The Art of the Bug

[palerider]

A couple of years ago I had a 5 minute job to do in Fort Myers from West Palm Beach. Coast to Coast, Straight Line on SR80.

Didn't notice it was Love Bug Season when I took off. When I got Home I couldn't See Through the Windshield. NOT KIDDING!!

There was a 1/4 inch Thick layer of Dead Bugs. Took me FOREVER to get them Off. I Started right away. Didn't want any Paint Stains. No Stains But, IT SUCKED!!

It Ruined a Cortech Black Denim Riding Jacket. I never got all the Bugs off of it after 3 Dry Cleanings. I Tossed it! That SUCKED Too! :bye2:

Oh, yes. Love Bugs! No one has ridden through a swarm of bugs until they've ridden through a swarm of Love Bugs! A writhing mass of bugness in a ginormous, black ball floating six feet above the blacktop as you come around a curve. You can actually feel the drag as you smack through tens--maybe hundreds--of thousands of pairs of fornicating flyers filling every available surface and crevice and crack and cranny with bug guts (and for all I know, bug come) so that the world turns dark from the body parts and the bug blood that enshrouds your face shield. Oh, yes. Love Bugs! You ain't truly been bugged 'til you've been truly Love Bugged!

 

[WBill]

The best bug cleaner I've found is the detergent Home Depot sells for pressure washers. Now, mind you, don't use it in a pressure washer for bike cleaning. Mix it 20:1 in a bucket and the bugs just dissolve off with a rag soaked in the mixture.

BTW: I once rode through a plague of grasshoppers in The West somewhere, and one got stuck under my brake pedal. The next morning, there was a long string of ants, marching two-by-two, up the side stand and harvesting the kill outside the motel where I stayed. 'Wonder what they might have done to the tender bits of my M/C had I not intervened. WBill

 

[Bounce]

For the stubborn ones that don't come off with soaking, use peroxide.

 

[bigjimbiker]

For the stubborn ones that don't come off with soaking, use peroxide.

One trick we use here in Florida is to wipe down the love "bugged" area with a moistened fabric softner sheet. This must be done immediately after your ride. The fibers in the sheets are mildly abrasive but scratch free. Apparently these sheets also repel live bugs when tucked (dry) in your pocket, say on the golf course for example.

"Bounce" happens to be one brand I know of... :yahoo:

 

[SQUEAL]

I grew up along the Mississippi river. Along about July/August there is a hatching of the yellow corn moth....There are spots along the river where they congregate in the tens of millions. One spot is over the bridge to Dubuque Iowa. Nothing like riding through a cloud of dusty neon yellow moths. Then there are the Junebugs.....Think Marble at 75mph....

 

[HotRodZilla]

Speaking of marbles...One day, I was riding through Albuquerque's north valley. I was doing about 40 when I saw what looked like a bunch of shiny floating marbles.

There was no where to go, so I hit the swarm and then realized it was BEES. Holy shit. The ones that weren't dead were pissed. There were 3 on my jacket trying to sting it.

Thank god I was dressed appropriately and the windshield stopped a bunch of them. Sheesh.

 

[Bungie]

Nothing like riding through a cloud of dusty neon yellow moths. Then there are the Junebugs.....Think Marble at 75mph....

I took a June bug to the side of the helmet at 75mph once. Sounded like a stick of dynamite going off. The stupid bit was I saw it coming and knew it had made up its mind to end its life on me. No avoiding it. So, I turned my head and just winced. It left one HELL of a mess on the helmet too.

As for bees. I was going through some farmland in Southern Ontario and saw this big black cloud swirling around just to side of the road. I thought they were birds. Nuh uh. Bees. *BILLIONS* of bees. I didn't know whether to stop or gas it. So remembering the old adage "if in doubt, gas it!", thats what I did. I nailed a few of them, but thankfully, they stayed off to the side of the road. Mostly. Didn't get stung once WOOT!

 

[kolonial72]

Never. Wash. That. Bike.

 

[Larry33319]

For the stubborn ones that don't come off with soaking, use peroxide.

When Love Bug season is here, there is no exageration that they will completly cover the front of your bike. Until you have driven thru them, you just cannot believe how many commit suiside while fornicationg. The best things I have used to get them off was indeed peroxide, although mixed 50/50 with water in a spray bottle. Will not harm your paint and the bugs just foam up and are easily wiped off.

 

[RadioHowie]

One thing MANY people don't know about lovebugs, is they are attracted to environments high in unburned hydrocarbons, hence their affinity to hanging around roads and highways, and hence, their ability to fook up your riding day when they're breeding.

 

[palerider]

One thing MANY people don't know about lovebugs, is they are attracted to environments high in unburned hydrocarbons, hence their affinity to hanging around roads and highways, and hence, their ability to fook up your riding day when they're breeding.

+1

In season, you will see them swarming gas stations.

 

[dcarver]

What the hell is a lovebug?

 

[RadioHowie]

What the hell is a lovebug?

They hatch out in my neck of the woods in May and September and swarm, literally, in the tens of millions.

Now, imagine EVERY vehicle on the road, for a four week period, twice a year, looking like that!

 

[Warchild]

:lol:

 

[ALDAWG]

:lol:

3D paint! Yummy

 

[majicmaker]

Well Guys...... When you Really think about it a little bit. When You've Arrived into Ecstacy, Isn't that the Perfect Time to GO??!!

As opposed to, Let's Say, The Headlights of a Freight Train?! WHAT?!...... Is it Just Me??

 

[RadioHowie]

Well Guys...... When you Really think about it a little bit. When You've Arrived into Ecstacy, Isn't that the Perfect Time to GO??!!

As opposed to, Let's Say, The Headlights of a Freight Train?! WHAT?!...... Is it Just Me??

You ain't right.

 

[majicmaker]

Well Guys...... When you Really think about it a little bit. When You've Arrived into Ecstacy, Isn't that the Perfect Time to GO??!!

As opposed to, Let's Say, The Headlights of a Freight Train?! WHAT?!...... Is it Just Me??

You ain't right.

WHAT?!?!........ I'm just Saying since we all have to Go Anyway, Wouldn't that be a Pretty Good Time! I Can't Possibly be the Only One! :huh:

 

[HotRodZilla]

Well Guys...... When you Really think about it a little bit. When You've Arrived into Ecstacy, Isn't that the Perfect Time to GO??!!

As opposed to, Let's Say, The Headlights of a Freight Train?! WHAT?!...... Is it Just Me??

You ain't right.

WHAT?!?!........ I'm just Saying since we all have to Go Anyway, Wouldn't that be a Pretty Good Time! I Can't Possibly be the Only One! :huh:

I gotta say...Unlike Howie, I have been in a position similar to that with a woman. Even in the midst of the highest levels of ecstasy, getting hit by a truck would totally suck! Talk about coming and going...

 

[majicmaker]

I gotta say...Unlike Howie, I have been in a position similar to that with a woman. Even in the midst of the highest levels of ecstasy, getting hit by a truck would totally suck! Talk about coming and going...

OK Now That's just Funny as Hell!! :rofl: But, You have to admit, It'll be Light Out in a Split Second and You'll Go with a Big Freakin' Smile on your Face! :grin: