Yesterday I went went for a ride on my WM20 with my mate Tony on his ES2. I was wearing a leather trench coat and my DR helmet. . We did 80 trouble free miles then stopped in a pub for sandwiches and a beer. While we were in there it started to rain really hard, so by the time we went out the bikes were drenched. Tony's ES2 started up no trouble but my WM20 was having non of it.. I told Tony to go home and I would sort myself myself out. After half an hour my bike still wouldn't start so I phoned the ex Mrs to come and give me a lift home, but I was soaked by then. Just before before she arrived I got the WM20 started but asked her to follow me home to make sure I got there.
One minute away from home with my engine running ok I stopped by a flood in the road. Some bastard in a big 4x4 went through it at high speed throwing up a tsunami higher than I am tall. As it hit me it almost knocked me off my bike, and it turned into a cloud of steam where it hit my hot engine and exhaust.
When I got on my drive way I went back to the exMrs car to thank her for coming to my rescue. She was laughing so much she could hardly talk. But eventually said that when the wave of water hit me, on my green bike, with the trench coat and army helmet on, then the big cloud of steam, it looked like a scene from the beeches on Saving Private Ryan.
She wished she'd got it on video as it would have been worth £250 on that tv program You Have Been Framed
Anyway, I think it was rain water running down the HT cable into the mag pick up, or down the advance/retard cable into the points, both of which are now slathered in grease to keep the rain out.
[' Some bastard in a big 4x4 went through it at high speed throwing up a tsunami higher than I am tall.']
Don't you love 4x4 drivers?...
The memory is still vivid of lying in a lane with my foot trapped under the Sportster (after a spill on some gravel) with all the skin grazed off one knee and the knuckles of one hand...
Basically I was stuck until a car came along the (quiet) lane...I thought I was OK when the 4x4 came along...and in a way I was....
He managed to squeeze by slowly without actually f*****g running over me... and then went on his way...Great Bloke.... 
...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
It sounds like quite an experience Peter (And Ian..)
Basically, I remember reading that the HT wire should be greased
In the section around the cable input, in order to stop water entry.
After getting stacked once in the rain I greased it,
and did not have any problem since...
Noam.
email (option): noam10@gmail.com
I use the rubber covers for both the HT lead and the ADV/RTD cable fitting and apply Vaseline liberally both over and under the rubber covers...
A nice man told me years ago you just can't beat rubber and Vaseline...
...
However, I also always carry one of the very small tins of WD 40 just in case, along with a few small pieces of card to clean between the contact breakers after the WD 40 is applied....Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
Best waterproofer anywhere, and proven in loads of IDST events is good old Dum-Dum.
no thats not a joke, its old fashioned windscreen sealer, like sticky black plasticine.
old fashioned car acessory shops should stock it.
bung lumps of it round HT leads and pick ups, tops of coils, any electrical bit needs waterproofing; it peels off nicely when you need it to.
As for 4x4 drivers..............
Do you mind chaps !!!!! I have a 4 x 4 and am (hopefully) a responsible driver and after 28-plus years in the Plod, including traffic, I would hope so......!!!!
Why've I got a 4 x 4 ? 'Cos I live in the country with shite and/or flooded roads, etc, and need the 2 + ton towing capacity to haul the trailer with WD-iron on board..........
Whilst I appreciate the comments are humorous, I bet I'm not the only one on here with a 4 x 4........but I am also a responsible driver and a WD motorcyclist too.........
And as for criticism of Indian-manufactured parts, I take enormous offence as my wonderful wife Vee (Vidya) is part-Indian.....(there's a clue in the name...)
Wettest ride EVER was coming back from Normandy over 10 years ago now in the company of Peter Brown.........I was on the W/NG and Peter on a G3L........
The heavens opened the minute the ferry docked at Portsmouth......
But both bikes never missed a beat back up along the Meon Valley route........no waterproofing either other than the factory standard.........
But I was soaked through like never before........even my boots could be poured-out after that run..........
Heard that grease and Vaseline are also good for waterproofing those vital ignition components....... 
Anyone with doubts about the waterproofing procedure should re-watch the 'Army Motor-Cycling' film. It has full instructions on preparation for wading.
Gents, thanks for the waterproofing tips. I got caught out in a storm again on it today but this time it kept going with the greased up cables.
And I think everybody on this site is to sensible to seriously be predjedised about any segment of society.
Mind you- if I'd like to kick the ar#e of the of the driver that drowned me
Lol Peter !!! I'd do the same.........where we live most 4 x 4's are used for what they were intended for, not as a second vehicle to transport one very small child less than a mile away for the daily school run......
And Vidya agrees that some Indian-made parts are utter shite !!! ....I mean, there is one image currently on Ebay offering primary cases for the James ML in steel when the feckin' engine unit is an egg-shape all-alloy unit-construction jobbie...!!!
"where we live most 4 x 4's are used for what they were intended for, not as a second vehicle to transport one very small child less than a mile away for the daily school run...... "
nip down the road to my bit of Wiltshire where the roads are more shite than yours, where the running water carves ditches out the asphalt, or the standing water grows algae all year round.
its all those. and more, you forget Ffiona's pony club.
No dirty 4x4's around here, the school run is what they are bought for.
to complete the set driven by some vain blonde,sunglasses in all weathers, scared witless by anything coming the other way, can't judge its width, terrified of scratching it on the hedges, so won't move over, can't reverse,
thinks ABS works sliding sideways on black ice, has those poxy high intensity headlamps on main beam all day........ late for a coffeee orning or manicure.
exaggerate?
not a bit, in fact one knocked on my door to ask if I could get the wretched thing out of our permanent mud as she didn't know how to switch the 4x4 on.
nothing personal, but if you need a 4x4 get a bloody Landrover, the poncy posturing rest of them I hate, I have more close shaves with them than anything else, on foot or 2 /4 wheels.
Our local horse riders hate them also.
they charge through our inches deep muddy slop regardless soaking anyone nearby, me, dogs, kids in prams.
Ever tried to get one to stop after an minor RTA? best you'll get is hysterics down their mobile.
Sorry Steve nothing personal.
apologies for off topic rant.
Apart from a Transit van I also run 2 Land Rovers, one is a 1958 series 2 & other is a more modern Range Rover.
I do lots of towing & have a long rutted track entering my property & they go where a transit can't, the "4x4 thing" reminds me of the "all bikers are hooligans" thing.
The worst drivers round our way are these things..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19wYCVGJBcM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
It is indeed a "driving without due care and consideration" traffic offence, but in recent times can also be considered as an assault....although for the latter you need to prove "intent", etc..........
I love Land Rovers, but when obtaining a 4 x 4 I also had to consider long-distance driving and the comfort of my passengers (Mrs M, plus teen daughter/granddaughter) plus me.......I am plagued with arthritis nowadays (at only 50) a legacy of knackering my body in earlier years and having experienced Landy's over years in the military and plod I decided to err on the side of comfort for a change............
I think, in summing up, this is no different to the stereotypical "bearded Volvo driver" of earlier years renowned for always pulling out of a side-road in front of an oncoming motorcycle..........we've all seen it and experienced similar, but for me I'm never a great one for "labels"...........any idiot behind the wheel of anything can be a risk to all......
Ken ! I know Wiltshire well........I grew up in rural Wilts and most of my family still live in (Royal !) Wootton Bassett...........