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Extreme Cold Weather Riding

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.

:nod Salt is an maintenance/care issue that gets blown out of proportion. Sensible selection of riding days and reasonable care of the bike and you are fine if you decide to try to be a Rounder.

Cold Temps: For a forum that harps on wearing the proper gear I have always found it a bit ironic the difficulty people have with the idea there is proper gear available for cold weather riding. My coldest day ride was in February and something of an 'event' ride to keep a long string of months of continuous riding in tact. I have never ridden day after day in sub zero temps but have the gear and the plan to be able to if I chose. Obviously YMMV and that's cool.

[no pun intended. or at least not to much. :laugh]
 
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If you have had several days below freezing but clear, the water that drips out of tail pipes can freeze on the road. I put my foot down on a spot and it slipped sideways. On a tall heavy bike, that can lead to a drop. My leg hurt for several days.

I have also had the ABS kick on for the same reason.

Rod
 
Since we have long winters here, I decided that if I'm going to do much riding it has to be winter also! Have started off in the morning as low as 15F on trips of 1.5 - 2 hours long. Most of the winter is 20's and 30's. No heated anything, OEM fairing and airflow hand guards. I'm fine on long trips, with the exception of my fingers. Using silk undergloves under regular winter gloves is a big help, but not perfect.

The chemically treated sand used on some turns and straight sections of road that are shaded most of the day proves to be a problem. I did not get that stuff washed off for a couple of months, resulting in some small pits in the chrome rims. Also, the sand accumulations in the turns can be a bit seat puckering if not seen ahead of time!
 
Be very cautious with cold tires! I found out the hard way. About two years ago I took a customer for a demo ride, him on a used K12LT and me on my 94 R1100RS. About 35 degrees out in late November, bike was sitting outside the shop all day on a cloudy dry Saturday. Took my usual demo ride route.

About four miles from the shop (all straight, no turns) I banked into an easy right hander at a intersection in a rural area. I did it about 15mph slower than I usually do, and AWAAAY goes the front tire like it was on packed snow. I low-sided my bike! No damage to me, scuffs on my riding jacket and pants, scratches on the RH valve cover and saddlebag. Picked the bike up and rode it back to the shop.

The turn was completely clean, and I studied it closely looking for clues. Back at the shop, about an hour later, I checked the front tire with an infared sensor, and it read 27 degrees though the air temp was 35. I rode the bike on the same route again. When I got to the turn I pulled over and checked again. 55 degrees on the center of the tire, 27 DEGREES OFF CENTER where the tire leaned over on the contact patch.

So, on cold days, allow ten miles of riding to heat the tires before expecting near normal traction. Also, drop your tire pressures about five to ten psi. Coldest I have ridden, temps wise is 17 degrees in January, 1/2 hour ride to work at highway speeds.


Something isn't making sense to me regarding your temperatures...if the air temperature was 35 F, it would be impossible for any part of the tire to only be 27 F. How can any part of a tire be colder than the ambient air temperature?
 
So I'm curious what the lowest temperature is that any of you fanatics has ridden in?

Kent

Twenty-eight degrees on my old R60/6. That was before windchill factor. Maybe it was 24 degrees out , but I think it was 28. Not sure that I would do it today. I am twenty years older now. Like to be warm.

You folks that ride in colder weather than that are braver than I am.
 
Something isn't making sense to me regarding your temperatures...if the air temperature was 35 F, it would be impossible for any part of the tire to only be 27 F. How can any part of a tire be colder than the ambient air temperature?

tire was colder from early morning ride-in temps, and never warmed up? yeah, tht happens.
 
tire was colder from early morning ride-in temps, and never warmed up? yeah, tht happens.

Except he says the bike was sitting outdoors all day. It's hard to imagine the stationary bike's tires' temp wouldn't stabilize in the course of the day. It would be nice to know what the pavement temperature was.
 
It can happen. Ever seen frost on a morning that was above freezing? Often the temperature at ground level can be lower than an air temp just a few inches or feet high.
 
i've got a tiny pile of snow out on my front lawn, left from a snowfall we had over 2 weeks ago. afternoon temps have been into the mid 60s during that time... and still some refuses to leave. its all about the sun.
 
I want to thank everyone for their responses...some good info here. One piece of advice that I am definetly going to take is the oil change, probably this weekend.

I'm still hittting it every day. It was 20 when I left for work Wednesday morning. No issues so far.

My gear is jeans with a pair of overpants and A star boots, tshirt with 2 Northface shirts, a heated vest and a Kilamanjaro jacket, balaclava and Arai. The only weak link was my gloves and I fixed that this past weekend.


The question was asked "what is the coldest you've ridden?". My brother used to come over to my house all the time on his GSXR750 when it was 0 out. This was on a Gixxer! He's kind of nuts.
 
My pond is officially frozen over today but heading for 60's this weekend,thanks Al & El Nino! oh, & the sun?

My ponds are frozen over and it's 23 degrees. We're getting ready to head out for a ride through the mountains since it's supposed to get in the high 50s today.
 
Comments above about the differences in tire surface temperature versus the air temp, are related to "emmisivity". Emmisivity is the amount of heat given off by different materials when exposed to ambient conditions like air temp and sunlight exposure, if I have that right.

In the case of the tire temps I recorded that day versus the air temp: it was the last Saturday of November in Green Bay. The air was dry with on/off sunshine and air temps of 30 to 35 degrees F. At the time I pointed the infrared digital thermometer to the tire, and the concrete surface, the sun had recently hidden behind clouds. So the temps recorded were of the latent heat in the concrete and tire.
 
Riding in cold weather

about 40 years a go I was transferred from San Fran to New London and, thinking I would be stationed at Sub Base, rode there, departing January 9th. Figured taking the southern route across Arizona would be warm. Forgot about that little mountain range. 8 inches of snow going through Flagstaff. Spent the night in Winslow, the next night in Tucumcari. It was -5 in Tucumcari and had to warm up the spark plugs in a sandwich oven at the gas station to get the bike started. That was the coldest part of the trip east.
3 months later I was transferred to San Diego and rode back, departing end of March. West to Chicago no trouble, windy and 30 degrees most of the way until I got to New Mexico. Called the Arizona State Police for a road check and they told me I had to have chains to be allowed on Rt. 40. I asked if having a chain on the back tire would be OK but they said they would lock me up if I tried that. I went south and took old U.S. Rt 60 across. When I stopped for gas the pumps were frozen. Diner across the street informed me that the repair guy would be there in the AM and asked why I was traveling in the winter. Told 'em I was in the Navy and had to report to a new boat in a few days. Their son was also in Navy but in the Med so they gave me his room for the night, fed me and got me gassed up next day. It had snowed overnight and I got back on the road at 15 degrees with another 6 inches of fresh powder. Followed a plow truck for about 30 minutes then passed him and rode on. When I stopped for coffee I must have looked pretty scary. People were grabbing their children and walking away from me. Down the Slat River canyon into Phoenix, where it was 80 degrees and I hit the car wash to rinse off the salt.
 
I drove that route at about the same time you did only in a 1959 VW bug. I'm not sure I was much warmer than you were.

Anyway, that's the northern Arizona route. Better choice in winter, altho longer, would be I-10 & I-8 via El Paso, Tucson, & Yuma. Then again, I don't think they were there then...
 
Battery Idea and one morning flip (fall over)

Old trick (car or motorcycle): When really cold, let the battery run the headlight(s) 10-20 seconds before you try to turn over the engine. This medium demand for 10 s actually warms the battery up a bit, then the engine starts better. Learned from a New England Radio DJ.


Left home one morning 41 deg. F, kind of dewey out. Well 2 miles from home down in the creek valley on a steel bridge with wood timber decking, I got on the gas about 10 feet before the end of the bridge and my back tire came partly around and dumped my K100RS onto the shifter lever onto my left ankle covered in my BMW GoreTex tall zip up boots. OUCH. Sore for weeks. Yes there was a frost coating on the wood on the bridge. In this valley it's a little cooler that at my house.
 
About two years ago in South Park, CO, I saw the temp indicator ('07 GSADV) numerically descend, and at 14f it just placed a dashed line on the console/dash. Oh crap I thought. I've broken something, Munich never tested the GSADV in such conditions. Could tell it was getting even colder as I approached Hartsel. Maybe down to 8-10f. Then it started to warm up, and at 14f the temp indicator came to life again!

Coldest ride was probably to the top of Pikes Peak November 2011. It was 40f at the entrance gate. No problem I thought. At the top it was 15f, but the winds were howling at 40-50mph!
 
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