I got to know my Dyna a lot better today.

And I am happy to learn that she could care less about rain and hail.

I got pelted with rain and hail from Woodland Park, CO all the way back home to Golden, CO. Yes, I was drenched. But my scoot didn't skip a beat. She held on to the wet road just like spider-man on the side of a building defying all laws of physics. At times it felt like she was just smiling as if saying… "Is that all you got?"

I Love my Harley!!!

 

Glad you made it, I rode the Tail Of The Dragon last year in the rain and I still haven't got the pucker out of the seat...

 

lots of guys always ask why I wear a full face helmet .. at 80 MPH on the edge of a bad storm (every road trip I have taken)... hail and rain hurts unless you have your noggin covered up. I was in one hell of a storm down on the colorado / utah border (may have skimmed wy. I don't remember exactly) down near Moab on the way to Green River UT. Man the hand of God opened up and wham.. glad you made it though safe. My dyna did not miss a beat either.. man and machine arrived to fight another day. (and eat mexican at the local diner) . A personal must after jousting a storm.

 

yes.. even normal size hale hurts like hell when it hits your face at speed over and over. Yesterday some of it got to the size of marbles. I did not have my full face and I wish I did. None of us did. We stopped and waited out the worse of it but once we got going again it started again too. The trip was only 90 miles but under those conditions it can seem a lot longer. There were twisty mountain country roads and highways on the way back. We did them all and got home safe and sound with the stock tires.

Of course, this morning when I woke up there was a new layer of hair on my chest and my sack feels heavier. hehe.

The funny thing is: Although I would not want to do it again, I felt way more satisfied after getting home from that ride yesterday than I do from a normal, fun (dry) ride. Glad you all made it home safe too.

 

Too many "perfect" weather rides to remember, but you will always remember the hail and rain rides. And yes hail sucks.

I ride with a half helmet, but in with my rain gear is a small snap on face shield. I only use it if the rain is bad, but when i use it I am glad to have it.

Whenever a new couple joins us for a trip, someone always asks "what happens if it rains? We stop and find a hotel?" My usual response is we put the rain gear on and continue the trip. It is amazing what you can do on a bike in bad weather if you have the right gear with you. As long as you are dry (mostly) and warm it might suck but you can keep going.

Twice I called it a day in bad weather, both times it was near the end of the day anyway, and both times we had just been out there too long and started getting cold. Cold and wet is the worst.

Both of those days I can give you a full narration of what happened, remember the hard times.

 

Worse time was riding home from a rally in the rain. No Helment, No windshield, No glasses. I had to put the palm of my hand over my face and open 2 fingers up just enough to see thru the crack and drive. It was hell....and very stupid. I was 19 at the time so i claim youthful ignorance lol.

 

So far, I have not been caught in hail but if you ride here on the Gulf Coast, you are going to get into some rain eventually. Usually that big 'ol fat rain that feels like June bugs hitting your face. I caught some yesterday even though rain was not predicted. And, I caught it unprepared. I don't worry so much about my face but not being able to see. All I had with me were my over-glasses Bobster dark goggles that do not seal around my eyes and the spray would get all over my glasses and inside my goggles. There were several times I was concerned that I could not see well enough to react to a threat in time. It was really bad when I was behind a flatbed truck that was hauling grass sod and pulling a forklift on a trailer that was going 20 mph below the limit and we could not pass. I usually carry ski type goggles with different colored lenses that seal around my eyes and are treated to shed water for bad weather but it was not supposed to rain...and they were in my throw-over bags hanging up in the garage.

Dammit Murphy!

 

Hail hurts on the face...is an understatement. Flys and other bugs hurt the face at 70, with getting pelted with hail at highway speeds I am surprised that you have a face left. LOL

Ride On!

 

Never ridden in hail, but lots of times in rain.

This past Saturday, I wanted to go to Bass Pro and Cabelas which are about a 35 minutes away from me. Weather report said we would have some serious storms around noon, so I figured I could take the bike and be back in time to miss it. I didn't really think that I got the weather report for my zip code and I had been traveling west. So the weather was going to hit there before it got to my zip. I was halfway home when it started raining very hard. I had a 3/4 on but didn't have my snap on bubble shield on it. Also didn't have my rain gear. Did have a pair of clear goggles. The rain did sting my lower face pretty good. I tried putting my left hand over my mouth for a bit, but then the wind gusts started and if felt like I got pushed sideways a couple times. So I just sucked it up and motored on. Stopped raining about 10 minutes after I got home.

Oh and I think this may have been the heaviest rain I've ridden in since I put on the Arlen Ness Big Sucker. I kind of wondered if I would need a rain sock, but if the bike sputtered or ran a bit worse in the downpour, I couldn't really tell.

 

Picture of the hail from Sturgis in 09'. Fortunately I was pulling into the campground just as it started to get bad. I was caught in a couple of storms that week that were no fun at all, but I lived through them and have stories!

The hail was big and coming down hard enough to do this to my campground neighbors fender. I am surprised more people weren't injured.