Tony,
I thought at first that you rode your XII to Florida, so was worried about what kind of weather you would be riding into coming home.
In 2008 I went to Florida for the first time to a recumbent trike rally. It was the first of March and the weather there was absolutely perfect for riding. High 70's and low humidity. When we left KC on the trip it was cold, but no snow.
After three days of the rally, on the way home we hit a heavy freezing rain storm in Atlanta that lasted until we got to St. Louis, then it turned into a blizzard the rest of the way. Amazing how one day were in shorts, t-shirts and sandals, then driving through sub-zero weather in less than 24 hours!
As you can see from the pics, my trikes all ride on top of my little Civic and are totally exposed to the elements. on the trip there they got a few bugs, but on the way home they were totally encrusted with heavy ice. That also did a lot of damage. New cables, lots of cleanup and tuning were needed.
Many years ago I would ride my little Hodaka all year in the Kansas snows to school, and sometimes my cables would bind up from the oil getting too thick. hard on clutches and makes the front brake hard to pull, as well as the throttle. not to mention making it hard to keep the bike upright on icy roads. Tried to ride in the ditches most of the time to stay in softer snow for better traction. Can't even imagine what it would have been like for you IF you had taken your XII and been caught in some of the storms that swept across the Midwest while you were gone!
First pic is on arrival in Florida.
Next two pics are of the trikes after just one hour of driving through the freezing rains on the way home.
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