Hi. I thougth I would share this with everyone. Been riding the Magna for 3 years now. Enjoy the bike tremendously. Great handling plenty of power, etc. Very reliable. Good looks.
Never had even a close call.
Yesterday decided to ride from Austin back to Houston. I knew I was going to get a little wet, but I had never riden in the rain before, and thoutgh it would be a good chance to do it.
First half of the trip (180 miles) was fine and dry.
Once arrived in Columbus near I-10 and 71 it started to rain. Very dark skies, lots of traffic. I tried to ride smart, Stay away from big rigs, and ride in "empty pockets" of the road.
Pouring rain came down. Thougth about stopping, but decided on keep on going. I was very surprised on how easy it is to ride in the rain, on a straigth line. Other than the vizibility issues, all was well. I was smilling all the time, cause the Magna was ticking like a Swiss clock. It gave me lots of extra confidence on this bike.
As I approached Katy and got closer to home, I was so happy for "surviving" this very risky trip without any incidents/accidents.
Got really close to home, and still smilling. Last traffic ligth before my neighborhood. Left turn signal on, ligth turn green, I leave on a left turn and not 50 ft after that, the rear tire start to turn loose, and bike went into a very hard shake. Lasted about 2 seconds. Re-gained control for 5 seconds. decided all was well and gave it a little more gas to keep going. I was in a straigth line at this point, having finished the left turn. Rear tire spinned violently again. Lost control bike feel to the side, I went down with it.
Got up with absolutely no injuries (I was around 10/15 mph I guess and with FULL gear).
I felt like cr$%#@&pp looking at my baby laying there on the asphalt.
It is a terrible feeling......felt as if I had a personal friend laying there...WEIRD.
Picked the bike up. Pushed it to the side. Started after a couple of tries. Went home.
Picked up my left mirror from the road (broken). Scratched the wind shield, and the clutch lever a little. Other than that, my pride is severely damaged.
Lessons learned:
1- The statistics that say 90% of all accidents occurr near your house IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE !!!
2- Never forget to stop outside the center line on traffic ligths, SPECIALLY after ligth rain. I am sure I stopped the bike over an Oil Slick.
3- I love the Magna. I have been thinking about getting a more powerfull / modern bike, but I think I will stick with my Baby because "Why do I need more torque on the rear whell?"
Anyways. Hope this helps someone.
Regards to all.
Well very glad to hear you are OK and your baby is not to hurt she can be repaired. As far as riding in the rain it does pose it,s own problems but can be overcome by throttle management and taking turns alot slower and more upright. I have found and alot of people say I am crazy but I feel more at home on my Magna in the rain than a car .... I have one section of road that is very slippery even on the sides I can be riding and hit the gas and break the rear tire loose so I watch out for that section for sure !!!
Again glad you are OK
Oh one more thing she is your personal friend I know mine is 8) 8)
Glad to hear that only your pride was significantly damaged!
I dropped mine the first week I had it in a Cul-de-Sac when I looked at the ground and fell right where I was looking, just like the MSF instructor said I would. Talk about embarrassing :oops:
Sorry to hear about your fall, glad to hear your ok and the damage is minimal. You do have my curiosity up as to what you consider a more modern and powerful bike, I'm guessing your talking crotch rocket.
Charles,
After much looking around, I felt very comfortable on the BMW K1200S. It's way too powerfull for the roads and Laws of our land,....but it fits me like a glove. The Magna is still A LOT OF BANG FOR THE BUCK......
I don't think I will ever sell the Magna, even if I get something else.
Cheers.
Glad to here you are OK and that the gear did it job!!! Bike parts can be replaced!
Sucks you dropped your bike man, but yea, I guess I'm glad you're ok too. :twisted: :twisted:
Careful in the rain. First time I really got caught, traffic around me was doing around 40mph on IH10. It is surprising at how easy it is on a bike. I was more worried about someone hydroplaning into me.
I am glad you are OK after your spill. I try not to ride in the rain. When I do, I go very slow. I am like a little old man hoping not to get run over from behind. On a side note I got my transmission fixed last week and tonight I am in the truck cage.
Glad you made it okay in the rain even though you went down.
Going to my first mootmag in Crocket I experienced the wonderful handling of the magna in rain and it has never let me down. You do have to be careful with that throttle as you know, but I have always felt comfortable in downpours with the magna. I rode yesterday to work up here in Frisco and it was a downpour and lots of runoff but we stuck together and made it safely, me and my magna.
Bob
While I was accompanying my wife to the ER last weekend, we found ourselves in one half of an observation room. On the other side of the so-called privacy curtain was a young couple who had just had a motorcycle wreck. Judging from the girl's comments and shrieks, the roadrash hurt her worse than her broken arm did. The told somebody on their phone that they weren't going more than about 15-20 when they hit some gravel and went down. If they had been smart and had been wearing the gear like you were, they wouldn't have had to endure having their road rash scrubbed clean: when that girl was being scrubbed, her screams made my skin crawl.
Hope the damage to your bike doesn't cost you too muh to fix. Very glad to read that you did not suffer serious injury.
Just glad to know your OK and that you did the most important thing after the wreck, tried to determine where you made the mistake and learned from it.
As for the last comment about ...near your house..., ain't it the TRUTH!