Riding on ice

[Milts]

So with all the snow + hail in Wellington this week, I had the chance to ride on a fresh sheet of unmarked hail - more slippery by far than the snow/slush. This was fucking terrifying given how petrified I was of dropping my triple. I had a few moments which lead to a few questions...

While riding in a straight line at one point, I backed off the throttle a tiny amount (literally the smallest amount I could reduce the throttle by). Immidiately the back stepped out and started to catch up with the front. I gently gave it more gas, and straight away the bike straightened up and I was fine again :mellow: given that a handful of gas is a recipe for a crash in some conditions, how come it seems to fix a rear wheel slide?

I also had a very very small tankslapperish/headshake moment coming out of a corner at all of 25 km/h.... old question I know, but what do you really do to recover a tankslapper other than hold the fuck on with your knees? (this has always worked for me).


As a sidenote, I can now strongly recommend Oxford ChillOut necktube and undergloves - I rode about 7ks each way to and from work Monday-Wednesday in snow, hail and wind and all that got cold was my fingers. Not bad I thought.

[DrunkenMistake]

So with all the snow + hail in Wellington this week, I had the chance to ride on a fresh sheet of unmarked hail - more slippery by far than the snow/slush. This was fucking terrifying given how petrified I was of dropping my triple. I had a few moments which lead to a few questions...

While riding in a straight line at one point, I backed off the throttle a tiny amount (literally the smallest amount I could reduce the throttle by). Immidiately the back stepped out and started to catch up with the front. I gently gave it more gas, and straight away the bike straightened up and I was fine again :mellow: given that a handful of gas is a recipe for a crash in some conditions, how come it seems to fix a rear wheel slide?

I also had a very very small tankslapperish/headshake moment coming out of a corner at all of 25 km/h.... old question I know, but what do you really do to recover a tankslapper other than hold the fuck on with your knees? (this has always worked for me).


As a sidenote, I can now strongly recommend Oxford ChillOut necktube and undergloves - I rode about 7ks each way to and from work Monday-Wednesday in snow, hail and wind and all that got cold was my fingers. Not bad I thought.

I had to ride in the snow blizzard here and ontop of fresh hail, along with my regular commute to work been done in ice for the last few months,

as for the back end question, maybe put it in a higher gear, could make the transition from more to less smoother, in a lower gear, it will give that tiny nudge,
Or its possible the camber of the road you were on was causing it?

Im not sure of the exact tank slapper fix, but I have found if I keep on the gas and give it a little bit more, and stay loose on the grips it tends to correct itself, I believe if you let off the gas you are fucked, if that front wheel catches grip side ways your gonna high side.

All of this could be absolutely wrong but its how I have done it, and it worked for me

[LBD]

Riding on Ice 101....
lesson 1, Begin by watching instruction videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHPOw-Xmm4o&feature=player_detailpage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ9M3P_P9_U&feature=player_detailpage

(Been posted before)

[george formby]

You need the reactions of a snake, the balance of a high wire walker & the ability to see the future when you ride on ice. I only had the last one & after a few hard winters & a couple of near death experiences I learned to drive a car.

If you have no grip you can only hope to keep the bike upright & moving forward, I used to use kerbs & snowdrifts to get round corners.. Stopping was two feet on the deck & hope that I could keep the bike upright. I guess slow & very very smooth is the best you can do.

[Milts]

Cheers for the info - I'm sorry but ice riding is not for me. I'd rather ride in the snow than take the bus, but I'm not going out of my way to race on ice as they do in the clips. That's just plain damn wierd.

Being in a higher gear would certainly have helped. The road was dead flat, but it had been hailing hard for a good few minutes and noone had driven over it before me, so it was just one slippery layer. I'm still curious as to the physics of recovering from a rear wheel slide and a tankslapper. Unfortuantely it'd be an expensive excercies practicing and perfecting that particular skill...

On ice stopping was definitely two feet down and corners were taken at a speed which required no lean. I think my few moments scared the driver behind me shitless because he backed off about 50 meters and followed me slowly for a while. Thumbs up to him I must say.

[Urano]

guys, let's be fair.
whether or not you are an experienced rider, have fast reaction, have all the possible instruction...
...riding on snow and ice is a bag of hurt.

(meaning to ride on a road with a mean of 5 cm of snow or a compact surface of ice)

i strongly recommend not to ride on snow/ice, and to absolutely not to ride if you don't have nailed tyres.

yes, in an emergency you could hope to ride at slow-men-walking speed, and still have some possibility to make it home, but does it really worth it?

[The Singing Chef]

my guess to do with the back end sliding out would be the weight transfer off the rear tyre when rolling off the throttle. Therefore making the rear lighter and more prone to slide, like when cornering you shouldnt throttle off whilst going through the corner because your weight transfer could bugger it all up.

Just my thoughts of course.

[varminter]

Riding on ice and suchlike my advice would be ...dont, get off and walk. Wednesday morning 6am saw the car and trailer I was a passenger in heading sideways in the path of a log truck, the driver managed to avoid it, I don't know how. I'm still trying to get the skidmarks out of my underwear:shit:

[mrchips]

Was almost impossible controlling the car from snaking all over River Road, Upper Hutt during tues nights snow storm when this harley rider pulls out into approx. 100mm of fresh snow & overtakes a friggen huge line of cars at spead !

Ice gives me the shits, but this rider had skills !

[The Singing Chef]

Was almost impossible controlling the car from snaking all over River Road, Upper Hutt during tues nights snow storm when this harley rider pulls out into approx. 100mm of fresh snow & overtakes a friggen huge line of cars at spead !

Ice gives me the shits, but this rider had skills !

Skills or a desire to induce pain upon oneself..

[DrunkenMistake]

I live down 7km of twisties, just to get into town, its all pretty flat and its the ONLY safe way into town, the other way is over a narrow incredibly shitty top road that requires climbing a hill up hair pin pivot corners.
In saying that I have the brain capacity of a Caterpillar and the mental stability of a retard on a pogo stick,
I like riding in the ice, the snow was defiantly fun a little bit hairy and I did nana it, but I mean when it comes to weather, It doesnt worry me, I do dislike that shitty sprinkle rain, I dont like it due to my visor getting all mushy

As they say. ride your own ride,
Just cause you seen someone do it doesnt mean you need to, do what you feel is safe, and within your ability

[LBD]

We had to give up before the pass as there was not enough traction to drive uphill even right behind the snowplough.

When I did a 90 degree turn/spin to the right quicker than a lightning flash, got my foot out and prayed it would not slide out and cause me to drop the bike....That was the signal to give up.

Had a laugh when the young MOW guy said we could not proceed with out chains...245059

[baffa]

Re the rear tyre sliding, if you are backing off the throttle, it isnt that much different to braking gently.

The engine immediately slows down, and tries to slow the wheel with it. When the wheel is in contact with tarmac, the ground grips it and makes it continue spinning at the same speed, until friction and engine braking slows the bike. With a surface like ice, the "sudden" change in wheel speed would cause it to break traction, and therefore slide. That's my 2c anyway.

If that is the case, people with slipper clutches would probably be somewhat safer.

[thehovel]

What you where riding on was greased ball-bearings. Ice has at least some traction.If it hails I park until the cages crushes the hail stones,it doesn't take long.(6-8 cars or 3-5 trucks) Regards Richard

[george formby]

Over the many winters I rode through in Scotland I developed a 6th sense for finding traction, not usually on the road. Pavements, grass verges, front gardens etc were all fair game in the quest to maintain momentum. When it was really bad I often ended up being pushed across the road by the wind & using the snow banks to keep the bike upright, to lean was to fall.
The worst winter I faced coincided with my longest commute, 45 miles. Took me nearly 4 hours to get home one night & I was so cold I could not get off the bike, just leaned against the house tooting the horn until I was rescued.

F-- that for a game of soldiers now.

FYI, MZ make the best bikes for riding in snow. They are unstoppable & unbreakable.