So how deep was that puddle?

Last weekend(30/04/05) I had lots of fun playing in the water and the more I played the braver I got.

The last deep 'puddle' I went through didn't look so bad. But as you can imagine I was wrong yet again. I got half way into the 'puddle' before the water started coming over my seat. For those of you who've never had the seat off of a crf230f the intake for the air box is under the seat. Too late to turn around my boots are already full of water. Now I know the water is in the air box, cause it really sounds like it's gurggling it. Well i'm wet anyway, might as well push the bike out, so I let off on the throttle and it stalls right away. Now i'm up to my nuts pushing the bike at a run. You can tell the water is cold cause I pushed it for ten feet before I realized i'm still in first, pull in the clutch and finish pushing it out. I drained the water out of the air box and changed my socks. Now i'm not sure why I changed the socks but they felt fairly dry for about ten minutes before the water from my soggy boots soaked through. A little bit of choke and a couple turns of the starter and the bike comes to life. After that little swim the rest of the ride seemed pretty easy.

Last night I finally got around to doing some work on the bike. The oil looked fine to me, but it never hurts to be safe, it's only $5 for a litre of oil anyway. So while the oil is draining I take the side off the air box to clean the filter. Judging by the dust in there i'd say the air box was half full of water, more then enough for my taste. Well after a little time in the garage the oil is changed, the air filter washed and oiled, and the chain is lubed.

Lessons learned on this trip? Oh yeah, I either need to get myself a snorkle kit for my bike or start tucking in close behind the atvs so that they can give me an extra inch or so as they create a wave in front of their bikes.