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Thought I would take off a bit early from work Friday and do a little riding up around Yosemite before it got to hot.  Well, that didn't work out, problems kept me on site until late afternoon.  By then the temp was 110 F on the 'ole outside temp gauge. Suffered the ride home thinking I would go to Kings Canyon area, do a bit of exploring, maybe waste a few rounds, etc.on Saturday. That didn't work either, same issue that kept me at work Friday....So this morning, I jump out of bed, jump on the bike, head over to Humphreys Station for a coffee, only to find I forgot my wallet. I managed to come up with enough cash for coffee going through my tank bag.  Sat around and watched the bicyclists, the usual cruiser types, and the local squids with their 2" chicken strips. Answered the inevitable" what kinda bike is that?", "why do you have knobbies on it?", "never heard of a Moto Guzzi"

Aah, I love adventure riding/bikes. It keeps the "sheep" confused.

So! finished my coffee, hopped back on the bike, waved to the bicyclists, passed the Squids in the twisties, saw the Cruisers at "Willowbucks", wondered why I had such a hard time going for a ride and made a pot of coffee.  Screw it!! I'm going to watch the F1 race and see if Nico Rosberg implodes again....

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This heat definitely drags me out.  And I like the higher temps!  Guess I miss the boat.

Nico didn't disappoint.  Apparently he wants to throw away any chance for the championship.  Another bone headed "block pass" that earned him a 5 second penalty costing him any hope of standing on the podium.  i don't get it, he would have passed him anyway...

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  • 5 weeks later...

Nothing like the heat!

 

As long as it's a "dry heat" as Carson used to say. Hate the damned humidity. But when the digits go triple here I bolt for the High Desert out in eastern/central Oregon like a shot. I just put in a 500+ mile day out there a couple weeks ago in the triple digits. Only thing that got to me was the damned silt. Tiger wants to do the funky chicken in the stuff and I just plain hate it. Plus as I think I might have said elsewhere the stuff can pile up high enough to bury your bike, just like quicksand.

My Wife and I ran into some last year that after it got 2/3s of the way up to the hubs on my YZ, I tucked my tail due to the damned tank-slapping. GAS IT my everloving, the darned thing would not settle down and the silt just kept getting deeper.

 

But I can definitely relate to the squids,cruisers and the really weird questions I get sometimes. Especially from the older guys who remember the leaky old twins of yore from the folks at Meriden, not the leaky triples of today from the folks at Hinckley. Had one fellow (British ex-pat) literally circle the bike a half dozen times while I watched him bemusedly while having lunch at a Pub shortly after I bought it. He acted absolutely thunderstruck that Triumph had evolved that much in his absence and was much impressed at the bikes capabilities. Then we have the knuckleheads like I met in the Alvord desert who couldn't figure out much of anything while I was trying to fuel there:

Cletus- Is that some sort of Tom Pederson?   Me- What?    Cletus' buck-toothed GF- I like a motorcycle!  

And so it goes.

The only reason to come down out of the hills is for fuel and food, NOT human companionship as there isn't any.

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Nothing like the heat!

 

As long as it's a "dry heat" as Carson used to say. Hate the damned humidity. But when the digits go triple here I bolt for the High Desert out in eastern/central Oregon like a shot. I just put in a 500+ mile day out there a couple weeks ago in the triple digits. Only thing that got to me was the damned silt. Tiger wants to do the funky chicken in the stuff and I just plain hate it. Plus as I think I might have said elsewhere the stuff can pile up high enough to bury your bike, just like quicksand.

My Wife and I ran into some last year that after it got 2/3s of the way up to the hubs on my YZ, I tucked my tail due to the damned tank-slapping. GAS IT my everloving, the darned thing would not settle down and the silt just kept getting deeper.

 

But I can definitely relate to the squids,cruisers and the really weird questions I get sometimes. Especially from the older guys who remember the leaky old twins of yore from the folks at Meriden, not the leaky triples of today from the folks at Hinckley. Had one fellow (British ex-pat) literally circle the bike a half dozen times while I watched him bemusedly while having lunch at a Pub shortly after I bought it. He acted absolutely thunderstruck that Triumph had evolved that much in his absence and was much impressed at the bikes capabilities. Then we have the knuckleheads like I met in the Alvord desert who couldn't figure out much of anything while I was trying to fuel there:

Cletus- Is that some sort of Tom Pederson?   Me- What?    Cletus' buck-toothed GF- I like a motorcycle!  

And so it goes.

The only reason to come down out of the hills is for fuel and food, NOT human companionship as there isn't any.

 

For me, when the humidity is below 50%, it's dry! I still ride in the summer in Florida, but out early and back early. As long as I keep moving, it's not bad. Ok, I lied... It's bad. But, gotta ride, so I just deal with it... I also lived in Vegas and rode in the summer. One time I had to walk down into a deep wash, lay on the shady side of the ditch, and remove my helmet, boots, pads, etc... I was total heat exhausted, feeling pretty sick. That's no fun and I'm getting too old for that stuff.

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Aaaaah, hot and humid, my most-dreaded riding condition.

 

And it's funny, because the general assumption of the common human being is: "hey, summer is cool for riding, right?"

And then, the inevitable part where I explain that no, it's not cool.

The only thing cool about summer is that daylight lasts a lot longer, but everything else is just pain and misery.

And they don't seem to understand, so I just have (it's becoming some sort of guilty pleasure, I admit it) to go into detail:

 

"See that bike? That's mine."

*points at bike, usually parked in the dedicated moto area, which is also usually nowhere near a building of sorts, hence in plain sun-range.*

 

"Now imagine riding that thing in 35/40°C, sitting on an engine that warms easily up to 100°C, the heat coming up from it, and right into you, the asphalt almost boiling, in temperatures around 50/60°C...

Starting to get the idea?"

 

*Other guy nods*

"Now imagine those three temperatures combined: Air at 40°, Engine at circa 100°, asphalt at 50°. Pretty hot uh?
It's not over. You have to endure all this whilst in full moto-gear: Helmet, jacket, pants, boots, gloves...and you can use all the "air vented" gear you want, it'll only be A TAD better.

Speaking of air... see that windscreen? Yeah, that thing doesn't let through a single whiff of air. Which would be hot anyway, but whatever."

 

*Other guy starts to realize*

"Man, that sounds like a pain in the ass, why you'd do that to yourself?"

 

*I can't help but smile and shudder*

"Ever heard of the tale about the scorpion and the frog? That's my (our) nature."

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  • 3 weeks later...

Meh, rode my Tiger year 'round last year and plan to this one as well. Cold and wet don't bother me now that I've got the right gear and mud maneuvers are a thing here in Oregon. Only problem is keeping it from caking on the low fender and not getting into just freshly laid heavy gravel(50+cm) and mud that they use for fresh logging areas. I got Tiger half way up to hubs in 3 feet and said no more last Fall. Not repeating the experience, especially with panniers or bags, cold or not.

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Saying goodbye to the New England "heat" of summer and love our fall riding season. Plenty of colors in the landscape for this old carpenter! I like to ride right up to the threat of ice and then New Yorks love of spreading salt to keep our "skilled " drivers on the road. The temps don't bother me until it drops below 40 Faren. And no Bugs !

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