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Do you ride your motorcycle in the rain? Probably the better question is, do you really get out and ride your motorcycle? Because if you do, you inevitably ride in the rain, at least at times, and at least for the amount of time it takes for you to find shelter. It doesn’t matter that you started off on a clear, sunny morning. You headed out on your Royal Star Tour Deluxe thinking what a beautiful day for a ride it is, but now it’s not looking so good. Those low-hanging clouds are heading your way and the closer they get the darker and uglier they become. It’s a good thing you’ve got your rain suit with you. You do, don’t you? You don’t ever take off without it, do you? It ought to live in one of your bags and be with you all the time when you’re out on the road. Having a rain suit – and carrying it with you – is one of the things that separates newbie riders from experienced riders. I should know. I am the latter but at one time I was the former. When my buddies and I first got our bikes and took off riding them we were totally unprepared. Just about the only type of gear we had were helmets and we didn’t even wear them very often. You figure out very quickly, however, that a helmet is essential in the rain because otherwise those little rain drops feel like hundreds of sharp little pins turning your face into a pin cushion. It can be a little harder figuring it out with the rain suit. If you’re like us, you look at the expensive suits at the local motorcycle dealer’s and you have a hard time laying out more than $100 for a proper rain suit. So you go to the discount store and buy a $3 little plastic thing and figure that will suffice. Bill did that early on. The first time he needed to put it on we were coming down a canyon into town and he was in the lead. John and I started seeing these colorful little pieces of something flying past us, and it took a couple pieces going past before we realized they were the same color as that rain suit Bill was wearing. In fact, they were the rain suit Bill was wearing. Flapping vigorously in the breeze as he rode along, the suit was disintegrating and tearing off in pieces. Back to the drawing board. John took the middle route. He still didn’t want to pay up for the real thing, so he dropped about $40 on something that he figured would be adequate. It didn’t fall to pieces the way’s Bill’s el cheapo had done, and it even did OK in the occasional cloud burst, but the first time we rode in some serious rain, he noticed a peculiar feeling. His crotch was getting wet. It turned out that water was soaking through the seams and as water ran off down the suit and off his gas tank it was all collecting right there at his crotch. And coming right through. All this time, I had been getting by wearing a crummy old generic rain suit that a former roommate had left behind. There were a lot of things about it that could have been better, but it kept me reasonably dry. But it was starting to wear out. So I finally bit the bullet and bought a real honest-to-goodness motorcycle-specific rain suit. Yes, it cost me $150 but it is worth it. And Bill and John soon did the same. Now when it rains we just suit up and keep on riding. Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to go the cheap route. This is one of those times. For a New York Motorcycle, visit Island Powersports at www.IslandPowersports.com or call 516-795-4400. We have rock bottom pricing, outstanding customer service, and knowledgeable staff to satisfy your thirst for fun. Schedule an appointment today to get out and ride!
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