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I started riding when I was 18 (now I'm 22) on a beat up old 1981 KZ305. The thing was lighter than a 10 speed which was always fun and useful, until one night when I really could have used the extra weight.
Coming off of work one night late in July, I was riding as fast as I could west to get over the Chesapeake Bay before this really rough front caught up with me. I wanted to get to my buddy's house and I knew if the storm overtook me I would definately have to stop, and probably wait out the night under some bridge or something; it was one of those summer gales that rip up the bay every now and again. Anyways when I got to the bay bridge the toll collector told me about the 40 mph winds on the top of the bridge. I looked behind me and the sky was black at about 3pm...I knew I had to get the hell outta there cause it wasn't getting any better any time soon.
So I pony up the $2.50 and gun all 27 of my horses. We were doing alright for about a third of the way across, and then the winds really started to kick in. It was blowing hard from my left, so much so that I had to seriously pitch the bike into the wind to keep from being blown over. As I got to the crest of the bridge the winds became very intermittent, every time they stopped I would veer off to the left due to how far I was counter leaning agianst them. Also keep in mind that I made the mistake of taking the left bridge, which is two-way undevided. This means that any time a gust subsided I would swerve into oncoming traffic.
So I'm about 200ft above the water on a bike older than I am, with nearly no intertia and scared out of my mind. I'm screaming into my helmet for please god deliver me to the other side I promise I'll never swear again! I slowed down to about 30mph, to the dismay of all the people behind me, and as I felt the first drops plunk onto my faceplate I knew I couldn't be any worse off if I was on fire.
Well long story short I made it over, kicked that rat into 6th and rode beyond the rain. I made it back about 5 minutes before the front, tossed the Kawasaki in his garage and ran inside.
Since then bikes have come and gone, never laid one down, and I have defiantely come to appreciate the added stability a big inline four can give. I mean, just having the extra couple hundred pounds means a lot on top of the Bay Bridge, as I have made that run on my GS since and I barely needed to compensate at all. After that though I feel like I'm up for anything...not quite tornado chasing on the bike but close enough.
Stay dry,
Max
Coming off of work one night late in July, I was riding as fast as I could west to get over the Chesapeake Bay before this really rough front caught up with me. I wanted to get to my buddy's house and I knew if the storm overtook me I would definately have to stop, and probably wait out the night under some bridge or something; it was one of those summer gales that rip up the bay every now and again. Anyways when I got to the bay bridge the toll collector told me about the 40 mph winds on the top of the bridge. I looked behind me and the sky was black at about 3pm...I knew I had to get the hell outta there cause it wasn't getting any better any time soon.
So I pony up the $2.50 and gun all 27 of my horses. We were doing alright for about a third of the way across, and then the winds really started to kick in. It was blowing hard from my left, so much so that I had to seriously pitch the bike into the wind to keep from being blown over. As I got to the crest of the bridge the winds became very intermittent, every time they stopped I would veer off to the left due to how far I was counter leaning agianst them. Also keep in mind that I made the mistake of taking the left bridge, which is two-way undevided. This means that any time a gust subsided I would swerve into oncoming traffic.
So I'm about 200ft above the water on a bike older than I am, with nearly no intertia and scared out of my mind. I'm screaming into my helmet for please god deliver me to the other side I promise I'll never swear again! I slowed down to about 30mph, to the dismay of all the people behind me, and as I felt the first drops plunk onto my faceplate I knew I couldn't be any worse off if I was on fire.
Well long story short I made it over, kicked that rat into 6th and rode beyond the rain. I made it back about 5 minutes before the front, tossed the Kawasaki in his garage and ran inside.
Since then bikes have come and gone, never laid one down, and I have defiantely come to appreciate the added stability a big inline four can give. I mean, just having the extra couple hundred pounds means a lot on top of the Bay Bridge, as I have made that run on my GS since and I barely needed to compensate at all. After that though I feel like I'm up for anything...not quite tornado chasing on the bike but close enough.
Stay dry,
Max
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