Riding with a windsheild in the rain

[Drifter]

In all my years of riding I have never owned a bike with a functional wind screen. I have ridden several bikes (cruisers) with one but never in a rain storm. I have been toying with the idea of a touring bike which got me to thinking about the pros and cons of having a wind screen. On a sport bike I find that if I crack my visor just above my line of sight and crouch down to the little screen that the wind stream travels up the screen and right up the visor forming a small area above the screen that I can see with out water blasting into the eyes. Now most of the cruisers I have ridden have wind screens that are quite tall which gets me to thinking about what would happen in a down pour. It has got to be like driving a car without any wipers. Is rain just a ride stopper? Do you just ride semi blind? How does that work?

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[slozomby]

i coat my visor ( full face) and windshield with rainx. helps a bunch while moving. not so much at school zone/parking lot speeds. if the visor starts fogging ( which for some reason happens more often w/ rainx) click it barely open.

a light mist is the worst for visibility as the rain beads arent large enough to get pushed off the visor and then i open it most of the way and grab the clear lens's out of my saddle bags.

wont help much in a monsoon but then its probably time to find a nice diner let the worst pass over.

[Y2K]

Now most of the cruisers I have ridden have wind screens that are quite tall which gets me to thinking about what would happen in a down pour. It has got to be like driving a car without any wipers. Is rain just a ride stopper? Do you just ride semi blind? How does that work?

You've got to have a windshield that you can sit up and see over,otherwise you're looking around it on the side which is more uncomfortable and less safe than sitting up to look over it.
Trust me I've probably done more miles in the rain that most folks have ridden altogether being as I live in Western Washington,that and having toured many many miles over several decades.
Usually heavy downpours don't last real long but I have been caught in bad storms that lasted hundreds of miles,one of the worst was in Northern Montana as a mater of fact.

[Drifter]

wont help much in a monsoon but then its probably time to find a nice diner let the worst pass over.

This is usually my tactic. But about once a year I find myself waking up in a hotel on a multiday trip with it pouring rain out. Then I get on a computer in the lobby, pull up the radar and it looks like it is raining from Seattle to Fargo. So I have no choice but to get on the bike and ride all day long in pouring rain. I am usually good at checking the radar and planning routes but it is the pressure changes that are hard to predict and usually get me. It isn't too bad until it gets dark then I get a little nervous. Still better than a day at work though.

You've got to have a windshield that you can sit up and see over,otherwise you're looking around it on the side which is more uncomfortable and less safe than sitting up to look over it.
Trust me I've probably done more miles in the rain that most folks have ridden altogether being as I live in Western Washington,that and having toured many many miles over several decades.
Usually heavy downpours don't last real long but I have been caught in bad storms that lasted hundreds of miles,one of the worst was in Northern Montana as a mater of fact.

That is what I expected. Is that why I see some fully dressed HDs with these little shorty windscreens? I guess if I do end up going this route I would look for one (or trim down) right below eye level.

I bet you hit a couple of these storms before I entered this world. Speaking of NW MT that is why I am bringing this up. Last summer I hit the worse rain storm I have ever seen (all the way) from Sandpoint ID to Kalispell MT. It took all day to get there. I left at 9 am and it got dark about 20 miles outside of Kalispell. It was raining so hard it sounded like hail hitting the helmet and front fairing. Then when I got there the gutters were so full of water that it almost was above the pegs pulling into some of the parking lots. Then the cherry on top of the sunday was when I got to the motel they told me that the heat had been changed over to air conditioning for the summer so no heat. Nothing like putting on sopping wet leathers the next morning. I will certainly remember that for the rest of my life.

[Y2K]

That is what I expected. Is that why I see some fully dressed HDs with these little shorty windscreens? I guess if I do end up going this route I would look for one (or trim down) right below eye level.

I bet you hit a couple of these storms before I entered this world. Speaking of NW MT that is why I am bringing this up. Last summer I hit the worse rain storm I have ever seen (all the way) from Sandpoint ID to Kalispell MT. It took all day to get there. I left at 9 am and it got dark about 20 miles outside of Kalispell.

A lot of us full dresser riders have a couple different windshields for different occasions.
Some guys run shortys for local riding in the Summer and taller shields in the Winter or touring and or maybe they live in Arizona and run them year round since it's so dry and never cold even when it does rain.
Some guys wear full face helmets and only run shorty shields,I run a tall shield year round being as it's cold up here in the mountains were I live in the mornings even mid Summer and I don't care for full face helmets.
I may well have ridden some long miles in the rain before your time lol,been in the saddle 40 years.
I remember that one ride in Montana we did back in about 2002 I think it was,we'd been in North Dakota and were heading to Glacier Park MT when we hit a nasty storm up on highway 2.
We stopped and got a room in Havre MT hoping it would blow over but it was even worse the next day.
We headed West our leathers still a little wet from the day before and ran into road construction not far up the road,it was one lane and we were stopped by a flagger who told us we didn't want to go any further as several cars were stuck in the mud and we had no chance of getting through on a bike.
Well we backtracked a few miles and detoured down to Great Falls,that was over 100 miles in an absolute downpour and we got really soaked but got nice room and cranked up the heat.
Fortunately the next day it was beautiful out, we rode "Going to the Sun Road" in Glacier and had a picnic lunch with left over deli take-out chicken we'd got at the Safeway in Great Falls the night before for dinner.
That's the way it is touring on a motorcycle,it's all part of the adventure taking the good with the bad and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[QZephyr]

Beautiful pic. I have only one windshield rain experience. On my Burgman 400 in a hail storm. The windshield kept most of the rain off me and my visor repelled the water well. Towards the end of the ride I was exceding 90 mph because getting hit with the hail was getting on my nerves. You'd be surprised how well you'll be able to see in the rain.

[Wild Willy]

I have ridden in the rain quite a bit. I have good sized windshields and waterproof gear. I also wear a full faced helmet. When it rains in Montana it can be cold also. With the gear and windshield I don't let rain stop me. The only thing I hate is my bike gets filthy. You do need to be able to see over the windshield. If you get it adjusted just rite you can see over it, ans still keep your helmet window dry, or your face.

[Y2K]

When it rains in Montana it can be cold also.

Boy howdy it can! lol.
It can just plain a$$ be cold in Montana anytime, he he.
"The coldest Winter I ever spent was a Summer in Montana"
Quoted from a napkin at a little cafe in St.Regis.......we were heading to Sturgis '92 and pitched our tent at a campground there to wait out a big thunderstorm,it was near darkthirty anyhow so we stopped for the night and had dinner in the cafe.
It was one of those little indy diners with rustic furnishings in an old rustic lodge looking building and the napkins were printed with all sorts of Montana related sayings but that one has stuck in my head all these years later.

[Wild Willy]

It can get cold, mostly in the mountains. St.Regis is a neat little town.

[Drifter]

Nice pic Y2K, I recognize that spot Love that qoute, very true. St Regis is a lovely little stop. It is my girlfriends favorite destination, I just think that she loves the freeway.

I have been tossing around the idea of getting a middle weight naked bike for long trips. Something like a SV650. Something with a bit of sport but not the thirst of a big block. I really like the idea of a small screen. If it does come around I would get one that probably comes up to the bottom of my helmet. You will laugh but the main reason being bugs. I know it is goofy but my love of twisty roads usually means riding next to water. Which usually includes being pasted with the bugs. I have had quite a few trips that I had to leave my coat outside the room because it smelled so bad. It was just that monsoon I rode through last year that got me to thinking that it must bimposablele to ride in hard rain with a full screen. An other thing I noticed when I rode these bikes was the heat. Wow, with out the wind hitting you it can get down right hot. That alone would stop me from getting a tall setup.

Good to see ya Willy.

[fordhunt]

Bro , i road for years without a shield , and it dont happen to me anymore . The protection that you get buy using one , its awesome . use rainx too .

[Y2K]

Nice pic Y2K, I recognize that spot

You will laugh but the main reason being bugs.

Bugs?.............bugs you say?........no laughter here my friend,here's a few Columbia River bugs.

[Drifter]

Yes, that is what I am talking about.

This was one of the nights we had to put the gear out side for the night because of the lovely bug gut stench. Must have been some sort of hatch because we couldn't go for more than about thirty miles with out having to scrape them off.

[QZephyr]

Right after I got my M and my wife was still fuming about it we went for a ride. I let her lead so she could go where she wanted. She took off for the country back roads intentionally because I wasn't wearing my helmet. We cruised around for an hour and went to Olive Garden to eat. When we got there I told her I had to wash my face. My face was covered with bugs minus where my sunglasses were. I said I wouldn't be able to complain about bugs in my food because they would say they fell off my face. The next time I wore my helmet and it looked like Drifter's pic.

[Drifter]

Oh I bet they loved that at the Olive Garden.

I let her lead so she could go where she wanted.

I find this the case most of the time.