Better start looking for rains

[vort3xr6]

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USCO0050

My first race ever and it could be in the rain...

:x ](*,)

[T Baggins]

aaaaah rain... the great equalizer. :wink:

Racing in the rain is a mental game, no easier or harder than racing in the dry really - just "different". personally I love racing in the rain, but then again I've always got a set of rains on hand...

[Jon]

Although not fun for you, could be the best experience that you could ask for. Just remember to be smooth, do your braking, turning, accelerating as if the bike is a knob and not a switch. The speed will be quite a bit slower and remember there's more than one lap in a race. Your not the only one out there and the people around you will be as unexperienced at it as you are. The best advice I can give you is the advice I just did just remember your bike a knob not a switch, The race is several laps long and you'll have plenty of dry racing in the months to come. Best of luck and see you at the track!

[dragos13]

I love the rain, even on rain tires. Just not very good at it :oops:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFW7EuL2JVo

Like Jon said, be SMOOTH on brakes and throttle.

[KFinn]

i really hope it doesn't rain on the first race. I don't foresee the cash flow coming in for rain tires before now and then. And I don't think race slicks handle all that well in the rain. hehe

[toptier]

I actually have a set of Pirelli Rains (120/180) that have 1 warm-up lap on them that I still need to sell.

[JimWilson29]

Kiyonari qualifying in the rain couple years ago at Donington Park - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KycZk1M7g24

[Desmodromico]

It's Colorado, give it a few days and forecast will be clear...





Crossing my fingers :shock:

[NossLou]

Yo Jon... sent you a Pm on them pirelli water grippers... let me know

[oldtimer]

Since my last race was a torrential downpour I'm feeling pretty ok about rain. 8)

[clowe]

Wyeth,

What are you talking about, it was hardly raining at Barber! I thought is was normal to go lock to lock while going in a straight line. I love calf deep puddles!!

[oldtimer]

I've never ridden in anything like that, it was trial by fire....er, water.

[Jon]

If you want some fun try Mid Ohio or better yet Daytona in the rain!

[bluedevil]

Ohhh so sorry.... did I just sell a nearly new set for less than half off? Ahhhh Shucks... Procrastination sucks sucka's :wink:

[loujr]

It's Colorado, give it a few days and forecast will be clear...





Crossing my fingers :shock:

Just clicked the link and it already says cloudy!

[oldtimer]

If you want some fun try Mid Ohio or better yet Daytona in the rain!

I sat out Daytona in the rain at ROC in 2000, I was skeeeeerd! :shock:

[cromer611]

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USCO0050

My first race ever and it could be in the rain...

:x ](*,)

precip % has gone down from 90% to 60% in a day, so maybe it will keep going down. but yet again, Im low on horsepower so I wont be spinning up as much as the built guys. maybe if it does rain i can keep up with all the guys with deep pockets. :twisted:

[loujr]

In a few short hours it went from showers on Friday and cloudy on Saturday to sunny on Friday and showers on Saturday...

[vort3xr6]

Fack.

No good.

[loujr]

Down to 40%...it's dopping! [-o<

[N1K]

What NOOO it will not rain it will be sunny and dry dry. real dry

[cromer611]

either way, rain or dry, I cant freakin wait anymore

[PersianThunder]

20% chance on saturday... happy thoughts happy thoughts

[vort3xr6]

Showing mostly sunny for both days! LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY!!!!

[clee32]

Its Colorado the weather can change in 5 min just come prepared for anything. Really last year I was sure we almost got wiped out by a tornado. Just relax and have fun there is enough to worry about without panicking about mother nature.

[loujr]

either way, rain or dry, I cant freakin wait anymore

Yeah what he said! Hurry and get here!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tornado]

I have a new set of 16.5 Michelin rains!!!! Call or pm me. I will bring them with me.

[Desmodromico]

Ok 30% chance of rain showing at this point, going to hope for dry track...really not wanting to buy a set of rains already, has anyone run street tires in the rain? Any comments on those versus DOT races?

[Motodrew]

either way, rain or dry, I cant freakin wait anymore

Yeah what he said! Hurry and get here!!!!!!!!!!!!

+10. These upcoming nights are going to be worse than Christmas Eve when I was a youngster!

[rybo]

I ran street tires AS my rains for a number of years. PP2CT they worked well. I would say considerably better than a race DOT, and not nearly as good as a full rain.

s

[cromer611]

regular pilot powers work for semi rains.... not quite dry enough for dots/slicks, but not wet enough for rains.

[random hero]

for those Michelin guys... what would you recommend if you can't for out $400+ for rains?

[rybo]

Pilot Power 2CT's work OK in the rain.

If you can borrow a tire groover and have someone show you how to use it (this is hard work, but doesn't really cost you anything but time) you can cut more grooves into them and make them work better in the rain.

You won't set any lap records on them, but like Erik said, one nice thing about them is that if the weather changes mid race, or a dry line starts appearing they remain OK instead of going to sh*t in a hurry like a full rain tire does.

Since I have a streetbike that is just like my race bike I used to just grab the wheels off of it on race weekends.

s

[PersianThunder]

I have this nasty feeling im going to try and groove tires and its going to look like a 5 year old did it....

[Vanmar Racing]

Free grooving lessons at the Vanmar Racing Pit.
So easy...even a 5 year old can do it !!!

[N1K]

Can we grove dots or should I get a set of streets??

[dragos13]

Groove DOT's

[cromer611]

Can we grove dots or should I get a set of streets??

yes : )

if you grove race Dots the compound would be softer than the street dots.

[N1K]

cool. Now how much will the wet cool the tire off and and more likely me not pushing as hard can I keep temp in them? If not will a cold dot be better then a street? I'm still thinking yeah but I'm not sure so I'd figure I'd ask. Never been in the wet before on the track.

[cromer611]

well, we arent in Portugal so when it rains its pretty cold at the same time. So im pretty sure even if you put warmers on it might keep the wheel/core warm. As soon as you go out on the warmup lap, your tires will get cooler.


just be sure to do all your major braking straight up and down. and remind yourself to keep a slow right hand. cant win a race if ya crash

[Motodrew]

Dear Mother Nature,

Could we please swap Tues/Wed predicted weather for Sat/Sun?

Thanks.

Your green son,

drew

P.S. I go out of my way to find a recycle bin.

[cromer611]

boulder is that way hippie ----->
..... i grew up in boulder :oops:

[NossLou]

I have this nasty feeling im going to try and groove tires and its going to look like a 5 year old did it....

Wish I had that set of D211's I grooved last year...never thought I'd regret selling those for 50 bucks...now I wish I had them for you....thundering Persian!

I can give you a hand with grooving.... mine almost looked a 6yo did them ;)

[Desmodromico]

I picked up a set of used rains and the forecast dropped from 60% chance to 30%.....if everyone would just buy rain tires we will surely have a dry race.

On a side note, IF it rains what does everyone prefer to wear over their leathers to keep dry and make a fashion statement?

[T Baggins]

On a side note, IF it rains what does everyone prefer to wear over their leathers to keep dry and make a fashion statement?

Really anything short of "real" racing rain suits become a distraction - or worse yet just disintegrate. Most of the off the shelf stuff isn't designed to do 130mph.

It's just water... and your leathers probably stink already anyway - I'd suggest you slather yourself up with "tide" before you go out and get you a nice 100mph bubble bath!

[PersianThunder]

Nik... its going to be sat morning grooving time in our pit :) id love the help

and... im thinking of wearing sweats over my leathers... so i look like i dont have leathers on... schweeeeet

[vort3xr6]

On a side note, IF it rains what does everyone prefer to wear over their leathers to keep dry and make a fashion statement?

Really anything short of "real" racing rain suits become a distraction - or worse yet just disintegrate. Most of the off the shelf stuff isn't designed to do 130mph.

It's just water... and your leathers probably stink already anyway - I'd suggest you slather yourself up with "tide" before you go out and get you a nice 100mph bubble bath!

lol

I was going to ask bart if I can fab a set of denim jeans so the pucks stick out and a wear a hoody.

[Munch]

I'm thinking Duck tape and trashbags, eh?

[Desmodromico]

I'm more worried about hypothermia if it is 40 degrees and raining with a perforated suit on, I happily bask in my stink.

I saw Taichi makes one but their stuff all seems to be made for the waifish types which excludes me, anyone else have experience with rain gear?

[loujr]

How bad could a "few showers" be anyway?

[peteyt328]

If you have have a windbreaker jacket thats not super loose, that would probably work for a lap or two. Otherwise just throw on a hoody and suck it up, you prob won't notice if your a little damp once your splashing around out there.

[cromer611]

I picked up a set of used rains and the forecast dropped from 60% chance to 30%.....if everyone would just buy rain tires we will surely have a dry race.

On a side note, IF it rains what does everyone prefer to wear over their leathers to keep dry and make a fashion statement?

i bought a taichi rain suit from Faster two years back.
http://stores.sportbiketrackgear.com/Detail.bok?no=5545
this guy does a bunch of video reviews on all types of suits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmRsfjRrwGQ

[rforsythe]

Rain riding/racing is *awesome*! Spend even a little time out east and you'll understand why they all look at us a little weird when us highlanders start wigging out about a wet track - they get a lot of it there. Of course it didn't hurt to have Jason DiSalvo as my personal coach for the afternoon giving me pointers, but a day of wet riding at VIR got me over it pretty quickly.

Just ride smooth - as smooth as you have ever gone or can go - there is no way to overstate the importance of this one factor above all others on a truly wet track. Complete your braking before you tip in (trail braking is not your friend in a reduced-traction setting, especially if you're new to this) and get the bike mostly picked back up before you get back on the gas. Basically you are trying to avoid any major traction shifts while leaned over, and cause any change of lean angle to happen as fluidly as possible. Relax your body, and get into a rhythm. I wouldn't worry a great deal about hypothermia since you will be very active the whole time and generating a lot of body heat, but a tight-fitting thickish windbreaker will help. For me, a normally semi-loose fitting jacket translates to a perfect fit over leathers.

Very important - figure out some way to keep your visor from fogging up, especially as the temp hovers around 35-45 as it will be in the mornings this weekend. I learned that the hard way at Pikes, as I would have to run half the track with my visor cracked just to see, and the other half with it fogged because the rain hitting my eyes at 100+mph really sucked. Some visors have a liner you can apply, anti-fog stuff works, rubbing some dish soap into it until it's completely clear again works, some helmets are even engineered to de-fog by way of airflow. Figure out what works for you. You'll go a lot faster when you can actually see where in the hell you're going.

I'm working the bus this weekend instead of racing, so if you really get hypothermic come see us. And listen to everyone in this thread who's been in the rain telling you to be smooth so we don't have to come see you. :wink:

Ride fast, ride safe!

[N1K]

So do you guys have a hot knife tire grover tool for this or something ?? I've seen the world of outlaw guys on tv using umm to groove tires is this the same tool?

[Bartman]

We have the RS rain suits all the way up to 5L, so chances are unless you are a giant we have what you need.

[kitten]

Do you have any rs suits in stock?

[random hero]

We have the RS rain suits all the way up to 5L, so chances are unless you are a giant we have what you need.

Will you have them there at the track for sale?

[random hero]

Weather.com is weirding me out.... when I click "weekend" weather, it shows 50's and rainy. When I click the actual day, it's showing 60's and clear.......

Weekend Forecast: http://www.weather.com/weather/weekend/USCO0050

Actual Saturday Forecast: http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/USCO0050?dayNum=4&

[peteyt328]

The Saturday link says high 53 and few showers for me.....

[vort3xr6]

Weather underground seems to have better accuracy.

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=byers,%20co&wuSelect=WEATHER

That and the NOAA national weather service site are real good.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=39.73649828746432&lon=-103.89890670776367&site=bou&smap=1&marine=0&unit=0&lg=en&FcstType=text

[random hero]

SNOW.... are you s**ting me!!! come on, if it's going to be this cold I'm renting a damn RV to stay in, my uninsulated box trailer will be a freezer in this weather!

[R1-2NV]

This brings up another issue. Is it to cold to keep my bike in the
trailer at night with just water in the engine???


I would be sick if it froze.

[rforsythe]

Right now NOAA lists the nighttime low at 34, so no. It would really need to get colder than freezing for your bike to lose enough latent heat that it'd be an issue. You can also just run the bike up to operating temp before you go nighty-night and it will retain quite a bit of heat for a while, especially in a trailer.

[Tornado]

I have 3 sets of new 16.5 rains and 2 used sets of 17 rains. I am bringing them to the track. Lets make a deal :lol: :lol:

[TRK]

:shock:

[Blue Junk]

If there is such a need for rains, I have about 11 sets that I can bring with me. I'll be there Friday and Saturday.

All sets are 17", 2 sets of 160's, 6 sets of 180's and 3 sets of 190's.

[random hero]

Judging from the forecast.. I'd bring all the rains you have. Sunday's rain chances are now increasing, showing thunderstorms now... You could make some serious $$$

[JimWilson29]

Used 16.5 rains for $100 - http://forums.mra-racing.org/viewtopic.php?p=63057#63057

[dragos13]

I have 3 sets of new 16.5 rains and 2 used sets of 17 rains. I am bringing them to the track. Lets make a deal :lol: :lol:

PM sent :)

[Desmodromico]

How many electric blankets can you run off a 2000 watt generator?

[cromer611]

How many electric blankets can you run off a 2000 watt generator?

most warmers are 1200watts for a set.

[Desmodromico]

Maybe I could run my warmers on my legs and an electric blanket for my torso....sleeping at the track is looking less and less like an option.

[d2dracer]

The chance has gone down even more!!! Only 20% chance of rain... and it says it will be mostly cloudy instead of saying a few showers!

[dragos13]

The chance of rain is directly related to the number of racers who have rain tires. So, if everyone in the club picks up a set then it will be 75 degrees and sunny all weekend...

8)

Plus, what better way to start off the season then with a wet track and a bunch of rusty racers lol.

[Timmay!]

Not one drop of rain will fall.

[vort3xr6]

It seems that the storm may fizzle out in denver and not really reach out east. Sunday has a worse chance than Saturday tho.

[peteyt328]

Shhhhh! Don't jinx it!

[rforsythe]

The chance of rain is directly related to the number of racers who have rain tires. So, if everyone in the club picks up a set then it will be 75 degrees and sunny all weekend...

8)

Plus, what better way to start off the season then with a wet track and a bunch of rusty racers lol.

Can't be any worse than PMP in the snow a few years ago.