Woohoo!
It's been clouding up all day, supposed to be raining all day tomorrow, got date night tomorrow night, and had to drive the cage to work today because of drycleaning/groceries/book delivery, so tonight after work I REALLY wanted to go for a short ride, and I did.
Drove about twenty miles up to North Ogden, it kept gettin' darker, so I turned around, let out the clutch, and plink! The first drop hit my faceshield. It started spittin'; I know you're supposed to pull over at the start of a rainstorm but I guessed (correctly) that it would just spit on and off here and there, so I just slowed a bit and kept driving back.
Then the wind started. We've had a very nice, gentle Fall, and the leaves have pretty much stayed on the trees, but suddenly a very strong south wind blasted through, and leaves were flying everywhere. The rain started coming down more and more too; was shaking my head every so often to clear the faceshield. A discarded McDonald's sack flew up and plastered onto my shoulder. My mesh jacket's liner was keeping me dry (from the waist up anyway) but a mesh jacket gets wet on the outside, and with the flow-through design, becomes a high-speed, high-power swamp cooler and starts chilling you quick.
And you know what?? I was having a blast! The wind was pretty much head-on, so there were no swerving issues, and I was close enough to home that hypothermia was not an issue. I was shifting smooth and turning good lines. I was cold, wet, and grinning from ear to ear when I pulled into the carport; had a stack of dishes to do in the kitchen so I got warmed back up doing them.
Tonight was a great feeling. I'll have to winterize the bike pretty soon; thirteen weeks ago I had never been on a motorcycle before, and now I can pretty much ride anywhere at any time without fear; the bug has bitten deep, and hard! I pretty much self-taught myself to ride, with some great help from MSF, a few books and this cool FZ6 forum I happened to stumble upon :thumbup: I'm a happy guy! :Sport:
It's been clouding up all day, supposed to be raining all day tomorrow, got date night tomorrow night, and had to drive the cage to work today because of drycleaning/groceries/book delivery, so tonight after work I REALLY wanted to go for a short ride, and I did.
Drove about twenty miles up to North Ogden, it kept gettin' darker, so I turned around, let out the clutch, and plink! The first drop hit my faceshield. It started spittin'; I know you're supposed to pull over at the start of a rainstorm but I guessed (correctly) that it would just spit on and off here and there, so I just slowed a bit and kept driving back.
Then the wind started. We've had a very nice, gentle Fall, and the leaves have pretty much stayed on the trees, but suddenly a very strong south wind blasted through, and leaves were flying everywhere. The rain started coming down more and more too; was shaking my head every so often to clear the faceshield. A discarded McDonald's sack flew up and plastered onto my shoulder. My mesh jacket's liner was keeping me dry (from the waist up anyway) but a mesh jacket gets wet on the outside, and with the flow-through design, becomes a high-speed, high-power swamp cooler and starts chilling you quick.
And you know what?? I was having a blast! The wind was pretty much head-on, so there were no swerving issues, and I was close enough to home that hypothermia was not an issue. I was shifting smooth and turning good lines. I was cold, wet, and grinning from ear to ear when I pulled into the carport; had a stack of dishes to do in the kitchen so I got warmed back up doing them.
Tonight was a great feeling. I'll have to winterize the bike pretty soon; thirteen weeks ago I had never been on a motorcycle before, and now I can pretty much ride anywhere at any time without fear; the bug has bitten deep, and hard! I pretty much self-taught myself to ride, with some great help from MSF, a few books and this cool FZ6 forum I happened to stumble upon :thumbup: I'm a happy guy! :Sport: