Ok for all you Yankees, a love bug is between the size of a fly and a mosquito, they are black and soft like a mosquito. They swarm twice a year, The swarm last about two weeks. They are harmless to humans, don't bite, or pester you.
They are called love bugs because they hook up while breeding, and stay that way, flying together happily everywhere, especially on roads.
When you hit them they are made of epoxy glue, and acid. (not literally but it seems like it)
They are next to impossible to remove, and if you leave them they eat the paint and leave a nasty pit.
People use grease; wax; Pam; on their bikes to help clean them off afterwards.
Some people wash their bike every day, some like me wait until the swarm is over and just spend a day cleaning.
Most smart people just park the bike until they are gone.
One rule everyone abides by, keep your mouth closed.

 

thanks cruiser.....yeah, i'm from upstate n.y. and migrated here to southern maryland in the mid 80s after 10 years in the army. i do a lot of running at night so i get a lot of skeeters moths and such but nuttin like that. not far enough south to have anything like that i guess.

 

Kinda looks like the mayfly hatch along the Greenbrier river.

 

Went to a buddies house to install the new catless header and didn't hit one Lovebug on the way at 8:00 AM. On the way home at 1:30 PM, I ran into millions of them. Two hours riding and two hours cleaning...I'm waiting for the swarm to die off before I ride again.

 

I am from Indiana, and never seen anything like them, when they swarm they group in certain areas, you will ride a half mile and hit maybe ten they you will hit a cluster and it is like riding through rain, just one after another, hundreds in fifty feet. They used to just swarm in the Spring, now we get them in the Fall also.
Nasty bugs, everyone hates them.

 

Some of the splats on all yous guys bikes looks like they could knock the bars right from your grip. I thought I had it rough cleaning mosquito and flys after a dusk run into the country. Wow!!!!

 

not sure about other folks method of cleaning this mess up, but i put pledge on the fairing, lowers, and windshield before i ride. when i get back i throw a warm towel over the fairing for a minute and then they wipe right off. just my 2 cents.
and BTW... if you think red and black is bad, white is like the welcome sign for these flying orgy kamikaze bastards!

 

In the last week of May, 2003, me and several buddies of mine road out to Las Vegas from Illinois. On the way we stopped at the Grand Canyon and stayed till the sun set. Quite a sight seeing the sun reflecting off the canyon walls as it goes down. Anyway, it was dark when we took off and on the park roads leading south we ran into a literal blizzard of moths. Anywhere there was a street light the moths were so thick you could not see through them, just like a mid winter blizzard. Fortunately the Softail I was riding had a detachable windshield. Once we got out of the canyon area the shield was nearly covered over with dead moths. We stopped at a gas station on the way out and they only had the store interior lights on, noting on out at the pumps because the moths were so bad. Quite an experience.

Here in Illinois we get June bugs and when you hit one of them with your face, you know it. Its just like getting hit with a rock or a baseball bat. They sometimes leave welts, bruises or even a cut if hit hard enough.

 

i would highly recommend not letting the lovebugs stay on your painted surface...they will screw it up. an easy way to clean them is dryer sheets. buy a box at the dollar store. with a little water they takem right off and wont hurt the paint.

 

I rode from Columbia to Charelston at 530am and came back late last night. It's hard to see the severity of the bugs in the pic, not as bad as the others but definitely a good massacre.