[thumper]

Finished puting the wifes TW back together last night, so today, I threw on my one piece snowmobile suit and went for a ride in the rain!

For those bay area TW owners, I went up Saratoga to skyline, turned left and went to blacks road, hwy 17 to summit road, across the hill into boulder creek, over the hill to bonny due and alone hwy 1 into santa cruz then back on hwy 9.

It was really a nice ride! golf ball sized rain drops dropping from the pine trees, pine needles, wet leaves, sand, dirt, gravel, falling rocks, falling trees, banana slugs, newts, and standing water.

The bike ran like a champ, no leaks anywhere. Covered approx 100 miles then came home and soaked in the hot tub for awhile.

I'll change the oil tomorrow.

Hope everyone else had a nice weekend.

 

[roadjanitor]

Hey,Igofar! I'm hanging out in Livermore this week. Brought the roommate to see her brother. Walked to the store around lunchtime and met a couple out riding their dual sports in the drizzle. Made me wish I had a bike with me to ride! Nice to know I'm not the only one who doesn't let a little moisture stop them. At least there isn't any dust!

 

[elime]

Larry -- I have ridden those roads many times. I also like to go north on Hwy 1 to either Swanton Rd, Gazos Creek Rd, Pescadero Rd or La Honda Rd. Any of those are great to ride on.



Last week I went over Hwy 9 to the Big Basin Turnoff, made a U-turn and came home. On the way up the hill a truck gets on my tail so I pick up speed. It gets back on my tail so I pick up speed again. For a third time its on my tail and just as I am about to go to wide open throttle the red and blue lights come on. Dang! It is "Ranger Rick" and he wants to know why I am doing 55 in a 45 zone. I am a slow thinker in pressure situations and not wanting to inflame things I meekly said something stupid like "I don't know". In his infinite generosity he took my info and let me off with a warning. Later, as I was riding home, I thought of you and your experience a couple of years ago. Man, I wish I had been a little sassier. If you go the speed limit up there, especially on the Santa Cruz side of the hill, all you do is hold up traffic. I know it, he knew it and I bet the pressing reason he pulled me over was I had knobbies on my TW. Or perhaps as you said before, I was all he could catch. The kamikazes up there often exceed 100 mph. I would like to see him catch one of those guys in his 4X4! Tony

 

[Rohnsman]

Just curious... Does not the rain make the roads much slicker and thus a little hazardous on two-wheels?

 

[srs713]

Just curious... Does not the rain make the roads much slicker and thus a little hazardous on two-wheels?

Yes and no...



at first the water will bring the oils up out of the pavement. The first few minutes of rain are the most dangerous. Light rain is the worst for this. But a good hard rain will actually wash oils away, leaving the road cleaner & better to drive on.



The main problem with water on the road is hydroplaning. With the round cross section of a motorcycle tire it is less likely to ride on top of the water than car or truck tires. Knobby tires are even less likely to hydroplane.



That said, you do have to watch out for paint. Cross walks, turn arrows, etc, will be slippery when wet. But the majority of road surfaces used today are designed to grip tires wet or dry. And of course during the Fall, layers of leaves can be bad on some back roads.

 

[elime]

Just curious... Does not the rain make the roads much slicker and thus a little hazardous on two-wheels?

It is a dry rain!

 

[Babaganoush]

I have fond memories of 'flying' my 1960 Pontiac Catalina aircraft carrier down those sweeping turns coming down the mountain into San Jose bad shocks and springs et al. You didn't really drive it--more like sailing it.



When I do get caught in the rain I am glad I have the modulating flashing headlight so other drivers can see me better in the poor visibility. You will wipe out in a second putting any lean on those plasticized road markings and crosswalks. Open grate metal bridges are fun too.

I live on a 35mph state road within an 8 iron of a wicked corner. Drivers will do much more than 35 and that is OK when it is dry. In the wet they come in too fast and skid across the road, fishtail, and sometimes end up in my field or down the embankment and need a tow and get a ticket. So heads up out there.



Dave

 

[Xracer]

A short time ago I was riding the Dub home on a hot,sticky Florida afternoon when a soft rain started. It felt so good...nice and cool.I slowed down to enjoy it when "BOOM" a big ass bolt of lighting struck the ground! Then it was Come on Dubbie I know you can go faster then this, throttle to the stop dash home. Rain can be nice but watch out for the light show.