Riding in the Snow....

[DavidS]

Well, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but here goes.....

Friday morning, I looked at the weather, and it was supposed to be raining a bit, but in the low 40's, so off I went to work on my trusty FJ-09. No issues, completed my work at the usual time (3:00pm) and started my ride home. Temperature was right at 40 degrees as I started on my 32 mile commute. As I got half way home, it started to get colder, and soon started snowing. The big wet kind, that splashes on the screen. I figured I'd have to call home to get someone to pick me up, but it wasn't too bad yet, so I just moved to the right, slowed down, and kept going.

As I continued my commute, I was going to have to climb from sea level to around 700 feet. I noticed soon that the traction control came on, and I was pushing through some wet snow. The bike felt very stable, and the hardest thing was the helmet screen fogging up when down, and snow pelting my face when it was open. I slowed down as I climbed up the first hill on the freeway, about 9 miles before my house. Traction was good, bike was handling this very well, and traffic wasn't giving me any issues. I decided to keep going  and see if I could get to my exit. I was pretty sure I would have to call the wife for a pick-up there, because my house is about 700 feet up the mountain, and then back down another 100 feet to our house.

Snow continued, maybe even a bit harder, and now I'm covered with wet snow. First Gear Jacket and Kilimanjaro Pants kept the wet and snow out, and the heated jacket kept me reasonably warm. Gloves got wet, and even with the heated gloves, hands were a bit chilly.

Got to my exit, and gingerly went around the traffic circle and took the left to head up the hill. Road was covered with snow, but traction was still good. I figured I would keep going until I either didn't feel safe, or couldn't make it up one of the hills.

Took the left turn and started to climb the hill, and the bike just kept chugging along. I didn't even feel any slipping at all. The soft snow was providing enough traction and there wasn't enough ice yet to start slipping. Got to my street and made the left turn, a bit of a hill, and I started to feel the rear wheel slip. I kept rolling off and on the throttle, with my legs out for stability. The bike kept moving forward slowly, and finally started riding easier through the snow. I was now plowing through about 2 inches of fresh snow. It was a bit hard going through the snow, but the bike still handled well, and I got the the end of the street where the mail boxes are located. I could continue down the hill about 100 feet to my house, or call it good, park the bike for the night, and walk down the hill.

I decided I had pushed my luck enough for one day and left the bike above. As I walked down the hill, I was thankful. There was a lot of ice on the road, and it is a fairly steep down hill drive with a sharp left turn at the end, and another sharp right turn into my driveway with a big down hill to the side of the house, and a left turn into the garage. Not sure I would have navigated that in the snow.

Next morning, I woke up and the snow was mostly gone. Walked up the hill, started the bike, and drove it down to the garage. Everything was fine, and the bike started right up. No issues going down the hill, and I parked it in the garage. Big sigh of relief, and a big grin on my face.

I don't want to do that again, but it is nice to know the traction control works so well, and I was able to ride for about 10 miles in snow, up about 700 feet of mountain, and down another 100 feed to my house safely.

[wordsmith]

Wow!   A good if butt-puckering effort, David!   I assume you were in B mode all the way home?

[DavidS]

Well, not exactly B mode, that doesn't exist on my bike anymore. I had Nels customize each of my modes when he did my flash years ago. I have one set up for street riding, and another for riding the twisties, so I was in the tamer of the two modes.

[betoney]

35 minutes ago, DavidS said:

Well, not exactly B mode, that doesn't exist on my bike anymore. I had Nels customize each of my modes when he did my flash years ago. I have one set up for street riding, and another for riding the twisties, so I was in the tamer of the two modes.

Wha..?  I never knew that was even possible.  I rarely ever use B-mode but didn't know it was removable. 

I have mine set to default to A-mode so thats all I ever use.  Nel's fuel map coupled with the FTECU Active-Tune and A-mode is SMOOOTH.  😎