Mother Nature

[emaN]

The elements being what they these past couple days (up north anyway), got me a-wonderin', specifically:

What's the worst or most extreme conditions you've ridden in? Heat/snow/storm/hail/ice/fire etc...

There's people from all over the globe on KB, be interesting to know.

I'll start the ball rollin':

Us and our ElectraGlide got thrown around by a "little" tornado over in the US, having ridden thru' 53 C heat the day before!

got caught out in the snow once, returning back to London from the coast... (took me a while to figure out what the 'sludgey' stuff was that i couldn't wipe off my visor!)

spent 4 days riding in heavy rain with mates last year; so much for a "boys thrash" thru' the Alps! (good for wet weather riding practice tho').

You lot?

[froggyfrenchman]

got caught out in snow on the napier taihape rd on the gravel for 45mins at night. riding a 400, no gloves, headlight blew in first 5mins, just tshirt on under jacket. for those who dont know the road, the whole time,i diddnt see any tarseal, not a single house or even road sign. Seriously considered givin up bikes that night!

[emaN]

dude...that sounds nasty!
but it made you appreciate your "one-ness" with nature, didn't it?
yeah right...

[Pwalo]

I ride in Wellington. Enough said!! Wind, rain, hail, snow (once), ice, you name it.

Nothing beats a good old southerly complete with rain in the middle of winter. Oh fricken joy.

[leenok]

I used to ride to work in Dusseldorf in the winter, -15°c, snow & ice, got a bit sideways sometimes.
Bike was a KTM 640 SM.
I rode from Brighton (UK) to Prague in April on an R1, and it snowed, it took me 18hrs and when I arrived I could hardly move, literally just fell of the bike.

Lee

[Grahameeboy]

Back in 80's picked up a brand new Yamaha RD350YPVS and it snowed and I had to go down this very steep hill to get home...didn't ride it for 2 weeks whilst it snowed.....2 stroke with no engine braking....interesting!!!

Still in 80's rode back from Cornwall in driving rain for 8 hours.....stopped 10 miles from home.....I didn't even bother stopping except for gas, just wanted to get home and 10 miles from home sun comes out.

Fell down Ben Macdui in Scotland...

Those 80's were fun!!:brick:

[deathstar]

i went out and it was really really raining and i got wet and there was loads of water everywhere (and that was just this morning)

[Lou Girardin]

140 km/h plus crosswinds on the Himatangi straight. I pulled out to pass a cage and couldn't get back into my lane. Oncoming cars a km away get close awfully fast when you're shitting yourself.

[onearmedbandit]

Not a long trip, but rode home on a friends GSXR750 after work in heavy snow conditions here in ChCh back in the early 90's. Town was fine, good traffic flow and street lighting. However once I left the built-up area and onto dark country roads I realised I had no visibility very quickly. The only guide I had was a set of tail lights from a car a little ahead, so I caught up and followed them also using my memory of the road.

Which was perfectly fine until the car turned off, now I'd have to pull over blind and wait in a safe spot for another car to pass. The visibility was so poor that either visor up or visor down made no difference, I just could not see. Once a car was approaching I'd get back on and let it pass and quickly catch up 'hitching' a lift. A trip that normally takes just over 10 minutes took over 2hrs.

Then there was the time I got caught in a heavy hailstorm on my old gixxer 750 wearing jeans (and a helmet, leather jacket, etc, etc), got a few bruises that day....

[XP@]

Is hell endothermic or exothermic (hot or cold)
http://www.pinetree.net/humor/thermodynamics.html

Neither, it is +5degrees with horizontal rain.
1000km's wellington, new plymouth, taupo and back to wellington resulted in moderate hypothermia.
Cured with the help of my flatmate filling my vodka glass!

[Finn]

The worst conditions I've ever ridden in where on my wife's birthday. A trip to the shops took a couple of hours and when I returned it was like the Perfect Storm. Very nasty.

As my bike is mainly used for fun I rarely get caught out in bad weather.

[XP@]

The worst conditions I've ever ridden in where on my wife's birthday. A trip to the shops took a couple of hours and when I returned it was like the Perfect Storm. Very nasty.

As my bike is mainly used for fun I rarely get caught out in bad weather.
is that because you forgot her present?

[Finn]

is that because you forgot her present?

No. Just her birthday.

[SVrunner]

Badest weather just look outside as is continual wind & rain.
Scares most people at work that use cars. They are suprised that I still come to work on my bike. Maybe I should just stay home? Nah wheres the fun in that.
Worst weather is not the rain just the wind gusts that come & go.

[Karma]

Thought I'd managed to catch a break in the rain today on the way to work...

Wrong!

Got to Quay Street and bam... soaked...

Only another 8 hours of my shift left to go in soaked trousers and shoes :(

[vifferman]

A variety -
Hail: Riding my MT250 home in Rotorua in 1976, I got caught in a heavy hailstorm, with an open-face helmet and no gloves. I had to stop, put my head down so the peak on my helmet protected my face, and stick my hands under my armpits. Luckily I was nearly home, so getting soaked didn't matter. Plus I was young and indestructible...
Rain: I've ridden in some heavy rain, but the heaviest would've been at the end of 1996, when I was riding from Christchurch to Tauranga. Going up the western side of the Kaimais, the rain was so heavy it was running down the road about an inch deep, and overflowing the gutters. Riding was like being on a jetski. :eek5: I wasn't wearing any wet-weather gear (thoughtfully packed into the shipping container by my wife), so the borrowed ski pants I was wearing were soaked through in seconds. My gloves took slightly longer, as did my boots.
When I arrived at the in-laws' house, I tipped half a cupful of water out of each boot, and rung slightly more than that out of each glove. Strangely, my leather jacket, though soaked, kept at least half of my upper body dry.
A week after I got my Teknic jacket in 2000, it absolutely pissed down in D'Auckland for about 30 minutes (of course, that was the time I chose to go home). I discovered several things:

The pockets weren't waterproof. Wet wallet.
It's not a good idea to tuck the sleeves into the gloves (the same ones that filled up on the Kaimais!)
When it's horrible weather, a bike is the easiest way to get around.
The stormwater drains are inadequate for monsoon conditions. When I arrived at the bottom of Beaumont Street, the water was ponded about 100mm deep. I balanced as long as I could, then slowly and reluctantly lowered one (non-waterproof) boot toe into it.Wind: I've had several exciting trips over the bridge, one of which was when they were advising motorcyclists to NOT use it, and my wife actually rang me to tell me to take the bus. It was actually OK. But I have had one trip where I was a little scared, when even the cars were slowed to 40km/h, and I chaged lanes several times to minimise the effects of wind gusts.
Snow: I've ridden when it's been snowing twice, when I lived in Christchurch. The first time, it was on the way home, and everyone was creeping along. I just rode up the middle of the road in the slush. Once again, I was glad I was on the bike. The only problem was visibility: the visor got covered by snow when down, and when up, my helmet filled up and the snow stung my eyes.
Ice: I nearly rode one day, in the ice. It looked OK outside: cold, crisp but clear.
I set off, noticed the weird slidey feeling, put both feet down, gingerly did a U-turn outside my gate, and took the 4WD. Even that was sliding everywhere. Black ice. Nasty slippery stuff.
I may be crazy but I'm not stupid.


Ok. I may be stupid, but I'm not that stupid.

[MidnightMike]

On my mighty sj50:Punk: at night, it was so dam windy I was swerving all over the road and nearly got blown of a bridge! :crazy:

[dawnrazor]

Rode across a stretch of black ice about 200 metes long one winter, could actually feel the rear catching up on its self as it lost traction, some how held it together (no brakes, lots of praying) and came out the other side, a car behind me did a 360 spin and ended up in the gutter.

I think I was too cold to react and thats what saved me, will always remember the way the road twinkled as it caught the star light, ahhh.

[emaN]

Good effort the lot o' ya!

Must say i'm thankful for advances in rider clothing re warmth & comfort; newspaper & plastic bags get tedious!

Reckon we're pretty lucky to live in a country where (mostly) you can ride day in day out... Mates in the UK have put theirs away for 6-8 months, poor sods.

[Goblin]

The worst for me is FOG!!! Don't mind wind and rain so much, but I don't handle fog too well. Between Atiamuri and Mangakino was the worst fog I have experienced. Visor fogged up inside and out so I had to ride with it open, making my whole face freeze. Not nice when the nose runs so much ya end up licking it up!:p Also in the Waikato by Karapiro.

Have never ridden in snow but I would like to! Been at a Cold Kiwi when it snowed but we weren't riding in it. Have ridden in early morning frost but that's not so bad as the sun comes up. No black ice yet.

[2much]

The worst for me is FOG!!! Don't mind wind and rain so much, but I don't handle fog too well. Between Atiamuri and Mangakino was the worst fog I have experienced. Visor fogged up inside and out so I had to ride with it open, making my whole face freeze. Not nice when the nose runs so much ya end up licking it up!:p Also in the Waikato by Karapiro.

Have never ridden in snow but I would like to! Been at a Cold Kiwi when it snowed but we weren't riding in it. Have ridden in early morning frost but that's not so bad as the sun comes up. No black ice yet.

Oh yeah, gotta agree with you there. Hit it up the Kaimais, it's so hard to ride when you can't see 2 feet in front of you. After flying past loads of cars on the way up I had to slow to about 20-30k's, and that was pushing it!

[bladez]

i have riden in rain and the sun came out so i thought well lets dry the gloves and half way home it hailed god dame they hurt at 100kph with no gloves :angry:

[janno]

Howdy folks. The worst day riding I had was setting off about 9am in Perth when it was 25 degrees. Sun shining, birds singing, tralala etc. Of course a couple of hundred ks later (in a mind numbingly straight line too I might add) it was 42 degrees and time to come home. Like riding through a blast furnace. Fiendishly tempting to do as the locals do and ride in jandals and shorts. With a helmet on for safety's sake of course . . . At least when it's cold you can put more clobber on.

Janno.

[Waylander]

110 and up in summer farenhight (or whatever) and -3 in winter. Rain, hail, sleet, snow. Even that twister that hit the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex a few years ago. Weather doesn't scare me, it's the other loonies that drive in it that do.

Rain, Fog and new tyres would have to be the worst though.

[sjjkennedy]

I ride in Wellington. Enough said!! Wind, rain, hail, snow (once), ice, you name it.

Nothing beats a good old southerly complete with rain in the middle of winter. Oh fricken joy.

I ride in to Wellington each day also, regardless of weather. Must say the cheap boots and gloves combined with a wet day don't add much joy to what is normally a great ride to work. What gloves/boots have people used that have proven to be reliably waterproof?

Cheers
Scott

[the legend]

hay dude i rode in hale extreem wind and lightning and thunder all at once lol i have also riden in rain so hard that cars had pulled over cos of it and the road was submergen from all the rain............great fun i must add its all part of the experence

[Gixxer 4 ever]

- 6 on the Taupo road. :wacko: frozen solid from Tepohue. longest ride ever. Had all the gear. Only time I have ridden with a silk balaclava and liked it. Had to let the cars passed cos they would have run me over if I had fallen off. Came back 5 hours later and most of the ice was gone but in the shade she hit the rev limiter as the back lost traction. It was a game by then. :rolleyes:

Snow in Napier a few years ago. Rare to see snow here. Was fun for a while but it packs in front of the front tyre. Not fun. Sticks to the visor and you just can not see, or get it off. I have the nick name Captain Hurricane from my many rides in the rain. When I put a ride on we ride.........

Usual alone now cos they don't commit.........................................:cr ybaby:

[Zapf]

Hail on my 1st KB ride.....

Riding my new Honda VTR250 with 83km on the clock and riding experience. Didn't knew it was hailing until my visors fogged up and I lifted them abit... wondering why my lips are numb I tasted.... water? no... ICE..!