What is the largest size HAIL you have personally encountered on a motorcycle?

[Moto]

This might be a suitable topic for the winter layover.

I've never encountered really big hail on a motorcycle. Maybe half-inch.

My question is: How big were the biggest hailstones you ever encountered while riding a motorcycle? (And how did that work out for you?)

I've always wanted to believe baseball-size hail is a myth, but googling does turn up examples. I suppose I'm worried that a knockout blow could be coming my way from the heavens. (It would not be unwarranted, of course.)

Moto

[blackbuell]

Last May on a trip from greater Cincinnati to Utah on rt. 13 south of Craig, CO I unsuccessfully tried to outrun a thunderstorm; got hit with some pea-to-marble-sized hail; hurt the hands and knees. No obvious cover available, so I just kept riding through it. Didn't last too long. On the same trip I got slowed down by snowstorms near Steamboat Springs and on a pass near Boulder, Utah.

Jon

[Tom H]

Don't know how big the hail stones were, was on the freeway at night. They hit my shield so hard I thought it was going to break. I was in the fast lane when I entered the storm. Everybody was slowing down. Thanks to some kind souls that gave me a bit of room I was able to move over and find an off ramp. To my luck the off ramp had an overpass, so I hid under it. Well the hail must have been fairly bad, I was not the only one to hide under it until the hail passed.

Don't want to do that again, but I'm sure I will at some point.
Tom

[Gliderjohn]

I have only ridden through pea sized hail, in town between 20-30 mph. Helmets are helpful for more than crashing.
Yes, baseball sized hail happens. When I was six years old a storm came through and ruined our roof. We collected some of the stones and put them in he freezer. They were hardball and softball sized.
GliderJohn

[StuCorpe]

1/2" for me, but enough of it to make me pull off the road and wait about 1/2 hour for it to clear up!

[Chuck in Indiana]

Big enough for me to get off the road.  I've ridden through sleet a couple of times, though.<shrug>

[ITSec]

Encountered while riding - about marble sized, half-inch or a little bigger maybe. The thunderstorm hit just as I pulled in for gas in the Texas panhandle, so I stayed under the eaves on the downwind side of the gas station for the next 20-30 minutes. It was still raining as I left, but the heavy rain and hail of the front had moved on to the east.

While at home, I've seen up to tennis ball sized hail. That happened once in Edmonton, and again some years later while I was living in San Antonio. There's nothing like prairie thunderstorms...

[Carlo DeSantis]

On one trip west, I had just checked into a motel in Grand Island, NE for the night.  As I rode from the office to my room, all hell broke loose.  I only rode a few hundred yards to my parking place, and hightailed it into my room. 

The hail continued for a bit; I would call it golf-ball sized; maybe a bit larger.  My bike sustained two dents in the metal gas tank, and one broken mirror.  Luckily the instruments were spared.  I continued on to Denver the next day, and found a generic mirror in a bike shop so that I could complete my trip.

Best,

Carlo

[Daniel Kalal]

A few years back, my yard was covered in these things.  Naturally, I sliced one open to see what was inside.



These are not terribly rare in Kansas, but I'd never want to be riding when thousands of things this size were falling.  There have been a couple of times when I've had to pull to the side of the road and wait it out--a helmet is a good thing.

[Lannis]

This might be a suitable topic for the winter layover.

Oh hail yes.

[LowRyter]

prolly half inch.  Somewhere southbound on I-25 between Walsenburg and Trinidad.

That storm got us on the loop on the west side going north on the Highway of Legends back again on the east side going south on I-25.  Only got hail on the road back.

Another good reason to wear a helmet.   

[Roebling3]

A few years back, in March?, I was returning from AZ. Ran into penny size hail (actual measurement), in Topeka. It was sometimes off and on all the way to Springfield. The pellets were not solid and crunched easily under the tires. SV650S. I fortunately still had bark busters on for winters in New England. After a while you really needn't slow very much.  R3~

[rtbickel]

Going from Albuquerque to Pagosa Springs, CO on a rented Harley about 5 years ago, had to ride through a hailstorm for about 20 miles because there was no cover to be had as even the nearest trees were a half mile off the road behind fences.  It was about 3/4 of an inch but a bit mushy and I had on a thick leather jacket so it didn't really hurt.  Just hunkered down behind the windshield and kept on until I rode out from under it. 

[Ncdan]

140 lbs that sits behind me and beats me on my helmet sometimes. Oh did you mean HELL or HAIL like the ice? Lol
Just funing :)

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Coming home from a Guzzi rally near Lincoln city Oregon in about 07 or 08 or so, It rained all the way to Port Townsend.
 After crossing the Colombia River it turned cold, very cold and the wind was strong.  I was hoping to reach the bottom of Hood Canal where I would have the mountains as a buffer between myself and the wind.  The rain had been occasionally
been coming down as small hail but driven hard.  Just before I reached the shelter of the Olympics it began to drive down viciously with most of it about half inch and some about 3/4 inch.  Unable to make progress, I just pulled off the road and hunched over the tank and instruments and was hammered mercylessly with a machine-gun sound from the hail hammering my helmet.  I hoped other traffic had stopped since it would be easy for a blinded driver to leave the road and clobber me.  As the hail let up and turned back into cccold rain I continued on, now soaked completely through my rain gear.  Two hours later I rolled into my drive and dismounted in a state of complete hypothermia.  I didn't even take off my gear or boots but went straight to the shower and turned on the hot water.  I couldn't have gotten any wetter anyway and needed the heat desperately   As I warmed up still under the hot water, I began to disrobe and take off my boots under the hot shower.  By the time I began to run out of hot water I was no longer hypothermic.  I undressed and dried off, then
went to bed in a dry sleeping bag with the thermostat turned up to about 80 degrees.  I spent the rest of the day recovering.  Next day with no rain I began to spread out my clothing and camping gear.  It took three days to dry everything.

[Tom H]

That beats me, but I have had to strip down and jump in the shower a few times after a long ride in the rain. One time in the winter in Cali was with a simple down jacket and pants, no rain gear. Froze my nether parts off.

Tom

[Nic in Western NYS]

Coming home from a Guzzi rally near Lincoln city Oregon in about 07 or 08 or so, It rained all the way to Port Townsend.
 After crossing the Colombia River it turned cold, very cold and the wind was strong.  I was hoping to reach the bottom of Hood Canal where I would have the mountains as a buffer between myself and the wind.  The rain had been occasionally
been coming down as small hail but driven hard.  Just before I reached the shelter of the Olympics it began to drive down viciously with most of it about half inch and some about 3/4 inch.  Unable to make progress, I just pulled off the road and hunched over the tank and instruments and was hammered mercylessly with a machine-gun sound from the hail hammering my helmet.  I hoped other traffic had stopped since it would be easy for a blinded driver to leave the road and clobber me.  As the hail let up and turned back into cccold rain I continued on, now soaked completely through my rain gear.  Two hours later I rolled into my drive and dismounted in a state of complete hypothermia.  I didn't even take off my gear or boots but went straight to the shower and turned on the hot water.  I couldn't have gotten any wetter anyway and needed the heat desperately   As I warmed up still under the hot water, I began to disrobe and take off my boots under the hot shower.  By the time I began to run out of hot water I was no longer hypothermic.  I undressed and dried off, then
went to bed in a dry sleeping bag with the thermostat turned up to about 80 degrees.  I spent the rest of the day recovering.  Next day with no rain I began to spread out my clothing and camping gear.  It took three days to dry everything.

Someone needs to produce a movie THe TRUE ADVENTURES of Sasquatch Jim.  A hack zooming by during the opening credits...

[Lannis]

Someone needs to produce a movie THe TRUE ADVENTURES of Sasquatch Jim.  A hack zooming by during the opening credits...

And the credits will include Maki Horikita as "The Girl in the Sidecar".

Lannis

[kirb]

Twice-
1/2" and smaller, I294 tollway around Chicago (pre-ipass), many overpasses there which were all filled with SUVs on the shoulder hiding from the hail. Bumper to bumper that refused to let me in (even perpendicular to the guard rail). I decided to soldier on after a few middle finger greetings. F'n FIBS.

Second time was slightly smaller on a freeway in Ohio, but overpasses were empty (it is Ohio, after all). Both were on my ST1100 at the time with a high-ish windshield. Helmet and good gloves made it fairly painless.

[LowRyter]

That beats me, but I have had to strip down and jump in the shower a few times after a long ride in the rain. One time in the winter in Cali was with a simple down jacket and pants, no rain gear. Froze my nether parts off.

Tom

happened to me once.  I was camping at Talimena state park.  I got food poisoning the night before I was heading home and the weather changed about the same time to frigid cold.  I was keeping my jacket open to keep cool and to keep from throwing up and riding against a stiff north wind for 200 miles.  An hour from home, my glasses broke and I lost one the lenses.

When I got home and off the bike, I immediately began shivering uncontrollably.   So I got into a hot bath to warm up and then began to throw up all over the bath.  I warmed up, went to bed and kept a bucket next to me.  I slept it off and was OK the next day,

All in all it was a pretty great weekend of riding and camping other than the ending.  But for a while I thought I was going to die for two distinct reasons. 

[Shorty]

I would say Lubbock, Texas.......oh, you said "hail".....

[Sasquatch Jim]

And the credits will include Maki Horikita as "The Girl in the Sidecar".

Lannis

She is a cute little girl ain't she.

[Arizona Wayne]

There were 2 of us approaching twisty mtn. roads we were familiar with that climb altitude real quick the 1 we decided to stay on.  We approached Hwy 49 from the east in a high valley and just hoped we rode around the nasty looking storm up ahead.  As we climbed altitude it started raining and then all of a sudden it was hail.  We figured we maybe could ride thru it so soldiered on, curvy roads and all.  I was following my partner on his BMW airhead and both of us were long time riders but had never run into hail before on 2 wheels.   We slowed down to about 50 mph and were taking 1 minute at a time.  Then the hail(1/2" size) started covering the whole 2 lane road and it started getting a little slippery. But by now we were starting to ride downhill.  We hung in there and the hail turned to rain.   Eventually the rain stopped and it was partly sunny.    But that's the only time I've took on hail on 2 wheels.   Don't recommend it.

[Moto]

Thanks for the all the replies.

As I hinted, I don't have any great story to tell. My most memorable hail storm was memorable mostly for the lightning and wind that accompanied it and for my uncharacteristicall y quick decision to bail out into a bar we had just passed. That was in the middle of Montana on U.S. 2. The storm was ferocious, but the hail was just about 1/2 inch.

What I was hoping for were reports of really large hailstones -- say 3/4 inch or bigger. We had one such report, but I think they must be really rare if our, er, experienced group hasn't seen more of them. That's good news!

Moto

[Gliderjohn]

Quote from Moto:

What I was hoping for were reports of really large hailstones -- say 3/4 inch or bigger. We had one such report, but I think they must be really rare if our, er, experienced group hasn't seen more of them. That's good news!

I have lived in Kansas all of my life (61) and hail is always a concern in Thunderstorms but this what occurrences of large hail seem to be in any given locality.
Hail up to penny size may happen a couple of times or so a year.
Hail up to the size of ping pong to golf ball size about once every 10 -12 years.
Hail up to the size of tennis balls about once every 20 years.
Hail the size of baseballs is a once in every 30-50 years.
The other big factor is how much wind is driving the hail. Golf ball to tennis size hail driven by 70mph winds can be very dangerous and damaging.
GliderJohn

[oldbike54]

 Moto , I've seen hail approaching softball size , but wasn't riding , so didn't want to say anything .

 Dusty

[Moto]

Moto , I've seen hail approaching softball size , but wasn't riding , so didn't want to say anything .

 Dusty

Dusty and GliderJohn

Egad. Am I right in thinking such large hail is a conglomeration of smaller hailstones cemented together? Or is it -- let it not be! -- made up of huge stones formed concentrically around a single core?

Glad you weren't riding in it, Dusty.

[Gliderjohn]

Hail stones are formed in severe thunderstorms. Updrafts in the storm are so strong that it starts with rain drops being forced upward until they hit a freezing level also gathering more moisture and in turn start falling until strong enough updrafts make it rise again gathering more moisture (ice) getting larger until it is heavy enough to fall again. If it is a very strong storm this cycle can be repeated a number of times eventually growing large stones. Thunderstorms can be very, very powerful beasts!
Hope this makes some sense.
GliderJohn

[Don G]

I have seen hail stones that were made up of a number of stones and also seen them as singles as well. DonG