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Extreme Cold Weather Riding

RD - Do they use road salt or brine down by you and what bike are you planning to ride. If it has magnesium parts and you get to deal with salt, coat them with something to prevent corrosion. I got to work on a G650XMoto this summer which had been ridden through a few winters. The right case cover was very deeply pitted. I also had a fun time dealing with corroded fasteners going into the aluminum pieces.


And when you encounter a bit of ice like the rider in the Mt. Lemon video, just pretend you are blowing a turn and shortcutting a chicane while the track is still drying out. Stand it up, no brakes, steady gas, no turning input, lightly balanced on the pegs... I'm sure you've been there and know how to dance.
 
Going from the warm up your tire rubber idea, there is also the pressure question. As most bikers are frequent pressure checkers(or should be) : My Cad CTS with tire pressure monitors will show a change of 4-5#'s on these days in the 20's & 30's after just a few miles. Never having owned a bike with TPS monitors I wonder how much change happens in a little bike tire in cold weather? They always say to check your car tires cold but is that also wise with the low volume of a bike tire when it's really cold?
Another cold weather hazard in my area is the steep driveways /roads coming off of hills that "bleed" water onto the pavement and freeze & often are hidden . FWIW, my elec jacket heats up in way less than 20 miles. It's the older style Gerbings not microwire. Maybe you need a new jacket or diff hookup?
 
I check my tire pressure before every ride and adjust accordingly. Cold pressure is cold pressure, no matter what the ambient air is.
 
To this question, quote, "Never having owned a bike with TPS monitors I wonder how much change happens in a little bike tire in cold weather?"

When I had my cold tire low-side crash back in Nov 2010, I was really surprised at how the "leaning sides" of the tire was much colder than the center of the tread. Like I said, using a infared thermometer, 35 F ambient temp, cold tire tread surface was 27 F (emmisivity at work here). In four miles at 55mpg, the CENTER of the front tire had quickly warmed to 55 F. BUT! The tread section I leaned onto when making the right hand turn (90 degree turn from a county highway onto another county highway intersection) was still ONLY AT 27 F!

So don't assume the tires are universally the same temp through the tire carcass. I contacted Avon tire at the time ( I was riding on Avon Storm tires) with my findings and they agreed. They recommended at east ten miles of sedate riding/cornering before expecting fully normal grip levels for non-aggressive riding.
 
On my way to a Yankee Beemer meeting approx. 50 miles from my house. this photo was taken early am. While traveling on the highway, I hit some lite snow fluries, no other vehicles on the road at theat time. What a great ride it was. I had my Tourmaster heated jacket and gloves, first gear riding pants,and jacket, and a pair ofheavy socks in my riding boots. I was not cold at all. I do work outdoors for a living so I am used to the elements. Having all that plastic on a RT did not hurt either..
 

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Never having owned a bike with TPS monitors I wonder how much change happens in a little bike tire in cold weather?

The BMW motorcycle TPM is a goofy setup. It's temperature compensated and you see very little change in the pressure reading when the tires warm up.
 
That is totally goofy.
TPM is misleading.

Not if you know how it works. We have both kinds. My Smartire shows actual pressure, internal air temperature, and a temperature compensation of + or - in psi based on the pressure and temperature. I ignore everything + or - 1, but add air when it says -2.

Voni's F800 has the BMW OEM setup. It just shows temperature compensated pressure. Take her rear tire for example. I air it up to what I think will be 37 psi at 70 degrees. Maybe a little extra. Then I ride the bike and see what it says. When putting the air in I mentally adjust by 1 psi per ten degrees of temperature. That always gets me close and I then add or let air out till it reads what it is supposed to read. When it is right it shows 37 cold and hot but that is temperature compensated pressure - that is it would be 37 at 70 degrees - higher hotter, lower colder but I don't have to care about the actual pressure.
 
Snow flurries really no biggie, as they don't tend to stick. Cold tires less sticky is a constant, you just need to stay aware of that. The real PITA is the frost and black ice. Around here, with the way the temps run, we can get freeze/thaw cycles of black ice for many days, day in and day out, from just one snowfall. Because of this, you want to leave, and return, while the sun is still pretty high. Knowing the icing characteristics of a frequent route is quite doable. Outside of such area, especially when the sun is going down, you have to be extremely cautious.
 
Rounders Web site

:thumb:thumb
Great group of people at Rounders Web Site
"You're not dealing with your average Wackos here!"
 
This mornings 23F felt downright balmy on the F8GS, after yesterday's nipply 14!
a Goldwing-sized windshield would be nice for saving face.
fortunately, the morning commute is only 15 miles or so.
 
So I'm curious what the lowest temperature is that any of you fanatics has ridden in? I try to get on my K1300S anytime road conditions allow it but thus far that's only meant that the lowest temperature I've ridden in was 28 degree F weather. How about the most hardcore of you out there?

Kent
 
Coldest -7 / warmest +117 deg F according to the Fly-Over-Land bank displays I passed. Gives me a bank temp range of 110 degrees.
:D
 
I live in ?çincinnati, Ohio and the winters here are not real nice, not particularly cold but nasty, wet, damp cold. That is an aside; I wonder what temperatures any of you have ridden all day, like on a trip to wherever. Have you ever struck out on a trip in the middle of winter, knowing you will be riding all day in the cold? I rode out West in October and some of the days started in the low 30" and never got out of the 40's. I had on my Stich suit and an electric jacket under it, and I thought this was all the cold riding I could endure. When the sun got low in the afternoon it would get cold real quick, again.

The jacket worked pretty good, but my hands and feet got cold after a while. I ride an 12RT and it has real good wind protection.

Larry
 
I've seen a day of riding when it never got above the mid-20s. Gerbing's stuff head-to-toe, and it was fine.
 
I've often ridden with temps in the teens. The morning commute this week has seen temps right around freezing. This is my first winter with the GSA, so I'm having to learn how to ride in cold/wet weather without a huge fairing and handlebar covers to protect me from the elements. I get so spoiled on the RTP...

For me, the temperature is almost irrelevant. I'm focused on precipitation.

Maybe I'm ignorant, but I ride 15,000 miles a year year-round in Seattle, and I'm giggling at the posts about lowering tire pressure, warming up tires, etc. Traction has never been an issue, except when I expect it to be an issue because of hazards on the roadway (ice, oil, gravel, etc.).

I get on my bike and ride it. If there is a threat of ice on the road, I'm extra careful - even to the point that I'll put on my hazards and ride at 5 mph until I"m sure the risk has passed. But I'll still ride. If I know there is frozen precipitation on the roadway, I'll let the weather warm up the pavement before heading out.

I don't adjust tire pressure. I don't scream around corners for the first five miles of my commute when it's cold because I never scream around corners for the first five miles of my commute because I know my tires are always cold for the first five miles - whether the air temperature is 25 degrees or 85 degrees.

I slow down a lot when it's raining, because I've heard it frequently mentioned that wet pavement affords 30% less traction than does dry pavement. Thus, I try to ride roughly 30% "less aggressively" than I otherwise would when the conditions are wet. I'll go 30% slower around corners, I'll give myself 30% more braking distance, I'll give myself 30% more room to accelerate away from a stop or into traffic, etc.
 
One issue in cold weather riding around here is salt on the road, which ends up coating the bike. Takes a lot of effort to get it off the bike, I've been told. No cold weather riding on salted roads for me.
 
People make a bigger deal about salt than I think they should. Spray the bike off with Salt-Away on a warm (above freezing) day and you're fine.
 
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