Rain and the Trophy

[Mike2411]

Hi guys, I need some advice. I live in So. Cal. and as you can imagine, rain is far-and-few between! I am starting a new job North, located in Santa Barbara, which is awesome for commuting and I will be commuting 80 miles a day. Being that I am in So. Cal., the traffic will be ridiculous so I plan on riding on EVERY dry day during the year, no questions asked! But, I haven't ridden the bike in any rain to speak of, just some light rain and once coming home from San Diego and that was about a 3-hour ride in a light to medium rain...and all of it because I HAD to due to being caught in the rain during my ride, and I will say that the bike did incredibly well in that rain.

I am curious to hear from you, the Trophy riders, that spend a lot of time riding in the rain and want to know if it's hard on the bike or is everything holding up well? I'm not worried about me or the bike on wet roads, no issues there, more worried about the bike and all the components, the seat, everything about the bike and it being in the rain? I want to know if I'm okay riding the Trophy in the rain during that season and if there is any special care necessary prior to the wet season? I love the idea of riding every day and even in the rain, but have always been skittish about taking my black beauty into the rain because I'm afraid she'll melt! I'm sorry if this is a silly question but when you live in a primarily dry climate, rain is something of a mystery, so I was curious to hear from the "wet riders" in hopes of hearing good things about it! Thanks everyone!




Edited 28/05/18 to correct Typo within Title.
Trophy Moderator

[Coconut]

Hi Mike2411,

I don't particularly like riding in the rain, but in the UK there's often no choice !

When you get back after a wet ride, try and dry as much of the water
off the Bike as possible - not so important on the plastic panels,
other than removong the marks that wil be left when it dries out,
but more so on the metalwork.

DON'T put a cover over the bike until it is dry !

Any moisture that remains on the metalwork for any appreciable length of time
can lead to corrosion of those parts - even so called "Stainless" Steel !

Some Members have reported using a Garden Leaf Blower to dry the bike off,
which helps remove the moisture from otherwise hard to get at areas 

Cheers 

[Jings]

Rain is no problem at all for the Trophy. I'm not a "polisher" so have no problem parking the bike up wet. If it's going to sit for a few days though, the only advice I will give is to try to avoid leaving the brake pads wet. Before you park up (I assume in a garage not outside!) make sure you do a few hard stops to get some heat into the pads/discs to help dry them out.

I recently parked up wet and left it for 3 weeks over Christmas and the wet pads had bound onto the discs and caused surface pitting. Could have been avoided if they'd been hot and dried out.

[1675]

I ride my Trophy in the rain out of necessity. We seem to have a lot of it in the UK! I never do anything to it after a rainy ride other than put it away in the garage, or if on a trip, leave it in the rain outside. I have polished it twice in 5 years and it still looks good, but always spray some WD40 onto the engine cases and swing arm (avoiding the tyres and brakes) after washing.

[brenchley]

I'm of the mind that every day's a good day to ride.  In Florida, that means riding in rain - sprinkling, moderate and heavy.  My daily commute is 40 miles round-trip, so it doesn't quite compare to your daily ride.

It's garage-kept when at home and I do nothing special after riding in the rain, other than to park it on the center stand.

At work on dry days, I cover it after an hour or so - give any condensation the opportunity to dry up before covering it.  On rainy days, I do not cover it - it sits wet until it's time to go home.

So, no, it won't melt - about the worse you'll find with yours is that the water spots may show up better since it's a black bike.

 

[trophied]

At least you don't have to worry about salt or that other de-icer chemical they have to use up north on the roads.  There are still some corrosion risks from other things that end up on the road and get splashed/sprayed all over the bike when it's raining, but it's not nearly as bad as the cold climates have.

Ride safe,
Glenn

[Volfy]

I avoid riding in the wet as much as possible, but getting caught in the rain is inevitable.  I make a habit of cleaning the bike after a wet ride as soon as possible, quite often right after the ride.  If the bike is not too dirty, I would just do a "lower half" wash.  Do have to wait till the engine cools.  Spraying cold water onto hot engine is a big no-no.

Leaving dirt and mud caked on the bike will attract moisture and corrode metal parts of the bikes.  This is especially true for places (like mine) where high humidity is the norm for most of the year.  May not be as big a deal for dry SoCal, but if it were me and my bike, I'd rather not take a chance.  Besides, I just like riding a clean bike anyway.  It's good for another 5HP.

I agree with Coconut that drying the bike is key.  I usually use compressed air to chase away the water after a wash.  It does use a lot of SCFM's though, so a large air compressor helps.  I can go from dirty&wet to clean&dry in less than 1hr.

[john348]

Although, as could be seen from the pictures from the wedding, we have good weather all the time it has been known to rain once or twice.  All I would add is be careful in the rain when it hasn't rained for some time as the roads will be especially slippy until you get a good washing.  The protection (if you can keep moving) is very good so no problem there.  I do use ACF50 on the bike if I ever clean it mainly on engine but all over the hard to reach places.