| Author | Message | ||
     Johnboy777 |
I've never been one for the freeways, preferring instead to take the long way 'round, if I'm just out for a day, or a weekend jaunt. But the Uly works so well on freeways, even in a hard rain... who knew? I couldn't be happier with the way the bike handles freeways in a rainstorm. For the second time within the last month or so I've been out for the day riding the freeways in the rain, and the Uly was perfect - just flawless. The Sync's worked well and felt totally planted in the rain -long sweepers at speed were very confidence inspiring, I even had to hit the front brakes really hard from 70 to a complete stop as the offramp backed up and traffic on the two-lane had come to a complete stand still...that too went flawlessly. Fortunately, I have some great rain gear, and had applied Rain-X to the helmet shield before I left this AM, and as I rode, I just needed to turn my head in either direction slightly to clear the shield at speed... I had also used Cat Crap, on the inside, to reduce fogging. Yes, its really called Cat Crap. To be honest, I had a pretty tumultuous start with this bike (fuel map issues, and all - dealer apathy, grrrr!) and was starting to think I had a purchased a big POS, but damn, with that issue, and others, resolved (thanks to some great BadWeb-ers here...come on now, you know who you are), this thing gets better each time I ride it, and does so many things, so well. Do I sound like I really dig this bike, or what? Anyway, FWIW, blah, blah, blah, just thought I'd mention it. . | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Only the Rain makes the Mud. In the old Pacific North West, if you aint riding in the rain, you aint riding. | ||
| Hooper |
I rode in some rain today - had to head into the office to oversee some emergency work. The morning was nice, if humid - it was like a motorcycle farm downstairs at my office building: I pulled my Uly up next to a Hayabusa, a Victory, and an Electra Glide - all rides of my coworkers...that made it easier to spend part of today working. Anyway, what didn't was that it was so humid, so I had the rain liner in my Castle rain jacket...ugh...it's like wearing a sweatsuit. That said, the Uly with Touratech handguard extensions and the tall windscreen is great in the wet. As long as I'm buttoned up and wearing the right gear, I really don't mind rain - but not when it's hot out too! I learned the meaning of riding in rain in Scotland!  | ||
| Gwis2 |
Johnboy - I don't know anything about that Cat Crap (not sure if I want to either) but I recently purchased a Fog City ProShield and it's the cat's ass! No fogging in the cool morning rides to work and none in the downpour yesterday riding home from work either... I used to use Rain-X too, then read an article on lemon scented Pledge in a BMW ON magazine and decided to give it a whirl. Not only does it work just as well as Rain-X, I also use it to polish the bike after washing it (which I only do about 2 times a month.) Oh, and you can get 2 large cans for the price of 1 Rain-X... and it smells better too! Its easier to get the bugs off your helmet, visor, windshield, etc. when you use Pledge I've noticed. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I also use it to polish the bike after washing it waitwaitwait...you mean I'm allowed to *wash* my Uly? I just ride in the rain to remove the bugs! | ||
| Johnboy777 |
Hey Gwis2, Lemon Pledge, that's funny ... I used to use it to polish my Alfa ... I'll have to give it a try. I plan to try the Pin Locks (anti-fog inserts) next on my Arai Vector; I just saw it on their site yesterday. Here's another product made by the FogTech people. Raincoat Advanced Water Repellent Coating Kit LINK: http://store.motosolutions.com/merchant2/merchant. mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=RCPCH005 &Category_Code=A ..  . BTW, If you're in the market for a great Willie Nelson, Reggae Song, here's the LINK.. .""I'm A Worried Man"".....ya gotta luv da Willie, munn! Willie LINK: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qaak_willie-nel son-im-a-worried-man_music  .... | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Johnboy, not to hijack, but what Alfa ya got? I've got a 89 Graduate. I too have used pledge on it LOL.. that stuff is good for everything. I use pledge on everything. Even the dollar store brands work well too. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
hey Johnnylunchbox, You can't hijack a thread that has no point! ...as is the case w/ most of mine. IIRC, an '84 Alfa Romeo Spider, bronze (tan top - tan vinyl) ... every time I broke something, (which was pretty often) the mechanic had to order parts from Italy, so he said. At the time there was a big Alfa parts distr., just outside of Atlanta that I used to use, as well. The car was being worked on late one evening, so I borrowed a Toyota Celica (or whatever it was) that was in the lot and, as luck would have it, rolled it racing a pick up truck on a back country road in the dead of winter - black ice plus Long Island Iced Teas...deadly combo! I gave it the car lot in exchange for the totaled Toyota, and that was that. I didn't get a scratch (thank goodness), but the dry cleaners said they found broken glass in all of the pockets of my suit. . | ||
| Gwis2 |
Johnboy -that lemon Pledge and one of these...  make a great combo in the rain (provided your gloves don't already have a squeegee built into them) I looked at the pinlock setup for my Shoei, seems a bit pricey (perhaps a winter farkle?) so I went with the fog city shield. | ||
| Gsilvernale |
Last time I rode in a heavy downpour, my boots got soaking wet. They are waterproof, but the problem was that the water from the front tire would splash up on to my calves and then fall down into the boot. Has anybody experienced this with the Uly, and does the Palmer fender extension fix this? | ||
| 4_pete_sake |
Rain happens... if I didn't ride in it I would miss some great riding before and after....  20 minutes before the storm (Little Lake Sardis, MS)  5 minutes before the sirens (Lake Sardis, MS)  5 minutes after the storm dumped 2" of rain in 30min cooled it off 10-20 degrees in that time... perfect after... roads dried out quick... Cheers-pete | ||
| 4_pete_sake |
Gsilverdale- total experienced the rainy boot blues... got caught 3 weeks ago in one of those storms that looks off in the distance and going away from you that all the sudden turns toward you and dumps 3" on your ride home... pants weren't water proof and pants drained into waterproof boots... but they held the water in real good after... took an 1 1/2 hours with the hairdryer so I could wear then to work in the morning.... I hadn't put the blame on the front fender exactly.... I was taking on a lot of spray from on coming traffic.... sorry no help. Wife freaks out (from home-otherwise we have to pull over) but you have to love the looks when you pull up next to someone at a stop light.... Pete | ||
| Froggy |
I love it when i blow by a grandma thats doing 40 in a 65, wipers on max with hazards on.  | ||
| Gwis2 |
Even on sunny days I still carry my rain gear on the triple tail under a cargo net (one too many experiences with just what your describing about getting "caught" in a sudden rain will do that.) It just takes a 3 to 5 minute stop under a gas station awning to get the rain pants, boot covers and rain coat on. My suggestion would be that if your boots are waterproof then perhaps all you need are rain pants. My boots are leather so I wear these Choko rain boots too:  | ||
| Froggy |
I am done with the whole rain suit thing, when i pull over to put it on, by time i get it on the rains gone. Waterproof Aerostich suit, waterproof gloves, waterproof boots and I am good to go Oh yea i got those glove squeege things too, they rock. |
