And the WORST part of riding..  By  novaraptor (Read 4,416 times)

My most hated discomfort is the cold but I'm pretty well geared up for that with my full-face helmet, scarf & insulated gloves. I also hate being near cars & almost forgot about that, because I'm able to avoid it for the most part now.

Looking out off my porch yesterday during a downpour, I tried to imagine riding in that. I've ridden motorcycles in moderate rain and it's not too bad, especially if you have a windshield but a thunderous downpour would suck. I am going to scope out places in town where I can take shelter if a big storm hits while I'm shopping. I think the car wash should work well, since not many people are going to be washing their cars in the rain.

Geez, I forgot about that.
I might fear that even worse than the cold?
I don't know what's going on in that engine but I'm pretty sure it's magic.

howdey, on the freeway , nose to tail, with all the rain/mud/oil/tadpoles etc hitting ya EVERYWHERE

lotsa miles and smiles to ya
ken

I'll add my vote to rain being the worst part for me, but I have a special love-hate relationship with the rain on my bikes. I've had one spinout on my scooter, caused by too much throttle around a turn on a fresh light sprinkle raised the oil, stepped off the scooter, no big deal. I've had one major wipeout on my old Honda 550 when I was riding into Salt Lake City from the east more than 25 years ago.

It was a little past 11pm, raining sheets, and I was determined to get into town rather than pull off the road and sit it out, poor choices we make when young. The highway going into SLC from the east goes down a pretty steep incline, bad enough to have those break-aways for trucks every quarter mile or so. Even though it was raining sheets, and the wind was gusting above 35mph across the road, I had not had too much trouble up to this part of that day's ride.

I think I was letting down my guard knowing the end of the trip and a hot shower was less than 20 minutes away, because I sure didn't see the situation coming till it had already gotten out of hand. All of a sudden two semis come up from behind me way faster than they should have been in those conditions, and I only noticed the leader, and not the idiot drafting behind him . The first one passed me on the left, and I braced for the whipping I knew was coming from the combo of the high crosswinds and the semi's wake. Instead I heard the sound of the second semi's air-horn blaring, I swear he was less than 15 yards behind the first semi. I didn't expect a second truck to be there, and the jarring of the air-horn caused me to turn to see what was happening, and right then a crosswind took my fairing.

Next thing I know I've got a tank slapper breaking the edges of my lower fairing, I take a quick look back to be sure there isn't a third semi truck drafting behind the other two, and lay my baby down as soft as I could. I went diagonal across the highway into the grassy median. This is the only point I was thankful for the heavy rain, as the median was so muddy I slid for ever before coming to a surprisingly gentle stop.

It took me several minutes to get my helmet off, the slide had filled it with mud and grass, turning it into a suction cup on top of my head. I then spent the next half hour cleaning mud out of my bike. I got back on the road about an hour after the accident, limped into Salt Lake City, and into the KOA. I shouted at the desk clerk to come outside, asked if he had a hose, a spot to set up camp, and hot showers. Scariest, and luckiest ride of my life, and the reason I have a love-hate relationship with the rain!

Any UFO hitting you at Highway speeds. A bird, bad tempered vespula, swarm of love bugs or one of our face sized spiders is one reason I always wear a full faced helmet with the visor down year round. Getting one of those spiders or vespula inside your helmet or under your clothing is probably equal. Can't understand those that leave their helmets out on their bikes here in Semi-Tropical Florida where a venomous spider, snake(coral or pigmy rattler) or vespula/wasp/killer bee might take up residence.