Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I am a newish rider, coming to the U.S. for a few years, to cleveland.

I know the weather there includes many days of rain and snow.

Do people ride in these conditions?
Is it worth even getting a bike, if I intend to only ride on non-rainy/snowy days?

Being from N.E. Ohio, I can tell you that after the 1 st of November, only the hearty souls ride motorcycles, and those who ride, ride a dual purpose motorcycle. If you are going to be in Cleveland, you will have lake effect snow, cold temps and salt and pea gravel to contend with. I'm not saying you can't ride during the winter, but to have a motorcycle as your only form of transportation won't work for you unless you intend to take the bus most of the time. Look for temps in the summer to be highs of 95 F and lows in the winter to be 0 F or below.

Short version: rain, yes; snow, no. I don't go out of my way to ride in rain, but if it happens, it happens, it's not a disaster.

In New Jersey many of the Triumph owners ride through the winter whenever the roads are clear. We don't have lake effect snow so there are fewer snowy days. Salt gets wiped off the bike when done riding. Sand and pea gravel are just something you watch for, just like tar snakes in the summer.

The weather here near Erie PA is about the same as Cleveland. Possibly more snow. Riding in the Spring and Fall requires layers of warm clothing.

The "summer" riding season is generally June through August. If the roads aren't snow covered, you'll see brave souls riding year round.

As for rain, I've been riding in it without any major problems. You just have to go slower and not take turns and curves as aggressively. You may want to avoid riding in thunderstorms though. There was a report on TMW earlier this year about a guy in Colorado who was killed after being struck by lightening while riding.

Good luck with your decision and Stay Safe Out There!

Cleveland?

Oh, dear God. Don't go. Run. Run as far and as fast as you can.

6 months out of the year it will be too rainy/snowy to ride a motorcycle. 3 months it will be too cold. And the final 3 months, it will rain twice a week.

I lived in Cleveland for over 30 years. If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes.

I live in Northern indiana and the road (US 20) that goes through my town also goes through cleveland. I go there and back just for a good ride on a saturday on occasion. There was only about 2 weeks last year I couldn't ride due to snow and ice. If your just a fair weather rider the northern states aren't the greatest places to be, but if you ride all year round like i do it really isn't that bad.

[quote="Dragonhawk"]Cleveland?

Oh, dear God. Don't go. Run. Run as far and as fast as you can.

6 months out of the year it will be too rainy/snowy to ride a motorcycle. 3 months it will be too cold. And the final 3 months, it will rain twice a week.

I lived in Cleveland for over 30 years. If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes.[/quote]


bummer :(

in other words, forget about riding for a few years.

I promised my wife, i wont ride i bad weather. It was kinda the only way she let me get my licence. I knew is was bad but not THAT bad.

rain is only water.... ride away!

I live in northern Ontario, and I ride as soon as the sweepers get rid of the sand in about april may, and then til the snow flies in Oct....ish...

invest in some warm clothing, layering is your friend.

Zaax, you should look up forum member 'Blues2Cruise' (she's a mod on the forum.)

blues2cruise wrote:Like I keep telling people, if you want to live on the west coast, you better learn to like the rain. ( all you people from Toronto can quit griping or go home ).

She lives in Vancouver, it rains there. A lot. Her blog is "the blog of blues", its on the blogs page on this forum. Suggest you read the first couple of pages about her experiences as a newbie learning to ride in the rain. I personally found it inspiring.

David Hough ("Proficient Motorcycling") writes that clean wet asphalt retains 80% of its traction. I believe it. Key word is 'clean.' After the accumulated oil and smutz is washed away by the first half hour of rain, it's not bad. You have less stopping power and you can't lean the bike so far, so slow down. But it's not like you have no control, rain is very do-able.

Zaax wrote:

Dragonhawk wrote:Cleveland?

Oh, dear God. Don't go. Run. Run as far and as fast as you can.

6 months out of the year it will be too rainy/snowy to ride a motorcycle. 3 months it will be too cold. And the final 3 months, it will rain twice a week.

I lived in Cleveland for over 30 years. If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes.

bummer

in other words, forget about riding for a few years.

I promised my wife, i wont ride i bad weather. It was kinda the only way she let me get my licence. I knew is was bad but not THAT bad.

I said all that half-joking.

You can ride there no problem. But it is not the most ideal climate to ride in. Remember, I now live in Southern California. Naturally, I'm gonna be down on Cleveland-weather. You can't possibly compare the two. Here I can ride all year, everyday, and it's comfortable.

In Cleveland, well, here, look for yourself:
http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/USOH0195_f.html