Anlas Wintergrip Plus M+S rated winter tires

[Wintersdark]

15 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

But shouldn't they be swapped out for regular season riding temps?

Absolutely.  Anlas says a max of 13c/55f, or you risk very rapid tire wear.  It's why I'd love a second set of rims, so I can just quickly swap whole wheel assemblies vs. changing tires so damn often.

 

It's still -15c/5f here, though,I've got a while before it's warm and I'd need to change them. 

This was leaving work this morning.

Edited March 9, 2020 by Wintersdark

[2and3cylinders]

I get you have limited financial resources but that is IMO an excuse for not getting a car license and an enclosed 4 wheeled conveyance because it takes only 1 significant fall to put you in the hospital or worse AND wipe you out economically; and if you have a wife and kids, it's just irresponsible. I definitely have NOT been lucky financially despite careful evaluation and planning while working 12+ hour days for 30 years. Before that I only had bikes but was single and lived in San Diego.  Here I did commute on 2 wheels into very early 2000 but with the major rise in distracted drivers, I quit that grind.

Now I ride only for enjoyment and stress relief, so if I'm not going to enjoy at least 70% of a ride and not take on more stress on it, I just don't.  I don't mind cold riding if I'm prepared but in no way, shape or form would I consider riding in ice or snow.  Just way too many variables given it is impossible to gauge surface conditions in front of you despite what you just rolled over.  It's just illogical.  Now on a 2 front tired trike or sidehack, yes possibly in a non urban environment.

[Wintersdark]

6 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

I get you have limited financial resources but that is IMO an excuse for not getting a car license and an enclosed 4 wheeled conveyance because it takes only 1 significant fall to put you in the hospital or worse AND wipe you out economically; and if you have a wife and kids, it's just irresponsible. I definitely have NOT been lucky financially despite careful evaluation and planning while working 12+ hour days for 30 years. Before that I only had bikes but was single and lived in San Diego.  Here I did commute on 2 wheels into very early 2000 but with the major rise in distracted drivers, I quit that grind.

Now I ride only for enjoyment and stress relief, so if I'm not going to enjoy at least 70% of a ride and not take on more stress on it, I just don't.  I don't mind cold riding if I'm prepared but in no way, shape or form would I consider riding in ice or snow.  Just way too many variables given it is impossible to gauge surface conditions in front of you despite what you just rolled over.  It's just illogical.  Now on a 2 front tired trike or sidehack, yes possibly in a non urban environment.

To each their own.  I'm not American, so a significant fall could definitely hospitalize me but won't wipe me out economically.  My bike's well insured, healthcare is free, and if I'm seriously hurt I have disability coverage - same as in the summer.  I've been in 4 major motorcycle accidents in my life.  It's a risk riding motorcycles that simply exists.  All of them in the summer, mind you - not that summer is more dangerous or some silly crap like that, but that's just when they happened.  So that's a risk any motorcyclist needs to understand and be prepared for.  It's comforting to know that if I where in a horrific accident and very badly injured, my Tracer would immediately be paid off in full (and I'd actually come out "ahead" as I get paid out the original purchase price in full for the first 3 years I own it) all the debt I do carry would be covered, and I'd continue to be paid 66% of my income while recovering - however long that takes. 

Thing is, I only ride for enjoyment and stress relief too.  That's why I ride all the time.  I love my commutes to and from work; they're pure fun.  I do it because when I ride, I'm happy, always.  I absolutely hate my job, but when I ride to work, I get there happy, and when I ride home, I get home happy, no matter what the days work entailed.  

There's no stress in winter riding for me - I've done it for 25 years.   25 years of Canadian riding winters without an issue.  Roughly 6000kms of winter riding every year.  Safely the whole time.  To me, riding in poor conditions is exactly like a technical canyon carving ride.  It requires thought, care, and skill, and you need to ride within your abilities.  It's technical riding, and exciting in it's own way.  To be completely honest, when doing summer canyon carving rides, I'm sometimes at speeds around corners where if I were to come around one to a "worst case scenario theoretical road-covering accident that's impossible to avoid", I may not be able to stop in time.  That's not an issue in winter riding, though, as I'm never going that fast.  Of course, there's always the danger of something terrible happening around you, but that's an ever-present danger.  

The critical thing is, it's not random.  Just like winter driving in a car, you can learn to do it without losing control.  I've managed decades of driving in really bad winter weather too, and *never* lose control of the car I'm driving unless I intend to do so (read: Being stupid and playing in the snow).  Good winter tires, good technique, an understanding of the limits of yourself, your vehicle, and the road surface.  

That all said, there are conditions I don't ride in:

• Snow deeper than about 1" on the road. This overwhelms tread depth, so you get too much slop in the front.  It's like riding a (heavy) dirt bike in deep sand.  You *can*, but you'll probably lay the bike down sooner or later, so you need to keep speeds too slow to be practical.
• Heavy snow/very poor visibility. A critical aspect of winter riding is never putting your wheels on pavement you haven't looked at.  You need to know the road surface all the time.  It's an extension of that regular riding adage: Don't ride faster than you can see - never be riding at a speed where you can't stop within area you can already see.  Given braking distances in winter riding can be long (You can't use your front brake on ice/snow) you'd basically have to just crawl along.  Crawling along slowly on roads in bad visibility is a great way to get rear-ended by That Guy in a 4x4 who's unconcerned about how he can't stop.
• A hard freeze immediately after a major melt.  Regular rough ice is not remotely an issue, but standing water that's frozen solid and is completely flat and smooth is basically unmanageable.  This isn't a surprise, though, you know when conditions for forming ice like this exist.  It generally doesn't last long, however, as it's broken apart by cars and fixed by sand and salt within a day.  
• Temps below around -25C.  My heated gear+summer gear no longer works at these temps.  I CAN still be warm, but I need to bundle up more.  It's totally doable, but I don't like having to be so bundled up - can't move freely, it's uncomfortable.  If my armored jacket was a winter jacket, instead of a summer textile jacket, I'd probably go colder but I won't forgo armor to wear an insulated jacket.  
• Totally unknown conditions after a snowfall.  If I don't know road conditions but there's a chance that some of the above thingss may have happened, I won't ride until I've driven the road to know what I'm getting into.  

 

I feel that so often people look at motorcycle riding in the winter like someone who was born and raised in the south and never dealt with snow, driving a RWD Mustang with summer slicks.  Sure, get that in the snow and it's basically impossible to drive with control, particularly for someone with no experience.  Most people's winter motorcycle experiences are like that - they've not taken the time to learn, to get appropriate gear.  They try with their normal summer tires (which are smooth, flat tires designed for grip at high temps and totally inappropriate for cold temps and worse ice or snow), and can't control it at all, so they just assume it's ridiculously dangerous and impossible.  

For sure, it's somewhat more dangerous than riding (in the same manner) in the summer.  No argument there.  As motorcyclists, we have to decide on where we draw the line.  Do we wear full ATGATT?  Do we speed?  Do we ride fast down windy canyon roads, do we ride in the winter?  Do we ride at all, when we could drive and be safer in basically every situation?  Do we ride dirt bikes, or adventure bikes off road (ADV riding is **VERY** similar to winter riding, in fact)?

[2and3cylinders]

So when you can't ride how do you get work?

[Wintersdark]

55 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

So when you can't ride how do you get work?

Noted above - I'll drive the wife's Jeep, or take an Uber.  These days, it's more Uber as since we moved, the wife needs the Jeep to drive the kids to school.  We've an autistic child, and didn't want him to have to deal with two major life changes at the same time. 

That's pretty uncommon, though.  Calgary, while usually very cold through October - April, sees 333 days of sun per year.  Things would be significantly different if I lived, say, in Ontario where it snows much more. 

This year, that's encompassed a whopping three Uber trips - if I'm working 7am to 7pm, she can pick me up after work, and if 7pm to 7am, she can drive me in.  

[Wintersdark]

On 3/8/2020 at 10:19 AM, ABlast82 said:

I've been very interested in these tires since i found this thread. Not so much for actual snow riding but more to extend my season into early march and late november. Like the idea of better grip in colder temps. And sooner or later the gov is going to start pushing the winter rating onto bikes since its now required from oct 1 to march 31 in bc.

@ABlast82 Herm, I think I missed this.  Yeah, while these tires certainly help with (light) snow riding, as a rule of thumb their main benefit is just that: good grip in very cold temperatures.  I'm a BC boy myself (moved to Calgary some 8 years ago now), and that's where my winter riding comes from initially.

Good if the rating is needed in particular.

A decent option for regular (coastal) BC riding though before such legal requirements exist is a set of Road 5's.   They get great traction down to -5, and usable traction to -10 if you're cautious till they warm up some.  I ran them and Road 4's before them in past years.

Given the prices are the same though, the Anlas tires are a better choice for purely winter riding.

[ABlast82]

@Wintersdark I'm in the interior (okanagan), lots of swing temps here early in the season and late as well. Last year put my bike on the road on the 22 of march and for the first couple weeks the mornings would be below zero but the afternoons were in the low double digits. Like the extra security of having a tire built for cold weather riding. 

[Wintersdark]

34 minutes ago, ABlast82 said:

@Wintersdark I'm in the interior (okanagan), lots of swing temps here early in the season and late as well. Last year put my bike on the road on the 22 of march and for the first couple weeks the mornings would be below zero but the afternoons were in the low double digits. Like the extra security of having a tire built for cold weather riding. 

That's common here too - year round, actually.  This February we saw a 25C change over a single day.  

"Winter" (defined as months where it could be below freezing and/or snow) runs from mid September through early June.  If I didn't ride in such conditions, I could only ride for some 3-4 months of the year.  Not acceptable for me - I can't justify riding a $13000 bike just a couple months of the year.

[ABlast82]

Yeah the threat of snow in some parts of alberta is year round. I have family out in the edson area and we got snowed on in august long when we were there for a reunion.

I'm also looking to extend my season to justify the new bike. 

Now only if ICBC would get out of the stone age and offer monthly insurance payments for anything besides 6 or 12 months, that would go a long way to extend the season as well.  

[Wintersdark]

Man, I do not miss ICBC.

 

Insuring my 2019 GT to the max here in Alberta (AFTER rate hikes due to the new government), with extra endorsements covering accessories added to the bike and the value of my gear, with full purchase price repaid if the bike is written off in the full 3 years following it's purchase?

 

$350/year.

My last shitty 80's bike in BC cost me some $800 a year to insure with bare bones minimal coverage.

[alpina]

Hello. I am looking to mount these tires on my Yamaha Niken but living in Spain, it only rains here, there is never snow where I live and I want to take the motorcycle even these days. It is difficult for me to find measurements for my motorcycle but in Anlas, now, I see that they have 17 and 15. Is it a good tire for water and the rest of the days around 10/20 degrees of sun?