Do you ride all weathers or just when it's dry? I used to ride in all weathers up till about 9 years ago then I decided I was getting too old for all that malarkey. Was fed up of freezing cold, wet hands and feet and riding started to become a chore. So I took the decision to just go out when the forecast is good. My mojo soon came back and I started enjoying it again. Plus my hands and tootsies stayed nice, warm and dry and the bike stays cleaner, for longer. What about you, what do you do?
With you dry days only. Almost got caught out on Sunday but managed to just catch the end os showers where ever i went. Can not see the point of wet rides. Regards Steve
Rode all weather for years... had a wet bike and a best bike lol! Lost interest in freezing hands/feet/nose etc about two years back, sold the VFR and got a diesel Clio. £30 a year tax 70mpg Roof Heater Stereo Bootspace etc lol! Such a relief to warm up and stay dry... "Oh no torrential rain!" "Let me put the wipers on..." :biggrin: Less dicking around cleaning the bike back up & a much more pleasant riding experience? Bikes aren't meant for bad weather no more than an open-top sports car is...
I be out and about all weathers on a 888 too (it dont half wind up the rivet counters) if you dont ride it it becomes a metal sculpture! regards Steve B PS OPEN TOP SPORTS CAR WE HAVE ONE OF THOSE TOO
Dry only by choice but if caught out by rain well you just have to get on with it. Also have a car for the wet days (Saab9-3 estate, 1.9 Turbo Diesel, 50 mpg, comfortable enough for 7 hour journey even with my bad back and loads of boot space). Too old now to enjoy riding in all weathers, mind you I hated it even when I was 20 but that was probably down to the crappy tyres we had then.
Prefer to go out in the dry or a dull day don't need it to be sunny Been caught up in many a rain shower but having the right kit helps I remember being pillion and it started snowing from Oulton Park back to Hereford was bloody hyperthermic by time we got back All in all just getting out riding is the main thing
All weathers for me, unless i feel its too dangerous. Use my 749 everyday for comuting can't afford to run another car. People say choose car or bike...... no choice there, Duke over car everytime. Make me smile whatever the weather. :smile:
All weathers, with the wright kit and heated handles you can keep warmish in our winters and stay dry as for cleaning that's what rain is for.
All weathers except ice and snow. Even below zero temps if it's been very dry (like last winter when I saw -7 degC on the M5).
Dry only for me, it's not that I hate the rain, it's more about what it does to your grip, and they only way to know the limit in the wet is to push it and i'd be mortified if I dropped my bike. Plus to hell with all the cleaning
All year round. Got caught out 2 years back riding home the bike iced up! I do usually in v bad weather use my rat cg although the other year temp dropped at work and I had a frozen throttle and front break ! I try and be sencible but if I go more then a week with out a ride I go mad!!!
I used to be like that until I started thinking that it was silly taking hours and hours to thaw out after a wintry run out - makes me shiver just thinking about it lol :tongue:
+1 for dry weather riding. If it looks threatening I'll take the waterproof suit in a rucksack and keep my fingers crossed but I wouldn't go out if it was already wet. I can't enjoy the bike on soaking wet roads and I certainly don't enjoy getting wet or cold. Don't mind cleaning the bike, I'll give her a clean if it's just flies on the front spoiling the looks! :tongue:
I commute on my monster, in all weathers except when it got icy or snowy. Even when it's raining hard, the smugness at filtering past other commuters sat queueing in their cars on the way to work outweighs the misery caused by sogginess. Decent textile kit helps, and even though my supposedly waterproof gloves aren't great on longer journeys, they and heated grips mean I still have feeling in my fingers. I wouldn't choose to set out on a weekend ride just for fun in the rain, or frankly if it was very cold and icy. Have done that in the past (50 miles to Hilltop Cafe near Salisbury when air temperature was around 5 Centigrade, and Andy could hear my teeth chattering over the radio) but didn't enjoy it. Have ridden on holidays in the rain (when we'd booked accommodation or advanced tuition) including a few very wet days in Wales in early June.
I don't set out in the rain unless I've planned to go somewhere for the night. I do prefer rides where I don't come back home again in the same day. That means dealing with whatever the weather throws up in day 2 or 3. What I actually hate most is the bike getting all covered in crap - and me too. Can't stand the cleaning. For me, the whole fun of a bike is in the cornering. Wet roads curtail that enjoyment, and feeling your hands getting soggy as you squint through a misted up visor - well, where's the fun in that? Big bikes here are like the flip side of skiing. You get your bike out in the summer and your skis in the winter. It's strictly a hobby thing.
So people tell me! Mine has managed the past two and a half years - only times I don't ride are when there's ice and snow on the ground. I don't own a car and have no intention of owning one at the moment. Oh, and I don't ride it when it's not working...
