Too chicken, difficult cold and wet start

After a Xmas dinner, I got back to Toronto around 12:30am.  I was too chicken to ride on the highway, in the dark, in the rain, in 70km/h gusts of wind.  That was fine.  I stuck to the streets and didn't really lose that much time as there were virtually no cars given the time of the day and year.  Oddly, I did not see a single RIDE check.  They are usually out there in full force at this time of the year.  Maybe in a few days, when new year celebration starts, they will be more prominent on the road.

Yesterday, there was rain.  The day before there was also rain.  I was in the suburb of Mississauga.  My bike had a lot of problems starting in the rain but it seemed like a battery problem.  Twice I was unable to start the bike to the point the battery ran out of juice.  As soon as we boosted the battery, the bike started up right away.  The first time was around noon time when it was drizzling, and the bike was stored in a garage then taken out onto the driveway to start up.  The second time was around 11pm when it was raining, and the bike was parked on the driveway. 

Back in Toronto, this afternoon, the bike started up right away when I threw the ignition switch on in my building garage.  The battery is fine I guess.  I suspect that in cool and wet weather, it would take more time for the carburetor to get rid of the excess moisture and by the time most of the moisture is gone, the battery had already lost much of the charge so it couldn't get the engine to spin.  So when I boosted the battery, it so happened then that the condition was then right for the bike to start up.  But, what actually gets rid of the excess moisture?  The choke?  Maybe if I open the choke up for a while before starting the bike, it may start it up easier?  Hmmm...  I will experiment with this further later.

Time to prepare to leave for the airport.

The cold weather, risks, tailgaters

According to The Weather Network, the temperature in Toronto was -1C this afternoon when I headed out to Mississauga.  Windchill was about -6C.  Amazingly, it was a comfortable ride.  Instead of wearing my motorcycle gloves, I wore my leather glove with liners and that kept my fingers warm enough for my 30-minute trip.

My bike had a bit of a hard time starting up in the cold with a carburetor.  Once it's going, it's fine.  I'm lucky I live in a building with an underground garage so starting the bike up in the garage was easy but let it sit outside for a few hours, you're just wondering when the engine will wake up.

Riding around 0C and below is always a risky business.  I feared of black ice on the road.  I took that into consideration before heading out this afternoon.  I knew we had some rain earlier in the week and the days had gone warmer and then colder.  As far as I could see, the road was pretty clean of snow and ice.  Still, I took precaution making my curves around corners.  There is always a risk with motorcycles, more so in the winter, but it's a risk I'm willing to take at this point.  In my eyes, there is nothing cool about motorcycles--my Suzuki GS500F is ok looking and my body armor is not in sync with the blue of my bike--but there is so much to experience the thrill and freedom of being on a motorcycle, to live the moment, to focus on the moment.  Is it worth the risk?  As long as I feel safe on the motorcycle, the risks don't seem much.

I still hate that some cars were tailgating me.  They are stupid or something, I thought.  I'm looking for a sign to wear on my back or to tie to the license plate that says, "If you can read this, get the F*CK back so you can't read it!"  They seemed to be rushing to their destination for no reason.  Maybe they do have a reason, but still, don't tailgate a motorcycle.  I wouldn't do that if I were driving a car.  You know following a bike could put both you and the rider in danger should anything happen to him.

Newbie's thoughts

I am still a newbie on two wheels.  The first time I ever rode a motorcycle was in motorcycle safety school back in August.  I went in the course with no knowledge of how a motorcycle works, what the mechanics of riding involves, or even knowing what a clutch really does.  See, I have never even ridden a stick shift car, so the motorcycle was a world away from familiarity.  The safety course was primarily a safety course but they drill into you muscle memory.  I came out of the course knowing how to operate a motorcycle with some amount of muscle memory.  Nothing is actually like riding on your own on the street after the course however.

That is where I felt a complete newbie when I first took the wheels on the streets of Toronto.  Even before that, there was a fear I will drop the bike trying to get out of my garage.  My parking spot is three floors down in the basement garage of my building, so the thought I'd have to ride up the ramps was a bit scary--will I flip backward when riding up, and what will I do if I get stuck midway up the ramp?  As it turned out, the school did not teach you how to handle stop and starting on a slope, so I dropped the bike the first time I tried to get out of my garage.  The darn garage door sensor did not pick up the motorcycle so did not open the door.  There I sat on the slope holding on the front brake.  Not knowing what to do and starting to panic a little under my helmet, I started rolling back.  I let the bike drop on the spot rather than rolling back with it.

Since then, I have learned how to stop and start on a slope.  I feel a lot more comfortable riding the streets of Toronto and the highways now, although rain and sleet/snow still make me nervous.  Rain shouldn't be a problem except that Toronto has many streetcar tracks and manhole covers that get slippery when wet, and sleet/snow, well, they're just damn slippery for anything moving.

I still consider myself a newbie.  There are things I still think about when riding.  I think they should be fully automatic.  Things like switching on the left/right turn signal should be second nature.  I often have to find the switch to activate it and find it again to deactivate it, and also forgetting to deactivate it.  Then, there is a fear that some bigger vehicle will rear end you.  I don't trust the drivers on the road.  You gotta watch out for yourself.  You can avoid things in front of you but you might not see what may come up from behind.

Riding a motorcycle is a lot of fun.  It'd be a lot more fun if the road is made for motorcycles only.  A dream.