Hell and back on an fz07 thread

[howworkclutch]

Post your bad ride stories here.
 
I was going to ride to Louisville KY for the derby.  I left Charlotte at 6pm on Thursday. I hadn't gone 10 miles before the temps dropped and the rain started. I swear it was sunny and warm when I left the house.
 
I rode for an hour and a half before giving up and going home.
 
Worst ride of my life? Heck no. Worst on the Fz? Yep.
 
Oh and hey whatup haven't been here in a while.
 

[20vavant]

I was at the derby! Walked 3 miles home to a friends house in torrential downpour.
My worst ride was in light rain with up to 60mph gusts on I-75 outside Cincinnati. Crossing over bridge with gusts almost pushed me into another lane and I swear one gust almost tipped me over.

[twowheeladdict]

Haven't had a bad weather ride on the FZ yet, but I've ridden sections of road (goat trail) where I was telling myself the whole time, "why are you still going in this direction, and I sure hope it gets better soon!"
 
I've ridden in the remnants of Hurricanes, slush, freezing rain, etc. I have learned that the correct gear can keep you comfortable and the shear concentration generates a lot of heat.
 

[Redstang4]

rain everyday here in NoVa last 2 weeks or so, I've lost track. Couple mondays ago I was hailed on going home from fairfax, that was wild

[Beemer]

Haaa! I know that feeling! I live in Florida so I'm all too familiar with sudden, unexpected rain in the summer time. My worst time on the FZ was one day last year I wanted to take a ride on the bike, just felt adventurous and curious about what's to see out east of me so I checked my local weather forecast and everything looked pretty good. I took off on the bike and it wasn't till I got to a particular road that's about 5 minutes away did I notice some fairly dark clouds to the south.
 
Well, I happened to be heading south to get to the major back road that would take me east where I wanted to go and damned if a few minutes later my arms started stinging from the water hitting my arms (felt like hundreds of Ralphie's shooting me with their Red Rider Carbine Model's.) I slowed down to be safer and to ease the pain of the rain but it finally became too heavy a rain to be on the road at all so I pulled over to a small gravel lot on the side of the road and just sat there motionless in the rain. A number of people in cars passing by would look at me and I tried to have the appearance that my situation didn't suck but I don't think I convinced anyone otherwise since I probably resembles a wet dog. I was just fooling myself, as they say. That's my worst day on my bike, knock on wood. I guess it all goes to the weather man almost never being right.
 
 
 

[hobbs]

Caught in a noreaster on the way home from work probably 2 months after I got the bike.
 
If I recall it rained somewhere between 4 to 6 inches in a couple hours. My 60 minute commute took about 3 hours and I looked like a California raisin after I got home and stripped.
 
My hands were brown for a week from the leather dye in my gloves.

[Beemer]

I was at the derby! Walked 3 miles home to a friends house in torrential downpour. My worst ride was in light rain with up to 60mph gusts on I-75 outside Cincinnati. Crossing over bridge with gusts almost pushed me into another lane and I swear one gust almost tipped me over.

Those gusts of strong wind can be pretty scary. Not trying to 1-up you but when I had my Yamaha XT 350 in Austin I almost got blown over the side of the clover leaf which was around 80 ft. in the air. Now I'm very leery of bridges and try to do all the right things to keep from resembling a bugs life.

[enels57]

Too numerous to list from my younger years due to a combination of bad judgement and poorly designed chemistry experiments.  I'm lucky to have lived though them and I know I am not alone in that category.  
 
In the 11,500 miles I've put on the FZ so far, the worst ride was a mid-day 45 minute trip across town while not feeling good in 105 F heat.  I swear I hit every single red light possible.  The asphalt must have been 145 F and the bike's outside air temp indicator read in the 130's multiple times at intersections.  
 
At every improperly timed traffic light my only relief was fantasizing that a local traffic engineer would emerge from one of the heatwave mirages and I would be able to watch them agonizingly melt into the nearly molten asphalt.  Then finally the light would turn and I would get to "cool off" for about 40 seconds before the next improperly timed traffic light would stop me in my tracks for 2 to 3 minutes.  At some of the "controlled" intersections the left turn light would never go on because the poorly programmed sensor never even knew I was there.
 
In retrospect, I should have remembered "don't let get-there-itus turn into tunnel vision and block out your other options".  A 15 minute break in a air conditioned place with a cool beverage would have made all the difference...especially since I wasn't feeling well to begin with.
 
In all these situations though, the thing I need to remember is that even on a good day with perfect weather, perfect gear, and perfect concentration, riding my bike is somewhat risky...to ride in crappy weather with my concentration being challenged by environmental factors makes it quite a bit more dangerous. 
 
I know, "First World Problems", but that was my worst ride on the FZ.  The other 99% have been a ton-o-fun!
 
Ride safe ya'll

[GAZ]

Another rain story: I was stuck in a downpour with full summer gear. Zero percent chance of rain and its dumping. I sometimes I wish I became a weatherman. My only stress was the new tires at the time. When I eventually made it home I didn't have a single piece of clothing/gear that wasn't soaked. Can't say this was that bad of an experience as I was riding and my phone made it out fine. Oh and the first time you get on the freeway on this bike with 30mph wind gusts, that's a blast!

[talusblue]

My wife and I were driving Saturday and drove into a wall of hail stones followed by blinding rain. Could not see 20 feet in front of me, everything turned gray. My helmet filled with water. Fun times.

[howworkclutch]

I was at the derby! Walked 3 miles home to a friends house in torrential downpour. My worst ride was in light rain with up to 60mph gusts on I-75 outside Cincinnati. Crossing over bridge with gusts almost pushed me into another lane and I swear one gust almost tipped me over.

My buddy lives at the end of Winkler. Every year he sits on his roof, gets drunk, and cuts-up with the folks walking  into/out-of Churchill Downs.
 
I ended up driving my car. A friend has a place on the river in Prospect. I hung out up there, swatting mosquitoes and drinking bourbon. We did go out friday night and catch Trampled By Turtles at Iroquois Park.
 
Man I swear I miss Louisville. I still have a lot of friends there, and they always talk crap about it. But I've live a lot of places and none of them can compare.
 
I won $60 on the horses so it was a good weekend. I just wish I had had my bike with me I really wanted to get down to the drags over near 13th.
 

[Guest ChicagoAJ]

My worst trip on the FZ so far was the ride home from the dealer about 70 miles away. I bought it mid March of this year when it was high 30s/low 40s. On the trip home it was about 42 degrees and cloudy so it was super cold. I was also on a road that looked like a salt truck was just dropping piles of salt everywhere. It looked like the road had snow on it but it was just about an inch of salt. Every stop I was sliding all over. This lasted a good 20 miles, I couldn't believe it, I wasn't comfortable on the bike yet and it started the trip with 0 miles on it.
 
After a couple hours I finally made it home and I was freezing. Took me a couple days to thaw out. Now I'm at just about 1000 miles on the bike and love it. Finally starting to get warm here but it's still in the 30s/40s at night.