Sounds like a rough day for a joy ride. At least you made it back safe and sound. I've dodged outta town as Tornado's were on the way.

 

Well at least now you have a good story to tell.

 

Last summer I rode from Seattle to Minnesota, mostly rain, drizzle, cold till I got to the midwest. I had to stop in S.Dak for a storm brewing near Murdo, and it rained/hailed/blew like mad for about a half hour, a motel let me stick the ultra under a sheltered eave. Decided to stay there. Then when I got to Minnesota, I am going to see the Daughter, weather lookin' mean, and shortly after I get to the house all h#ll breaks loose, wind/lightning show/rain, then the hail starts and then gets steadily bigger till it was plum sized hail wailing down on the bike, parked in the street and the tornado sirens start. You could hear it banging on the vehicles in the street, breaking glass, drumming the roof of the house. I couldn't watch, conviced the bike was going to look, well, hammered! My wife calls from out west, about half way into the storm, I tell her I'll call back after the tornado sirens stop, so I can hear her, she was not pleased to hear this to say the least. So after the worst passes we look at the Jeep, the truck and the bike, Jeep was $3500, Tacoma was $4500, and the bike was one small dent in the dead center of the front fender, right under the headlight, no other marks, I was astounded after seeing the damage to the cages out there. Still have the dent as a trophy, some one asks, I tell them how tough the bike was in a hail storm...

 

Got caught in West Texas by thunderstorms. Lightning bouncing everywhere. Wind gusting 45+ mph across the road. Flash floods. Rain drops big a bumble bees. Miserable scary ride with no place to stop. I wouldn't do it on purpose but sometimes you just have to try to ride it out. OP you do know that a windshield you can barely see over sitting straight up is sometimes better then trying to look through a windshield you can't see through. Glad you made it through your adventure wife, bikes and all.

 

About the worst I ever did was ride through/with Hurricane Floyd when it hit the North Carolina/Virginia border area. I was coming home from leave and as we all know, you can't just not show up in the military. I pretty much rode up I-95 and Route 1 with the storm the whole way home and by the time I finally made it home I was pretty close to hypothermia.

I stayed on I-95 as much as I could, but the cagers were crazy. I went to Route 1 for some sanity only to realize that the valleys were so flooded my exhaust pipes were going under water. It was a grueling ride, let me tell you! One I'm not eager to ever repeat, but ever since then I've had a completely different perspective of riding in the rain. It doesn't bother me in the least unless there is lightning in my immediate vicinity.

 

Pulling into the garage after a ride:

 

Just do what I do. Put the rain suit on and it wont rain a drop. Or don't put it on and get soaked. The rain is bad enough. When the lighting starts cracking I pull over. Glad you made it OK.

 

You're right, there is some nice riding through the area, but that's about it! Gas stations, eating places and hotels are few and far in between. If you don't know the area they can be hard to find.

Let me know the next time you're through here, we can always crack open a beer and throw a steak on the grill!

 

I live in SW Indiana which is part of tornado ally 2; yes there is a tornado ally 2. You were incredibly lucky riding in the area of supercells. We were at the northern tip of the system that hit Alabama and we had a gust front go through where one second the winds were a steady 30 mph with no rain, then the winds hit 80 mph for about a minute followed by torrential rain and hail. A little south of us they recorded 100+ mph winds and that wasn't in a tornado.

If you aren't familiar with traveling in tornado country, great plains & midwest primarily but anywhere where they have severe storm watches in effect, here's some tips.

If you have a smart phone, get a program like weather bug and us it. Check the local and area weather on NWS web sites along your route. If the NSW Service Severe Storm Center issues a watch, bet your lungs that there is going to be severe storms.

When riding, if you are heading towards what looks like bad weather and you encounter hail, turn around and run. Hail is a precursor to storms that can produce tornados, which means you are riding into it. If the storm is behind you, move faster or take cover. If it is approaching from the side, find cover. Oh and when the rain stops or slows, that's when you really need to worry. Tormados usually develop on the back side of the cell, so unless you have a side view of the storm, you probably won't see the funnel.

 

Glad you made it safe......But, your nuts. lol