Winter riding in Canada eh...

[Garz747]

I couldnt resist even though my baby was cleaned and fuel stabilized and plugged into a battery tender.  The temp hit 16C yesterday and the sun came out for exactly two hours before the terrible wind storm that destroyed Mayfield Kentucky hit. I took advantage and went out for an hour even though the roads had not dried up.  No sudden braking or WOT in the lower gears as sand and silt were all over the roads. It was warm enough for an hour long blast . My Tracer has already been sitting for over a month and started right up. And so I went and enjoyed a run before the snow hits this area 100 km north of Toronto. A quick wash and she was tucked away again. The winds did arrive and took dowm many power lines, luckily our generator kicked in and has been running for over 24 hours.  Fingers crossed for an easy winter.  Cheers.

[larolco]

Put the Hippo Hands and reindeer antlers on mine yesterday. Looks to be right around the zero mark nights this week. Should be "mixed precipitation" but probably won't stick to the roads. I'm hoping they don't brine. 

I commute, obviously. No one rides in those conditions for fun. 

Plan to give the bike its second ever bath over Christmas. 

And yes, here's to a warm winter, which means 12 months of riding in these parts!

[peteinpa]

Gee, I was proud I got out for an hour at 45F Friday.

Only in my younger days when I didn't have a car and women were involved was I wiping frost off my seat to ride home at 3 AM.

[piotrek]

For some context... winter in "Canada". 😛

[knyte]

18 hours ago, larolco said:

I commute, obviously.

lol, from what I understand, I don't think you're leaving the Lower Mainland for a while without a propeller.

[dazzler24]

4 hours ago, peteinpa said:

Only in my younger days when I didn't have a car and women were involved was I wiping frost off my seat to ride home at 3 AM.

In our younger days, when women were involved, it could have been 0 degrees Kelvin and it still wouldn't have stopped us from getting on that bike. 😉

There seemed to be something else controlling our minds back then.... 😏

[larolco]

16 hours ago, knyte said:

lol, from what I understand, I don't think you're leaving the Lower Mainland for a while without a propeller.

It's a wee bit soggy out this way, true. But you don't have to shovel it. I'll take monsoon rain over tornadoes any day. I think there were 5 rain-related deaths (all landslides) and a lot of close calls. Some livestock as well that couldn't reach higher ground. Farmers were towing cattle with Jet skis and paddling chickens in canoes. That's what you get for farming below sea level, I guess. But that Kentucky scene is horrendous. I cannot even imagine. 

[Wintersdark]

On 12/12/2021 at 5:37 PM, larolco said:

Put the Hippo Hands and reindeer antlers on mine yesterday. Looks to be right around the zero mark nights this week. Should be "mixed precipitation" but probably won't stick to the roads. I'm hoping they don't brine. 

I commute, obviously. No one rides in those conditions for fun. 

Plan to give the bike its second ever bath over Christmas. 

And yes, here's to a warm winter, which means 12 months of riding in these parts!

Funny, I find the warmer the winter, the harder it is to ride.  Being warm and comfortable is trivially easy, but when it's warmer, it tends to rain more, then freeze.  And snow more.  Ice buildup is really a pain in the butt.  But just cold?  Heated gear and done.  

[larolco]

On 12/13/2021 at 6:35 PM, Wintersdark said:

Funny, I find the warmer the winter, the harder it is to ride.  Being warm and comfortable is trivially easy, but when it's warmer, it tends to rain more, then freeze.  And snow more.  Ice buildup is really a pain in the butt.  But just cold?  Heated gear and done.  

All true. It dumped about half a foot of snow last night and now it's pissing rain. Slop city. I suppose it will freeze up again tonight. 

I got caught out by a sudden snow squall the other day and had to park the bike halfway to work and wait for the melt to begin. Those Dunlops don't really like snow, it turns out. 

[OutlanderBC]

Sunny and -18c here in Northeast BC today. All the roads are iced up.
Haven't ridden since Oct. ☹️

Weather outlook is saying it will be below -30c for the Christmas week.

 

 

 

[Wintersdark]

3 hours ago, larolco said:

All true. It dumped about half a foot of snow last night and now it's pissing rain. Slop city. I suppose it will freeze up again tonight. 

I got caught out by a sudden snow squall the other day and had to park the bike halfway to work and wait for the melt to begin. Those Dunlops don't really like snow, it turns out. 

Trailmax Missions?  I was actually pretty curious how they'd be in the snow.  The Pirelli's are.... eeeeeeh.  They're okay after they warm up, but are terrible when stone cold, even studded.  I'm really, REALLY impressed with the Motoz Adventure tires in the snow.  Really good grip.  High silica formulation makes such a huge difference.  

Edit: lol wrong forum, this is the Tracer forum, not Tenere.  Yeah, the stock Dunlops are REALLY bad in the snow.  I've found, Tracer side, the only tires I'm willing to ride in the snow at all are the Anlas Wintergrip Plus winter tires, and even then only in very shallow snow.  It's very tough to get snow-friendly 17" tires. 

It's been pretty consistently below -25c over the last week or so, and my Revit Sand jacket is in for repairs (broken zipper) so I've been a wimp.  My summer jacket's good down to around -15c with the heated gear cranked up, but when you're looking at -30, it's just not enough without extra layers.  Really hoping they get my winter jacket back asap.  Been about a week without riding and I'm getting twitchy.

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by Wintersdark

[roadwarrior]

I once flew into Tampa Bay and the representative at the car rental desk asked me if I was from Canada. No but I'm Northern MN

Anyway, I feel like enough kindred spirit to contribute.

I ride snowmobiles in the winter and motorcycles in the summer. This has been a great year so far for both. Typically there is a month or so between seasons but this year I went two weeks from a great last motorcycle ride to snow machining in two feet of snow.

It's all good.

 

[1moreroad]

On 12/12/2021 at 8:36 PM, piotrek said:

For some context... winter in "Canada". 😛

That's in that other measurement so all we know is that means "warmer than reported"