July 25, 2010, Sunday

Gypsy Stats: 311 mi, LK Home to LK Home

272 mi, Oak Lane to Redners Quick Stop

9 hrs 45 min elapsed time

6 Hr 42 min riding time

41 mph average speed

Beemer Stats: 317 Mi LK Home to LK Home

43 mph average speed

47 mpg, R1200R

Tim: ’96 BMW R1100RS

Dave: ’99 Triumph Sprint ST 955 Triple (aka Smokin’ Red)

Lindsey: ’07 BWM R1200R (grin)

Beautiful morning for riding with temp in the mid-70’s before breakfast, running up to 80 to 82 F in the second half of the morning. Hash and eggs at the Tamaqua Diner from 9:00 to 10:00 put a nice foundation on the day. We stopped for gas along Rt 29 about 8 mi shy of Tunkhannock, our erstwhile destination for the day. Rain started up while we were stopped and the prognosis from those coming from the North was bad, so we geared up for light rain and pressed on. Light rain? – Ha, not to be – it poured but good and the temperature dropped 15 degrees to around 68F. We turned around and headed south to either get out from under or at least make it home before hypothermia set in.

Lindsey called a pit stop at Exit 159 on I-81 to get reorganized against the drenching rain and cooler temperatures. He headed into the men’s room at the travel plaza carrying one side bag from the Beemer and looking like a drowned rat. Dry clothes underneath and both liners of the Revit ES suit made the day look better, but there was no help for the small ocean of water inside his boots. Once restarted, even re-geared, the downpour was heavy enough to overcome the waterproofing capability of the ES suit, so damp prevailed. At the next stop, adding the new Gerbing electric jacket liner seemed like a good idea. Finally, comfort and warmth! By this time the rain was letting up as well, so things no longer looked so dreary. A stop for a slice of hot pizza in Mahoney City, coupled with the end of the rain and some blue sky, brightened up the end of the trip.

Well, we proved that if you do not gear up properly, riding in a driving down pour can be pretty miserable. We were reminded that if you are going to get the right gear, you need to (a) take it with you, and (b) put it on when the circumstances dictate if you expect it to do its duty.

I have concluded that the Revit suit with liner works great up to and including drizzle, light rain, and a short heavy downpour, but is overwhelmed by a continuing heavy downpour with lots of water on the road and road spray. Gotta look into Frogg Toggs to go over top or start carrying the Triumph rain suit again, I guess.

Dave and Lindsey put a new set of Conti Motion tires on the R1200R the day before the trip (8880 mi). These were noticeably slippy until scrubbed in, but once scrubbed seem to perform very well. I may not be sensitive enough to tell the difference between one brand of tire and another at this point, but to me, the Conti Motions seemed fine. I was particularly impressed with how stable they felt in the heavy rain. More on this as we see how they wear. In any event, the price was right at $158 for the pair, delivered, through Amazon.com.