Worst weather you've ever rode in? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Worst weather you've ever rode in?

PrivatePilot

PrivatePilot

Ironus Butticus
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
As I was riding back from Parry Sound late last Sunday after my wife's wreck (That's another story) I got stuck in some of the thunderstorms that went through. Didn't have a whole lot of option except to truck on however as the storms were spotty and broken up where I hit them, so I tried to "thread the needle" and get home - after the day I'd had I just needed to get home and call it a day, and a trip - we'd done the Manitoulin/Wawa/Chapleau/Sudbury loop.

I was only partly successful in threading the needle between the storms and hit at least one full on.

I don't mind riding in the rain. I knew it was coming (I'd got a rain notification from one of my weather apps, so I'd stopped and looked at my radar) and had geared up.

I don't mind riding at night.

I don't mind riding in windy conditions.

But I must admit, riding in all 3 kinda sucked, especially when I started coming up on debris on the road blown off trees - leafs, twigs, and at one point, a fairly large branch obstructing about 1/2 my lane. But I was riding to conditions and made it home safely....

Got me wondering if anyone else has any hairy stories?
 
5 hours of torrential downpours back in 2014 coming home from Bancroft...we had just finished breakfast, and coming west on the 118 when the heavens opened up...we must've stopped a zillion times coming south on Hwy 11 to the 400 when we finally called it quits and went to my sister's in Richmond Hill...we were there for 2 days waiting out the heavy rains before coming back to Cambridge...it was horrible...my hands were purple and blue...soaked right through our rain gear...never again...
 
snow, black ice, then more snow, in the desert . Needed to cover 340 miles, included three mountain passes of high desert. Cold wet and pretty scared most of the way.
Nobodies fault but mine, poor planning
 
Have a few stories...

- On a road trip out to Colorado, started the day somewhere outside Madison, WI on the I90. About an hour in, the weather dipped down to 10C, then it started drizzling, then the wind picked up. Wind gusts up to 90km/h if I remember the weather right. Had to tilt my reasonably light FZ6 constantly to keep things in a straight line. It stayed that way for almost the whole freaking day. Made it to Rapid City, SD, about 1200km's by end of the day. Completely soaked, frigid, and dead tired. Passed out in the bathtub for probably an hour before I could semi-function again.
- Rode down to Deals Gap in one shot, about 1400km's. Not a huge deal in itself. Started pouring rain as a got closer to the destination. For whatever reason, I booked my hotel in Robbinsville, but was coming down through TN. Rode white knuckled through Deals Gap, in the pitch black, in the pouring rain, after riding 1400km's that day. Oh and a freaky giant rat (possum I found out) jumped out into the road mid corner.
- Forget where I was coming back from, went through the worst rain storm I have ever ridden through. Coming down so hard I couldn't see 20 feet in front of me. Found out later there were a few tornadoes from the system.

View from GPS radar after riding north through the red part to get on I94
https://imgur.com/JQHptCJ

Leaving hell behind
https://imgur.com/Vwt3d69

View to my right, thankfully I missed this part of the storm
https://imgur.com/9l7OgXM
 
Worst for me was coming off the ferry at Tobermory. Torrential rains and no where to hide, couldn’t see the road, cars and Rvs stopped in park on the highway, then hail, then thick fog. Had rain gear but the rain was so hard it was running gown my neck and eventually filled my boots. Phone got soaked and died, every motel I found was booked. Ended up pitching my tent in a corn field for the night.
 
Green Mountains Vermont, in spring
around 17 C at the base
10 minutes later near the peaks it was 1 C
3 foot snow banks, wet snow, ice in the corners

one hour, white knuckle, very slow ride down the other side
 
Long time ago but still vivid in my memory. Was coming from Ottawa after a 10 day loop through Northern Ontario visiting dealers on my RD400.
1598579482297.png
It had been hot the whole trip - got a few dozens KM out of the city heading toward Toronto and it went green black and just went torrential downpour plus wind. Cube van pulled over and so did the two of us that had been getting some wind shelter from it.
Gravel shoulder, the wind was rocking the cube van like crazy and we had our heads down just trying keep the bikes upright. Rain was part sleet I think as it came up over our boots and was freezing cold. Finally let off and we shivered our way along the highway to some restaurant and poured water from our boots and carried on.
Turns out a twister touched down nearby.
Of course the other side of the heat dome was clear and cold and by the time I hit Toronto I had ice on my jeans. Lucky the two stroke kicked off enough heat to keep my legs a bit warm and did have gloves but not the kind of gear we have now. I still recall knocking ice off the bottom of the jeans.
40 years on I still recall that crazy ride. I was seriously hypothermic - I did stop and warm up at Dutch Oven then finally made it home to Waterdown.
Just a bikini fairing on the RD400. Had drop bars on it so with the little fairing and sort of wrapped around the bike kept me going. $5 to fill it up.....a while ago.... at least I didn't have to mix the fuel. ?
 
Cherohala Skyway....
Friend had crashed, and got airlifted. Waited for tow truck to pick up bike so we knew where it was going etc.
2 hours later, finally loaded, and the State Trooper, in his best southern hillbilly redneck accent, "Woooh-y. You boys are in for it now!" and pointed at a wall of water coming around a mountain canyon. It was starting to get to be twilight, with over an hour ride to get back to the house. So, torrential downpour, in the dark, with tinted visors. And gusts of wind all over the place.

No bueno.
 
Prior to smartphones I woke up at the base of mt washington and rode to south maine for breakfast. It started raining there. I talked to the locals and they said it was the remnants of a hurricane but if I went north I should be able to get ahead of it. Rode north for over 5 hours at 5 C in a downpour. Obviously I was not going to get ahead of it. Sitting in a restaurant in Fredricton (left a 6' diameter puddle below my chair), I called in some favors and swung back to edmunston to stay with a friend of a friend for 36 hours to let the storm pass. The wind was strong enough that I was scraping peg feelers on straight road when the wind was across the road. Not exactly enjoyable conditions.

The day I picked up the Ape, there was a freak snowstorm. Inches of heavy wet snow on the way home. Horrible. Last km took 45 minutes of spinning and sliding.

EDIT:
Hope your wife is ok PP (and also her bike, but mainly her).
 
Had to dig my TS185 out of a snowbank, it was parked next to the bicycle racks behind Central Tech completely under snow, but to be honest that ride home was a blast.

Fog is the worst by far.
 
Fri 13th Pt Dover in January.
It was only freezing cold going there.
Heading home, every possible form of precip came from the sky.
Snow, hail, salt and slush piled 3 ft high in the centre lane on #6 made for some real pleasantries when a transport (or car) passed the other direction.
It was buddies 1st ride on his new Road King. What a mess.
 
We rode to the 2008 MotoGP race in Indianapolis. During the event, Hurricane Ike hit and the race was halted. The Yamaha tent in the spectator infield collapsed and sent two people to the hospital. Bikes in the parking lot that had covers on them were blown over, the bike covers ballooned like sails and sent the motorcycle it was attached to over onto adjacent bikes, causing a domino effect.

It was a Sunday afternoon and we had to go to work on Monday morning, so it was not an option to stay overnight in town to wait out the storm.

There was a such a huge crowd eager to exit at the same time. We didn't leave the stadium until 5PM, and didn't make it out of Indianapolis city limits till after 6PM. Then 850 kms to Toronto, including a border crossing.

The wind was vicious on the highway, blowing our bikes so that we were riding almost sideways. But it wasn't the wind itself, it was the gusty, variable nature. If the wind was constant, we could have just set the lean angle and pinned it. But when you're leaned right over and suddenly the wind dies, or when you're upright and a sudden 100 km/h gust knocks you into the oncoming lane - that's treacherous.

All other weather conditions like snow, ice, rain, cold, heat, you can prepare for with good gear. You can even duck hail if you have a good windshield and fairing. But hurricane-level, gusty winds for me was the worst weather condition I've ever ridden through.
 
BigEvilDoer said:
the State Trooper, in his best southern hillbilly redneck accent, "Woooh-y. You boys are in for it now!"
Click to expand...

? In my mind I read that in the exact accent that fits the phrase.

GreyGhost said:
Hope your wife is ok PP (and also her bike, but mainly her).
Click to expand...

Thanks. Sore, but mending up. Gear did it's thing, only very minor road rash where it tore through her jacket in one spot. They cut off the jacket anyways at that point. Brand new helmet she just bought 4 weeks ago to replace her old worn out one is trash however...murphy's law. Anyhow, ordering parts for the bike today...it's fixable with enough money thrown at it. Off to GP probably tomorrow for new gear.

Gary said:
Fri 13th Pt Dover in January.
It was only freezing cold going there.
Heading home, every possible form of precip came from the sky.
Snow, hail, salt and slush piled 3 ft high in the centre lane on #6 made for some real pleasantries when a transport (or car) passed the other direction
Click to expand...

I went to dover for my first time in 1994. Weather wasn't quite that bad, but it was raining on and off and cold. For a stupid guy on a sportbike without the appropriate gear for the conditions, yeah, that sucked.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Thanks. Sore, but mending up. Gear did it's thing, only very minor road rash where it tore through her jacket in one spot. They cut off the jacket anyways at that point. Brand new helmet she just bought 4 weeks ago to replace her old worn out one is trash however...murphy's law. Anyhow, ordering parts for the bike today...it's fixable with enough money thrown at it. Off to GP probably tomorrow for new gear.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear. You probably already know, but if you are going through insurance, claim all the gear.
 
It’s complicated, like I said in my other post on the trip report I’m not saying a whole lot right now accordingly.
 
be sore and deaf for a day or two
Click to expand...
Sore likely, deaf fortunately I wore a full cover Bell Star with the tiny "slot" in the front so noise not a big deal.

I realize even earlier when at Uni in St Catharines I rode my 305 SuperHawk from St Kitts to Fort Erie on a day they closed the QEW. More of feet down and skiiing ride with a few spills in the middle. I'm pretty sure on one section was just riding over a farmers field.
That 305 was very reliable ...only one morning in winter I had to put a small alcohol burner under the oil to warm up enough to turn over, One of those very cold days but the roads were actually dry.
 
PP, hope she gets well soon enough and isn't put off riding. Gear and bikes are easily enough fixed.

Looking forward to the story when the time is right
 
I've driven in a blizzard and freezing rain before. One night, there was a snap freeze after some rain with dusting of snow on top. It was so slippery it took me almost a whole traffic light cycle just to get moving again from a red light. A few blocks later, I skidded turning into my street and did a slow 270 degree spinout all the way across the street and stopped when I bumped the curb with both feet down. Didn't even fall that's how slippery it was.
The worst by far though was -24 on the 401 with no windshield or heated gear. I made it two exits but the pain was too much and I turned off to warm up at a gas station. 1982 XS400.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom