Motorcycle route planner with weather

What is a motorcycle route planner with weather?

A motorcycle route planner with weather is a route planner that checks the weather forecast for every section of the tour at the time you get there, instead of only showing the weather at the starting point.

On a motorcycle this matters more than in a car. A 300-kilometre day tour takes six hours or more with breaks. In that time showers pass through, and on the pass it is ten degrees colder than in the valley. A daily forecast for the starting point tells you nothing about that.

How does Fahrklar plan a motorcycle tour with the weather in mind?

Fahrklar calculates the route, splits it into sections and uses your pace to work out when you will be where. For each section, Fahrklar requests the hourly forecast for exactly that place and that hour: precipitation, temperature, wind, gusts and visibility.

The start time optimisation then checks every departure time in 15-minute steps within a window of three hours before and after your preferred time and suggests the departure with the largest dry share of the route. The guide explains the details: Optimise your start time.

Felt temperature: planning for riding wind on a motorcycle

The temperature in the weather report is rarely the one you feel on a motorcycle. For each section, Fahrklar calculates the riding wind from your pace plus the forecast wind, and the wind chill from that. At 8 degrees air temperature and 80 km/h it feels much colder than the thermometer shows.

This way you see before you leave which section will be the coldest and can plan a thermal liner, heated grips or a later start time, when the sun has already warmed up the road.

Gusts and crosswind on a motorcycle route

Strong wind is a safety issue on a motorcycle. For each section, Fahrklar splits the forecast wind into the part across the direction of travel and shows the peak gust.

Fahrklar warns from gusts of 50 km/h or 40 km/h crosswind; from 70 km/h gusts or 60 km/h crosswind the warning counts as critical. Bridges, passes and forest clearings are most affected, where the shelter of the surroundings suddenly disappears.

Planning a motorcycle tour and avoiding rain

The most reliable way to avoid rain is the start time. A shower often passes in one to two hours, and leaving half an hour earlier or later is often enough to miss it. After the shower, the road stays wet for a while: Fahrklar shows a grip estimate for each section that takes this into account.

If a band of rain cannot be avoided, the break planning (from the Starter plan) places a break that is due anyway in the section where the shower is expected and plans the fuel stop to match your motorcycle’s range. More on this in the guide Planning rain breaks.

Fahrklar, Kurviger and Calimoto: a complement, not a replacement

Kurviger and Calimoto specialise in finding twisty roads and navigating along the way. Fahrklar starts somewhere else and answers when you should ride a route and what awaits you along the way.

You can combine both: export a tour planned in Kurviger or Calimoto as a GPX file and import it into Fahrklar to check the weather along exactly that route. GPX import is included from the Starter plan and can be tested 1× per week in the Basic plan. The guide shows how it works step by step: Combining Komoot, Calimoto and Kurviger with weather.

Does this also work for convertible tours?

Yes. With the top down, a convertible exposes you to the weather much like a motorcycle. Fahrklar plans convertible tours with the same road profile, but calculates with around 100 km/h and a larger fuel range. Simply choose “Convertible” in the form above. The guide explains what matters when driving open-top: Planning convertible tours.

Frequently asked questions about the motorcycle route planner

Further reading

Planning motorcycle tours with the weather in mind
Rain, cold and wind per route section in the detailed guide.