When is it too cold to ride?

[Finn]

Wolf, does Yongle Dadian ring any bells?

[Wolf]

Had a new experience this morning on the sheepfeast run. ... The outside of the visor was completely covered in ice.

Used to get that frequently commuting from Hamilton to Te Awamutu on frosty mornings, especially if there was a fog accompanying the frost. Sub-zero air temps and a 100km/h wind (or more if riding into the wind but usually there was no wind save for that caused by my speed). I looked up the wind-chill factor on the web and the results were terrifying.

I used to have to scrape my visor frequently so the ice would not get too thick and I had a layer of ice all over my front - shins/knees, gloves, jacket, helmet and visor. I also used to have the visor open enough that I could tilt my head to see out - the cold wind on my face was nowhere near as bad as the cold wind accross my knuckles, though, and my gloves are Thinsulate lined.

[Wolf]

Wolf, does Yongle Dadian ring any bells?

None whatsoever

Does "smart-arse" ring any for you?






And the writers of the Yongle Dadian were amateurs!

[Roj]

Having riden through fog, ice and sleet, I would say that if you get to cold to be relaxed and able to control the bike then that is when it becomes dangerous. It is always possible to be able to have good warm gear, heated handle grips etc that will allow you to travel in cold weather. It then comes down to road conditions and the rider.

[Forest]

I only care about the condition of the road surface. Ice, snow, gravel/grit are the real problem - not the clothing.

When I was a student in Dunedin, I dropped both my DT175 and my GSX1100EZ on black ice. Neither experience was fun.

Edit - Now I ride a bike with heated drips and a heated seat.

[Lil_Byte]

It is only too cold to ride when the ice is on the ground - it makes it a bit tricky to stay upright on the Dunedin hills when the arse end of the bike tries to pass the back end

[SARGE]

only time its too cold to ride is when the snow is up to your axles.. then you just get the shovel out ..


in Cleveland ..it got -40F with the wind chill..needless to say ... adding another 60 mph on top of that and it was a no-ride day ..we put our bikes up in late October and they didnt see daylight until mid April ( a few of us had our stuff out on Xmas and new Years..)


nothing in NZ is TOO cold

[McJim]

There's no temperature too cold to be outside if you have the equipment - I've climbed mountains in temperatures of -30 and lower no probs. I have also low sided on black ice in Scotland and it fucken hurts when your hip hits the deck 3 times in one day. So for me it's when the lateral traction is nil that it's too cold to ride.

[Insanity_rules]

Theres a reason I call my home town Rimutex coldville. Its always 2 degrees colder than Welly vegas city in winter. Great frosts and such.
Once on my way to work I dropped her a cog to slow up for the lights at Trentham and the VTZ of doom did a great little shuffle on some road ice, almost a biker down story. I put both my feet down and my boots didn't bite in either but merrily slid along at the same forward velocity as the bike, but that did keep me upright. Wierd sensation.

[Wolf]

Once on my way to work I dropped her a cog to slow up for the lights at Trentham and the VTZ of doom did a great little shuffle on some road ice, almost a biker down story. I put both my feet down and my boots didn't bite in either but merrily slid along at the same forward velocity as the bike, but that did keep me upright. Wierd sensation.

Had a similar experience on my old TS125 with knobbly tyres on a wet road - except it was the rear brake that caused the rear to skate sideways. Slid through an intersection on the soles of my boots holding the bike upright. Fortunately I wasn't hit by traffic coming through the intersection.

[placidfemme]

the only time its too cold to ride is when the bloody ZXR refuses to start lol

[Wolf]

the only time its too cold to ride is when the bloody ZXR refuses to start lol

Hehe. Had a couple of bikes like that but most of my bikes have started better than I do of a morning...

[Biff]

It's too cold to ride when.........

...........................................you sneeze and it snows snot inside your helmet ?

[Insanity_rules]

It's too cold to ride when.........

...........................................you sneeze and it snows snot inside your helmet ?

Ewwwww!!!! Although how many of us have actually sneezed inside a closed visor? More than would admit I bet!

PS: BTW love this weeks international insult, keep em coming.

[petesmeats]

Personally I wont go out in snow/icy conditions... Its slippery enough on the paint in the dry let alone the slushy/icy conditions... Just wouldn't risk dropping th bike. On real cold days the only other option available to me is to take the bus... But you end up sitting at the damn bus stop for half an hour anyhoo so i just bite the bullet and ride... Character building stuff as my old man would say.

The cold/wet always makes me feel better about speeding/lane splitting/riding up the centre line etc... I can feel the cages sympathy when i go past... The only thing i hate is having a a wet crotch for the first few hours at uni where the cordura has failed to function...