OzSTOC
OzSTOC Ride Reports, Pictures & Videos => RIDE REPORTS => Topic started by: Totgas on January 08, 2014, 09:03:19 PM
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Well what a beauty! Left work at 4pm on Monday the 5th for home and there was some slight rain on the way into the Clemm Jones Tunnel. By the time I emerged at the other end it was just pelting down.
Despite wearing semi waterproof clothing I estimate I was completely drenched within 3 minutes, by the time I reached home - 25 minutes away normally, (45 minutes on Monday) my boots were filled to the top.
The traffic was as usual, in Queensland rain, moving at between 5 - 15 kms per hour with cars just propping in the middle of the road without warning. "My God!" Queenslanders have no idea how to drive in the rain. 15 minutes into the ride and it was pitch black except for the frequent flashs of lightening and the roar of ever approaching thunder. I passed cars and bikes huddled under overpasses and bridges and drivers who obviously couldn't see mounting traffic islands and medium strips. I was surprised that due to the chaos there weren't more accidents.
Driving along the freeway I needed to keep in front of the trucks bow waves in order to avoid unplanned lane changes. To add further insult to my dampness the wind was gusting so much that at times I was riding at 45 degrees to the road.
I know what you are thinking, why on earth didn't I just pull over and wait until it passed. I guess that is why I use the handle of TOTGAS - Too old to give a sh*t, and to be quite frank it was pretty dam exciting and unlikely to be harming anyone else in the process.
What did this teach me?
1) It can rain 2 1/2 inches in 30 minutes and go from a blue sky to night in 5 minutes.
2) Keep your wet weather gear with the bike - not to mention your reflective jacket and finally
3) The ST is not fazed by water at all - it never missed a beat even when the water was up to seat level.
See the following video to see what I mean;
Ride safe and dry,
Cheers,
A.
http://youtu.be/FrS57UBa-FE (http://youtu.be/FrS57UBa-FE)
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Good video, even with a wet lens. Nice sound track
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Nice bow wave there. Looks like you had the road pretty much to yourself for a while.
Man, that's dark for a summer 4:00 pm.
I say Goodonya for riding it out. The soundtrack was a no-brainer. :clap
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Whoa..... That was a sight to see. The wave coming back over the screen was amazing.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
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Great footage Totgas. Can you send little of the rain down south please.
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Very nice. Hope the floaties were pumped up?
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:eek
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Way to wash the bike :thumb
:thumbs
Wind, I can live with.
Rain, I can live with.
Wind + Rain I get nervous.
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Great vid Totgas! GuSTo and Tenacity!
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Diesel
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I have been stuck in a Sydney downpour somewhat the same. It is not nice, but as long as the visor does not fog up you have a chance. The hail I struck before was more of a worry for the cars and trucks as they slowed and stopped to stop broken windscreens, and I just kept going - just a bit of banging on the screen and helmet. I think I felt safer than being in the car as more visibility. Not many times you can say that on the bike!
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I think I felt safer than being in the car as more visibility. Not many times you can say that on the bike!
Maybe. But there wouldn't have been anyone in a car willing to swap with you!
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A nice light shower if it took a full 3 minutes for you to be wet through.....good video though.
I would suggest that the Qld govt should really look at better drainage. We get that sort of rain fairly regularly during the wet, with flooding only happening if it coincides with a high tide.