Wet Weather Tricks and Tips

Just something’s I have been doing for awhile now that may or may not help.

– CHECK THE WEATHER.
Chicken is a weather junkie. And although it seems impossible for anyone to forecast accurately more than six hours in advance, that is enough to get a good idea of the possible conditions coming your way. Check it out and dress accordingly. Remember the two dollar shop ponchos.

– SPRAY EVERYTHING WITH SILICON SPRAY.
Make sure you get it up under the guards, the less mud that sticks the lighter you bike will be. I also spray all over the engine and electrical with WD-40, also I drown the chain with WD-40.

– CHECK ALL DRAIN HOSES AND DRAINS
Carburettor drain hose are checked and I cut a split in them so it’s harder for stuff stuck in them and reroute any breathers up under the seat to prevent water going back down them. Check your air box drain is clear so your air box can drain after a deep creek crossing. Now I have an open side cover for my air box I have to carry a roll of duct tape to seal the air box of for deep water crossings.

– PREP YOUR GOGGLES.
Always prepare your goggles for the worst possible conditions you might encounter. Remove the lens, hand-wash the goggle and let it dry thoroughly. Treat the inside of the lens with No-Fog High-Performance Breath Detector and the outside with Rain-X or Mr Sheen. This as some advice I failed to take myself for Yellow Mountain this year and when the rain started I didn’t have any rain X etc, I had all my goggles prepared including roll off’s for the rain and tear offs for the dry, but wasn’t prepared properly.

– GLUE AND SAFETY-WIRE GRIPS.
The most important connection between you and your bike is at the grips, even a KTM as you use the grips to push it home. Grips that are not glued and safety-wired will come loose, guaranteed. Carefully clean the bar end or throttle tube, apply the glue (or spray paint )and quickly slide on the grips in the correct orientation. Then finish the job by safety-wiring the ends to keep water out. Bury the twisted ends in the grip. Take extreme measures to make sure no glue gets inside the throttle tube.

– SHARPEN THE FOOTPEGS.
Keep the teeth of the pegs sharp so your boots can stay planted to them. Use a flat file to dress up the edges, especially on the front side of the pegs.

– CLEAN AND LUBE CABLES.
One reason a new bike feels so good is because the cables are clean and the controls work perfectly and easily. Remove the throttle cable from the carburettor before cleaning and lubing to avoid filling the slide with junk (its travels along the inner and into the slide). Carefully inspect the inner wire for any broken strands, and replace the cable if it is worn or frayed. Clean with a contact cleaner and a cable-luber, Ballard’s have cable lubers and fathead at Battyes may as well. Then use a lube designed specifically for cables.

– ADJUST YOUR HAND GUARDS’ POSITION.
Locate your hand guard as close to horizontal as possible. Hand guards that are mounted too low will surely get pushed back and come loose and the same if they are too high. You may have to play with the mounts to find the perfect fit, but this will drastically reduce the possibility of their moving or coming loose and becoming a liability.

– PULL THE LINER OUT OF THE MOUTHPIECE.
To get maximum airflow to your face, remove the vinyl liner just in front of your mouth on the inside of the helmet. This will reduce the backflow of your humid breath, reduce goggle fogging and help you avoid overheating I have only tried this once with my fox helmet it does work but I couldn’t bring myself to do it to a new helmet. Don’t remove any of the Styrofoam (or other similar material) designed to absorb crash energy. Also if it’s going to be really cold I sometimes tape the airflow over on the front of my helmet to stop my nose and teeth freezing.

Yeah there not all for you I know.
TB