Motorcycles: Riding in the Rain

Mary Ann dragged me off to the library this morning for a walk, with the promise of stopping at an outdoor cafe on the way home. While in the library, I flipped open the latest Cycle Canada, and read the editorial by the new editor Neil Graham. It was a thought provoking article. Because of this summer's weather in Ontario, Neil was finally learning to deal with rain. One of Neil's comments: If it is already raining, then at least it can't get any worse.

I was reminded of a trip in 1988, returning from Florida with Roy. He was on his Kawasaki 1300 six, and I was on my Honda CBX (also a six cylinder). As we approached the border crossing at Detroit, on the way home, we encountered very heavy rainfall through all of Ohio. We were not really slowing down, and maintained about 130 kph in the passing lane of I-75, partly to avoid the heavy spray thrown up by the trucks which was being blown to the right by a strong west wind. I could hardly see (reminder: Helmet visors had no windshield wipers then, I guess they still don't.) But I could hear the motor sound suddenly change from the silky smooth howl of six-into-two semi racing pipes into a slightly ragged sound of a five cylinder bike. I guess the water had penetrated the ignition wires of one cylinder. Not to worry, though, the CBX had more than enough spare power to maintain speed. Then the sound got a little more ragged, and I was riding a four cylinder 650. About fifteen minutes later, I was down to riding a 500 cc triple. I decided I better catch up with Roy and announce the bad news while I still had enough power to keep up. We decided to find a motel for the night and see what we could do the next day. Next morning was dry, the motor started fine and ran perfectly all the way home. Then the next year, both of us were returning from California in a similar circumstance, we got soaked all through Ohio, but I had sealed the ignition over the winter and we made it without any cylinders giving out.

Usually touring riders keep their heads when it starts to rain. They know they are too far from home, and they put on rain gear. Or stop somewhere until it blows over. But some motorcycle commuters get caught in a rain shower unprepared, on the way home from work, and try to speed up in heavy traffic. They forget that the streets are slippery, and the number of idiots on the road is undiminished, possibly even increased in the rain. Then suddenly can get worse.

This summer, I noticed a lot more rain in Southern Ontario myself, but I only got caught twice. I find the weather forecasts are much better than they were in the old days. Once, this summer, I was out all morning in beautiful but threatening weather. Mary Ann and I were going to ride our bikes to Elora with a friend and stop at an outdoor cafe (I love those things), and at least the morning was supposed to be beautiful. Then problem number one hit, Mary Ann's Devil-Burgman decided to get a flat tire in the garage. I had to drive to Canadian Tire and get a tire plugging kit, then plug the leak before we could even start. The rest of the trip was perfect, but we could see threatening clouds beginning to build in the afternoon. Just after we dropped off our friend and were waiting for a traffic light right in the city, it started to rain enough to begin flooding the streets. I arrived home soaked right through. But it was still worth it.

Picture credit the Guardian (Covers PEI like the dew):