Cold weather ride and general winter advice

I have been known to use newspapers strategically placed under clothing to act as a wind break in the blistering cold Florida winters. You get real creative when the gear does not equal the weather, be it rain or cold.

A Texan Moves North
Jan. 10 - It's 5:00 p.m. It's starting to snow. The first of the season and the first we've seen in years. The wife and I took our hot buttered rums and sat by the picture window, watching the soft flakes drift down, clinging to the trees and covering the ground. It was beautiful.

Jan. 11 - We awoke to a lovely blanket of crystal white snow covering the landscape. What a fantastic sight. Every tree and shrub covered with a beautiful white mantle. I shoveled snow for the first time in years and loved it. I did both the driveway and sidewalk. Later, a city snowplow came along and accidently covered up our driveway with compacted snow from the street. The driver smiled and waved. I waved back and shoveled it again.

Jan. 12 - It snowed an additional 5 inches last night and the temperature dropped to 11 degrees. Several limbs on the trees and shrubs snapped due to the weight of the snow. I shoveled the driveway a again. Shortly afterwards the snow plow came by and pulled his trick again. Now much of the snow is brownish-gray.

Jan. 13 - It warmed up enough during the day to create some slush which soon became ice when the temperature dropped again. Bought snow tires for both cars. Fell on my ass in the driveway. $145 to a chiropractor, but nothing was broken. More snow and ice expected.

Jan. 14 - Still cold as hell. Sold the wife's car and bought a 4 X 4 in order to get her to work. Slid into the guardrail anyway and did a considerable amount of damage to the right rear quarter panel. Had another 8 inches of the white sh!t again last night. Both vehicles are covered with salt and crud. More shoveling in store for me today. That gosh-darn snowplow came by twice today.

Jan. 15 - It's 2 freaking degrees outside. More freaking snow. Not a tree or shrub on our property that hasn't been damaged. Power was off most of the night. Tried to keep from freezing to death with candles and a kerosene heater, which tipped over and nearly burned the freaking house down. I managed to put the flames out, but suffered 2nd degree burns on my hands and lost all my eyebrows and eyelashes. The car slid off the road on the way to the emergency room and was totaled.

Jan. 16 - gosh-darn mother freakin' white sh!t keeps coming down. Have to put on all the clothes we own just to get to the freakin' mailbox. If I ever catch that son-of-a-b!tch that drives the snowplow, I'll chew open his chest and rip his heart out. I think he hides around the corner and waits until I shovel the driveway. Power is still off. Toilet froze and part of the roof has started to cave in.

Jan. 17 - Six gosh-darn more inches of freakin' snow and sleet and ice and no telling what other kind of white sh!t fell last night. I wounded the freakin' snowplow a__hole with an ice axe, but he got away. Wife left me. Car won't start. I think I'm going snow-blind. I can't feel my freakin' toes. Haven't seen the sun in weeks. More white sh!t is predicted. Wind chill is 22 freakin' degrees below mother freakin' zero. I'm movin' my freakin' ass back to Texas.

I would say that about sums it it up testarossa . :laugh:

When it's really cold I wear my ice fishing/ snowmobiling gear. If you don't have any good snowpants you might want to get them. I find my legs are the first thing to go numb in freezing cold riding. Get some snowmobiling mits too, they keep you hands really nice and warm. In a pinch if I get caught in some really cold weather and only have my regular riding gloves I usually put a plastic shopping bag on each hand. The bags look like ghosts flying the wind behind my hands, but they break the wind completely so you have a chance to build up some heat. I tried out my dads heated grips last weekend, and I am getting some for next year...on eBay you can get a set of universal heated grips for decent price...

Kawickrice wrote:

I have been known to use newspapers strategically placed under clothing to act as a wind break in the blistering cold Florida winters. You get real creative when the gear does not equal the weather, be it rain or cold.

Here's another cheap emergency item. :lol: :lol:

Good Fortune!

[Click on image to see large biker gang out-fitted from a single box.]

I went though a tank of gas in my bike today, just walked in the door. I thought I would post a picture of the weather outside:



snowpants, Kombi mitts and my Schampa balaclava are key.

www.schampa.com/

Patton wrote:

Kawickrice wrote:

I have been known to use newspapers strategically placed under clothing to act as a wind break in the blistering cold Florida winters. You get real creative when the gear does not equal the weather, be it rain or cold.

Here's another cheap emergency item. :lol: :lol:

Good Fortune!

[Click on image to see large biker gang out-fitted from a single box]

To make it fashionable, add a ductape belt. A hit on any runway.

Patton wrote:

Kawickrice wrote:

I have been known to use newspapers strategically placed under clothing to act as a wind break in the blistering cold Florida winters. You get real creative when the gear does not equal the weather, be it rain or cold.

Here's another cheap emergency item. :lol: :lol:

Good Fortune!

[Click on image to see large biker gang out-fitted from a single box.]

You know Patton I would laugh at this to but I must say it works. Did'nt need a duct tape belt but did duct tape little bags on my boots.

9am53 wrote:

I went though a tank of gas in my bike today, just walked in the door. I thought I would post a picture of the weather outside:

snowpants, Kombi mitts and my Schampa balaclava are key.

www.schampa.com/

9am do you live on the North Pole. That looks cold up there. Its 84F today where I am. My riding weather starts when yours stops. Summers here are brutal as your winters are brutal on the other end of the scale.

kaw a bong a wrote:

It's great to ride all year,and be prepared for the cold but,it always reminds me of being in chicago and hearing of a rider who was killed on the toys' for tots ride in dec,i drove the I55 every day to work, and when they said it on the radio I knew right where it happened,there was always some fog that came off the canal near california av.and drifted on to the expressway where it dipped,even made car tires slip,I found that out changing lanes,so black ice keeps me off the bike in the winter months .everyone who rides all year just be careful, and dress the part.

Good advice. Another bad spot for ice (not fog-induced black ice, just regular ice) is on 290 near the old Post Office. The expressway is elevated there and so it freezes over quick. But the rest of 290 is dug into the ground so it takes a long time to freeze over. Cars just pile up on the elevated part. I've spun a car a time or two there, and that was even with going slow. Luckily no one else there so I came out unscathed (other than needing new shorts).

loudhvx wrote:

...expressway is elevated there and so it freezes over quick. But the rest of 290 is dug into the ground so it takes a long time to freeze over. Cars just pile up on the elevated part....

Have always heard -- but never tested -- that bridges freeze over before other part of highway.

Especially dangerous when entering onto a bridge while riding a motorcycle in cold weather. And iced-over bridge may catch rider completely off-guard.

Unfortunately, don't have an answer for this situation, other than reduce speed to a crawl, and even then staying upright on ice is virtually impossible (even for good dirt-bike riders).

Good Fortune!

If I do end up getting the KLR I mean to get, does anybody know of tires that you can add studs to? my snow tires for the car and truck have stud holes, but in southern ontario we are not allowed...but for the bike I would get them if they are available.