Winter riding tips

[EUMP]

Looking for tips for the riding period through the winter period, such as snow, freezing to hell, maybe ice? do you take the bike through ice? *Of course probably on a offroader* but im talking normal sport tourer style.

Last time I tried to go on the road on the ice was on a 50cc, ended up smoking the nuts of my drive doing a burnout on the ice.. was expecting to go forward
____________________
C.B.T - Expired
MOD1 04/08/10
MOD2 10/08/10

[Im-a-Ridah]

Ooh I reckon thats a good candidate for the search feature

[Paxovasa]

Be smooth with both putting the power through the back wheel and when braking.
____________________
Suzuki GSF600 K3 (in the fastest colour, black).

[Ingah]

I would avoid ice unless i felt coming off was acceptable. Anything else is fair game and controllable.

Yes, i know you can ride in icy conditions, and i've done it myself, but when you're essentially skiing down a completely iced-over side road at not much over walking pace on a 200+kg bike you realise it's just not clever and isn't likely to end well (and is likely to be rather undignified when you find you can't get the grip with your feet on the icy surface to pick it up again).
____________________
-- Ingah

[G]

Off-roaders can often be worse on especially if you've got off-road tyres on them.

I wouldn't voluntarily (except, err, I did on a few occasions) take a bike out in icey conditions.

[Ciar?n]

Invest in a stuntbike.

Makes riding on sheet ice and virgin snow fucking hilarious =D
____________________
22/8/08 A2 Passed! Full License Biatch!
Past: Suzuki CS50, Gilera Ice 50, Gilera Runner 125SP, CBR 600 F2, CBR600 F4i, CBR 600RR5,

[L-Jam]

Try not to crash. But more.
____________________
Journalist, student, egotist.
Click here if you're a young biker, wondering what to do after a moped/125!
Skp 50 --> GS 500 --> CBR600F with custom HRC paint jobby --> GSX-R 750 K7, beautiful!

[27cows]

A small and light bike is needed in the worst weather. Trying to hustle some lumbering IL4 dinosaur over the ice will result in expensive breakage. Something tatty but just this side of legal is ideal. No plastic. Cheap and plentiful spares availability. And brakes that on dry roads would be considered inadequate are a bonus on ice.

Off roaders are shite on ice. Come to the that, they're shite in the rain too. And shite in most circumstances, except riding off road or touring in countries where tarmac hasn't yet reached.
____________________
The RXS100: vehicle of choice for Chuck Norris

[J D]

[skills]

You boys have ovey been riding a long time, but it just sounds like you don't give a ....! Its bad enough on 4 wheels let alone 2! lol Fair play to you's..
____________________
Billy. Loved my aprilia rs 125, also love to find the kids who nicked it. Soon as the insurance pay out i'll be buying another. https://www.apriliars125.co.uk

[Kris]

If it is snowing and you are on a motorway then keeping above 80mph clears the snowflakes off your visor far better than having to wipe it with a gloved hand.

Seriously.
____________________
NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[G]

Forget which tyres you had one, but the MT21s with low pressure weren't too bad in the snow. Lots of fun with with the studs - wheelies in light ice/snow to really confuse the car drivers .
Think I'm going to try and get some studs to add in for this winter - could be interesting on the KTM144 which weighs bugger all in the first place.

GSXR out in the second heavy snow turned out not to be such a great idea when I tried to get up the motorway slip road on the way back.

[pepperami]

[EUMP]

Funny G mmm, I'll probably just keep to the light snow and not push my luck don't fancy risking the road salt wrecking the bike out or drifting roundabouts on the ice... Or I could just get an old bike and play about with it on the snow with low pressure tyres
____________________
C.B.T - Expired
MOD1 04/08/10
MOD2 10/08/10

[G]

[MarkJ]

Anybody know where to buy some of those small skis that clip to your boots? Might be worth having incase it starts snowing whilst I'm at work

[c_dug]

I rode right through last year, through all the ice and snow.

The biggest issue I had was when I had to stop at traffic lights. The cars had warn two tracks through the ice down to the tarmac so the tyres were grippy enough, but the rest of the road was solid ice, balancing a bike on solid ice is not easy!

Also carb icing sucked.

The year before last I don't remember how I was getting to work and back Anyway, on a day off or something, I was trying to get to a mates house, which is just of 1/4 mile off of the main road, unfortunately the road leading to his is really badly surfaced, so the ice had all sorts of ups and downs going on. marks where I crashed X marks where I was going.

https://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee81/paddy2007dug/icecrash.jpg

I had to get my mate to come and help me pick up the bike since it was so icy. The biggest kick in the teeth was that I had literally just been to the petrol station, and as I was waiting for my mate to get to me, all I could do was watch my nice expensive petrol spill out all over the ice.
____________________
I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[pepperami]

I had a Honda XL250 many moons ago, and when the snow was heavy & thick, it was the only way to get around.
It coped amazingly well in the thick settled snow, but once the snow had compacted and become ice the XL was a pig to ride.
____________________
I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[killa]

I searched for my guide on here but can't find it
____________________
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history

[killa]

Here it is!

Killa's guide to the winter ride


____________________
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history

[EUMP]

thanks killa, i'll have a little peek
____________________
C.B.T - Expired
MOD1 04/08/10
MOD2 10/08/10

[.Bishbash.]

Kinda looking forward to winter and kinda not.

I am really in two minds what to do this winter;

1 - Keep the GS500 I have which I really don't give a damn about cosmetically, but keep it tip-top mechanically.

OR

2 - Buy a cross bike with supermoto wheels as extra and hopefully be really prepared, but after reading this thread I an really put off by the cross bike as I would have thought it would be a good snow toy to have.
____________________
Current bike - GSX-R1000 k8

[c_dug]

What you want is a VanVan or one of it's bigger engined relatives and then deflate the tyre to minimum pressure for maximum surface area.

It's the only good way to ride on ice and stuff. (Or so I am told by other forumers)
____________________
I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[Codemonkey]

Having just read the thread on Monkey bikes, I reckon one of them would be a good laugh in snow/ice !

[G]

A supermoto will be taller (not so good, though less of an issue for you if I remember) and lighter (better), however the tyres may actually be worse.
Either way, a good thing to consider would be having a spare set of wheels with some nasty-weather biased tyres.

When I get around to getting the 690 back,you're welcome to borrow that for a bit to see what it's like living with a thumper.

These definitely make a massive difference in icy and light snow conditions:
https://gees.zenfolio.com/img/s2/v1/p12305489-3.jpg
Hoping to get another 200 to add to them for this winter.

My information regarding big-wheelers came from advriders in America where they have a lot more snow. Think you really want a 'proper' BW, big cat or similar, rather than the TW/vanvan.
Still want one, but think a Christini frame is above that on the list of silly bikes to get .