Good day to all members of GWRRA and I hope your last ride was smooth and enjoyable. Have you been out riding? If not, you're missing some great times. I've been forced to ride back and forth to South Woodstock / North Marietta and back home 5 days a week; around 70 miles round trip. Add the riding on the weekend and the miles on my old GL1500 are racking up, 20,000 miles since June 4th of 08.

It's "Hit or Miss" this time of the year with rain. I don't mind riding in the rain. I'm not real thrilled with starting out when it's pouring down but we all do what we have to do. I like the fact that on a Wing, if you're moving, you really don't get that wet. A hand, YES, Boots, YES but as long as we are moving the rest of our bodies don't get too soaked; UNLESS the remnants of a tropical depression or hurricane touch the area.

For the past few weeks' storms from Anna, Bill through Danny have brought some needed rain the North Georgia. Since my bike is my only mode of transportation at this time, I rode through some of these storms, or tried. If it wasn't raining or didn't look like I would get caught to bad in it when I left, no rain gear was worn. This worked out well for me except for 3 days. To make a long story short, I don't think I could have got any wetter if someone had turned a fire hose on me. On these 3 different days it was raining so hard I had no choice but to pull over somewhere safe and wait it out. I was already soaked to the bone so rain gear was useless but after the 1st time I had prepped my bike for the next one.

A clean, polished windshield: If there was any rain on the morning forecast I cleaned my windshield. Goodbye dead bug guts and water spots. I use Plexus Plastic Cleaner, Protectant, and Polish. I'm not saying this is the BEST thing to use but it is something I've used and had good results. Not only does it clean but it also polishes, filling in those little scratches and making the windshield look almost new. FOLLOW THE INSTRCUTIONS if you use Plexus: NO PAPER TOWLS!!! You will end up with little hairs sealed with polish to your windshield if you use a paper towel. Clean, dry cotton cloth only. I use one to clean and a new one to polish the windshield out. After 3 cleanings I wash the cleaner one, make the polish one the cleaned and pull a new one out to buff the polish out. DO NOT USE RAIN-X! Everything I can find tells me that it is made for GLASS Windshields, not Lexan or Plexiglas.

Tire tread depth: The less tread you have on your tires the less the ability for the tire to channel water away from the contact surface between the tire and the road is. Check your tires, including that hidden one on the back of your bike. Since I only have 2 tires touching the road I'm a bit pickier about how long to run my tires. Use the penny test as a last resort. Turn Old Abe head down and stick the penny in the tread. Where does it come up to on Abe's head? I use his hairline, not the top of his head like I would with a car. I have a tread depth gage on the bike so I can tell you within a 32nd what my tire has. The cost of a tire isn't worth the cost to repair your bike if you go down due to hydroplaning.

A few dry towels: Keep a few clean, dry towels available on the bike. Put a small one in your pocket if you think maybe you will be caught in the rain. Put a few in your saddle bag or trunk. DO NOT TRY TO DRY YOUR WINDSHIELD OR FACE SHIELD WHILE MOVING!!! Pull off in a safe place, turn your flashers on, and clean/dry what you want. The Plexus can also be used to clean and polish your face shields.

Don't let the scattered rain showers keep you from riding; just be prepared for it if you can't avoid them. Rain gear is great but we're not always able to get it on in time. Slow down and be prepared for slick spots on the road. Ride in the tracks of the vehicle in front of you and avoid the center line of the lane till the rain has had a chance to wash away some of the oily road film. BE CAREFUL!

May great weather, friends and rides find you till next we ride together.