Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Riding Technique Tips for riding in the rain

When some friends and I rode to Laconia , NH a few years ago it was raining when we left and only got worse the farther we rode. It rained so hard I couldn't see the tail light of the guy in front of me. The farther we rode the colder it got too. None of us had rain gear, except 1. Wendy stayed on the back of my bike and my friends wife on his even though there was a van they could have gotten into. The 2 new rides commented on how tough Tom and I were but it wasn't that, it was that we wanted to get there! Once we hit the northern end of Vermont we finally gave up and spent the night in a motel. We were freezing and wet to the bone. My room had an oven and we took turns turns "cooking" our clothes to dry them. I have a shot of my boots that looks like a guy is laying in the oven. I still have them with the liner of the tongues burned. It made for a great time even with the rain. We hooked up with a stranger on an HD dresser about 1/4 of the way into the trip and he rode with us and even shared a room with one of the guys in our group.

Good story Ian! So what's your tip in all of this... remember not to leave yer clothes in the oven too long?

That could be drawn from the story. One of our group got in the vans blind spot coming out of a parking lot and was run over by the trailer so you should always be aware of your surroundings. We had 2 novice riders and he was one. No injury except his pride. I had a close call on some paint at a toll booth but didn't go down just had the back tire kick out a little. You can wear a trash bag under your leather to keep you dryer than if you didn't have one. You still get soaked in the kind of rain we rode in though. It sucks to see through little round sun glasses in the rain. A 71 Triumph Bonneville doesn't want to start after being trailered across several states in the driving rain. Same Bonnie will stop dead when the center stand catches on the trailer ramp when the ramp is in a ditch.(That one was pretty funny) A hair dryer will dry the points out enough to ride into town after trailering a 71 Bonnie across several states in the driving rain. Never put a hot gas grill on a plastic folding table. Don't set up your tent at the bottom of a steep hill in a low spot when it's raining. (My friends were floating on their air mattress in the AM. A pretty funny sight.)The list goes on from that trip. It is one of our best memories and was great fun. Bunch of bikers having a blast laughing and having a great time despite the weather. My friend I have mentioned that is in prison now was on the trip and he says he thinks of it often and asks for more pictures on it often and I always seem to dig a couple up. Probably should have edited this with a list and numbers but got too far before I thought of it.

Almost forgot, never stick your finger in an electric fly swatter!
We had just gotten done explaining to this Guy Steve why that wasn't a good idea when my other friend Richie walked up behind us and all I saw was a blue flash. Well you guessed it, he walked up and did just that! He wasn't right for a couple hrs.

Try to stay upright and

don't bother with the umbrella ella ella...

Dang, the way you tell that story it just gets better and better. I woulda loved to have been there to share all those hardships. But the part that got me gut shakin' laughin' was this...

Quote:

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Almost for got, never stick your finger in an electric fly swatter!
We had just gotten done explaining to this Guy Steve why that wasn't a good idea when my other friend Richie walked up behind us and all I saw was a blue flash. Well you guessed it, he walked up and did just that! He wasn't right for a couple hrs.

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Does life get any better than this? Glad you shared this story Ian... memorable stuff for sure!!!!

Funny thing is Keith , I don't think the trip would have been as good without all the crap we had thrown at us. That and we had the right bunch of people. No complainers we just laughed harder the worse it got.I wouldn't change a thing.

Beware of seal-coated parking lots.
I rode through a Miami canal-flooder
26mi to school, no problem.
I kid you not, ten feet from my parking spot
I turned a corner, dragged a leeetle front brake...
DOINK! At 3mph, no less
It seems I have a harder time picking the bike up when
it falls on the right side than the left...
Maybe it was just my back acting up.
A burly Good Samaritan interrupted his smoke break
to help. Live & Learn or Crash & Burn.

Good one Dave!

You think this is a tough crowd?
In my high school, after the football team sacked the quarterback,
They went after his family....