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How fast do you ride on freeways, interstates, etc, in the rain?

Because it's New Jersey, and because it's the summer of 2013, I rode home from work tonight in the rain. Again.

Which got me thinking...... how fast do folks ride in the rain on freeways? Tonight it wasn't a gully washer, but it was steady medium-hard rain. I felt comfortable doing 65-70 mph. (This is on a V-strom shod with Trailwings.) Any faster than that, my brain started thinking about hydroplaning. Not that the bike actually felt loose, it was fine, but my brain kept obsessing about hydroplaning. So I kept it down to 70mph.

Interested in what other folks do?

I max at 55mph/90kph, usually less. Naked bike + tropical monsoon country = rain hurts above those speeds.

I worry about my own hydroplaning and I use all the tricks I can to see what's going to happen.
This means that I follow another vehicle at a safe distance and stay in their tracks. You can see that their tires squegee water away and leave a thinner layer of water on the road until the water closes back in. Staying in those tracks helps you maintain traction - at least so long as you're going that direction. Probably don't want to follow an 18 wheeler because he creates a big spray but you do want the widest tracks you can get going at a speed you want to follow.

Another issue is your ability to see. Helmets don't clear rainwater very well, mirrors with water on them don't view very well, and in cold rain you can get fog inside the face shield.

Another one I haven't tested lately is that it takes a moment for your disc brakes to spin off the water and actually bite. So you have a slight delay in braking action when you want it. (At least that's how I remember learning about brakes in the rain when I was learning to ride.)

Having a really good rainsuit and boots will let you pay attention to the riding rather than being distracted by cold water seepage.

All this argues for less speed, lots more caution, and trying to just plain avoid riding in rain if you can.

I don't really worry about it on the freeways. Ours clear water quickly unless it's a gully washer (great term- hope I'm using it right) and at that point your visibility is so diminished that it's the true dictator of speed.

A few tips-
ride in the higher portion of the road or in the tire tracks of other vehicles
Keep your helmet visor clean. I wash mine once a week and it has no problem keeping the water off it.
Stay loose. In fearful situations we tend to tighten up which allows the wind that blows our body around in a storm to translate into steering inputs.
Add some extra following distance
Rock out.

I was way out in the middle of nowhere and testing out performance aspects... You know those rainstorms that start with no clouds overhead? Got caught in one of those at 130. Pretty decent rain too, and no problems on my 2CTs, but I slowed down pretty quick because rain through a mesh jacket hurts at anything above 80.
I've never hydroplaned on a bike, but I admit I'm very cautious in the corners in the wet, especially around here because we have a ton of oil on our roads.

I go as fast as
a: conditions allow
b: traffic (cagers seem to have true herd mentality and tend to bunch up in adverse weather conditions.)
c: on what my comfort/safety zone is telling me.


There have been times when I blast through the rain, in a vain attempt to stay ahead of the herd, and other times ducked into the slow lane and puttered along sedately.

I don't do superslabs all that much but I will ride at 65-70 in the rain on an interstate, however in South Jersey because it's so flat in places I would be very careful of HP as well. Northern Jersey it seems to be only problematic if your in one of the side lanes never the center 2 or 3. I rode back 400 miles in the rain from Lacononia at traffic speeds in the rain and it only got dicey in Jersey as the main danger was peeled tire or gators.

Use to travel the interstates at 70-80 mph indicated doing 400-500 mile days on my GS500 bikes, sometimes a bit faster. On planned trips meeting others from other places we went rain or shine. Don't remember slowing down much if ever for rain. Never had a hint of hydroplaning and never worried much about it although I would avoid large puddles on the road where possible. Now 10 years later I ride alone and rarely go over 50-60 mph but still use the local twisties as much as possible, somewhere between 70 and 80 I got old. LOL

Freeway is not a place for learning the basic..beginner shouldn't try the place.For the sake of adventure you can try some mini-freeways first. But trust its an awesome experience.

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Luckily for us this isn't jstarks first rodeo.