Before I clarify, let me just say right now, if you're riding in rain, you WANT a Spyder!!!
On Wednesday 23rd I went to Pinetown for the opening of our new dealership, Hooked Up Motorsports. Me and Fred flew down in the morning at sparrows and helped get the shop ready. In between all this, customers who had test ridden the Spyders in the morning wanted to chat to me so I spent about an hour with them.
It was raining on and off all day long but we managed to get all the bikes, quads and jet skis dry and polished. That evening was a great success with more people attending than they'd expected and more food had to be ordered which vanished in the blink of an eye as well.
We got to bed late and I woke with the sound of rain on the roof and gutters. The last RS in the country is our only demo bike until the new stock arrives in December and I had to bring that back to Johannesburg. One customer from the previous day wanted to have another ride but we confirmed that they had all made up their minds so wouldn't be coming in the morning – I could leave earlier. But just as I was ready to get into my rain suit, another three customers walked in and spent another 45 minutes talking about the bikes.
I eventually left at 11:00 hoping the rain would stop soon. A few kilometers outside Pinetown were major road works and the highway narrowed to one lane. Of course I couldn't see potholes so just hoped that the puddles were just indentations and nothing worse. One puddle stretched from one side of the road to the other and as I hit it, the bike started aquaplaning and snaking all over the road. And this is where I was very grateful for the technology on the Spyder - TRACTION CONTROL RULES!!! All I could think of was to relax and to trust the bike, but that was pretty difficult when you see a concrete barrier coming towards you at speed and you have to trust your life to a piece of machinery! The bike snaked about four or five times and then I was out of the puddle and heading down the road with my heart in my throat! Had I been on a two wheeler or a small car without traction control, I would not be here to tell the tale.
By the time I got near Harrismith, I’d decided that I’d had enough. Conditions were not improving but thought I’d make the decision to stop or continue once I got to Harrismith. As I rounded the corner at the petrol stop, the sky looked lighter so I decided to push on. Van Reenen’s pass was not the most pleasant experience as the cloud cover was about 2cm off the ground. I just hoped that trucks had bright back lights as my visibility was hampered by the mist, plus the rain and spray from the trucks and cars gathered on my visor (drops weren’t flowing off and just sat there). I got through Van Reenen’s unscathed but then the open road meant a full-on head wind with the trucks’ buffeting and spray hitting me every now and again. Once again, I was very grateful for the traction and stability control together with the ABS when I needed it.
Just before Villiers I was approaching in the right hand lane with a black car quite a distance in front of me. I have no idea what happened, but I was right on top of it in a blink of an eye. I didn’t see brake lights and I’m not sure if I’d lost concentration for a second causing me to go faster or if the car had braked, but I touched my brakes and swerved to the left. Thanks to training and lots of practice and experience with emergency braking and swerving, I missed the car by inches!
I made my way to Villiers filling station where a woman approached me and congratulated me on getting through those conditions. I had passed them somewhere along the way and she was convinced it was a woman on the bike but she and hubby decided that it couldn’t be, no sane person would be that brave! They ride Harleys and she pillions, saying she isn’t brave enough to ride by herself even in perfect conditions.
It rained all the way and I guess I travelled 4.5 of the 5.5 hours in the downpour. Eventually my bullet-proof rain suit gave up the struggle and I had some very interesting wet patches. Thank goodness I had spare gloves because the waterproof ones eventually also threw in the towel.
I arrived home safely but very tired and sore from being tense for so long.
All I can say is that the Spyder’s stability control system and my saddle time saved me from a few near misses!
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