Winter Riding-who's doing it?

Kev Nemo

Kev Nemo

Honda Hacker
Last few terms of college, I bought a MC parking pass cause the spots were closer/plentiful. Unfortunately, I had to ride 60 miles everyday in freezing weather (no ice or snow though). Out of school, I admit I take the bike out for 2 mile weekend warm-up runs. So which of you thick-skinned bastards are still riding regularly? Pics are bonus.
 
I have been meaning to get up some snaps of my winter ride now that I have my windshield on her.
I ride everyday unless there is physically ice or snow on the road. Sold my jeep 2 years ago I miss it but, not enough to get something else.
as a going concern my wife has a minivan and she can if it's bad weather give me a ride to work. so I am not out and walking. I think last year I rode 350 days. should hit 355 if the weather holds on track but a few weeks left and I missed yeasterday.
I wear a barbour waxed cotton outer. a sweatshirt. usually thermal underwear(below 20 degrees) I just got a pair of tourmaster winter gauntlets. very nice and toasty. I have been looking for just riding boots but not found anything I like yet. So I wear work boots with extra waterproofing.

my ride is short only 10 to 15 minutes each way so I can't call my self a commando. but if you enjoy doing something why stop just because it's winter.
my ride everyday puts the biggest smile on my face.

keep riding

Mortikan
 
Well, if blasting around on my '84 scooter counts, then hell no i havent stopped riding! haha

As soon as The Tiger is running ill be riding it too!

I must be sick in the head but I actually enjoy riding in the cold -
 
We just got whacked by 12" of snow in the last couple of days so no riding for me but we have seriously talked about getting my buddies TT500 running and stud the tires with screws so we can take it out in the neighborhood after snow storms for shits and giggles. ;D

Hell I had to walk down to his house last night for our weekly bike night since I couldn't even get my car out of the driveway till this morning after they plowed.
 
When I lived near Fairbanks (owned a house in a place called North Pole :eek: ) I knew a guy who use to ride his K-75 to work w/ temps down to 0. He kinna' learned his lession one day, though; he got to work and discovered there had been a gap between his pants and the top of his boot. He had a nice 1" wide stripe of severe frostbite that took months to properly heal up and left a pretty bad scar.
 
I ride right up until snow, then I just can't cause ice riding on street tires is impossible to do safely, temps don't matter cause you can dress appropriately. After the 12" of snow we just got, bike went away for 2-3 months, but as soon as the snow's gone it will be out and I will be riding freezing temps or not. I wish I lived somewhere there was no snow. I would ride year round weather be damned.

Cheers,
 
Winter has never stopped me from riding, course I live in southern california so no snow or ice but it is still pretty bloody cold though.
 
pablohoney said:
Winter has never stopped me from riding, course I live in southern california so no snow or ice but it is still pretty bloody cold though.
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That's relative, if it isn't cold enough to freeze water, it isn't cold. I ride here if the roads are dry and at 60 MPH the wind chill can be as cold as -15 F, if you don't have the right gear you can get hypothermia and pass out. I know a guy who did, wrecked a brand new Ducati. He figured it was geting cold so he should go faster to get home, what he didn't know was that makes it colder! and his system shut down, he survived with a broken leg, but he had yet to insure the $20,000 ducati and it was totaled. That was a very expensive lesson to the laws of wind chill and body heat. But hey, if I lived in So Cal and was used to the warm and it got to around freezing, I would think it was cold too. Living here you get used to the cold and dress for it, I wear a winter coat, winter boots, winter gloves, neck warmer, full face helmet and Skidoo pants with long johns.

Cheers,
 
Yeah, It is about 50 degrees here now, which is nothing I am sure to you easterners, but it is cold for me, just wearing a leather jacket, open face helmet, jeans, and some medium weather gloves. There was ice on my truck yesterday morning, though.
 
No freekin way! It was single digits here last night. :eek: That's way to cold for a southern boy. ;D
 
I'm actually holding off on tearing down my bike til we get some snow. It has some knobbies on the back and wanna see how they do in the fluffy stuff. Riding in the cold isn't so bad but I feel like Ralphie's little brother in that Christmas movie
 
I rode this morning for my bike's first trip to work since she's been back up. It was somewhere in the forties and my balls froze solid in the ten minutes it took me to get to work. Tomorrow if the weather's okay, I think I'll wear longjohns. And I won't wear ankle socks...
 
I'll admit it, I'm a wimp. If it's below 35 when I go to work in the a.m. (around 4:30), I won't ride that day. Won't ride in the snow either. Oh yeah, my BMW also has a touring screen on it for winter, and heated grips! Like I said, I'm a wimp.
 
jonescafe72 said:
I'll admit it, I'm a wimp. If it's below 35 when I go to work in the a.m. (around 4:30), I won't ride that day. Won't ride in the snow either. Oh yeah, my BMW also has a touring screen on it for winter, and heated grips! Like I said, I'm a wimp.
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Not a wimp, lets say smart, motorcycle tires loose grip as temps drop unless they are one of the few designed for cold, I.E. Screws/Studs. All it takes at 4:30 in the am in the dark is one small patch of black ice and bam your ass is on the asphalt! In Cold weather I try to only ride in daylight so I can see the condition of the roads.

Cheers,
 
The big problem I had were my hands, specifically my fingers. The rest of my body was fine bundled up, but even with doubled up gloves, my fingertips felt like they were literally going to pop after only a few miles. I wanted to buy winter gloves, but never got around to it. Maybe I should now that I'm not riding ;D
 
I know, winter gloves sometimes still aren't enough. I use a thick mit for snowmobiling on really cold days. gloves isolate your fingers and makes it hard for the body to warm them , mits allow heat to transfer from finger to finger. Also, the warmer your core is, the more cold your extremities can handle. The US military has designed vests that super heat the core and allow soldiers to operate at -30 and not need gloves. That's a big deal when it comes to fixing a rifle etc.

Cheers,

Maritime
 
Interesting episode of Jesse James is a Deadman where he takes a bike on the Ice Road. There's a cool segment where he as to fix a tire in a freezer and his fingers start losing feeling: http://www.spike.com/full-episode/arctic-bike-journey/32602
 
That is hard core, now if I could afford to set a bike up like that , I would ride to work year round. AMybe I should look for a 80cc dual sport I can stud the tires and ride er.
 
a few pics of my old girl with her winter rig setup
 

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