February ride!

[Bill]

Well, it was just too nice when I got home from work last Monday... 30° and the roads were mostly dry. Fired up the GSX-R and went for a ride. Tooled around town, topped off the tank, then headed out on the highway to wind it up a little. Ahh... that felt GOOD!

When I pulled back into my driveway the neighbor kid was racing around their yard on his snowmobile. You can see him on the right side of the photo.


And to think that a couple of weeks ago Caribou, Maine was the coldest city in the nation! Just had to share...

Bill

[deo]

What no gloves?

[Bill]

Yeah, I ALWAYS ride with gloves! Just couldn't start the camera timer with them on. I also didn't think I could start the timer, put on the gloves, and get positioned on the bike in 10 seconds. So... I figured I'd get the shot with my gloves off and see who noticed.

Good Job!

XSively,

[John]

I always thought you guys up in the 'County' were kinda nuts. Does Maine still issue the registration for bikes on a six month basis? Haven't your plates and inspection expired? A lot of my friends in the Waterville area that had bikes would break them out during the January thaw, and the cops would be waiting for them. That looks like a good use for a snowmobile suit.

[Bill]

As far as I know, my reg and insurance are good all year 'round. They just don't expect most riders to need 'em!

The day I rode was pretty mild, so I didn't have to bundle up as much as for, say, a 20° day.

Winter Riding - Attitude, Layers and Dry Roads

From time to time we do wear a sled suit, especially for a longer ride.


Bill & Tina on "XSerendipity" (Sleepers Market) - Caribou, Maine 2/16/02
So... how do you know about "The County"?

XSively,

[deo]

Sure is good to see that you got on a real bike for this ride. XS11s make great snow bikes just no skis. Ever thought about doing a conversion with Skis and wide track?

[Bill]

Deo wrote:

Sure is good to see that you got on a real bike for this ride. XS11s make great snow bikes just no skis. Ever thought about doing a conversion with Skis and wide track?

The gixxer is a solo bike. For 2-up I ride the XS11 or the GS850L.

I don't have the time, patience or skill for wild mods, but I WOULD like to set up a dirt bike for winter riding. Knobby tires with a few studs would just do the trick! Hmm... maybe next year.

XSively,

[John]

Bill , you asked So... how do you know about "The County"?

I mentioned my friends in the Waterville area. I grew up in Fairfield, in what is probabaly the second biggest county in Maine. Somerset county.

[sixtysix]

Since we have 3-5 feet more snow than you I will hold off til spring for any riding...don't they use salt up there?? I never ride in the winter since even if the roads are dry there is usually piles of sand and salt everywhere. Glad you can get out for a ride!!

[strom]

Went for a ride too, but at my destination, the gas station was closed, so... got back anyway on fumes.
The XS still seems to burn some oil, but nothing I couldn't live with, some oil seeping from the valve cover (sloppy me), some still comming thru the left crank cover. But again, nothing I couldn't live with.
Fun ride tho.

LP

[Jeff]

I've been itching to go for a ride...... have my cold weather leather all laid out just waiting for the white washboard to turn back into dry blacktop. This is the most snow we've had in many years here in SE Idaho.

To quench my need for speed.... I broke down and bought myself another snowmobile to replace the one I had to sell a couple years ago when finances dictated so. Hopefully it will do the trick. Its a '95 Polaris XLT 600 Special short track. My old one was a '94 600 XLT SKS. Hopefully it will pull hard enough to give me the rush I need. My old sled had better acceleration than my XS. This new one with a short track should be a little quicker.... just got to be a lot more carefull in the deep stuff. It should be ready for me to ride this weekend to see if I'll need to put a few more HP goodies into it. My old sled had triple pipes and high compression heads which added about 30 HP over stock putting in the same HP range as my XS.