Blame it on the rain...

I worked in Charlotte today at a Heart Station doing cardiac stress tests, knew rain was coming but took the bike out anyway.

The ride out was good, a little chilly, but since I wore the heavier of my 2 bike jackets (a rugged Teknic jacket, armored elbows, shoulders and back, plus a little butt plate.) which worked flawlessly. No cold at all. Of course, I remembered to close the vents... Leather riding gloves, helmet, and I was all set.

Anyhow, the ride out was great, no rain, roads were fairly clear but I could see storm clouds off in the distance and a reddish cast over the sky. You of course remember the old bike slogan: "Red sky at night, biker's delight, red sky in morning, biker's take warning." I made it out to Charlotte without any problems and stopped in at the local Big Boy restaurant for a quick breakfast. I decided on the buffet because I really didn't have a lot of time, and now in retrospect, I wish I hadn't. Then again, this isn't a food critique, but the food was terrible.

Anyhow... I worked my shift (great folks out there) and hopped on the bike. Overcast, but no rain, yet. Taking off, I jumped on the highway and felt what I thought was a raindrop on my chin. Soon thereafter, the rain starting coming down a little harder, then a little more hard, until finally it felt like tiny bullets hitting my legs (which were not, as you may have guessed, protected by any sort of armor coverage.) My helmet is a simple 3/4 job, face guard in place, chin strap attached, but it does offer adequate airflow, thereby avoiding the problems I had with my last helmet, constant fogging of the glass. However, with the rain coming down, and my hot, steamy breath, I was fogging up my faceplate pretty quickly. Rain covered the front, but by turning my head to either side, the speed I was traveling helped clear away some of the moisture.

The bike itself performed excellently, great throttle response and control, although a couple times it felt as if the bike were floating, which, I suppose, a lightweight bike might be more prone to hydroplaning than a car. The tires did their job, however, and I never lost control once.

Near the Waverly street exit, there was an accident that closed one lane, so as I sat on my bike, in the rain, I became very, very wet. The nice thing about traveling at speed is you still get wet, but I believe it's a bit like a blowdryer, keeping you drier than you would be walking. The bike got a good drenching, but those new coils did their job,the bike never sputtered once.

Yesterday, I repaired the screwed up side cover that I neglected mentioning due to my incompetence. Somehow, during one of my assists with my fellow bikers, a few drops of carb cleaner or carb dip landed on the side cover that covers the tool kit. As you can imagine, it ate through the paint in no time. My friend DW in Pinckney offered to help me repaint, but he's pretty busy getting his own bike up to speed, so I didn't want to be a bother. I applied 3 coats of primer, sanded, then a base coat of gloss black, allowing time in between for each coat to dry. It looked pretty good, until I applied the clear coat. For some reason, whether humidity or inexperience, the clear looked hazy. Applying more clear coat made the problem worse, so I removed all of it by using brake cleaner and wd40 and sand paper, starting over from scratch.

The second time looks much better, though not nearly as glossy as the tank, it looks much better than it did.

In the next week or so, I am going to replace my handlebars. I noticed that while riding, my arms feel cramped, and too close together. I am a bigger guy, so that could be part of the problem, but they also look dated, rust on certain areas that no matter how much attention I pay to it, it remains, scuffed and scratched from years of abuse from the PO. I went to CBS yesterday, and they have a few in stock that might work. My fear is in clearing the tank. Risers don't seem to be available, although I'm sure chacal might have an idea.