THE LOCUST ARE COMING

[wavehound]

Just a reminder to all the mid-atlantic riders out there:  2004 is the year of Brood X of the 17-year cicadas.  I'm sure some of you remember back in 1987 (I was 9), when a horde of gigantic bugs come out of the ground and head up into the trees to mate.  They are about 2 inches long, fly around out of control and make a noise that can drive you mad.  Well this year it dawned on me that I will be riding a motorcycle during this time and I'm not looking forward to getting hit by one of these bastards at  60mph!  Plus, they squish pretty good and one to the face shield will surely create a need to pull over for a wipe.  Carry some windex with you!

[JLKasper]

I've had a cicada hit just above my face shield at highway speeds, but have never spallted one on my shield.  I keep a little windex and a soft rag handy in the summer anyway; here in the midwest there are enough insects to require frequent shield cleaning in the summer.

[yamahonkawazuki]

ive taken a wasp between the eyes when i made the decision to ride w/o my face shield. (was up).  :x  :x  :x yeah i remember '87 :x was 12

[Adam R]

Man, I remember the cicadas very well.  Such a strange phenomenom.  I remeber cicada corpses all over the ground as well. Ugg.


Adam

[gitarman]

Well seeing how I was 3 I have no idea how bad they can get. I remember a few years ago there being a few around but nothing as extreme as you are discribing. How long do they last??

[JLKasper]

The epicenter of this hatch is supposed to be Bloomington, Indiana.  The hatch is set to begin on or very near May 25th.  According to an Indiana University professor, this might be the largest insect outbreak on earth.  My nephew is graduating from IU in May, and I hope commencement exercises won't interfere with this.  The outbreak is probably locally spotty (and I don't remember 1987's batch being exceptional here).  

The infestation is relatively brief; probably a month or so.  All the bugs do is fly around, make a lot of noise, mate, lay eggs, and die.  They cause a lot of damage to trees; the females use a knife-like organ to slit the bark, and lays her eggs inside.  

There have been some threads recently about larger windshields.  It might be prudent to invest in something like this if you're in an area that esxpects to be hard-hit with them.  My little Maier cafe shield isn't going to provide much protection, and since I'm not too far from Bloomington, I'm in the market...  

[The Buddha]

OK I have seen a similar phenomenon... Back in 86 feb or march... There ws a lake and a bridge over the lake in Mdras where I grew up in India... and billions of bugs rose out of the water and flew all over the place, and funnily the very next night they were gone. Ok so does this locust thing happen in NC... might be a good night to scare the wife... Kinda like the birds thing with insects, get in the truck and drive to a secluded place and get locusted... maybe put some peanut butter under the wipers so they'll dive bomb the truck... K lemme know.
Cool.
Srinath.

[vtlion]

It happens all over the mid-atlantic, and it lasts longer than one day... in fact, if memory serves correctly (I was 12 last time this happened), the males sing constantly from dawn to dusk for several weeks!!!  

No brood X cicada has EVER been squished by a GS500 (until this spring).  Things that make you go hmmmmmm. :dunno:

[wavehound]

Periodic cicada outbreaks happen every year and are very localized.  This outbreak is, however, the largest brood of this species.  They come out in mid-late May, and it lasts till eary July.  They don't bite or sting, but they will aggrivate the hell out of you with their song.  The males sing the females are quiet.  They are black with red eyes and legs and membranous wings.  They look kind of like a giant aphid, about the size of a large grasshopper.  They don't fly much, but there are so many you will get nailed with an occasional one.  I am planning on getting a windscreen of some sort.  I remember people eating these things last time they were around, like chocolate covered and stuff.  Gross.  I did smoosh a few, being a kid and all, and I can tell you they've got some seriously juicey bug guts.  Enough to screw up a nice leather jacket.  I will be carrying some baby wipes or something as I said earlier.

[JLKasper]

God, I love the internet.  Here's a link with maps of brood coverages, and tables of when they appear:  http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/g900a.htm  There's a six year variety of cicada which is similar.  They aren't as cyclical as the 13 or 17 year variety, and some of them will appear every year.

It appears that my neck of the woods isn't affected by Brood X.  Damn; I wanted an excuse to buy a new fairing...  

[Turkina]

Those bugs are god-awful annoying... Especially in Japan where they show up every year     Of course, the ones there don't pop out of the ground and devour everything in sight, but they still make such a racket.  Let me restate that.  It never stops.  Waaan waaan waaan all day.  If you've ever watched an anime based during the summer time frame (like Evangelion), there's an incessant buzzing.  It looks like I'll have Brood X this year... die bugs die!  :guns:

[yamahonkawazuki]

the corpses refferred to, are interesting , specially 1 if you goose the throttle and spin, and 2 if/when you run over them, they pop and crackle
so much for good sleep.  :x    :guns:  :guns: , srinath, you'll love it           this will be my first time riding through that, will be interesting :dunno:

[jiggersplat]

i'm not looking forward to having to clean them off my car.

[Rich500]

I took a june bug to she right side of my visor at about 175km/h last summer. If you dont know what a june bug is, well its about a2 inches long, real fat, Ruben Studdard style fat, and juicy like beyonce. Anyway, this fucker completely blurred my visor. That was a nereve racking experience. My gloves got so much bug juice on them from wiping the bastard off. Damn that was gross. I had to pressure wash my helmet that night. It was a seriously juicy pice of meat that hit me.

[yamahonkawazuki]

and to think, for a brief millisecond that bug saw its insides on the outside :nana:

[powrful1]

Well growing up in south Texas I went to the website and listened to the songs, and yeah about 5 of them I have heard.  

I do remember many years ago down in Tx we had a bunch, shells all over the trees and ground.

[Puunjob]

I was 7 and I remeber them being like a biblical plauge good luck to all you in their path this summer oh btw I have a large windsheild that came with my bike I would part with for cheap if any of you want it for this event

[aslam]

I remember hearing last time they hatched that some people consider them a delicacy.  I also remember seeing on the news that they had cicada eating contests in some states.    Now that is nasty.

ASLAM.