It's been warm and I am loving it

Hi folks

I’ve recently been treated to some very good riding weather the past few weeks. In fact I  did 6 days in a row in +30C temperatures! Yes! 

It gave me a chance to test the Tourmaster jacket in heat while packing away my electric liner for awhile. Other than when stopped in traffic the jacket’s flow through ventilation works well at keeping me cool. It is a touring jacket, not a mesh jacket more adapted to commuting in hot areas, so I expected some heat while in traffic. On the road,with only a wick dry t-shirt underneath it is fine until you get in the high 30’s which is not fun in any gear.

The Tourmaster Venture pants, while waterproof can get a bit clammy inside on warm days when its too hot to wear my Oxford Chill out undergarments. (these are great at wicking moisture until the temps get above 25C then you cook). It would be nice if they could add a vent, with a Velcro flap over it (like on the jacket), on each leg for some airflow. I could just switch to my Draggin Jeans but there are still a lot of bugs and I hate doing laundry. My compromise was to just sweat it out and drink plenty of fluids and open the side zipper up for some weak airflow

I’ve also had a chance to use my Tourmaster Orilmesh hot weather gloves, which proved to be quite comfortable in the heat. The only caution is when taking them off; as with any glove with an inner liner, pinch the fingertip, as you remove your hand, to ensure the liner stays in the finger hole. I removed one too quickly and had the liner shift in one finger and it took a bit of hand wriggling to get it back in. They have become my daily glove in the heat.

The heat is nice but it’s also nice to have some relief. I shouldn’t complain that I got soaked today so, I won’t. It was a ‘wetter than needed to be day’ and lets leave it at that. Solid rain for 4 hours will cool you off and also wash off a lot of the bugs collected on the front of the bike.

I’ve since left the prairies and its excessive amount of insects in exchange for Ontario and its excessive amount of speed enforcement that seem as thick as flies in an outhouse. It baffles me how the public can swallow the “Slow down for safety” BS that is nothing more than a disguise for taking your money. 

90 kilometers per hour is all the widest province in Canada will allow, sometimes even less. With today’s cars and bikes and their improved handling, tires and brakes it smacks of nothing but a cash grab especially given the militant amount of patrol cars I have seen in Ontario. It almost resembles a police state given the amount of patrol cars (most seem to be fuel sucking SUVs for some reason)

The powers that be cite it is for safety but I disagree. Making people go slower than need be creates an adverse effect on both motorcycles and cars. I’ve seen more stupid close calls on these slow speed highways than when I was on the 110kph roads of the prairies. When you slow everyone down, their thinking slows down too. Why do we cater to the lowest of skill levels? Better to scare 'iffy' drivers off the road in my opinion. Its safer if they are on a bus.

I am reminded of a line from the 1976 movie Gumball Rally character Bannon, played by Michael Sarrazin “Fifty-five (90kph) is fast enough to kill you, but slow enough to make you think you're safe.” commenting on the USA federally mandated speed limit imposed in the 70’s which was a failure.

On a sport-touring bike you feel robbed. The bike handles better at triple digits and I get more airflow hitting my shoulders, which takes the strain off my arms/wrists. 

On the map Ontario looks like winding roads through forests and lakes but the powers-that-be have ironed out most of the corners to the point where they are even boring in an 18 wheeler. I know, as I used to drive semis through here often, in a job that seems a lifetime ago.

To get some lean time in and prevent my tires from going square, which can spell disaster should a biker suddenly have to swerve, I have developed 2 methods to counteract the boredom and address the safety factor.

Method 1- Scrub the tires often. When no traffic is present I slow the pace to scrub the tires, which is a method of zig zagging while increasing the aggressiveness of each zig and zag. The idea is to get the edge of the tire scrubbed to a fresh surface.  You see racers do this before the start of a race.

This should be done whenever you start your day, go through puddles or come off a gravel area. You don’t want to leave a gravel parking lot with dust on your tire and when the need to swerve arrives your contact patch has debris on it that can cause a loss in traction. I like to use the dotted lines and find my slalom course through them ceasing when I see oncoming traffic although I do give them 1 or 2 zags so they notice me from a distance

Method 2- Enter the corner late and take a late apex. Coming into the corner late then making the turn allows me to find an apex that will simulate a real corner and get some lean time in. Often I can do several in one big sweeper.

Leaning and cornering is what makes motorcycling fun and to the non-riders out there please understand this. If you are the slowest one in traffic (read- tourist in a motor home) let us by before the twisty sections come up. Trust me, you won’t see us for long and it is these corners (which scare you) that bikers have ridden for days to experience. Pull over. Being behind you is a safety concern as a bike is unable to see ahead for road obstacles etc.

Riding without leaning is like golfing without clubs, pancakes without syrup or sex without a partner. You just don’t get the full experience.

Traveling through Ontario’s north is an exercise in patience. It’s a big province to cross taking 3+ good, full, looong days of driving to complete. Luckily I had a few stops to make to break it up. There are some nice lake areas to see and, if you are into fishing, Ontario has it in abundance. There are boat rentals at almost every body of water or just fish from the shore for walleye, pike, bass and muskellunge. If I had a bit more time I’d go try to catch dinner.

It seems some of the rough roads of Saskatchewan have loosened a luggage bracket so I am going to go over the bike and tighten things up. I don’t want her being too loose a woman.

Cheers

Daryl Makk