Sunday, October 30, 2016

Pucker Factor 8.5

 I've been working a lot of Saturdays lately and I don't mind it. If I really had something important to do I'm sure I could get the day off. This way I'm making money instead of blowing it. Anyway, I stepped out of the garage in the morning and the weather rock was telling me it was wet although I'm pretty sure it didn't rain. Temps were in the 50's and I was looking forward to a nice ride to work. I mean that is the best part of going to work and it sets me up for a decent day.
 I pulled into the kwicky mart for some OJ and a muffin. I slid a bit when I pulled in by the pumps and assumed there was oil or coolant on the ground. I thought nothing more of it. When I left, the thermometer on the dash said 55 degrees but the road had an eerie look to it. It really looked icy. I thought I could see tire tracks from cars in what appeared to be an icy road. Naw, can't be and I kept rolling along. When I got to a place where it was safe to do a brake test I was surprised as the abs kicked in. We had 2" of rain a few days ago so the roads should be clean of any oily residue. Why so slippery? I decided because it was dark and deer were a threat that I would take a lonely back road and just putter along. I made my turn and tried a brake test again. Sure as shit the abs kicked in again. I turned the radio up, eased against the back rest, and held it at about 45. As I rolled along I noticed frost in the grass along the road. WTF is going on? I checked the temp again and it said 50 something. It was just weird and I was watching the road pretty close now and getting a little excited. Maybe a pucker factor of 2 just because I wasn't sure what was going on. Each time I checked the brakes or gassed it a little and had slippage, the pucker factor went up. I turned the seat heater on to try to relax but it didn't help.
 I put one of those small slips in the video. I like to think the bike has decent torque but not so much that it can break the tire loose with just a wiggle of the throttle. I was upset because I knew there was a long uphill climb ahead of me and if it was too slippery I was screwed. Maybe on a lighter bike I wouldn't care but not on a new 900+ pound bike. After getting a running start I was able to crest the hill without issue but I was tense. It sure would have been a fun ride on an enduro or a rat.
 I guess the warm air and high humidity along with the road sweating created these not so favorable riding conditions. I was never so happy to get to work.


Later.

4 comments:

  1. That's the one thing that freaks me out on 2 wheels - loss of traction. With a dirt bike you go looking for those kinds of conditions, but not on a full dresser or even my Dyna which comes in at about 700 pounds.

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  2. I encountered the same thing on my ride into work yesterday. Very weird. It was super foggy out and the roads looked like they were slick, but with temps at 50-ish that couldn't be it... could it? I made it without incident, but that wasn't a fun ride at all. Fortunately, it hit 75 degrees by the afternoon so the motorcycle gods rewarded by bravery (stupidity?) with a glorious ride home.

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  3. That's what it's all about...the reward ride.

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