Winter Blues

[Kerry]

I've had to DRIVE  :x to work the past couple days.

On Monday morning I went out and cleaned the snow and ice off the bike.  When it was good enough I tried to start it.  "chuh CHUH guh chuh CHUH guh chuh ... CHUH ... guh ... chuh ...."  I didn't run the battery all the way down, but I could tell it wasn't going to start.  So I drove in and made a note to hook up the Battery Tender last night.

Well, I put it off until about midnight.  (Dumb!  Dumb!)  I took the extension cord and the charger out to the bike, but I was smart enough to take the seat off before stringing cords across the yard.  I couldn't get the seat lock to unlock.  The key wouldn't turn at ALL!  Sigh.

This morning it was 8 or 10 degrees F out when I left for work.  Needless to say, I didn't even TRY to start the bike.

It's time to take my own advice and attach the special Battery Tender lead to the battery so I can plug the charger in without removing the seat.  Maybe I'll leave work early today and see if the afternoon "heat" (predicted at 29F or so) was able to thaw out the seat lock.  :dunno:

[TheGoodGuy]

brrrrr.. just thinking of those numbers is making me feel cold.

[John Bates]

The winter blues will be here soon.  

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to ride year round like those folks in CA.

[Kerry]

Who says I won't?   If I could just get the bike to cooperate!

[Ed_in_Az]

Since when is 29 degress warm? :dunno:

It was 29 when I left for work. I drove. My bike is garaged. It sleeps next to my wife's car with the battery tender plugged in.

I love to ride, but I hate to be cold. :x My truck is very slow to warm up for heat, but there is no wind chill.

Best of luck to you there Kerry.

[se7enty7]

here in atlanta it's 55 degrees.... perfect riding weather!!  It's just been raining for like two weeks straight!! arg!!


i wont ride below about 34 or so degrees.... moreso because of ice than the actual cold

[scratch]

Wd40 the keyhole and cylinder for the seatlock.

Hope things go better!

[Daniely]

Im in cali, rode to work this morning and it was something along the lines of 37 degrees. Fun stuff. By the afternoon it should be in the mid 40's though .

[mrblink]

Ya, it was 34 in San Diego early this morning.  Not exactly toasty...

[se7enty7]

[Hi-T]

Kerry - I feel you brother.  It has been cold!!

How's Richard doing?  I haven't seen him around here much- but I remember him riding all winter last year....  

My basic rule- it has to be over 32*.

[Daniely]

Lol what the hell, why is GA having better weather than california?

[Ed_in_Az]

Lol what the hell, why is GA having better weather than california?

...and Arizona :dunno: It's just soooo wrong! :x

[96gs]

In Central Bama it pretty much stays in the 60s right now but the other day it got to around 75 or so.  

[mp183]

We don't get weather that cold around here, but when it's really cold I stick an electric heater near the bike and in 30 minutes it's ready to go.
Had to do that quite often last winter since I had starting problems.

[Rema1000]

On Monday morning I went out and cleaned the snow and ice off the bike.  When it was good enough I tried to start it.  "chuh CHUH guh chuh CHUH guh chuh ... CHUH ... guh ... chuh ...."

So how cold was that?  I guess I don't feel so bad, if my "alcoholic bike" is having trouble at 20F when parked on the street.  They should sell starter fluid in a little breath-spray-sized bottle so I could keep some on the bike .

Speaking of blues, we got a thin layer of snow on Saturday, but even today's 32F and sunshine wasn't enough to melt away the icy spots.... so, rode the bus again today (and darn, is that boring).

[rww22]

Greetings from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
My bike has been covered up, oil-sprayed, etc. since Nov. 11th.  So the winter blues are well underway up here.  This is a good time to catch up on magazine articles.  Expecting wet snow over the next several days.  Oh yes, checking my battery every 2 weeks and brought it inside along with the seat.  Oh well, happy riding to those still at it this year!

[tkm433]

I've had to DRIVE  :x to work the past couple days.

On Monday morning I went out and cleaned the snow and ice off the bike.  When it was good enough I tried to start it.  "chuh CHUH guh chuh CHUH guh chuh ... CHUH ... guh ... chuh ...."  I didn't run the battery all the way down, but I could tell it wasn't going to start.  So I drove in and made a note to hook up the Battery Tender last night.

Well, I put it off until about midnight.  (Dumb!  Dumb!)  I took the extension cord and the charger out to the bike, but I was smart enough to take the seat off before stringing cords across the yard.  I couldn't get the seat lock to unlock.  The key wouldn't turn at ALL!  Sigh.

This morning it was 8 or 10 degrees F out when I left for work.  Needless to say, I didn't even TRY to start the bike.

It's time to take my own advice and attach the special Battery Tender lead to the battery so I can plug the charger in without removing the seat.  Maybe I'll leave work early today and see if the afternoon "heat" (predicted at 29F or so) was able to thaw out the seat lock.  :dunno:

Tonight the low should hit around 60F and tomorrow high might be somewhere in the 70's Later in the week we might see high 40's for a low and still high 60's to low 70's for the highs.   :mrgreen:

[red_phil]

Hi Kerry,
Perhaps a hair dryer might warm that seat lock enough for you to get to
the battery? I'm assuming it's the cold making it contract so that the key
won't fit right.

Here in sunny Scotland (55 degrees north) I have the Gulf stream to
thank for the temperature getting down to -1 Celcius as the low point so
far this year and this morning it was 2 Celcius.  Hmm, what is that in
American Money?
Ok google says that is a low of 30F and today it was 32 F.

On the down side it doesn't get light till 08:40 and it's dark again by 16:20
so I do a lot of riding in the dark. I gotta get me some superwhite bulbs.

[Roadstergal]

Hair dryer!  Very useful.  I use that to put the Miata top down in cool weather.

I avoid the adjective "cold," because WA never gets cold.  30 degrees F and a little snow brings the city to a halt.  A long ride in the rain at 40F, though, makes me think happy thoughts about heated grips...