Supposed to get 18F tomorrow!!

[kirmit77]

-18???? thats ridiculous!!!!!!

[UJM]

-18???? thats ridiculous!!!!!!

I worked as service manager for a Honda dealership for a couple and a half years, left to work for another service industry for benefits and a retirement plan.

Almost exactly a year ago, same weather - it was -28 wind chill and the punk supervisors I worked with told me I had to go and try to jump start multiple diesel trucks at a lot 1/4 mile away - using a jump pack that was on its last leg.

I tried all week to start those trucks with no luck, but I tried again anyway, they were making my life pure hell and I had a family to support -

About two days later, they canned me - I made it 9 months, they called it a layoff, some called it something else, whatever.

I'll never forget what that company did for me, and those that did it. I'm glad I went through it, I have a whole new respect for those that are treated in that manner.

I found out the next day they had a new jump pack, nice touch.

[Rasputin]

It is not so bad here when you are used to it. Hey this is Alberta, if ya dont like the weather....wait five minutes it will change. We got a warm front moving in that will take us to -4 tomorrow and into the plus side for the next few days. That will pretty much just make us walk around in T-shirts. Well, maybe a light jacket required. When I was in Arkansas about a yr ago, I almost died of the heat and humidty there. Hooray for air conditioning. Bummer is I could get used to heat, just not tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and all that stuff. It is not bad here, imagine what poor old Fredintoon has to put up with being from Sask. No trees to block the wind. Well, if you got to the tree you would have to fight your way thru all the dogs waiting to use it.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Tulsa OKLAHOMA!!!!! tomorrow

Compared to UJM in St Jo this looks like a heat wave.

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/74107?dayNum=1

[Bigfoot]

St. Joe MO here, 45 minutes north of Kansas City, look what we get Friday night -

I feel your pain.

BTW, there is a whole bunch of us in the KC area.

[bikerphil]

Suicidal Iguanas...

http://www.justnews.com/video/22153242/index.html

[XSokieSPECIAL]

I bet that was you collecting them in tha station wagon wasn't it?

Next time don't use the heater, turn on the AC. Tod can help you with the clothes you'll need.

[bikerphil]

I bet that was you collecting them in tha station wagon wasn't it?

Lol, yep, I was heading up north to sell 'em for $100 apiece. There are thousands of 'em around here roaming free. It's legal to kill 'em too because they are not native and considered a nuisance.

[T99Ford]

A heat wave here!

It got to -6 F at 2:30 this afternoon, and now is only -15. That means the cars will start without being plugged in tomorrow! At the equipment dealership where I am the SM, we have been dealing with gelled heavy diesels and burned out block heaters all week. BUt it is supposed to warm to the low 20's this week.
I rode my bike enough in the cold, that I devised a way to mount a oil pan heater for a truck to the bottom of it, so that I could plug it in and make it run over better cold. I haven't figured out tire chains yet, though
But another good week for sledding!

[kirmit77]

That looks like so much fun! but the temps are a lil crazy for me. I like wearing t shirts most of the year

[T99Ford]

We went yesterday, and rode until dark. It was -12 when we rode out (and got to -27 last night). After 20 minutes of 60+MPH at -12, We were all pretty froze up on the outside. I had to chip the ice out of the bottom of my helmet and to get it off! It actually froze over under my chin. Then we all had to stand in front of the heater in the trailer to thaw all our zippers so we could get out of our gear. The exhaust on the sled built a tunnel around the outer perimeter of the can outlet, so the exaust was essentially lengthened 3 inches and made out of ICE. It was crazy fun, and some of the best riding I have done this year. The snow was litteraly like dust on a gravel road. Hope it warms for you though, since you don't have any alternatives

[CatatonicBug]

I rode my bike enough in the cold, that I devised a way to mount a oil pan heater for a truck to the bottom of it, so that I could plug it in and make it run over better cold.

I'd be interested in learning more about that one. What kind of heater did you use? I fabbed up a 100w light bulb and a foil baking pan and set it under the oil pan overnight, but I didn't notice much difference in the morning. Maybe something that is actually touching the oil pan would be better.

I did see some oil heaters that actually thread into the oil pan with a heating element, but the way our oil pans are made, I don't think the element would be able to stick inside past the castings right around the oil plug. Not sure about clearances with all the moving parts in there either.

[Crazcnuk]

Since the end of November we've hit -36-38C a few times. Edmonton has set several low temp records that haven't been broken since the late 1800's.

Derwat will be riding his new beemer from Palm Springs via Vegas and as far north as he feels like tomorrow, then we will load the bike in the truck, and head home until the bike can come back out in late march or april.

[UJM]

I feel your pain.

BTW, there is a whole bunch of us in the KC area.

We've got a really nice parkway system here in St. Joe that is a blast to ride.

Might need to plan a spring ride up and and I'll give you the tour.

[T99Ford]

Hey Bug!
You can get the magnetic mounted oil pan heaters at the local auto parts stores (depending upon the area, you may have to order them). I just have a small one that measures about 2x3 inches and would normally stick to a car oil pan. I got it to keep the 15 qts of oil in my Powerstroke moving at -40. Since it is so small, you just have to rig it up stuck to the bottom of the pan any way that you can. It has a small handle that you can mount it to. The sticker on it says that it can get to 400 deg, so a heat sink is a must. But it warms the oil on the bike easily.
I also thought about self adhesive fuel tank heaters for trucks, but since they are 12 volt, there is more aparatus to plugging them in, and they don't get as warm.