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Last weekend I ran in to some serious stretches of fog. It really freaked me out with my faceplate all fogged up on the outside. How do you veteran riders deal with this situation? I put on my flashers slowed up and lifted my visor about an inch to see better. I got a face full of water and I just prayed I would'nt catch a rock or bug in the eye.

Interesting question! I can't say I've ever ridden in serious fog. Rain, yes. But not fog.

I had to ride in really thick fog only once before, for about 2 miles...where I couldn't see more than 20 feet ahead. It scared the crap out of me, thinking about what might be coming up behind. I just went very slow so I would be able to stop in 20 feet...hoping the cars behind did the same. Fortunately it was so early in the morning there were no other vehicles around.

FOG is an acronym for "pull over, get something to eat/drink/sleep/rest, and save a life - your own". Don't do it, unless you can see the other side of the patch of fog.

Edited, and moved on...

Given that I live in Appalachia, I run into this a lot - especially in the spring and fall in the cool, damp air. I slow down to a speed I think will allow me to stop quickly while being hypervigilant about what may be coming up behind me. Rather than lifting the visor up to get my glasses fogged up, I simply wipe away the moisture on my visor.

Not a fun situation, and ways to deal with it are limited.

I'll take riding in a driving rain rather than a fogged faceshield or dense fog. For fog, its slow and pray everyone else slows down too!

Last summer I was heading south from Newmarket to Toronto on Hwy 404. I went from clear, bright sunshine to dense - can't see 3 feet in front of me fog - in the blink of an eye. And I was doing 140kmh! Fortunately I was in the right hand lane. I gradually slowed my speed - no sense jumping on the binders and getting hit from the rear. All I could do was try to pick up brake lights ahead and watch lines on the road to detect whether it was turning, straightening, etc. And then my visor fogged. I wiped it but everything was more of a smear. Still hard to see. So stupidly, I cracked my visor. My eye glasses did the same - fogged instantly. Now I was really puckering. Fortunately an off ramp emerged from the fog. I took it and got to the bottom of the ramp to find two police cars with their lights flashing blocking further access to the highway. I pulled over near them figuring better to be around this much brilliant light than standing on the shoulder of a road in the dense fog.

My advice - echoing what has already been said - don't ride in fog. If you hit it, pull over. Better to get where you are going late and alive, than to not get there at all.

I'm with Collyers, I don't know if it's worth driving in, particularly since in many instances, morning fog will dissipate with the rising sun.

Also, I remember reading a study where people driving automobiles were shown to, for some reason, actually begin slowly accellerating in fog-diminished visibility, rather than slowing down.

I ride in heavy fog regularly - I hate it, but have no real choice as my rides often take me all the way from Canberra to Sydney with fog covering the first 200 km or so. Even my mountain roads are often under heavy fog.

I have learned over many years that there are a few things that help. There is a stick-on inner shield from 'Fog City' that helps keep the visor reasonably clear. There are some spray on cleaners that do similar things, but don't seem to last.

I tend to ditch the glasses, and ride with the visor cracked open. A bit of water doesn't hurt, and the breeze blows most of the water particles off, just like in the rain. The biggest issue is visibility. I like to find a bigger vehicle travelling at the speed I'm happy with and stay in sight of its tail lights. If it goes off the road, so do I! That's the only drawback.

I have often reduced my speed to 80 km/hr in fog, particularly at night. Even that feels a bit fast and scary sometimes. Yep - Fog is the worst. It's also the most tiring riding you can do on public roads because of the high levels of concentration required. Avoid it if you can, but be slow and careful if you can't.

BTW - where I live, fog is actually clouds given that local roads often run up to over 4k feet. Waiting out the fog means waiting up to a few or several hours - something I don't have the patience to do. I realize waiting is better than being dead, but if my primary preoccupation was staying alive, I wouldn't be riding...

In the end, we use our sense and survival instincts to the max when riding a motorcycle. I try to do what I can within my own bounds of common sense and fear in such situations. What everyone suggests here works. It's up to each of us to blend these lessons and suggestions for our particular situation at a particular time.

I was bush in rural NSW late one night and down came the fog, a real issue as there were no edges on the road etc, my brilliant (at the time) solution was to ride up the white line, worked really relly well untill I came across a car doing the same thing going the other way! I'm not sure who was more frightened! I once read that in the early days of motoring to get the headlights to penetrate the fog they put newspapers on the glass. I found the worst was that the headlight beam gets bounced back at you.

I have often reduced my speed to 80 km/hr in fog, particularly at night

If you can do 80 in the fog it's not fog. Fog is when it's hard to do 20. Often I've found the real issue is not the fog but the mist on the helmet. You have to keep wiping. But keep the visor down or you will get mist on the inside and then you are screwed.

Deleted in the interest of maintaining good relationships.

MIXR sorry to throw cold water over you but I also know weather I live in the UK. Weather is a national sport. And I understand the differance between KM and Ml we live next door to europe. I stand by what I say if you can do 80Km which is 40 to 45Ml then it's not realy a problem.