Mine got a shower Tuesday on my way to work even though I checked forecast and radar. We both got quite wet!
I've learned to never ride anywhere without my rain gear. I can easily keep storms away for weeks by keeping it stuffed in my tail bag or panniers, but I can summon a monsoon instantly by hitting the road without it...
So the irony in this story is that, not exaggerating, I have 100,000+ mi of two-wheel riding under my belt and I do ride with a Gore-Tex jacket and have the matching pants with me on the motorcycle but only wear the pants if the threat of rain gets near, or I'm out riding aggressively since the pants do have additional protection, but are hot!
This was a unfortunate, set of circumstances that caused me to get wetter than I ever have. Shortly before the rain, I got stuck in traffic and was unable to make it to an overpass before a huge downpour.
I am currently commuting 3 days a week about 62 miles a day on my ST-1300. Infact, she just crossed 50k miles a couple weeks ago.
My strategy is to just keep a pair of the same Ascent overpants I use for backpacking on my bike. They have full length side zips up both legs, so you can throw them on over your existing riding gear and boots very easily. Then I just put the rain liner on the outside of my jacket. I prefer to have this quick adaptability because when I'm on trips and adventure rides I'll inevitably wind up going through rain that's off-on-off-on; it'll be raining on the mountain but not in the valley, or vise-versa, or whatever. I'll just pull off wherever I am -- even on the grass, KLR don't care -- and I can easily become waterproof in about 30 seconds.
My current riding pants are a pair of Rev'it Sands and I don't think I've ever used the "waterproof" inner liner they came with...
Ya, I have not commuted to work on my bike this much in a while. The suit I have does go over my clothes but is tight at the pants. I do have some rain pants (cheaper plastic) that would probably fit my bill for this situation.
Trips I just wear the whole suit (and zip the top/bottom together), but will just have shorts on which makes it fit much better.
My suit is a Rev'it Poseidon. And is probably 10yo now!
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