Vacation cut short on the 1200

[ekap1200]

My first trip after that triple-bypass thing , and the weather turned bad. But the 1200 ran those twisty roads in Robinsville NC better than when it was brand new. I still swear by those Avon's as the roads can be wet the higher up you go. And I held up well myself after a day. Weather was great all the way up to Wednesday.
But when I seen Springfield MO getting pounded by hail. I packed up and was ready to haul my behind out the door come the morning. And I told my riding companion to do the same. This storm was a biggin.... I woke up and seen the sun clear in the east , looked at the radar on the tube and told Harry pack up now...
It looked like we had about 1/2 hour ahead , at least it did to me.... And it was in agreement that I was the only one leaving. So off I went and I rode 12 hours with only a scattered 15 min down pour. That rain was on my heals the entire way back north-east. It is normally a 10 hour trip without road delays and I seen a doozy '; involving a tanker across the highway and its tractor in the medium . That was a long wait to clear that up and safe for just the shoulder as one lane for a number of miles of backed up traffic.
When I pulled in , I had only removed my one bag from the trunk and it began to rain. IT has not stopped here yet. Bike just sitting out in the rain getting a good rinsing. Now I know that I wouldn't believe this story , but it's true....
And getting back to Harry, (aka: Harry the hat ) Marie just got hold of him (about 9am ) and he is for sure going to be not only be wet but cold... and he is less than 150 miles into the 800 hundred or so mile trip. But he did run the Tail of The Dragon and has the pic and the T-shirt.
Yall wish him a save one home....
Gene Kap

[GrandpaDenny]

The East Coast weather gods must be mad at Voyager XIIs this year. I had crappy cold and wet weather on my trip in April too. Glad you made it home before the rain. I don't know about you guys, but I stay nice and dry behind my fairing and windshield, and I'm a lot bigger than either you or Harry. Only thing that gets wet is my shoulders, but my jacket keeps that out even if it's pouring. I haven't worn my rain gear except over my mesh jacket when chilly in a year.

[SgtSlag]

We took a 265 mile day trip, yesterday. Got caught in rain, discovered a new pair of rain pants we purchased, on sale, last year, were not "rain" pants, but they did cut the wind. Came home soaked. Sat out some of it, in a Hy-Vee Grocery Store restaurant, an hour from home. Place was empty, so we hung our dripping armored jackets over some chairs, while we ate. Rain stopped, so we put on our still-dripping jackets, and headed out. Felt sorry for the staff who had to mop up the puddles we left.

We don't mind riding in the rain, as long as it is not too heavy -- then we find a place to stop and wait until it lightens up. We've been caught in some downpours, though. With decent rain gear, it is not bad. Without decent rain gear...

Gotta say, we love our Voyager. She runs great, handles nearly everything we throw at her, and she has only let us down once, when the fuel pump died on the road.

In spite of having a poor day on the bike, yesterday, it was better than the very best day in the office... Cheers!