Road ice in Auckland? WTF [Archive]

Phurrball

4th June 2009, 08:11

Watch for ICE if you're taking the bike to work today via the more sheltered parts of Auckland...

Let's just say that it caught me out this morning at abut 25ish km/hr on a bend in Laingholm (In the Waitakeres)

It was the last thing this ex Dunedin boy was expecting in the 'warm'/coastal Auckland region (Haven't seen road ice in the 4 years I've been in D'Aucks. Mind you, I didn't 'see' it today)

Salient points:

Front tucked in without warning in low speed, mild right-hander that I've ridden every day the bike goes out.

Naked bikes win!

Scuffed bar end, more scratches on heavy OEM muffler, slightly bent foot-brake lever. The VTR250 is still all good. Not a scratch on anything important AFAIK: Will get it checked. If it had been my VFR800 :doh: Tupperware :doh:

Good gear wins!

Scuff on the leather of right arm. No harm whatsoever to me. Very glad there was nothing solid in my right hip pocket. That would have hurt. Trousers and boots unharmed.

Righto then, cue the mocking by the hardier folk from Southern and Inland Northern locales...:chase:

Ok, now to face the same stretch of road on the same bike when it's a bit warmer...

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE FOLKS

howdamnhard

4th June 2009, 08:17

Thanks for the heads up. Whats with the damn cold weather, this winter seems a lot colder than normal. Might have to invest in some heated handgrips.:eek:

howdamnhard

4th June 2009, 08:18

PS glad you and bike escaped relatively unscathed.

16silver

4th June 2009, 08:18

shafty

4th June 2009, 08:30

Good reminder Phurr, - I pulled a sheet of ice out of the wheel barrow at 2pm yesterday - had been sitting in the shade......Mind you, we are in Matiere

javawocky

4th June 2009, 08:31

Haha, yes she was a winter wonderland this morning. On the lights turning off east coast bays into constellation drive - saw it was green and clear a little ways up so gave it some right hand to race the green, but I was weary of the grip levels to gave it enough slow down time. When I tapped off pulled a lovely MotoGP style tail wiggle Rossi would be proud of :first:

slofox

4th June 2009, 08:32

Similar problems in Hamiltron today...

The Pastor

4th June 2009, 08:36

yeah the cage had a layer of ice over it this morning, havnt seen that before! saw lots of ice on the roads!

Tubbsy

4th June 2009, 08:52

Plenty of ice out my way too near Mission Bay. Couple of shady areas on the way in along the waterfront looked to have suspect surfaces, so I gave those a wide berth. Okahu bay looked like an ice rink had been put over the grass.

Needed an ice pick to get the bike cover off my bike this morning practically, all the usual condensation was frozen solid.

Weeruthie

4th June 2009, 08:54

javawocky

4th June 2009, 08:59

.... my bike (Suzuki VL250) kept dying on me when I slowed down at the lights..... was that just the cold and I hadn't left the choke on long enough

Are you sure you didn't leave your Choke ON while riding? That is a common learner mistake :doh:

Weeruthie

4th June 2009, 09:05

I had the choke on from Takapuna until the harbour bridge (5 mins ish).... then I cut off at Shelly and the bike cut out at the lights in Ponsenby.... then about 7 times again that..... How long should I leave the choke on?

javawocky

4th June 2009, 09:10

Umm, about 30 seconds.

On the wifes Scorpio I recommend she starts the bike with the choke on, put her helmet and gloves on, then turn the bike off. If the bike can idle with the choke off, it should be off IMO. You should probably give you bike a minute or 2 to get warmed up, then rid at lower revs for about 1km then all should be properly warmed up.

PirateJafa

4th June 2009, 09:11

30 seconds is usually more than enough.

sunhuntin

4th June 2009, 09:11

Are you sure you didn't leave your Choke ON while riding? That is a common learner mistake :doh:

i did that a few times. lol now, when i have to use the choke, i make sure its off before im out the front gate.

Phurrball

4th June 2009, 09:35

damn, Langholm? are you serious??? langholm has those big grippy roads with the big stones to drain the water away though? LANGHOLM???? like west auckland??? wow, thats just purely F***ed up im confused ??

You haven't been out here for a while! Patchwork of repairs and tarsnakes, regular diesel spills on every Laingholm-bound left hand corner from the overfilled bus, clay from cars cutting corners.

Fun roads (:banana:), but require care and attention.

Have reexamined 'the corner'.

May not have been ice, as rubbing surface with hand resulted in black/brown oily crud on fingers - probably some sort of precipitate sitting on top of that caused by the cold. No drama in any case - a wee scrape on the road marks the spot.

Weeruthie

4th June 2009, 09:43

Cheers Guys
That helps... I'll give that a wee go tomorrow morning..... The learner strikes again :doh:

vifferman

4th June 2009, 09:49

Pffffftt.....

Fellow KBer at work was aghast that I rode today, said "you must have balls of steel!"
It was OK, apart from having frost AND fog in our street this morning. I had to ride much of the way with my visor up, so of course my eyes watered, which made my nose run, so I was sniffing all the way to work.
Wasn't too cold - must've been below zero, but I was waiting till the fog cleared a bit (I HATE FOG!) so it was 4C by the time I departed.

Didn't experience any slippage, but I took it easy up our street - stuck to the tyre tracks.

I was quite comfy, but my gloves have no insulation in them (just a waterproof membrane), so my fingertips were cold by the time I got to work. I guess 4 degrees + 110km/h windchill will do that, even with the heated grips on 50% heat...

Kiwi Graham

4th June 2009, 09:50

A mate came in to work in his cage from Langholm said his outside temp gage read -3 degrees ffs.
I come in from Henderson and on the fukin coldest morning in memory my fukin heated hand grips pack up :mad:

madbikeboy

4th June 2009, 09:51

Cheers Guys
That helps... I'll give that a wee go tomorrow morning..... The learner strikes again :doh:

Hey, you missed out on a NASS ride last night - if you're a learner the NASS is a regular skills ride that ends up in Albany. Mix of riders, learners, newbies, old farts, and generally nice people...

I'm Shore based as well, there's quite a few of us KB's on the shore.

Find some chick riders to hang with - there's a heap of really good ones (MsKABC, Sharry etc), and watch out for the trolls!

16silver

4th June 2009, 09:59

Hey, you missed out on a NASS ride last night - if you're a learner the NASS is a regular skills ride that ends up in Albany. Mix of riders, learners, newbies, old farts, and generally nice people...

I'm Shore based as well, there's quite a few of us KB's on the shore.

Find some chick riders to hang with - there's a heap of really good ones (MsKABC, Sharry etc), and watch out for the trolls!

so did i :( but thats caue frosty still has my bike, im not sure a 50CC scooter can go on the mway to albany letalone make it to westgate from my house haha

javawocky

4th June 2009, 10:00

I had to ride much of the way with my visor up, so of course my eyes watered, which made my nose run, so I was sniffing all the way to work.

Right, Learners take note of this advise.

a) Take a paper towel, wet it a little and clean your visor inside and out.

b) Take a new paper towel, squirt a dab of dish washing liquid on it and rub in into the inside of the visor.

c) With the dry part of the towel, wip the visor dry without washing the soap off.

You will NOT manage to mist up your visor again until the soap wares off. Been going for a few weeks now without a single misty moment - even this mornings cold couldn't produce an out of focus moment. Only opened visor when stopped to get some nice fresh air.

javawocky

4th June 2009, 10:02

so did i :( but thats caue frosty still has my bike, im not sure a 50CC scooter can go on the mway to albany letalone make it to westgate from my house haha

Yes it can! :eek:

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Weeruthie

4th June 2009, 10:03

Hey
Yeah I saw that thread.... think I might have to come along next week.... iron out some of these silly wee errors..... mibe catch you then

MIXONE

4th June 2009, 10:10

Thanks for the heads up. Whats with the damn cold weather, this winter seems a lot colder than normal. Might have to invest in some heated handgrips.:eek:

Heated handgrips are an essential winter safety device.Frozen hands mean little or no control with throttle and brake.

vifferman

4th June 2009, 11:01

Right, Learners take note of this advise.

a) Take a paper towel, wet it a little and clean your visor inside and out.
Meh!! Fail.
Never use paper towels on visors - only soft cloths or tissue that's soft/safe for use on optics. With paper towels, you will end up with lots of very small scratches that aren't noticeable until you're riding at night, when you'll get lots of distortion from every light source you view.

I treated my visor with Plexus (and a soft rag!) while my bike was warming up. When it fogged up, it was only momentarily, and it cleared as soon as I got some decent speed up (over 30 km/h). I have some anti-mist cream that would've done the job, however I don't care for the slight distortion of vision that results from a buildup of moisture on whatever hydrophobic treatment you use. I'd rather have a runny nose.
It's also the reason I don't just buy a FogCity or Pinlock insert.

javawocky

4th June 2009, 11:15

Never use paper towels on visors - only soft cloths or tissue

I think your helmet needs to harden up! :msn-wink:

I haven't noticed any visor distortion as mentioned, just a nice clear view, but yes I concede that something softer would be preferable. Fact remains that cheap as dishwasher soap as rid helmet of nasty condensation demons :devil2:

In other news... Black ice warning for central North Island (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10576385)

Weeruthie

4th June 2009, 11:26

Right, Learners take note of this advise.

a) Take a paper towel, wet it a little and clean your visor inside and out.

b) Take a new paper towel, squirt a dab of dish washing liquid on it and rub in into the inside of the visor.

c) With the dry part of the towel, wip the visor dry without washing the soap off.

You will NOT manage to mist up your visor again until the soap wares off. Been going for a few weeks now without a single misty moment - even this mornings cold couldn't produce an out of focus moment. Only opened visor when stopped to get some nice fresh air.
Another handy tip..... I'm learning all sorts today!
Mibe should do some work too though.... Boss keeps looking at me funny

Quasievil

4th June 2009, 11:29

Bloody Global warming eh who would have thought !!

vifferman

4th June 2009, 11:39

I think your helmet needs to harden up! :msn-wink:
I think that at $86, it's worth taking a bit of care of a visor.

I haven't noticed any visor distortion as mentioned, just a nice clear view, but yes I concede that something softer would be preferable.
You will eventually. These are microscopic scratches I'm talking about. The visor will seem clear until after many applications of the scratchy 'wood pulp cloth' and you ride at night, and discover the pretty light-scattering effect it produces.

Fact remains that cheap as dishwasher soap as rid helmet of nasty condensation demons :devil2:
True dat. :yes: Detergent is hydroscopic - has lots of sticky little hydrogen bonds poking out of the surface of the molecules, that latch onto those pesky water droplets, stopping them beading together. Ski/snoboard goggle manufacturers like Oakley and Smith are onto this - they coat the inside surface of the lenses with a soft hydroscopic coating. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be very robust, so it's not suitable to treat helmet visors like this.

retro asian

4th June 2009, 12:24

Hey Guys
Yeah it was bloomin freezing coming into work this morning! I'm new to this whole bike thing and still on my learners.... so had my first skid this morning.... stayed on and had a proper giggle after the pain in my heart stopped :first:
wee question though.... my bike (Suzuki VL250) kept dying on me when I slowed down at the lights..... was that just the cold and I hadn't left the choke on long enough or do you think it's something I need looked at.... any ideas appreciated......
Lets hope it's warmer tomorrow!!!

Happened to me too today and a few times in the last couple of weeks (and I definitely do not ride with the choke on).
If you are lowish on fuel, filling up helps for some reason -maybe someone else here can expand on this.

Its just thanks to the cold!!

MaxCannon

4th June 2009, 12:37

Found ice on a patch of pavement in One Tree Hill this morning while running with the dog.

Took it extra slow on the corners this morning.

duckonin

4th June 2009, 12:45

Happened to me too today and a few times in the last couple of weeks (and I definitely do not ride with the choke on).
If you are lowish on fuel, filling up helps for some reason -maybe someone else here can expand on this.

Its just thanks to the cold!!

VL's are bad for spluttering in the cold even after 20 odd k's they still want to cut out ..has something to do with the air mixture..

Weeruthie

4th June 2009, 12:54

VL's are bad for spluttering in the cold even after 20 odd k's they still want to cut out ..has something to do with the air mixture..

Cheers guys you're making me feel much better..... don't feel quite so stupid now :stupid:

p.dath

4th June 2009, 13:40

I was riding around the North Shore this morning and there was plenty of frost, particularly around Albany.

I was being very carefull, as I prefer the bike to be up right on the road. :-)

boman

4th June 2009, 15:55

Was outside at 8:30 last night and already there was a light frost on the ground. enogh to go crunch under foot. At the Caltex service station this morning, the forecourt was covered in a light sheen of frost. Would not have liked to hit it on the bike. Quite slippery to walk on.

JimO

4th June 2009, 16:31

harden the fuck up you lot

sAsLEX

4th June 2009, 18:43

Whats a choke?

There was a layer of ice on the flight deck you could skate about on this morning when I got to work!

dpex

4th June 2009, 19:02

Thanks for the heads up. Whats with the damn cold weather, this winter seems a lot colder than normal. Might have to invest in some heated handgrips.:eek:

Hell's teeth, HDH! Didn't you know we're in the grips of global warming!?

This winter is NOT cold. There is no frost/ice on any road in Auckland. It's all just a big illusion set up by the anti-global-warmers whom, nightly, venture forth an place white, and sometimes even totally transparent oil on selected corners, just to show the signs which assert "Slippery when frosty" are true and that frost cannot occur during global warming and, therefore, global warming is all a big con.

Geez. I thought everyone knew that.

dpex

4th June 2009, 19:09

so did i :( but thats caue frosty still has my bike, im not sure a 50CC scooter can go on the mway to albany letalone make it to westgate from my house haha

Aha! So you're the one I heard Frosty give the 'Own your piece of road' advice to. The skinny kid on the 50cc sewing machine. Right?

Phurrball

4th June 2009, 19:39

Hehe - I win the prize! :doh:

Managed to run out of gas when I headed back into town. (after taking the cat to the vet...in the cage)

I outdo myself - minor bin AND fuel replenishment FAIL in one day. Luckily, it was downhill to the Mobil on Titirangi Rd.

harden the fuck up you lot

Had to happen :rofl: FWIW I've spent more than half my life in Dunedin. I spent 4 years of that in a North East Valley flat. I know the meaning of cold.* It's when there's ice on the INSIDE of your bedroom window...

*That'd be coastal, southern cold, just so the Brass Monkey country types don't get put out. Inland cold still wins.

Liking the chimeric thread too - nice work weaving in a second thread folks. Let's sort all the cold-related bike issues out in one place. :niceone:

varminter

4th June 2009, 20:18

I know the meaning of cold.* It's when there's ice on the INSIDE of your bedroom window...

Pffft, here in Rotovagas we wake up with ice on our eyeballs.

AD345

4th June 2009, 20:34

I know the meaning of cold.* It's when there's ice on the INSIDE of your bedroom window...

Pffft, here in Rotovagas we wake up with ice on our eyeballs.

Tsk

Close the fecking windows and stop spiking your drinks

rickstv

4th June 2009, 20:38

If this global warming gets any worse, we're al going to bloody freeze to death:chase:

howdamnhard

5th June 2009, 00:28

Hell's teeth, HDH! Didn't you know we're in the grips of global warming!?

He,he Global warming where the bloody hell is it when you need it ! Tomorrow is going to be just as cold. Glad I'm not on the early shift, de-icing is no fun.

Kiwi Graham

5th June 2009, 07:27

Riding (read shivering) in this morning (heated grips all fixed :niceone:) I saw this twat cager in his or her little box, all the fukin windows iced up and only a tiny little area of the front screen cleared wtf!!! Obviously couldn't see a bloody thing, face pressed up against the screen, pootling along, attempting to change lanes on Lincoln road. Must be to hard to scape a bit of ice of or tip some water on the screen before driving of eh! :spanking:

been_there

5th June 2009, 08:34

Now you Aucklanders finally know what cold is a....
Sorry have to laugh at this thread...My family always gives me stick about chch being so cold...well who is laugin now!!!!
Rode into work this morning it was a nice mild -1...
My hand warmers worked perfecto (gap between fairing).

vifferman

5th June 2009, 09:44

Right, Learners take note of this advise.

Take a new paper towel, squirt a dab of dish washing liquid on it and rub in into the inside of the visor.

With the dry part of the towel, wip the visor dry without washing the soap off.

You will NOT manage to mist up your visor again until the soap wares off.
Right - it was colder this morning, and there was a little fog too. So, before I fitted my tinted visor, I got a soft cloth, dripped some Sunlight liquid on it, and rubbed it all around the inside of the visor. Then I wiped it off, got another soft cloth, and polished it up until I couldn't see any smears.

It worked brilliantly - not a hint of fogging! :niceone:

I already knew about this (used it on my old ski goggles, before I bought some Smiths that were treated with antimist stuff), but I must confess I don't think I'd used it on a bike visor before (at least not that I can remember). It worked perfectly.
Thanks, Javawocky!

javawocky

5th June 2009, 09:50

.. It worked perfectly.
Thanks, Javawocky!

No worries :2thumbsup, it is a variant of a tip a fellow ATNR rider gave me, except he said use a bar of soap, I adapted it to use the dishwasher liquid as its probably easier to apply. I also added the paper towel :nono: (don't try this at home kids)

Can't believe I put up with a cold face for so long before I learned this.

Weeruthie

5th June 2009, 10:53

Yep I tried it too.... worked a treat.... always handy when you can see where you're going I find!

vifferman

5th June 2009, 11:02

I also added the paper towel :nono: (don't try this at home kids)
Yeah, a soft cloth is more betterer - you can polish the visor to the point where there's no visible smear marks. I'm still amazed at how well it worked compared to everything else I've tried. :blank:
I'm also glad I didn't buy a Fog City or Pinlock insert - saved myself some coin.
Now what can I spend that on.... hmmmmmmm.......

Tubbsy

5th June 2009, 11:29

Dunno if anyone has seen this, apologies if it's a repost but Faaaaaaaaark!!!!!

"Auckland, Hamilton below zero this morning

Temperatures in the upper North Island have been colder than in many South Island areas this morning.

It was minus three in Auckland and minus four in Hamilton. Those temperatures are the coldest of the year so far, and far colder than overnight temperatures in the South Island which are mainly in the positive range.

Weather Watch analyst Philip Duncan says it is very strange to see the normal temperature ranges throughout the country, reversed.

"That's basically due to the fact that the cold air left over from the Antarctic blast last weekend still remains across Northern New Zealand, while the rest of the country has seen a bit of a change overnight with clouds and a slight breeze developing ahead of another cold snap."

Mr Duncan says a change is coming which will raise the minimum temperatures, but lower the highs.

- NEWSTALK ZB"

samgab

5th June 2009, 12:18

Hey
Yeah I saw that thread.... think I might have to come along next week.... iron out some of these silly wee errors..... mibe catch you then

Yeah, come along to the NASS, it's good stuff, some helpful experienced riders, plus there are a quite a few noobs coming next week.
Also, you might want to dial up the idle speed just a touch to prevent stalling at lights. It's just more noticeable in the cold. I used to get that with my FXR150 in cold weather. If you don't know how plenty of the guys at the NASS will know how to increase the idle speed a bit. No tools required.

samgab

5th June 2009, 12:32

Can't believe I put up with a cold face for so long before I learned this.

Thanks for the tip! I've tried it. Will see next cold ride how well it works. But last Wed I was freezing, and was fogging up like crazy, and so had to open the visor, and got bloodshot eyes and frozen face too.