We have a wet handling track as well as a well straight line grip track.   We found that you typicaly loose between 50 and 70% of your availiable traction in the wet........and that was on our surface which is kept as clean and contaminate free as possible.   Sports touring tyres fared the best as these really are all season tyres and take all weathers and the fact the owner probably rides every day into account. They are also designed to give maximum grip at far lower carcass temperatures.   The super grippy sports stuff fared the worse, these typicaly have sod all tread to begin with and are designed to work best when they get hot.   for 99.9% or riders a sports touring tyre will do it all, those that claim they really need the latest wiz bang sticky stuff are talking out thier arse as all our tests are done blindfold so to speak.   One guy is a racer and knows his onions, he felt a lot safer on the sports touring compound..........just shows ya.                                                                                                                                                                             

And just to point out that everything mentioned so far is bang on....apart from the bit about penguins.                                                                                                                                                                             

After u have come off, and while still airborne, hold both arms out at 90degrees to yr body, keep yr head n tail up, and gently glide to the ground.  Get it wrong, and u may well damage yr undercarriage!                                                                                                                                                                             

You been having those strange "flying" dreams again XK?                                                                                                                                                                             

when turning right on roundabouts in the wet look left for little silver cars cause they aint gonna stop then you'll see tarmac/sky/tamac etc                                                                                                                                                                             

If you do find yourself falling off, LET GO OF THE BL**DY BIKE. From experience, you will have time to think. the brain will process the information and the event will appear like it is all happening in slow motion.   The best advice i can give is to   1) know your limitations. you cannot ride at the same speed in the wet as you can in the dry, so double everything. braking distance thinking times reaction times.   2) know your bike. get to know the feel of the brakes, the suspension and handling. know what it will do in the dry and good road surface.   3) wet roads after a dry spell. all the crud comes to the surface and grip becomes a distant memory.   4) busses and the wet. AVOID!! All bus companies have a specially modified bus that dumps the right amount of Diesel on roads frequented by bikers.   5) Do a bikesafe course. www . bikesafe . co . uk well worth the inverstment.   6) buy the book Motorcycle Roadcraft: The Police Rider's Handbook If you do a bikesafe course you may get the book. I did when i did my bikesafe on Merseyside.                                                                                                                                                                             

The last time I left the bike at any speed, the slow motion bit came after I'd hit the deck, and the smell of diesel only came to me as I'd slithered to a halt. 'I...really...do...not...want...to...be...doing this...' as I went along the road at 30mph. Only damage was a few bruises and some nasty road rash on one elbow. And that was in the dry.   As far as the wet is concerned, only two words: BE CAREFUL   You could also add BE COMFORTABLE. If you're cold and wet, then your concentration can go. Decent waterproofs are a good investment.                                                                                                                                                                             

i take my test 2 weeks today!! oh what f£$%&*g joy...at least i can ride with a bit more knowledge...keep up the thread like W B sed