Anyone Ride Year Round in Northern Climates?

[Oldmanzues]

I ride mostly year around. PGR Missions or short trips in decent above 15 or so, no ice, little salt OK. I take the truck for the 1 mile drive to the mall. To much trouble to get "dressed up".
I had the oppisite problem with the heated grips as the person above. Leaving on a PGR escort, punched the parking brake, stalled the engine, repunched the parking brake (light still on), moved out. A short time (very short) time later, my hands were on fire. Only about 95 or so out. Bad word, heated grips, duh. Interesting discovery, pushing the forward part of the brake switch releases the brake. pushing on the forward part of heated grip switch turns the grips on high. Inches count ????
Oldmanzues

 

[EnjoyingTheRyde]

I knew it!

Up here north of the US border we Canadians we put ski's on the front tires and chains on the back and and drive around all winter.

Someone asked me the other day if I put skis on it in the winter...

 

[JJW SpyderRider]

I'm located at the north state line in Illinois and ride year round. Dry roads, no salt visible, and only during the daylight hours (black ice at night). I ride down to 15 deg. and put about 3K on October to April. hyea: The first two years no heated gear. Now have a Venture heated jacket liner. Co-workers ask if I'm cold and I have them touch my shirt which feels like a freshly ironed shirt.

Remember drivers aren't looking for cycles in the summer and really don't try in the winter.

 

[Motorcycledave]

I ride year round

I ride all the year I try to avoid rain & snow but if I get caught in it
I am always ready for it..
Dave

Northern Cal here too. Worst weather is 39-41F.

 

[boborgera]

I ride all winter, When i had a Spyder about an inch of snow was it's limit, Then i would wait for the plows to go by then i was good to go. With my Tri-Glide 4 inches is the limit. As far as cold iv'e riden over 100 miles on my Tri-Glide At 5 to 10 degrees F. Heated gear and no brains makes that easy.....
Salt doesn't worry me, I'll let the next guy worry about it. [when i sell the trike]

 

[EnjoyingTheRyde]

I wish I could get out over the snow bank... But honestly, living a mile in on a dirt road really makes it difficult to venture out after December and until April or May around here. Salt is on the roads until we get plenty of spring rain so it stays parked for at least four months...

 

[Flanker]

Yea. I John Wayne it in my Focus/snow tires with the heat turned up. Oh! Wait........................you said on my Spyder. Surely you jest.

 

[Spyderjockey]

Cold doesn't bother us we just dress for it with the suit from Bajaron or snowmobile pants and layering. We have ridden in the low teens before and have been comfortable even on long rides of over 100 miles. We have ridden on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day and a lot of days in between, if there has been sufficient rain to wash away any salt residue.

My concern is salt even if the road is dry, if there is salt residue on the road you can see dust from the salt flying off the tires and I believe it will get in where the computer "stuff" is and wire connections. Then if you ride on wet roads later on the dry dust turns into a very corrosive solution that could potentially cause major costly problems. Love to ride even in cold weather if roads are salt free.:yes:

 

[mindman]

I live in Connecticut, and I ride year round. The only thing that has kept me off the road in winter is snow and Ice. My riding motto is: "There's no such thing as bad riding weather, just bad riding gear." Until now, all of my cold weather riding has been on my BMW R1200RT. It's what I used to commute to work. Now that I'm retired, I'm thinking that my Spyder RT might be a better choice for running errands because of it's higher storage capacity, and the fact that when I get my 2014, I'll have the trailer too.

Are there any other Spyder cold weather riders out there? If so, I'm wondering if there are any peculiarities I should know about how to treat them when riding in the cold. Logic tells me "no different than any other motorcycle", but I thought I'd check before I do it.[/Q
For starters if you treat the SPYDER like any other MOTORCYCLE you are going to get yourself killed. The Spyder is a defined as a Motorcycle for State and Federal purposes.....Otherwise it's a three wheeled ROADSTER.....:thumbup:....Mike

:hun:OH! Maybe that's why when I counter steer it turns the wrong way ?! Damn! Wish I'd figured that out on my own. pps:

 

[mindman]

I have ridden every month, road surfaces permitting. There are some hard core year-round members here. SethO and GroundEffect are possibly the hardiest. The light rear end and the traction control make riding in the slippery stuff somewhat frustrating. The VSS won't save you on a slick road, either. I'd consider some other means of transportation if the roads are slippery, and I would worry about corrosion if they are salty, but if they are dry plug in the heated gear and go.

Makes sense. Regarding salt and corrosion, I read somewhere that the worst thing to do in winter is to put your vehicle in a warm garage. The warmth actually promotes the corrosion while "keeping it cold" will prevent it. I don't know how true that is scientifically, but in all my years of two wheeling I've kept my vehicles in a non-heated garage and haven't had a problem.

 

[dancote]

I used to ride year-round in the Seattle area when I was working.

Now, I'm strictly a fair weather rider.

Regards,

Dan

 

[DoggyDaddy]

The Joy of Living in So. Cal.

Living in sunny So. Cal. means temperatures rarely dip below freezing so 12 mo. riding is not an issue. Back in my Midwest days I lived in Indy and would ride anytime the roads were free of snow and Ice. I used my snowmobile suit for riding with a balaclava and was never cold. Problem was if I wanted to go inside to shop or have a meal. Then I had to strip off the gear and put it back on again when I went back outside. Needless to say, moving to So. Cal. in 1986 eliminated those issues, although I still have that old snowmobile suit stored somewhere in my shed!! :doorag:

 

[groundeffect]

Hey Greg, hey everyone!


I ride everyday, year round in Newfoundland on my RS, as it is my only source of transportation by choice for several years now.


An interview with BRP in 2011 can be found here:
http://spyder.brp.com/blog/post-details?PostID=7d58c76d-22c3-4efb-98b0-9e950103f95b


In it I talk a little about the gear I use and how I approach everyday.


Be safe through any season everyone!
Cheers!

 

[Bob Denman]

Makes sense. Regarding salt and corrosion, I read somewhere that the worst thing to do in winter is to put your vehicle in a warm garage. The warmth actually promotes the corrosion while "keeping it cold" will prevent it. I don't know how true that is scientifically, but in all my years of two wheeling I've kept my vehicles in a non-heated garage and haven't had a problem.

I am also curious about this; is it fact, or urban legend??? :dontknow:

(heated garage here... and no rust issues either!)

 

[Kungfuspyder]

I ride year around

In the deep south of Alabama, I ride year around, from shorts and tee shirts for most of the year and cold weather gear for the short winter months(December through February), I really test out my gear and ride when I visit some other state that is not in the south.

 

[Spidergirl]

No that's what snowmobiles are for!!

 

[Bob Denman]

:agree:

 

[greendean]

I'm one of those year round guys. this will be my 4th year on Spyder commuter for me 60 miles round trip.
I live in the NW Puget Sound rain is the dominant weather issue. Cold at 3:30 AM on the way to work. No Snow or ice
I have experienced a bit of snow and the roads when slippery are a bit tense on the Spyder then again the folks on
their Cell phones paying no attention are as well. I have an electric vest and chaps also use the Hippo Hands I do not
have the heated grips my spyde is 2010 RS. Heavy rain on freeway do my best to avoid the tire spray from other vehicles
Well I guess thats all I have to say about that. Keep the rubber side down.

 

[mindman]

Hey Greg, hey everyone!


I ride everyday, year round in Newfoundland on my RS, as it is my only source of transportation by choice for several years now.


An interview with BRP in 2011 can be found here:
http://spyder.brp.com/blog/post-details?PostID=7d58c76d-22c3-4efb-98b0-9e950103f95b


In it I talk a little about the gear I use and how I approach everyday.


Be safe through any season everyone!
Cheers!

Thanks for a Very interesting (and helpful) article. I'm surprised no mention of snow tires or using winter weight oil. Do you use either of them?

 

[Showie]

I too am going to try and ride whenever the roads are clear and no bad weather in the forecast. :clap: