Winter Riding

[ak bike]

alaskahack, thanks for the candid answere... I put on quite a few miles during the summer but get nervous when the temp gets down to freezing . just dream now and then about pushing spring. Hate seeing that bike parked.. Never get to old to dream !! :0)

[Alaskahack]

I hated seeing the bike parked for so long.

I just got the sidecar last spring. I had to dig out a trail of close to 180 ft and two shovels wide and 2-3' deep for the most part to get my 1200 GS out so I could put the sidecar on it.

Saw all the folks in Europe driving year round and thought why can't I

It's not that easy but beats the heck out of picking your nose

It's good to see someone on here about my age, Alcan Rider from Glenallen area has been known to ride a goldwing in the winter

[nuttynu]

here part 2 from a few days ago..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvSOt5bVxCw

[Alaskahack]

Like that kickstand reverse action.
Have you tried just cracking your face shield it worked for me kept the fog off and wasn't as bad as running with the shield up

Great video thanks for sharing

[AKDuc]

I love my studded Kenda Trackmasters. One car stud per knob with just enough carbide showing to break the surface of the ice and enough rubber that I feel confident on dry pavement. 6 good scratches in the ice when I stomp hard on the rear brake.

I've been through 4 fun-filled winters of +40f to -20f through ice and snow at 0 to 60+mph. My front tire has always held and the rear kicks out in a very predictable and controllable manner if I want it to. Knobbies do get a bit warm running at highway speeds but the leading edge of the rear tire is just now starting to round off.

Maybe because of our strange winter but I think this was the first time there wasn't a tire studding party where you could practice drilling and using a pneumatic stud gun. Hackymoto did my tires years ago for Barb but I got em instead.

When I first got em it had been a long time since I'd ridden a dirt bike or true knobbies. Since I'd forgotten to lower the tire pressure on my first outing years ago, I almost called it quits right then and there before being reminded about lower pressure. Now I only run about 15 to 20psi or so. Works for me.

One of my favorite pics of Comet looking like he's wondering if I really want to do this. Mark H.

[KsFolly]

I live in San Diego, a few weeks ago I took my 1200GS with the stock (streety) Tourance Exp tires to Vegas.

There's a pass which gets to 4200 feet. It was raining and about 41 at sea level. I haven't biked there before so I wasn't as intimately aware of the pass altitude (cage isolates you).

I said to myself as it kept raining and the temps hit 36 that I won't have to worry about ice. It's raining too well.

EEEK next thing I know it's a blizzard it's 30 and I'm stuck in the rut of the car in front. Unlike the TKC80 shod CBR I didn't feel comfortable crossing the snow/slush boundaries. (It was like his video but blizzard too)

Pucker factor 100%. Bike and I did fine 4-6 miles of "please don't fall" at 30-40 mph. Biggest issue was cold. Body was layered up (I'd planned for 40) but the gloves were single layer and the heated grips were OK but not really enough. Top of glove was actually frozen.

Cracking the visor was the only way to avoid fogging but it was bitter bitter cold.

Anyway. Looking forward to running TKCs full time.


So it's doable. Just don't goose the throttle. Mind you a lot of more sensible folk on bikes had pulled off. But I didn't relish waiting 2 hours for a truck to drive me out. In 30 degree weather.

[ak bike]

know the" please don't fall "sound drumming in my head. usally encountered on the alcan when there is 6 inches of loose stuff in some long construction area and they stick you up behind the 15 mile an hour pilot car out of pure kindness. The bike starts to wobble and you can't goose it .. Gotta look first hand at akducs set up on his klr just for trying out the local streets .The Girdwood run has had many days this winter of bare dry pavement.. Drives you nuts.

[nuttynu]

Nice day today, but a bit cold. Saw a guy on a trike. He's having a blast. Caught him on my cam for a while.

[Alaskahack]

Are you going to be able to post that?
A little to cold for me lol

[nuttynu]

Originally Posted by Alaskahack

Are you going to be able to post that?
A little to cold for me lol

I'll upload it sometime.

[ThatGuy]

Originally Posted by nuttynu

Nice day today, but a bit cold. Saw a guy on a trike. He's having a blast. Caught him on my cam for a while.

The had been out pretty much daily

[nuttynu]

Originally Posted by nuttynu

I'll upload it sometime.

quick vid of him, anyone identify this bike?

http://youtu.be/yI2eS7DaNys

[Drunk_Uncle]

Thought you were talking about the guy I saw at Freddies. I saw a dude on a Tri Glide. Bike looked like he had been riding all season.

[nuttynu]

Great warm day today. Went and put 50 miles back n forth on the Glenn . Saw another rider (trike) felt great.

[Alaskahack]

Subdivisions are pretty icy, we had a lot of freezing rain the last two evenings, but the roads look fairly good.


Tried to start-up the Go-Pro but I guess I didn't press hard enough to start it up






Short stop in a Professional loop near PW Highway

[IMG][/IMG]

I ended up riding close to 3 hrs on all the main roads between Wasilla and Palmer Fun times, felt good