LEAVING BIKE IN THE RAIN

I've been riding my bike to work lately. I'm worried to leave it in the rain for extended periods of time(4 hours or so). Is it ok to leave it in the rain? I live in Ohio and our weather changes often. It may be beautiful when I leave for work at 6am but shitty when I return home around 4pm.

 

I also drive mine to work alot. On and off all winter. I personally think sunlight does more damage to our bikes than rain. I do cover my pods with a plastic bag when i expect rain.

 

Pods? sorry, I'm really new.

 

After market air filters (not the one big one in the box, but rather 4 smaller ones)

 

"Pods"

After market Air Cleaner Elements attached to each individual Carb rather than than the stock shared Intake Airbox.

 

If I have to leave my bike out in the rain ... I try to cover the Instruments and Ignition Switch.

Everything else is waterproof and gets soaped and watered when I was the bike.

 

Don't EVER leave your bike in the rain, it is a SIN to get your bike wet!

:wink: heh wrong crowd, this is not the Hardly Disableson group.

Bike are like boats, they are made to get wet.
Just watch getting the regulator box wet if riding or it may start cutting out.
My seat cover has some rips in it. so I cover it up or ride the other one on wet days.

 

I agee the worst thing for these bikes is sunlight, It fades your needles and red lines on your gauges. Fades the paint on your gas tank, Kills your rubber parts, Ruins the seat.
Rain and moisture however is not a good thing either. I have had some of my connectors turn green. The little brass connectors inside those plastic plugins get corroded and the next thing you know you have electrical problems. My red 750 burn't the connector from the generator and left me several miles from home with a dead battery. By the time I figured out it was not chargeing it was too late. So I cut the connector out and now it has blue wire nuts keeping the wires togeather. My next problem with water was for some reason water got into my front wheel bearings. Well let me tell you having your front wheel lock up at 30 miles per hour was not any fun. I didn't dump it but I was close. It locked up and then let go and it went crunch. My advice would be to clean and lube your connectors, Check all your seals and make sure they are good and buy yourself a good cover and Bring it with if the weather looks bad. At least the seat would be dry for the ride home. Good Luck

 

section8joe,
Which model are you running?
I work downtown Y-Tuckey.
I leave mine out in the rain occasionally but I have noticed that the turn signals get a little flaky when I do. I am going to pick up a half cover to carry with me to work.

 

i have an xj550. By the way I live a mile from downtown.

 

Just go out and get you a bike cover to protect the parts from rain and sunlight. Yes, you can ride your bike in the rain, but it still ca get into some of the parts you son't want it to. And sunlight can do alot of damage. Go look at bikes that sat out in the elements in salvage yards and you'll see what kind of damage it can do. I know that's kind of extreme, but you get the idea. It fades and rots the seat and fades parts badly in time. It wrecks the faces in the gauges and turn rubbers parts brown and dries them out. Just ask me and I'll tell you!!

 

Hehehe...

Don't you love used bike ads that state "never driven in the rain" ...
My first thought is always ... sissys!!!

 

HA! Sorry to bump thread so open and closed but I got a serious kick out of it.

HAHA
[quote="ZaGhost]
Don't you love used bike ads that state "never driven in the rain" ...
My first thought is always ... sissys!!! [/quote]
HA!
One of the qualities I continue to love about these bikes is their durability. The TIMEX of bikes IMO. I rode my first XJ for 3 years year-round in all weather (hail hurts with no helmet), and neither have seen a garage or cover since I've owned them. I try to keep them in the shade, really only because the seat gets hot, but I'm a big fan of the all-weather-rat. If you're going for pristine show bike, maybe different, but I think these bikes were designed for performance.. and REAL performance takes the elements into consideration. -- I know I may get a lashing for my opinions here, but we all have different styles...