?FOG? How do you deal?

[Yonan]

Had ride planned for sat, woke up and everything for 75miles was fogged in. 1/4 mile visabilty. I still attepted the ride. Met up with two friends a couple blocks away. They were decked out in rain gear, which I have none of. When we took off headed for the freeway, I got about two miles before my glasses and shield made it imposable to see. Didn't feel safe hopping on the freeway blind so I excused my self and headed home. Jeans were soaked by the time I made it home so probbally a good decision. Some overpants are in my future, but

How do you guys prepare and ride in the FOG????

[drewl]

The one time I rode in fog was on the PCH just south of San Fran. It was so thick it was dripping off our shields. I left mine up, wiped off the glasses often and rode slower.

[Traveller]

Originally Posted by drewl

The one time I rode in fog was on the PCH just south of San Fran. It was so thick it was dripping off our shields. I left mine up, wiped off the glasses often and rode slower.

Same here.
Last January on my way to a local track up north with a mate and we encountered the thickest fog I have ever seen! We are talking ZERO visibility; I could barely see 3 feet in front of my front tire!

As it was already pitch dark on a B-road we didn't have the luxury of pulling over and waiting for the fog to clear, so only solution was to switch on the turn signals and ride very slowly wiping glasses and visors as often as possible.

Even like this it did become quite dangerous at some point; I would ride on the road and suddenly the edge of the road would appear! When we finally reached the hotel we didn't speak a word and went shaking to the bar for a double scotch!
Not an experience I want to go through again.

[vfrchick]

Used to ride in fog all the time when I lived in the Bay Area, CA. It was chilly enough there that I almost always wore full leathers, so they protected me from most of the wet. If it was realy bad or raining I had my Frog Togs with me to throw on over whatever I had. I also had a pair of gloves with a squeegie (hmmmmm.... squeegy? squeejy? skweegee? heehee!!) on the thumb. I would reach up now and then, squeegie my face shield off and that thing would clear it up perfectly.

Best advice otherwise... find tailights and follow them... but not too closely. You want to give yourself time to hear the noise of the crash so you can react!! :-)

[SilverSurfer800]

Fog can be a big issue. I get stuck going over the local bridges where visibility can be as short as 5 feet. The first thing is, slow down! Next is more distance; it's wet and people in cars are even more oblivious than during a clear day. You have to have the right gear; dress as if it was raining because it pretty much is. I try to avoid it but sometimes it just kind of sneaks up on you!

[CARMINE]

HI ALL,
1985... I was driving my incredible Benelli 654 Sport, south France Highway, 21 P.M., and suddenly the Grey Lady : the fog !!!! I could find a phone box in a service station. A yellow page on my high beam light so I could reach an Inn and I was safe.
Just a memory...
Lamps,
carmine

[powerslave]

Put some slick 50 on your visor,and you'll see for miles and miles!!!

[RVFR]

Fog! lol try flying through it, thats some crazy shit there. Depends day or night either way it can be tricky to navigate through, I like most do the ole swipe thy visor as often as necessary and of coarse slow down, if it is a road I don't know I really slow down especially if it doesn't have a fog line. I've found that high beams make it worse too. Like VFRchick said if you can follow another car tail lights helps and keep a close tab but not to close. Yea funny how wet you can get from fog huh? lucky the VFR gives a good bubble to be in.

[NorcalBoy]

VFR stands for visual flight rules, IFR stands for instrument flight rules. As we don't have instruments, I guess it's a VFR for a reason........

Here are what I would consider to be the VFR for your VFR:

Rain Gear
Waterproof Gloves
Rain X
Fog City Shield
Low Beams
Slow Down

Lacking the first three can make for a miserable day.......I relearned this lesson this past weekend.

[SCraig]

I'm instrument rated but I still leave the VFR at home when it's IFR.

Like others I try and avoid it. I've gotten caught in it a few times and do not like the feeling at all. As has been said, I slow down, allow more room around me, and get really attentive to what's going on around me.

And if you think fog is bad, try it sometime when it happens to dip just barely below freezing. I left home one morning when it was about 38 degrees. About 20 miles out of Nashville I hit some fog but didn't realize that it had cooled off enough to let it freeze. It froze on my faceshield and I couldn't see anything. Raised my shield and it froze on my glasses and I couldn't see anything. I could see the line along the shoulder so I got as close as I could to it, hit the emergency flashers, and followed it a mile or so to the next exit. That was absolutely no fun.

[drewl]

Careful about following the guy in front of you, you may be following of a cliff for all you know.
Dust storms happen around the Phoenix area regularly. The WORST freeway pile-up in AZ history happened because people were following the tail lights right off the road into a pile of cars that had just thought the same thing. If visibility is that bad, get off the road and turn off your lights.

[CaptainBart]

Basic Rule about Fog and Foul Weather: Never.....Never ride faster that you can see.

[Fourvalve]

I prepare for riding in fog by finding a good book & pouring a little single-malt scotch...

[Fizz]

I ride through heavy fog pretty regularly when I'm coming home late (1am-2am)

My FZ1 has an emergency flasher button, that flashes the turn signals on/off like a car. If it's bad enough I'll flick those on as yellow/amber light penetrates fog much better than red tail/brake light. Technically, it might be considered misuse of the function, but I don't think a cop would give me a ticket for making myself more visible in a hazardous situation.... even less likely that a traffic judge would hold it against me.

Other than that, I ride slower, Keep the lights on low and go as fast as the decreased range of the headlights allow. STAY OUT OF THE FAST LANE, but not in a merging/exit lane if it can be helped.

ever since I started riding my FZ1 I'm ATGATT 24/7. I commute on my bike DAILY and usually go out to lunch daily. I always have on textile pants. if it's late night or early morning (which is the only time there's fog) I'll have my leather jacket (bomber jacket, not moto specific,) on over my touring leather/mesh/textile hybrid jacket (my GF uses my leather Joe Rocket jacket adn keeps it at her house).