Amphibious Beemer

Well, I had an interesting experience this morning! It's been raining
off and on all night, but when I left for work at 5:20, it wasn't.
I wore my foul weather pants just in case, and a good thing I did.

There's this loop you have to take to get to the docks. It's usually
pretty fun to crank and bank around, but since the roads were wet, I was
going slower than usual. The street isn't lit at that point, but this
morning, I saw two city trucks off to the side with their yellow lights
flashing. Figured they were just doing roadwork or something.

Suddenly, my steering's all weird and my feet are wet! A big wave came
up and drenched my duck pants...I plowed through a lake that had
accumulated just before the loop! I was going slower than usual,
probably 30 mph.

The Beemer sailed right through, throwing up a wake on both sides!
Woo-hoo! We plowed through probably 2 or 3 feet of standing water!
No problem!

Needless to say, the boat I work on didn't go out this morning. I left
the landing after it got light, and looked at the lake on my way home.
There was a little Nissan with a camper shell stalled in the middle of
the lake, the water was up to the doors and the owner was sloshing
around. That's how deep it was.

Beemer didn't stall. That thing is a tugboat! I certainly didn't need
any coffee after that! That bike ROCKS!

It was kinda fun, but I wouldn't go out of my way to do it. Wheee!

barbz

 

Beemer didn't stall. That thing is a tugboat! I certainly didn't need
any coffee after that! That bike ROCKS!

It was kinda fun, but I wouldn't go out of my way to do it. Wheee![/QUOTE]

I'm torn between giving a big woo hoo and asking, WTF didn't you see the
lake?

Glad you are okay dokey.

--
muddy

Testing the limits of gravity since 1947.

icq - 219328929

 

I'm torn between giving a big woo hoo and asking, WTF didn't you see the
lake?

Glad you are okay dokey.
[/QUOTE]

didn't I mention the road wasn't lit? It was DARK! I go to work before
first light, muddy. I didn't see the water at all until I was halfway
through it and, by then it was too late. All's well. I was surprised
that the bike started right up after its unexpected bath when I left the
landing to go home.
I love that bike!

barbz

 

Right, I got the bit about the road not lighted, but no headlight?

I guess this gets filed under, "Oh no, not another learning experience".


--
muddy

Testing the limits of gravity since 1947.

icq - 219328929

 

Haven't you ever ridden, or even driven, in the rain? Since the rain makes
all the streets wet, it's like shinning a light on a mirror. Unlike a dry
street, which reflects light back to the source, a wet street reflects light
away from the source, making viewing the road surface almost impossible.
Add to this the fact motorcycle headlights have a much lower illumination,
compared to cars, it's no wonder the rider could not see the water.
Otherwise he coulda' punched it and tried to make it all the way across on
the back wheel.

Has anyone seen that little known sport on the Outdoor Life Network? A
buncha dirt bike riders trying to get across 40-50yds of water without going
down? Looks like big fun!

nb

 

Yes, I am quite familiar with riding in the wet[1] [2]. She (not a he
BTW) rides this road frequently and I would have thought would have
noticed the waves or white caps on the road. Having seen the public
works trucks with blinking lights, I would have asked myself WTF and
slowed way down. I probably would have gotten seasick at seeing all the
water and fallen over, but barbz is one with the ocean and just carried
on. I also have one of those FOAD 100W bulbs that turns night into
day[3].

No, but I've seen the idiots trying to get snowmobiles over a frozen
lake that has a melted hole in the middle. For the life of me, I cannot
figure why someone would throw away an expensive fun maching doing
something like this.

TTFN
HAND

[1] I love the roostertail off the back tire, it keeps cages from
tailgating.
[2] Tested my new Stadler jacket and pants this morning. The rain
sounded like a hammer hitting my helmet, real wrath of Ged stuff it was
and I was nice and warm and dry.
[3] yes, I know it blinds others, but hey; I can see where I'm going.

--
muddy

Testing the limits of gravity since 1947.

icq - 219328929

 

Yike! Glad it had a happy ending. I see too many stories about cars
being swept away in far less standing water than you went through.
I'm amazed that the engine wasn't drowned -- you must not have been in
2-3 feet of water long enough for it to stall.


R, UB

 

I'm torn between giving a big woo hoo and asking, WTF didn't you see the
lake?

Glad you are okay dokey.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like this was before sunrise. Street lighting in San Diego
appears to have been done to Jimmy Carter's specifications. Also
sounds like this is a road Barbz takes on a regular basis, and I know
that for me, once I've memorized the potholes, gullies and other
obstructive patterns in a road, I don't tend to pay that much
attention to them.

R, UB

 

Dude, it's a BMW headlight! Ain't worth shit unless I have the high beam
on, and that's not an option when it's dark.
Oh yeah, CARS can have those brilliant blue blinding headlights and
that's okay. My high beam would fry your retinas, but I can only use it
during daylight hours. Regular beam wouldn't illuminate an elephant at
ten yards. Meh.

barbz

 

Hmmm...maybe I should enter! I guess that pond was at least 30 feet across.
barbz

 

heh

Oh, right you said it was a vintage bike. Light another candle then.

--
muddy

Testing the limits of gravity since 1947.

icq - 219328929

 

WHich of course, is SUCKITUDE. Get some driving lights, foglamps, or
something to suppliment.

Note that motorcycles don't HAVE to have crap lowbeams. The lowbeams
on my VFR beat my car no problem.

 

heh

Oh, right you said it was a vintage bike. Light another candle then.
[/QUOTE]

Nah, I'll just strap on another jar of lightning bugs!

barbz

 

careful. I've heard of a few R11xxGS owners who've drowned their motors
trying to ford rivers and whatever... the air intake snorkle is not
terribly high up and if significant water sloshes in it, it can get sucked
into the engine, with catastrophic results.

but, yeah, they are amazingly unflappable bikes under all sorts of adverse
conditions. just don't get carried away

 

if yours is of the single lamp variety with a H3 dual filament bulb, get
yourself a nice $12 90/100w h3 at most any decent car parts store, and add
a couple of relays in the low and high beam circuit powered from some nice
heavy gauge wire right off the battery. WORLDS of difference. my 90W
lowbeam puts out HUGE light now without blinding cars. I did add a pair
of 55W halogen foglamps to get more light on the sides for the dark
redwood canyons ariund here plus better 'triangulation' by oncoming
traffic.

 

Yeah, or the breakers crashing upon the rocks. hahahaha.

 

Before machines were so expensive, I used to LOVE throwing up roosters
through water on my itty-bitty Twinstar. Barbz bike might be a boat but
that little twin was a freaking submarine.

 

Heh...I used a Twinstar for messenger work in the city. It was a great
bike until some a-hole turned left in front of me and totalled it.
I think it was a 165? Does that sound about right?

barbz

 

It's the loop by Sea World to get onto West Mission Bay Drive. I don't
think the water's still there, they had a city pumper truck setting up
when I went through it. Oddly, when it's dry, you don't really notice
any sort of serious dip in the road, but it was a major cloudburst that
night, so it must be a covert low spot in the road. Never seen it like
that before...

barbz

 

You'd better hold your breath when you hit that puddle, lol!
Or run a snorkle thru your helmet...

barbz