Tips for Winter Riding
(Another from the archives - originally posted to the Concours Owners Group list by Doug Grossjean)
Sooner or later, Winter will be here for all of us. We have snow falling now as I ride in a van with my laptop on a biz trip, and most of the rest of the country has already been hit at one point or another.
The past several years, we’ve had little snow here in Toledo Ohio area, but plenty of cold temps - so I’ve been racking up some serious miles through the winters. It can be done, up to a point.
Does that mean I think you should ride in the winter? Absolutely positively not! But if you go, here’s some info you might find helpful:
1. Know the route! This is absolutely essential to your well-being.
The reason why is because you need to know what bridges are likely to ice up as fog rises from the river below and freezes on the roadway.
You need to know where water drips onto a roadway from above and freezes on the road surface below. As an example, I get up to Detroit quite a bit and am very leery of many of the underpasses on the Interstate Highway system up there - in several places there’s water leaks / drains that drain onto the right lane right at an exit ramp. Very, very, very ugly.
Know every water puddle, slippery spot, shady spot. Know where the low spots are, where fog might collect and freeze.
2. Bear in mind that neither tires nor shocks work very well at sub-freezing temps. Ride will be stiff, and tire grip will be poor.
3. After a big snow, wait a few for the snow to melt thouroughly; and then scout the route with your car before deciding it’s safe on the motorcycle. Pay attention, and be observant.
4. Know the weather forecast! Suppose you ride to work in the AM - will it be possible to ride home in the PM?
Where I live, I’m finding that actual weather correlates fairly well with the forecast. If the weatherman says the odds are good for snow while I’m at work, with accumulation, and temps remaining below freezing, there’s *no way* I’m going to ride the bike to work that day.
5. Don’t leave home on the bike if it’s already snowing at the time. In my opinion, it’s one thing to maybe carefully ride home in the snow. Courageous maybe, but also a bit foolish.
But to leave your home on a motorycle when it’s already snowing, well, that’s totally foolish and without any redeeeming value whatsoever.
6. If you do have to ride in the snow, here’s what to expect: your bike will be worse than the most horrible rear-drive car you’ve ever driven. If it’s a big bike, with lots of power, it can get away and go down amazingly quickly. A small dual-purpose bike is a much better choice, but not everybody has several bikes.
The bad news is that abrupt inputs will put you on your ear in iffy situations. Be very smooth in everything you do, smooth and *extremely* gentle.
The good news is that snow isn’t very abrasive, nor can you get up much speed if snow is everywhere. End result is that in my experience, a bike that falls at low speed on snow may not even be damaged.
7. In spite of the good intentions of the above words, you’re totally on your own if you decide to actually ride in the snow. I’ve fallen down in snow on street bikes, three times, and I’ve had *two* friends that have fallen and been killed in snow-related accidents.
Don’t be stupid, and don’t become a statistic. If in doubt, just remember that summer is coming and you’ll have good riding soon enough. Don’t bounce your bike off the pavement now.
Best,
Doug Grosjean
Pemberville, Ohio