*Excellent!! Thanks for sharing! * On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 8:00 PM, Stumpi <[email protected]> wrote:
> I've had an interesting day. > > I took my weekly 4 hour trip today and started off on the wrong foot. > I was stopping on the side of the road to adjust my music and as I was > slowing down I apparently was a little too aggressive with the front > brake because before I know it I'm standing over a running bike lying > on it's side. Nothing but my shoes hit the ground and the only damage > was a bent shift and clutch lever. I rode it home spent 20 minutes > hammering the shift lever back into shape, threw a spare clutch lever > on it, and then rode out to try again. > > It was a hot sunny day and the short jaunt I had made before my little > spill had left me drenched in sweat, I decided to leave my riding > jacket and gloves at home this time. The next few hours were filled > with beautiful scenery, nice roads, getting lost, a lack of traffic, > the lovely scream of my little Nighthawk, and everything a good ride > should have. However 30 minutes from home I began to see a line of > dark clouds on the horizon. This puzzled me because the radar had > only shown popcorn when I left. I rode on hoping it would pass by the > time I reached it. About the time I got under the edge I found a good > place to stop and I stowed my phone and wallet under the seat, there > was no way I was avoiding this one. I also phoned my father to let > them know I was probably going to be late for dinner. He suggested I > find a bridge and wait for it to pass. I've never been a particularly > patient person and I decided to blow through it. > > About 5 minutes after I hung up it found me. My boots had an inch of > water in them inside of 30 seconds. I've ridden in rain before but > this was one hell of a storm! The rain stung like hornets but after a > minute or two the nerve endings realized they're weren't going to win > and shut up. Lightning and thunder what a sight! A bolt comes down > 500 yards off the road ahead of me and the thunder rattles the keys on > the handlebars "Haha this is one hell of a show!" I yelled through my > helmet. I was still doing about 50mph when the wind started really > blowing. It was blowing across the road driving the rain and me > sideways. I slowed down to 30 but I was rapidly loosing visibility, I > had to stop. As I slowed down I realized the rain hadn't stopped > hurting even though I wasn't moving. It occurred to me a second later > I was getting hit with hail the size of .22s and I looked left across > the field I had stopped next to. It looked like a snow storm, the > wind was playing with the curtains of hail and rain blowing them up > like whitecaps on an angry ocean. I just stood in awe of nature's > fury for a minute or two just sitting there idling and ignoring the > little needles bead blasting the outer layer of skin off my arms and > neck til it slowed enough that I could get past the field. > > I crawled on for 2 minutes at 20-30mph til the hail finally stopped > and the wind slowed enough that I could see. As soon as I got back up > to speed a bolt hits a tree 50 yards ahead and to the left of me as if > nature was taking a parting shot after failing to get me with the > hail. It rang my ears good and I practically jumped off the seat from > the shock wave but maybe next time nature. It took 10 minutes for the > after image of that bolt to clear from my retinas. The rain slowly > tapered off as I pulled up to a intersection that had a restaurant > with a handful of bikes parked out in front of it. As I pull away I > hear cheers and yells from the covered veranda, apparently they at > least found me amusing. "Well damn if this isn't living I'm not sure > what is!" I told myself. And I then spent 20 more rather chilly > minutes riding the rest of the way home in and out of little > squalls. :) > > I have to lend credit to both my little bike and that helmet. The > Hawk didn't squawk one bit even when it was coming down hard enough > you could've considered it a water cooled bike. It was idling a > little funny at the stops til it dried out but ran beautifully on the > road. While everything else on me was soaked my head was completely > dry, no seepage through the visor, no leaking around the neck, > nothing. I still couldn't see very well but I was using bug guts as > RainX so I wasn't expecting miracles. The system itself was one of > the most powerful lake effect thunderstorms I've seen in quite a while > and I got front row tickets for it. :) > > So who else has some good storm stories? > > Matt > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<nighthawk_lovers%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. > > -- * * * * -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
