Riding in winter

[e.z.nightrider]

That's all right. This will be the first spring that SWMBO will have her own ride she feels comfortable on in years. We'll start out with a few small day rides to get ready. Then who knows where.

Ed Z.

[Brent]

winter riding; Does this count/

The following is an exerpt from winter BMW rally I camped at in Northeast FL. Good report, but a few details left out include cold wet tar snakes -Several felt as though they were squirming, Even more twisty roads on last half of the group ride, and gale force winds that wakened campers and bent tent poles. I had no electric clothes and headed north, about 7 hours, through Atlanta after the rally. My feet got cold and speedometer froze up.



Overnight it RAINED HARD and got cold - but not NEAR AS COLD as it
would the next night. These low temperatures meant nothing to me of course,
being tucked into my heated room with blankets and two pillows. I
rolled out of bed at 6:00am on Saturday morning, showered in my shower and
made sure my hair was okay. A short 1 mile ride had me at the
conference centre known to some as Moody Hall. There a breakfast buffet was
served to about 100 hungry campers and a few well rested executive members.
The troops were treated to an hour and a half of entertaining banter
from The Wizard and Iconic BMW Rider....drum roll please....Ardys
Kellerman. Both The Wizard and Ardys were on their "A" Game and the crowd was
filled with oohs and ahhhs for the duration. A good time was had by
all.

Next up I reported in for the guided street ride. Of the possible 500
riders...12 showed up. It was a perfect day to ride. Cold, overcast,
drizzle, fog and on and off rain. The weather was a perfect barrier for
the posers. The 12 that showed up to ride were MOTORCYCLISTS! A very
capable ride leader took the Dirty Dozen on a 250 mile romp on roads that
even native born Floridians are not even REMOTELY aware of. He rode a
new GS and we rolled along at a brisk pace. Posted speeds seemed to be
only mere suggestions and were really for cars - not bikes. A stop for
lunch at The Blackwater Inn, on the banks of St Johns River in Astor,
Florida, left us all with full bellies. Some carried on with the ride
leader, but I made a bee-line back to the Base as I had a 3:00pm
obligation at the Key West To Prudhoe Bay Seminar. Operating at an elevated pace
I arrived safely at the seminar in short order. I was followed back to
base camp by a very senior rider - age 75 I'd say - who was exhibiting
anything but SENIOR behavior on his motorcycle. Still "wadding it up"
(this is an Ed Kneller expression - it means crashing) at age 75 has
got to be a LOT better than doing it at age 25. Just a thought.

At 4:00pm an announcement was made over the Armory PA system that has
GOT to be the funniest announcement I have ever heard. "Attention
Campers. (Obviously this was not for me...but regardless, I listened
intently) The current heavy rain will turn to a very nasty amount of hail and
high winds for one hour as the front of this new storm passes over Camp
Blanding. All campers who have only small tents are URGED to return
immediately to their tents and sit inside them during the storm so they
won't blow away." I just about blew a gasket laughing, thinking this was
extremely good humor on the part of the Master of Ceremonies.
Apparently there was little humor found in it by the 200 or so campers who
gathered their riding gear, mounted their soaking wet BMW motorcycles and
rode 1.5 miles to the campground to "hold down the fort" you might say. I
surveyed this canvas of pandemonium from the shelter of the Armory
Porch while sipping a delicious bottled brew of the Budweiser variety.
Life is good for the well connected.

The rain killed the plans for the "Cook your own steak" dinner which I
found quite a relief to be honest. Instead of having a raw slab of
disgusting cow butt flopped on your paper plate and cooking it
yourself...WHO dreams up these ideas...a team of volunteers were rounded up to cook
the steaks and serve them to our liking. Much better concept. The
buffet line stretched around the room, but I had no trouble squeezing into
the front of the line after chatting up a couple of the Wizard's fans.
I complimented my medium well steak with a wonderful baked potato, some
baked beans, fresh rolls, cake and sweet tea to wash it all down.
Little chocolate kisses were on the table in my area. I assumed they were
an offering for The Wizard - so I ate them ALL. Endless door prizes were
won by various participants. One lucky lady named Cindy I think - won
the 50/50...$775.00 to the GOOD in her jeans. Nicely done Cindy. The
other 50% goes to a Camp Blanding Charity of some type.

The overnight weather as you might have guessed had little bearing on
my life, but the campers were SUFFERING!!! They awoke to cloudy skies -
no rain - but a temp in the LOW thirties! Yikes! It was 31 degrees at
6:00am when I looked at the ambient temp gauge on my bike. I lost ALL
interest in riding and went back to bed until 9:00am. It was 40 degrees
at 9:00am. Still chilly, but my Gerbings electrics did the trick. I bid
farewell to several well wishers when I turned in my room key and rode
off into the chilly morning air. My BMW - JD1200PT put in another 886
trouble free miles during the weekend

Kevin J. Healey
Nickname: Wizard
West Palm Beach, FL.
2002 Triumph Trophy 1200 (BMW - JD1200PT)
2003 BMW F650GS
Iron Butt Member # 349

[mro]

Winter Ride?

Late this afternoon thru the hills east of the Bay.

Center right-tall buildings-down town Oakland
Bay Bridge-center, right side of bridge (long skinny thing) Treasure Island
End of treasure Island and above right is Alcatraz Island
Fog makes it hard to see the Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco is at the other side of Bay Bridge

Oakland Hills, can really cram in the houses

Grizzly Road, check out that cool 79 Special

Looking east, hills between Berkeley and Walnut Creek

...no more sun.


mro

[Brent]

Ride

Thanks MRO,

With 40 votes for riding in winter, I was wondering why no ride reports. Nice photos too.

Today I rode XS accross town to breakfast and back.

Brent in Ga

[fredintoon]

73%

Hi MRO,
nice pics but it raises a point; how does the quiz and those voting on it define "winter"? I love to ride in the Fall and your pics plainly show Fall riding conditions, not Winter ones.
How about re-writing the question
"I love to ride on snow and ice covered roads at temperatures well below the freezing point yes/no"?

[mro]

This be my winter

I happen to live...
Where it's not too hot
NOT too cold
Ahh... just right
Does get wet sometimes

(and yes, we do have some Goldy Loxes here too)


mro
Tis not my fault so many on the forum happen to live in pop-cycle land. Also we need it to rain here now and then. 2 to 5 days after a good rain has blown open some of coastal river bars it be time to go steelhead fishing

[cdpruden]

I just got back from a ride. A short one, but...

The intarweb says 38 degrees, my thermometer says a much more palatable 41, though.

Definitely fun riding by a pond and waving to the kids playing ice hockey on it. I really needed that ride, though.

I've had the bike apart for a lot of the winter, replacing the valve cover gasket, cam chain tensioner, etc., and then various mistakes on my part (doh! melted through the airshock line)... etc.

However, I think I've corrected all but one of the leaks, and that will be taken care of as soon as I change the oil.

I used to do a lot more riding in winter -- certainly doesn't make for long rides, but...

Now the big debate in my head is if I take it to work tomorrow. 35 miles in 38 degree weather is quite a trek... and my full face helmet is pretty trashed... but...

Perma grin seems frozen on my face again, anyway.

[Brent]

Sunday Fund raiser ride

Rode yesterday.

Freezing when I got up. 34 when I left.
Rode 40-50 miles to Athens Ga for ride to benefit PD officer who was shot. Police escort. $16,000? raised. 675 bikes ; Big variety. Sport bikes, scooters, Honda cbx 6 cylinder, Kaw 750 twin?, many HD & metric cruisers.
Warmed up to high 50's
Rained about 12 drops. & later 10 more, (Not enough to wet road so I do not even count it)
Ride back was nice,... I remember now...Must tie strings to zippers on vents on front of jacket.

I believe it is Spring here in Georgia, heading north soon.

[Rasputin]

Kinda an unfair poll to us Canadian riders. It can easily go to -40 below (farenhiet or celcius take your pick). I have worked in weather as low as -65 F out in the oilpatch. But a glimmer of hope comes late march when the sun shines gloriously and we can start talking about the frost coming out. SWMBO just looked it up and in this area we get 106 frost free days a year. Once late Sept comes we only ride on nice days.... So I dont ride much in the winter.

[Brasco18]

I hear ya rasputin. I live in Duluth, MN so it gets cold. I tough it out as long as I can. I will usually put the bike away by the first real snow. It seems like that has been getting later and later over the years. You would have to be insane to even attempt to ride in the winter in Duluth. The hills here would kill you or someone else. Maybe I should invest in studded tires...

[webbcraft2150]

Originally posted by Wildkat
I'm good for anything above 50. My thing is getting all the gear on... I like to be able to jump on and take off
Sometimes you can't beat the feel of the brisk air on your face...
I'm done.

Ok, I figure I pretty much took all of that out of context. I will let 'yall run with it. And... I'm done.


BTW, I ride all year, ain't no real winter in Central Texas.

[DenyP]

I would love to live where one can ride year around. Minnesota winters are not for bikers. I will be doing the paint job, and perhaps some other projects - she will have to sit!

Deny

[Brasco18]

I am actually debating whether or not to sell my bike this winter. I don't have a garage so it is always a pain to figure out how to store it.

[fredintoon]

Winter storage

Hi Brasco,
selling off your bike because you don't have a garage? Tsk tsk. Will it not fit in your living room?

[Crazcnuk]

I usually call it quits first time, each fall, that I do a 180 going around a corner, due to ice.

I have ridden every month of the year, just not all in the same year.

I had to take a booster battery for my Shadow 1100 so that I could start it in the mornings. at -10C it was a bit stiff. Same with my old 7504-K except that I would just crank it for 10 seconds, then use the kickstart and it would fire right up.

Coming out of the Athabasca Hotel in Jasper, one morning, a couple of Japanese tourists were mumbling while trying to scrape frost off thier rental cars windshield, with credit cards. As soon as they saw me pull out my snow brush and start sweeping off the seat, they looked much happier.

I got a trophy at the 1990 Ride the Rockies Rally, for pulling my trailer, 360miles, through a Blizzard.