Winter riders

rangerreece said:

Alabama snow=cotton fields in bloom
Pensacola snow=white sand beaches.

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Hollyweird snow- cocaine
om

Spring Break story 1966

....had to share this "cold riding" story....from my younger and more stupid days........my buddy & I decided to ride our bikes (me: Yamaha YDS-3, him Honda Benly 150) from the South Shore of Suffolk County (LI) NY to visit family in State College, PA......we were wearing the finest (thin) sweatshirts and windbreakers to keep us "warm". All was fine, till we did some exploring around rural Pennsylania on day rides. We might have gone a little farther than we should have during the day....we ended up riding in 20 degree temps..so cold we were literally shaking while trying to ride.......the solution???? we stopped every 20 minutes or so and took a belt of our stash of Southern Comfort!!!!!

Thanks for the cold riding stories......I ride all year long (not too bad on Gulf Coast) now.....with fabulous gear/farkles......but youth is youth.......no???

The coldest I've been on a bike.

So I'll bite.

November of 2014 I bought the F650GS from my long time friend in Adams TN. I thought I had enough layers... I did not. We rode up in the car visited for the weekend, did the exchange and I rode it back to lower Alabama. While I rode, 6 hours Rhonda drove in front. There were slight flurries when I left Adams, it was 29* interstate all the way, 70 mph no fairing, no cruise control and the heated grips didn't work. It warms up eventually to the high 30's and started raining. I was cold, I was very cold... Did I mention I was cold? Rhonda took a wrong turn and we ended up in Nashvile, we hit the first red light and I was able to take my throttle hand off and place it (gloved) against the engine. I think we stopped two or three more times on the way back for warming. I would get in the car with the heater on full blast and re-warm long enough to do a couple more hours. I was a winter ranger so me and cold don't get along to well. We made it home safe and somewhat sound, but I did NOT enjoy that ride at all.

"Elk City"!!

Too much fun!

I was in Elk City last summer having ridden in from Darby Mt. Half the west seemed to be on fire and the other half was smouldering. When I got to Elk City I walked into the only saloon in town looking to drown my thirst. There were two women in the place, one had a set of Botox lips that would have made a starlet blush. Neither of the ladies had teeth.

But the beer was as coldest winter.

Later I checked into the only motel. Rough, oh yea.

But the ride in from Darby and the ride out in the morning was as The man said, "Too much fun."

romany said:

Too much fun!

I was in Elk City last summer having ridden in from Darby Mt. Half the west seemed to be on fire and the other half was smouldering. When I got to Elk City I walked into the only saloon in town looking to drown my thirst. There were two women in the place, one had a set of Botox lips that would have made a starlet blush. Neither of the ladies had teeth.

But the beer was as coldest winter.

Later I checked into the only motel. Rough, oh yea.

But the ride in from Darby and the ride out in the morning was as The man said, "Too much fun."

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When in Elk City we camp.... much better accommodations.

rangerreece said:

What's that white stuff on the ground?

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Hard water.

20's, dry roads. Doesn't get that cold here very often though.

I went for a ride today. It was 71º!

Sunday Ride 1/31/16 in the 80s! Viva Central Texas!

Lots of guys out riding around the hill country this weekend

While I'm just getting back into Riding and Commuting from a layoff from riding altogether, my previous 3 year commuting stint on a GS was year round.. granted it's not that cold in North Georgia, perhaps teens at the worst, but I did that with a heated jacket and heated gloves..

I just started commuting again this January with the new bike, 18 Degrees was the coldest morning, and that was with Summer Gloves and Heated Grips ... I promptly purchased some Heated Gloves at Lunch time for the Ride home. Everything is good now...

Sorry to see the NE weather mess...again.

We have had an unusually milder than average winter in CENTEX.
Here is the next few days forecast


Last Feb 28th we had an ice storm , so know it can happen again.

Have had a lengthy stretch of temps in the 40s and low 50s here in tropical Montana as well. Been a tad windy the last few days but there is little snow left.

akbeemer said:

Have had a lengthy stretch of temps in the 40s and low 50s here in tropical Montana as well. Been a tad windy the last few days but there is little snow left.

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Same here in ND. What an awesome winter we have had! My job is a lot of outdoors and this has been the nicest winter I can remember. If every winter was like this one, I wouldn't mind winter much as all. I park the bikes for the winter though, the crap they put on the roads is nasty. 10 years ago they never put anything on the roads, now they spray them if the forecast even hints at some snow.

28F is the coldest I've been riding. Stayed warm on my RT with heated gear but was concerned about ice on the road.

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I have ridden the 11 miles to work on my R1150RS in temps as low as 18 without heated gear, A little more wind protection would be nice.

Dry roads only. Learned that the condensation dripping out car exhausts will make slick spots at stop lights when the pavement gets cold. Thank you ABS!

Why someone washed their vehicle at that temp is beyond me, but that was quite the slick experience. I avoid going by the car wash now on cold days.

Seems to take about 8 or nine miles to achieve normal engine oil temp.

Rod

Cold is OK, once I see wet in freezing zone forecast I am done. Shady spots at altitude can stay icy for days




From Red Mountain Pass Friday along the Million Dollar Highway . Had thought about going with Chuck to CO this weekend, kinda glad I did not
Would love to hear the conversation going on here...and the guy standing by himself who prob said " It will be fine...too early for snow"

Can I call you all crazy?

I, for one, ride for the fun of it. Ice is out of the question. Rain is to be avoided at all costs but sometimes one does get caught in it. If I have to put on so many layers that it impairs my movement, that qualifies as no longer fun. Probably the coldest I have ever ridden in was maybe high 40's (and I was miserable the entire ride), but for the most part - if it is 55 or below (with no intention of getting any warmer), not my cup of tea. Or should I say, I would rather be home drinking a cup of tea.

Nope, not crazy at all.

I belong to a forum called "The Rounders". There are various levels of "Rounderdom". From their website, http://www.yearroundriders.com/ :

In the spirit of fun we have concocted the following levels of Rounderhood following the Fahrenheit temp scale:

100's+ Red Hot Rounder
90's Sweating Rounder
80's Half Baked Rounder
70's - R&R (Rounder Relaxing)
60's -Jr. Rounder (Just Riding)
50's - LOTF Rounder (Looking Over The Fence)
40's - FOTF Rounder (Fringe of the Fringe)
30's - Half Rounder
20's - TQ Rounder (Three Quarts)
0-20 - Rounder
Sub Zero - KHOF Rounder (Kook Hall of Fame)

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There's a difference between riding a motorcycle to commute in bad weather, and for day rides. I've ridden my hour long commute several times in temps down into the mid-teens with no heated gear (although I've since found how nice a heated jacket liner and gloves can be!). The moisture had evaporated from the roads, although some snow was still on the yards. I rode the same route day after day, and for a couple years by then. I knew where to expect water to still be around as ice. It wasn't any different for a commute except I put on one more layer.

As for rain...as one Seattle lady rider wrote, "If you don't ride in the rain in Seattle, you don't ride." Maybe not exactly true, but if you wait for sunny weather, you are missing out on a great time. In the spring when the temps hit 50F and the forecast is for dry weather, the number of motorcyclists on the road skyrockets. It's like a bug hatch on a lake. They are everywhere...and they are really poor on their skill set after 9 months of just polishing (not riding) their garage queens.

You don't have to be crazy to ride year around. Just someone who loves to ride.

Chris

28F is the coldest I've ridden any distance on my RT. Firstgear heated gear helped. I normally don't ride below 32F but the roads were dry and it was sunny and beautiful.

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I don't much care if it is really cold - I can ride if properly dressed (sometimes as if I were on a snowmobile). However I do NOT ride if there is snow or ice on pavement. Period.