Tips for Riding in the Wet: Why You Don’t Need to Write Off a Wet Track Day

It amazes me how many people are so quick to write off a track day once the rain starts to fall. People assume that once the track gets a bit wet, all hope is lost for an enjoyable day, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Obviously if you’ve only got slick tyres then you’d be classed a mad man for going out, but with a set of dedicated wet weather tyres from any of the main manufacturers there’s no reason why you can’t have a day that’s just as enjoyable as it would have been in the dry.

Even if you’re a newcomer to track days and are running road tyres, they too are quite capable in the wet, so don’t go writting it off just yet.

It is true however that the margins for error won’t be as large in the wet and there are certain things that you wouldn’t necessarily get away with that you would in the dry, so below I have detailed some wet weather riding tips that I hope will help you get the most out of your day, even after the heavens have opened.

Keep Everything Smooth

With the decrease in grip levels the wet brings compared to super sticky dry tyres on a dry track, you can’t be quite as aggressive with your actions. Throttle application should be gentle and rolled on smoothly, pressure on the brakes should be built up slowly and a little more gentle too. Also you should try your best not to chop the throttle as this will send all the weight to the front and potentially overload the tyre. Lastly your body movement should be smooth and controlled so you don’t upset the bike.

Stay Relaxed

Being relaxed in the dry is important, but it is even more so when riding in the rain. You want to give your tyres the easiest time possible, and by being relaxed you will free up the front end to do its job of keeping the tyre in good contact with the road, as well preventing your rigid body from causing harsh weight transference when getting on the throttle and on the brakes.

Do Everything Upright

All of your hard acceleration and braking should be done in a straight line while upright, that way you are putting the biggest strains on the tyres during the time they have zero cornering forces being applied, giving your tyres a lot easier time by not asking for them to deal with too much at once.

Trust the Tyres

It’s obviously natural to be tentative when venturing out onto a wet track, but today’s dedicated wet weather tyres provide amazing grip levels if you treat them right. The lean angles achievable aren’t a million miles away from those in the dry, and the most confident of wet weather riders will happily have their knees scraping the tarmac just like they would when the sun is out. It will take time to build up that confidence, but knowing that wet tyres are capable of taking you there (assuming they’re in good condition) sure helps.

Use Your Body to Help You

As you may know, hanging off the bike means the bike doesn’t need to lean as far during cornering. Help your tyres out by hanging off the bike to keep it upright and encourage less forces to be applied to them through decreased lean. This is another point that is also important in the dry, but becomes more relevant when riding a motorcycle in the rain when grip levels are descreased.

Warmers or No Warmers?

This is mainly down to personal preference and will differ from rider to rider. Some feel better knowing there’s some heat in the tyres, briefly using warmers before they go out, others feel there’s no point given how wet track tyres work. Personally I choose not to use them because of a couple of reasons. The first being that wet tyres heat up quite quickly and because they’re generally a softer compound they don’t need to run at temperatures as high as dry tyres, so it only takes a short amount of time to build heat into them if you’re going at a fair rate.

Secondly, when using warmers and going out on very hot wets, it would be difficult to keep that level of heat in them so you will likely get the sensation that grip is decreasing in the early part of the session as they cool back down to their operating temperature.

You Can Soften Suspension

If you are one for fettling with your suspension, it wouldn’t be a terrible thing to take a few clicks off everything (compression, rebound and preload) to soften it up and help it better deal with the conditions. I wouldn’t worry too much though if this isn’t your game, if your bike isn’t specifically set up for the dry, i.e. everything made harder, and you don’t run a pace on the higher side, then your current settings should cope just fine in the wet.

Summary

As said at the start of this article, a little bit of rain does not mean wasted track time if you have the correct tyres to deal with the conditions, and I’m not just talking about racing wets, even today’s road tyres are very capable when riding a motorcycle in the rain.

By going out with the right mentality and following the advice above, there is no reason why you can’t enjoy a wet track day just like any other. Some riders greatly enjoy riding in the wet as it is a massive lesson on how to be smooth and controlled on track, something that will only help to benefit you with your dry riding in time.

Photo by Smudge 9000