Hail Storm

[DIGGER]

Wife and I just got back from camping in a truck with travel trailer in Beartooth Pass area last week and while there encountered a golf ball size hailstorm that caused major damage to truck and travel trailer.      Luckily it was not my truck or travel trailer.  It was my buddy's rig .   My question is.....if you are traveling on a motorcycle and encounter this out in the open what do you do?  Has any of you encountered this?

[Jess from VA]

Find an overpass.  Or anything to get under.

Or lay out full length over your bike to protect it from the hits.   

[DIGGER]

Find an overpass.  Or anything to get under.

Or lay out full length over your bike to protect it from the hits.   

Love your answer.....ha....protect the fat girl first..ha

[brew1brew]

I was caught in a really bad hail storm on my 2014 valk. was in northeastern New Mexico, there wasn't anything to hide under not even a bush. I rode about 2 miles into the hail, it go upto about quarter size, there was 2 inches of hail on the road when I stopped, I was hunkered down on the downwind side of the bike, trying to get winter gloves on (my hands were wet and i couldn't get them into the fleece lining) when a young lady with 2 younger daughters and a 15 year old son stopped in a king cab pickup truck towing a covered trailer, she asked if she could help me, offered to load my bike in the trailer and drive me out of it, I said Heck yeah! Her son opened the trailer, the tailgate was a ramp, and cleared a space for my bike, they sold pants and trees the bike just fit between the racks. I asked if she had tie downs, she said no, do you want to ride in the trailer and hold the bike up? I said sure, he son rode in the trailer with me! he kept opening the side door to look out and at the peak of the storm he said the hail was larger than golfball size and was about 12 inches deep on the side of the road.


Me in the trailer


The storm I foolishly tried to out run!

[RainMaker]

I have been caught once in the middle of nowhere and reversed course to get out of the storm until I found a car wash to duck into.  Waited until it passed and then continued.

I have thought about this before - and I would stop, put the bike on the sidestand and try to get as far under it as possible with my back to the storm and my helmet on if that was the only option.  If I had time, I would put any luggage/cushion I had on the tank to protect it from the hail as that would be the least protected metal from such a storm.  Having a plan is always good, but circumstances seldom cooperate with your plans!

RainMaker

[michaelyoung254]

Vita and I got caught in a hail storm riding home from GOTF (Don't remember if it was 2014 or 2015) one year. It basically rained on us the entire route after leaving Alvin, but got really heavy as we got closer to Hooterville (Huntsville). We were only a few miles from our house when it began to hail. The hail was only about the size of a pea, and we were laughing about it. I think that pissed Mother Nature off, and she increased both the size of the hail along with the amount coming down. For about the last 2 miles, it got to about the size of a golf ball.

I took Jess's view on the hail, and leaned over the gas tank to protect it as much as I could. Actually, I was surprised that it didn't break or at least crack the windshield. Fortunately, I was wearing a heavy jacket and my Frog Toggs jacket so it really didn't hurt my back that bad, but it REALLY hurt my hands and my face. The next day I my back and face were pretty bruised up.

HAIL HURTS!!!

"That's all I have to say about that!"

[DIGGER]

My brother in the 1970s had a hail storm that was baseball size that totalled his 2 cars and did major damage to his home.    It also killed 2 horses and 4 cows in the pasture next to his house.    I would assume that hail that size would break human bones and could kill ya.   I guess if I got into that size or larger hail I would stop and pull the bike over on me..