Ducati Monster Forum

So on my recent trip back to Phoenix from San Diego it was very windy. I got hit by rocks a few times, which is normal for a long road trip, and they sting for a split second and go away.

One time, right as I was leaving Yuma, it felt like I got hit by a rock and then the spot started burning. It was very painful, and I thought maybe someone threw out a cigarette and it was burning through my pants. I pulled over immediately only to find nothing on my pants at all.

I though, oh crap, there's some bee or spider crawling around in my pants!!! So I get off the bike, inspect my leg, and check my boot. I rolled up my pant leg (I was wearing jeans) and saw a small red dot on my knee.

Now, you're not supposed to squeeze or pinch a bee sting because the stinger could still be in the skin and squeezing it will only make it worse. Instead, you're supposed to get a knife and scrap the stinger out. Of course my hand went right past my pocket knife and immediately pinched the skin to squeeze the spot. The stinger came out and I could tell that the spot was already starting to swell a little.

I looked down and finally saw the dead bee on the ground, or at least half of it. It wasn't in one piece.

Well, nothing to do but keep riding. It was fine after a few minutes. It's still a little red (two days later), but I'm very tough and manly so it's not a problem.

This picture was taken on the way back, before Yuma (right before the bee sting), where the highway is closest to the U.S/Mexican border. You can see the border fence in the background (a tiny dark line in the way back, along the horizon; I believe the white fence that is right next to the road is just to keep people from driving their sand rails on the sand dunes there).
(http://www.bestdesignever.com/ducati/2010-05-02.jpg)

I often get that burning in my pants feeling you described, but antibiotics will generally clear it right up.

Getting stung is par for the course.  Sucks though.  I seem to always get nailed on my collar or the base of my neck.  If you're allergic to bees/hornets/wasps, you should keep your epi pen somewhere close by and easily accessible (i.e. maybe not in your backpack, but in a tankbag or something).  Don't count on anyone stopping to help you.  And tell the folks you ride with that you're allergic and where to find your pen.

the bee didnt sting you, you just ran into the stinger. lol

I was riding with my visor up once and got smacked in the eye ( was wearing sunglasses) once by what i thorugh was a sparrow cause it really make the beast with two backsing hurt. but then my face starts buzzing. Sometimes its just my nerves acting up and twitching very rapidliy, but i took my helmet off and a dragon fly came out.

A LONG time ago I had a bug get right up the sleeve of my jacket. I could feel it wiggling around near my tricep. I just about came off my bike for fear that it was a bee. I managed to panic stop without crashing and started ripping off my jacket. I can only imaging what passers by thought was going on! It turned out to be a WASP!! I never got stung and managed to stomp him while the jacket was on the ground.

Glad you are OK.

I had a wasp strike my jacket at about 50mph and it got sucked up into my helmet. The little bastid was momentarily dazed, lying on his back 2 inches from my eyeball. He tried to frantically right himself when I lifted my visor and whoosh, thte little prick got sucked right out. Close call. :o

Michael - thanks for posting up - even more reason to be aware if you happen to be allergic to bees (like me)  [thumbsup]

Yeeaaoowww.

I got stung on my inner thigh...way up close to the man-bits.  Lil bastard was still stuck there when I got off the bike.  Bacon Junkie and I rode through a swarm last Friday...fortunately none decided to hitch.

Apparently you've been hanging around IZ too much and his "bee attractionivity" is wearing off on others.

Beware of nails in your tires as well.

Ya, but I still had my shirt on, and there in lies the difference.

 ;D

Way back when I rode an RD350 - in the days of half-face helmets, mine with a bubble faceshield - a yellowjacket flew up under the shield while I was going about 40 mph.  Just flew around in there between my face and the shield.  Fastest stop I've ever made.  Good thing no-one was behind me.

Two years ago riding the Monster, I was stung twice in less than 2 weeks.  Both times just below the collar (had the jacket slightly unzipped.)  The first one was no big deal.  The second one required a visit to a nurse-practitioner, who exclaimed,"Oh my!" when I unbuttoned my pants shirt.  Lots of swelling (she was quite attractive) because apparently the first sting sensitizes one's immune system making the second sting fairly serious, even if you're not allergic to bee stings.

Yep, thats happened to me and my girlfriend before. It was much worse when it happened to my girlfriend though since it was all my fault.....

Better than my wasp story...  I forgot/overlooked snapping my collar on my leather coat.  Wasp popped me in the neck, stung me there, fell inside my jacket and stung me every time it made contact with me down to my navel. 

Result?  5 stings.   

I'm sure the people I met in cages that saw me furiously beating my central body mass as I attempted to kill afore mentioned wasp thought I had flipped my lid.

JM

from TOB
http://www.ducatimonster.org/forums/azdra/119473-stung-neck.html (http://www.ducatimonster.org/forums/azdra/119473-stung-neck.html)
My first ride to Tortilla Flat.

Ya, there were 100's of them!  Just before a third gear left-hander on Mulholland.   :o

Glad they were too busy and we were too fast to follow...  [evil]

Same exact thing happened to me riding south on the 15 just past Miramar. Thought someone had tossed a cigarette into my crotch

Now there's a visual for ya...     :-X



 ;)




 [bacon]

Last count, I believe the bee stings vs. nails-in tire..count was neck & neck at 7!  Yes, SEVEN!!  >:(
That averages out ot be 1 per year since I bought my first Duc in '03.   [cheeky]

I guess if you count pins, the Ducati Owners Club pin..that's 8!    [roll]



I don't believe you've heard the IZ-meets bee folklore?!  If there's ONE bee even near the road, I'll hit it!

It's the complete opposite for nails..they hit me everytime!  The hypothesis is that my rims are magnetized. 

The crazy thing is..I"ve been through 3 swarms of bees in Gilbert and didn't get stung once!!   ???

 

Yep happens and sux. The key is maintaining your composure and hope it's a solo kamikaze ;D...

SHIT!  I'm going to be staying the night at his place when I drive through Phoenix.   :-\

Keep a watchful eye on your belongings too. 

The Frenchie likes to leave surprises..disguised as stinky, little turds..for friends!  [evil]

Randy and Stella can attest to that!    [coffee]

Dude, you never taught your dog to crap outside?  All that turkey bacon has gone to your head brother.

She knows.  I guess Randy's place just brought out the best in her?!

Mmmmmmm...foreplay...

I had once thought i was stung by a bee, but it WAS a cig. Shit sucks

I had a bee sting me in the temple once going 30mph. He got wedges between the foam padding and my head. I couldn't stop quick enough to get the helmet off. I keep the visor down now all the time now.

He Man, Dragon Flies I believe don't sting.

They would create quite a commotion though inside one's Visor.

Dolph     :)

I tend to get stung in the first few hours of long, multi-day trips.

My favorite bee story:
I'm leaving the divorce lawyer's office. As you can imagine, I'm not in a good mood. As I enter the parking lot I notice a homeless woman astride my precious motorcycle. Bereft of empathy due to the soul crushing, bloodsucking performed just minutes before I say (not too kindly), "Get the make the beast with two backs off my bike!" To which she replied, "You just want me for my virginity." Somewhat confused, I noticed she did get off the bike, but not before spilling a large amount of yellow liquid from a Big Gulp-sized container on my gas tank. Wiping as best I could and praying it was Mountain Dew. I start the bike and head home, visions of Bass Ale dance in my head. The first stop light I come to is a long one. I notice a swarm of bees only a few feet in front of me. In seconds they are swarming all over...my gas tank. Unfortunately my man parts are very close to said gas tank. In no time I am sporting one of those bee beards, but it is a ball sack beard. I contemplate running the light, but it is a high speed intersection and it's busy. Turns out today is the one day in 365 that I am not wearing leathers, but jeans.
Very thin jeans.
Several light years later, the light changes and I move forward very gingerly. Eventually I pick up speed and the bees disperse. No stings, man parts unviolated.
When I got home I washed that bike like a mother make the beast with two backser.

zenjim FTW!

 [laugh] [clap]

Wow, well, I was riding one time w/ a sweater only.  I felt something in my shoulder.  When I pulled over to see what it was I saw the stinger kind of sideways in my sweater;  didn't make it through my skin though.  Guess I was going too fast for the little bugger and I threw off his angle of attack.  Judging from the stinger I don't think it was a bee though. 

I've been stung so many times I've lost count, usually on the neck or chest.  I managed to get a bee in the helmet once and got stung; freaked me out.  Another time I couldn't figure out why my arm hurt so much, until I took the jacket off and a bee fell out.  When I stopped to rest halfway through the ride, I had taken my jacket off--he must have crawled inside at that point.

Aside from moto-related attacks, I've been waging a multi-year war against the bald-faced hornets, wasps, and yellow jackets in the yard.  Last year the hornets swarmed me while I was mowing the lawn and forced me to retreat...fortunately, I have chemicals  ;D.

pansy.

yeah, I said it.

A chick I used to date was one up behind me when a wasp flew up the sleeve of the moto jacket she had on. the thing was dazed for a bit but then it got pissed off and began stinging her.

she tapped me on the shoulder once and I looked back at her. she shook her head and waved for me to keep going. A little while later I pulled off for gas and asked her what was up and she told me.

I was totally amazed and thankful that she did not flip out.

I've been stung a few times, but the funnier story concerns cicadae.

I was riding from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh on the PA turnpike.  Somewhere between the tunnels, I hit a swarm of cicadae.  Cicadae don't splat when they hit you.  In fact, at speed its like being hit by a small stone!   [laugh]  When I got to my uncle's place in Castle Shannon, there were no fewer than a dozen of those make the beast with two backsers wedged into various parts of my Bandit.  A few of them were nicely cooked (well done) due to getting lodged onto some part of the head/cylinder/block/exhaust.   [moto]

I haven't read all of the responses, but I've been stung twice by bees while riding.

The first time I was heading out of San Luis Obispo on my way up Highway 1 and a bee managed to hit the only uncovered skin on my body between the bottom of my helmet and the collar of my leather jacket.  Who would have thought that a bee could sting you when you hit it at 60 mph.  I figured out what it was right away and I'm thankful that I'm not allergic to bee stings.  I felt my neck and though the stinger was out, but every once in a while it felt like a little more venom was being pumped into my neck.  Four hours later when I got home I looked in the mirror and the stinger was still there.

The next time I happened I was going a bit slower - maybe 40 mph.  I was also covered head to toe except that little bit of skin and it was in almost exactly the same spot as the previous time.  This time I pulled over and used the mirror of my motorcycle to make sure I removed the stinger.  Nothing more to do after that, so I continued my ride.

When it's hot it's not worth it to me to cover that last little bit of skin.  I just hope I can go a bit longer before hitting the next bee.

well i had my first injury on a bike today. was riding at a steady 40 mph wearing just a tshirt, (and pants) and i felt something smack me in the neck. it hurt but didnt think much of it and kept on moving. a few seconds later i felt a pinch on my chest and then i knew what it was but i didnt freak out and pull over and yup it got me again and again i tried grabbing it in my shirt but couldnt really feel it. when i finally got to where i was going and looked down my shirt and say it was at the bottom of my shirt all dead. in all i got seven stings including a massive one on my neck when i hit it first. bastards

I was fortunate enough to trap a yellow jacket between my inner thigh and tank right as I shifted off the seat to the other side in a curve.  I was too commited to the corner to do anything more than try to squish it between my leg and tank.  Needless to say, it kicked my ass repeatedly before it died.   

My mom's cousin was riding a Harley in the late 70s. He was a big fan of flared pants/bell bottoms. The bee went right up his pant leg and missed both his legs. Yes, he had to be hospitalized with a testicle the size of a grapefruit.

Haven't been stung by a bee on the motorcycle yet, but frequently on bicycles. The best was the one I sucked down deep into my windpipe, where she stung me but good an inch or two past my epiglottis. Though I'm not significantly allergic to bee stings, that one did send me to the ER a couple of hours later, when I started to sound like John Lee Hooker & breathing started to feel odd. Told them I'd been stung in the throat and wasn't all that allergic, so they parked me on the "ignore" bench for a bit, until I made clear we weren't talking about the outside of my throat. They rushed me in for a benadryl IV and thus ended my career as an 80 year old blues legend.