Harley riders and BMW riders

I was in a Harley shop recently (the one in Walnut Creek), looking for
rain gear. I'd been looking at many different shops, and thought I'd
try looking there since their bikes are made in Milwaukee where the
weather isn't great all year round.

Inside the shop I asked the clerk if they had any Gore Tex boots. The
guy next to me (customer) asked why do you need Gore Tex? I replied by
asking, What do you use when it rains?

His reply: the car!

I think that defines one main difference between Harley riders and BMW
riders.

Do people really avoid riding in the rain? I'm back on a bike after
about 6 years off, and I remember that if you had the right gear,
riding in bad weather could be fun. Sure, you have to give an extra
cushion between you and other traffic, but especially when it's POURING
DAMN HARD it can be fun watching the people in their cars looking in
awe at the (idiot?) gung-ho biker riding in THAT weather!

 

Years ago the annual motorcycle show used to be at the Cow Palace, in
January. I'd go up there on my Beemer because you could park for free
on a bike, and parking a car was like $7. It was usually raining.

I always noticed that the bikes in the parking lot were BMWs and
Harleys. I always figured it was because BMW riders were the
hard-core riders who rode in all conditions. And Harley riders didn't
know enough to come in out of the rain. 8^)

BTW these days when I see a biker in a heavy rain, he always looks to
me like he wasn't expecting it to rain. I usually feel sorry for him.

 

echo7tango1 handed down these > lines in ba.motorcycles:

Just 2¢ more on riding in the rain .. being both a Harley and BMW rider I
ride the BMW in the rain, but not the Harley if I can avoid it .. on the
BMW with the proper gear it's not too bad, but not something I would do for
pleasure, commuting yes. On the Harley it's just plain miserable even with
gear .. as all here know or guess Harleys don't handle well in dry .. no
worse in wet, but no feeling of comfort/security in the event a quick
manuver is needed. The BMW with ABS give a pretty secure feeling .. my
previous BMW without ABS was not nearly so secure, being a tall bike with
relatively high profile tires it was suceptible to gusts (weaving) and
puddles (potential hydroplaning) .. but personally I would put rain riding
in the category of 'well I gotta get there and traffic is awful' rather
than 'Oh, lets go play in the rain' .. in the 'play' scene I can just put
on the gear, get in a cold shower and avoid the potential of some dumb
cager knocking me down.

 

I avoid it. Other than perhaps a tropical shower, I don't much care for
*walking* in the rain. I like having a closeable roof, windshield
wipers and a defogger/defroster when it's wet out.

Over the years, I've been caught in the rain, but the last time I set
out to ride in it was in the mid 1970s, when I bought a Kawasaki rain
suit expecting it to keep my business clothes dry and presentable on the
commute from Pacifica to downtown. I imagine that raingear has improved
considerably since then, but haven't seen any need to test that hypothesis.

Rich, Urban Biker

 

I agree that it can be fun, especially on lightly traveled
roads where there is good drainage and very little debris.

After riding my BMW K75C and R100G/S for years in the rain
with the all the right gear, including a face shield with
electric defogger, I decided that the spray kicked up by
traffic made it to hard to see and be seen. Worse, in the
rain I lost most of the safety advantages of being on a
motorcycle: better acceleration, maneuverability, and
stopping distance.

Also, motorcyclists are a lot more vulnerable than cagers
to debris, hydroplaning, and potholes hidden by puddles on
our badly maintained roads in California.

So, on the 30 rainy days a year here in the San Francisco
Bay Area, I use my "steel riding suit."

Regards:

Mike Nelson

 

I very seldom commute on the bike when it rains. Done it before, it becomes
stressful. If there's a real necessity (my car or my SO's is in the shop
etc) I'll do it without thinking twice, and then I'll try to avoid peak
hours. Planning in advance is a key safety strategy, we've learned, so I
will not volunteer for bumper to bumper traffic in the wet with bad
visibility unless I must.

That said, on weekends, when it rains, most people stay home, and a ride on
roads with very moderate traffic is great, and to me something all of us
should do. You never knwo when the rain will surprise you, so you might as
well stay sharp for it!

....pablo

 

Same here. After spending 2 Winters on a ten-speed and 3 on a
motorcycle, I absolutely revel in driving my car in the rain. In
fact, if it's a good hard rain, I'll go for a drive just to experience
it. I just love kicking back, all warm and dry, with a nice hot cup
of coffee, good tunes on the box, defrosters tweaked just so, wipers
wagging a steady beat ....and all those big ol' soggy drops of H20
coming to a splattering halt just inches from my face. Hah!! Take
that Mother Nature!

(I'm easily entertained

nb

 

I'm with you Rich. Used to ride in the rain when younger but the last
time I hit one of those metal construction covers, unmarked, still early
in the morning and dark and it was on a corner. Slid across bayshore
blvd underneath the bike, crashguard kept me from being hurt. Pulled
myself from underneath the bike, picked 'er up, got back on and went to
work. But now adays its just too scary for me.

 

That is a good point. Recreational riding in wet conditions gives us
practice for when we get caught in
the rain (or we're riding down the road in perfectly sunny weather and
encounter a stretch where the
sprinklers have made the road wet around a turn or ...)

I am unneved driving my car in the rain and traffic because of the
crazies out there. It seems that people
react in two ways: slow waaaaay down, as if the coeficient of friction
has gone to zero - or speed up, as
if the water makes things run smoother (OK, maybe people don't speed up
but driving above the speed
limit in the rain is asking for trouble .. especially when so many
Californians forget how to drive in the
rain and snow. Unless it is a torrential rain, going the speed limit
shoudl be cautious enough.

 

You got me there, T-woof. The first rain is bad news for two wheels.

Plus, if the first rain is drizzily, the roads can still be slick for
the second rain-
a good heavy rain is needed to wash the crud away. In fact, sometimes after
a drizzily first rain the roads are a bit 'funny' after it dries up
(anyone else
notice that, too?)

 

It's not so good for four wheels either. Fortunately, I've got
flexibility in that matter and can take public transportation or stay at
home that day.

The CHP, among others. ;-}

 

Bloody hedonist!
;-)

--
PC Paul

Trip pics at: http://photos.yahoo.com/paul1cart

"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to
society" - Theodore Roosevelt

 

I used to feel this way in my old sports car (a TR6). I'd usually
have the top down. When it started to rain I'd put up the top and the
sound of the rain on the top was very cozy and nice.

I think part of it was that I'd still get a little wet before I got
the top up. And it would still drip inside a little, sort of like
being in a little camping tent in the rain. There was even an odor
that I came to associate with it, the musty smell of the rain on the
top and also the heater.