Hey guys...

Well, today was the worst. There was like a 20 % chance of rain today, which in So Cal USUALLY means no rain at all, so my friend Ben & I decided to take a little New Years ride to the 74 freeway ( which is about 30 miles from my house & one of the best rides ). We start out & all is good. We get to the 74 & stop at Dennys for a quick smoke before the twisties. Usually it takes about 30-40 minutes to finish the ride. We're off. About 15 minutes into the ride, we feel a couple rain drops, but no big deal. Another 5 minutes pass & we are by the bar " Hells Kitchen ", a great biker bar. The rain is coming down a little bit but not too bad at all. My friend Ben is hungry & wanted to let the rain pass, so we decide to stop. BAD FRIGGIN' IDEA. I swear, at that exact moment of dismounting our bikes ( mine a Street Bob & his an 05 Deuce ), god let us know how small we really were. The sky opened up. Now, i've only rode in a downpour one time in my life ( ironically, the first week I had my Kawi Drifter, & this, ironically, is the second week i've had my Bob ). So he eats, I have a cup of coffee, & we wait. This rain isn't letting up at all. I go outside & actually prayed like i've never prayed before. About an hour later, the rain begins to subside. We were actually getting ready to call Ben's brother in Murrietta who has a quad trailer to come get us, but we had no cell service in this area & there were no pay phones. So we were like, " Screw it, it's letting up, let's try ". Off we go. We didn't get any more than 5-10 more miles before god told me I didn't pray enough, & the sky opened back up. We were roughly 70 miles from my house. We went for it. We finally made it to the bottom of the twisties ( with a line of cars behind us, as we were having to do between 20-30 miles per hour ) & get back to highway 15 south. This was the scary part. We drove no faster than 50 on the highway, as neither of us could see at all. The cold was getting to both of us & we weren't able to move at all on our bikes. We pulled over in Murrietta for a second to see if each other was ok. We weren't but we didn't want to stay any longer, so off we went. About another hour & change later, we got back to Oceanside & my house. I've been cleaning my bike ever since, as it's covered with dirt. I'll really really have to wash it up this week, but I was afraid of rust, so I went at it with an old t-shirt and an old pair of underwear ( as i've found, this works really well if you have the denim paint option ). I dried it the best I could, & then dried me the best I could.

That's my story in a nutshell. If there is more than a 5 % chance of rain in the future, my *** is staying home. On the bright side, the Street Bob handled like a dream in this horrible weather, was a little bit of a bitch to clean, but not too too bad. I will never ever bad mouth wearing chaps again, as they saved my life today.

I hope everyone has a happy new year & ride safe.

Later,
Chap

 

Dont like wet rides too much either.

Same on the Chaps..... was never a big fan, but they have been a blessing enough times that I hate to ride without them anymore.
But yesterday they about killed me !
Wife and I go out for a ride, end up a one of the many small camp/historic sites in the woods out here along the River and she decides the Nature Trail is worth doing.
Up and Down..... seemed more UP than down, these steep slippery slopes.... our riding boots and chaps, Leather coats, ect.....
Geezzeee....
I was praying a Cotton Mouth would just put me outta my misery !
Just short of the mild stroke I was about to have... and 3 miles later... we finish the "Short" version of the trail.
( Note to self..... Research these things before hand... Map in the pamphlet explained the length and trail directions.... provided in the little wood box at the start/end of trail would have been worth having BEFORE we started out, instead of picking it up AFTER we got back ! )

Lesson Learned....
TAKE the BAGS !
I know I hate to..... But when wife goes along.... TAKE THE BAGS !!!!!!!
I would have left the Leathers in the Bags, and changed footwear had I known we were gonna hike.
Seems like whenever the wife goes with.....we need carrying/storage capacity..... TAKE the BAGS !

Getting back to the wet ride.....
Feel for ya Bro...
Had only a couple so far, and visibility both for myself..... and the cagers scare the crap outta me !!!!!
Too much to worry about, and if possible I will sit them out if I am in any position to.
( Need to add a small Tarp to the "Must Carry" list" to keep in the bottom of my bag.. Emergency Tent ! )

Glad it only cost you some cleaning hours, and you and your friend are well.
Best washings my bike ever gets, is after I get caught in rain/wet roads !
Maybe the Big Guy is trying to tell me something ?

Anyways...................

Budds............................

 

I can sympathize with you guys. Back in 2004 when I was still riding my Kaw, at the end of a poker run on July 3 it started to rain in between the last two stops. By the time we got done at the last stop and all prizes were handed out it had stopped. It still was threatening even though there was no forecast for it. Anyway, by the time I got home an hour later, everything was so wet from the downpour that started five minutes after I left the last stop that it took three days to dry out. I had no rainsuit or chaps at the time. Since then have bought both rainsuit and chaps.

Mark.

 

been there... done that... no T shirt though..

Was riding back east in Virginia - just outside of RIchmond the sky just opened up... I pulled into a rest stop and donned my HD rain gear... which kept me from getting any wetter... the problem is that in the south rain does not mean cold... most often it means harm or even hot. So I had my own private sauna.. talk about a miserable ride.

 

That's pretty much what kept me going. I knew I wasn't the first, & I knew I wouldn't be the last...

Later,
Chap

 

Time for all the stories to come out.....

In March 1981 I rode my Kaw 750 LTD from home near Myrtle Beach to Denver where I'd just been stationed in the USAF. Worst frekkin' ride of my life, brothers and sisters! Cold, wet, stopped for snow twice. No saddle bags, just a heavy coat and a change of clothes. Really the most miserable ride of my life.

Can't wait to ship my wide glide back to the mainland and do it again in a year or two!

 

Chaps, I was real close ti going to Cooks on the bike same day, but chose to stay home........god call I guess.

I live in San Clemente...we should ride sometime.

 

Lived in England for 4 years, if I had a dollar everytime I got caught in the rain I'd be rich. Now I'm in SC and it seems everytime I go to the beach I get caught. I just pull my pull my shirt up over my face, stick the cell phone in the back of my pants, and go.

 

I didn't go out because of the same storm. I had the same thing with the rain and grime soaked bike a month ago. I just stayed out too long.

Rainy days are for cleaning the garage and bike anyway...

 

Hell yeah Grizz, if you dont mind riding with an old Corpsman..., got out in 2001 from the Hospital at Pendleton & now work there as a civilian...

Later,
Chap