almost riding season....i'm getting excited!

[dime]

after renewing my registration,getting a new riding jacket,and taking all day to clean,lube and otherwise inspect my bike for the coming riding season, i'm ready to get out there and log some miles. anyone else getting excited or is it just me?

 

[HTSS_TR]

No, I don't ride but I have the Honda S2000 top down almost all year down here in So Cal if no rain. It's nice to have a top down cruising on highway with 50 degree at night and heater on, you have cool air on the top of your head but your body is warmed from the heat of the heater.

 

[Robenstein]

I saw a couple brave and/or stupid riders out last week. It got above freezing and they were out. I dont think a sports bike or even a cruiser is a good thing to be riding around with a couple inches of ice still on half the roads.

Im going to wait another week and let the rain and higher temps clear the rest of the ice and some of the sand off the roads before I got out. But I did the same as you and changed the oil, charged the battery, and cleaned and lubed the chain.

 

[Silk]

It's the peak of our riding season - the days are a little shorter,and the mornings a bit crisper,but the weather ore predictable.All year is riding season here,I don't stop for much.

 

[bigbird_1]

There is still lots of snow on the ground here, but the side streets are almost ice-free. The main streets have been dry for over a week. Once the side streets are ice-free (about another week) I'll be out. I don't care if it's wet, as long as there is no ice I'm good to go.

 

[EagleFTE]

I did about 220 miles Saturday / Sunday. Temps were 50s F. Still saw some left over snow in the road ditches in the country.

 

[RWEST]

Usually mid-late April is about as early as we can get out around here. Big problem is left-over anti-skid material on the turns. Each spring it claims a couple guys..

 

[boraticus]

Yeah. Spring is certainly in the air around here. Warm temps, snow melting, nice and sunny. I was looking at putting a bike or two back into service but have decided otherwise. I think March is setting us up for a sucker shot.

So, rather than get the bikes out, I'll run out to camp for a week or two and put the ATVs into action. The snow on the lake ice is all but gone and there is just a skim of slush on the surface. That makes the ice perfect for lots of ATV antics. I like to put the machines in two wheel drive, get scooting down the lake at about 30 to 40 mph, crank the handle bar and give the machine full throttle. It will do 360's for ever as long as you keep the gas on. Good way to wash all of the grime off of the underside of the machine too.

However, if the ice fishing is good, the ATV antics will be put on hold.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: RWEST
Big problem is left-over anti-skid material on the turns. Each spring it claims a couple guys..

Anti-skid material?

Please excuse my southern ignorance but what is that?

 

[bigbird_1]

Originally Posted By: bigdreama

Anti-skid material?
Please excuse my southern ignorance but what is that?


In Canada it's a mix of sand and potassium chloride. The sand is for traction, and the salt lowers the freezing point of water so that any ice melts down to about -15C. In the Spring, the runoff water dissolves the salt, leaving the sand behind. Where does the salt go? Into our rivers and lakes. Nice.

 

[boraticus]

Originally Posted By: bigdreama
Originally Posted By: RWEST
Big problem is left-over anti-skid material on the turns. Each spring it claims a couple guys..

Anti-skid material?

Please excuse my southern ignorance but what is that?


In northern climates, it's known as "winter control" material. Usually in the form of sand and salt. The salt goes away but the sand tends to stay behind until a heavy rain cleans the roads. It is usually found in places that you don't want to find while riding a motorcycle. Most often it's found at the bottoms of hills and generally on all curves.

I took a long ride a few years ago in April on my KLR650. The route I chose to take home added another forty or so miles to the ride that I had not planned for. It was getting later in the day and the sun wasn't providing the warmth that it had. The secondary highway that I was on was shaded by tall spruce trees in a lot of places. As I rode further into the road with the sun was going down, the wet spots from melting snow in the shaded areas began to turn to ice. As you can well imagine, the added dimension of black ice slowed down my progress. Fortunately, after 28 miles of intermittent ice patches, I made it to the main highway and it was easy sailing other than it was getting close to dark and the temps were already below freezing. I have not repeated that mistake.

 

[dime]

its been in the 50's-60's here during the afternoon hours so the optimum riding hours are very short. we have the same problem with the sand too.

 

[dblshock]

Yep, was out yesterday sand, snow and snow banks everywhere..nice to get wind on the face again though.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: bigbird_1
Originally Posted By: bigdreama

Anti-skid material?
Please excuse my southern ignorance but what is that?


In Canada it's a mix of sand and potassium chloride. The sand is for traction, and the salt lowers the freezing point of water so that any ice melts down to about -15C. In the Spring, the runoff water dissolves the salt, leaving the sand behind. Where does the salt go? Into our rivers and lakes. Nice.


Good to know. My wife and I are planning a move to NE within the next two years and I appreciate the info....we obviously have a lot to learn.

 

[bigbird_1]

Originally Posted By: bigdreama
My wife and I are planning a move to NE within the next two years and I appreciate the info....we obviously have a lot to learn.

Leaving Bradenton for New England or Nebraska? Now I'm confused. Why would you want to leave Florida? By choice or necessity? Color me curious.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: bigbird_1
Originally Posted By: bigdreama
My wife and I are planning a move to NE within the next two years and I appreciate the info....we obviously have a lot to learn.

Leaving Bradenton for New England or Nebraska? Now I'm confused. Why would you want to leave Florida? By choice or necessity? Color me curious.


New england

This is by choice, we have raised our kids here and we will be empty nesters by then. We plan to buy a bit of land in the country and build a small home to spend our remaining time together.

 

[RWEST]

Originally Posted By: bigdreama
Originally Posted By: bigbird_1
Originally Posted By: bigdreama
My wife and I are planning a move to NE within the next two years and I appreciate the info....we obviously have a lot to learn.

Leaving Bradenton for New England or Nebraska? Now I'm confused. Why would you want to leave Florida? By choice or necessity? Color me curious.

New england

This is by choice, we have raised our kids here and we will be empty nesters by then. We plan to buy a bit of land in the country and build a small home to spend our remaining time together.

That's a switch, usually us Northerners head South after the kids are gone. It'll be nice to have you here, but, get ready for some nasty winter weather!! Be sure to get a 4wd tractor with a bucket or blower, to deal with the snow - here's mine:

(plus, it's a lot of fun to do other stuff with), and some shovels and stuff!!

BTW - The anti-skid here in PA is mainly small'ish (1/8"-1/4") gravel mixed with salt; they don't use too much sand around here. Nasty to car windshields, and really nasty to bikes on turns..

 

[Ausfahrt]

Thats good to know, thanks.

I don't want to hijack this thread any more than we have already so please feel free to PM me if you have any more cold weather tips.

 

[bigbird_1]

Originally Posted By: RWEST

Be sure to get a 4wd tractor with a bucket or blower, to deal with the snow - here's mine:

Bigdreama: Don't let the picture of his tractor fool you. That's huge overkill unless you have a very long driveway (many hundreds of feet) or road to plow out. If you're going very rural, that may be necessary. If you'll have a 50 foot drive with a triple garage, a much smaller self propelled snowblower will do. Or you could just contract someone to remove your snow on an as-needed basis.

 

[Redline955]

Plus, if you really enjoy motorcycling, New England has some of the nicest roads and views anywhere. The only corners in Florida are on/off ramps!!! Winter is just a break between 3 seasons of great riding!