Well, last night was the last ride for me on my GS. My dad and I went for a ride and I decided to put it away so I can start to work on all the things I'm doing to it this winter. I have been riding this bike uninspected for about 900-1000 miles since I bought the bike (late August) and figured I've been pushing my luck for long enough. The tires are also so bald that on a wet road during my ride the rear tire was walking on me every now and then...scary.
I'll be riding my other bike for the rest of this riding season, I figure another month or so, which is completely legal haha.
So when do you guys figure you will finally bite the bullet and garage them for winter? (if you even have to, man I envy you southerners)
Garaged for winter... what does this mean? :dunno_white: :icon_mrgreen:
x
I live in PA as well and will put mine away in early November :thumb:
I have been riding for 2 years now and never got a PA inspection :icon_mrgreen: Maybee next year :laugh:
I remember winter last year.
It got so cold that I had to wear a long sleeve shirt under my mesh jacket.
Man was I glad when those two weeks were over.
Mine goes into storage After Halloween. I don't have insurence on my bike from November to April, so I ride all day October 31
Quote from: Codger on September 18, 2006, 06:10:05 PM
I remember winter last year. It got so cold that I had to wear a long sleeve shirt under my mesh jacket.
Man was I glad when those two weeks were over.
Dude...how did you SURVIVE!? ???
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :thumb:
I live in MA, and last year, I put the GS away on Thankzgiving day.
I live in Seattle and yeah it can get pretty cold and wet up her in the winter, but I ride it year 'round. Good gear is key, and heated handgrips are SOOOOOOO nice. They make riding in the rain and cold so much more enjoyable. I've ridden on ice and snow (not recomended) and good gear makes everything so much better.
When I was going to school over in eastern WA, one morning it was so cold that my roomates car wouldn't start. So we tried my car which started, but started overheating because the radiator was frozen. Then we tried my bike (an old BMW R65). It would barely turn over because it was so cold, so we had to push it up a hill 3 times before I got it started. By then we were late, and we were going 100 try ing to get to school. It sucked but it worked. The GS works much better in the cold than the old BMW.
Bikes seem to have the least problems when they are used regularly, so man up and ride the thing once a week and It'll like you for it :laugh:
Ride safe (most of the time anyways) :cheers:
Philiadelphia here and i plan riding it till i cant take the cold anymore or if theres snow on the ground. Then ill put it in a private garage untill the snow or extreme cold is gone. I havnt gotten the bike inspected yet but i def wanna have a new front tire on before i get into next season. Someone i know has had there bike for like 6 years w/o inspection, in Philly anyway it doesnt really matter if its inspected unless a motorcycle cop pulls you over.. there few and far between though.
Quote from: ducati_nolan on September 18, 2006, 10:07:45 PM
When I was going to school over in eastern WA
Pullman? Cheney? Both get seriously COLD in the winter!
Quote from: pandy on September 18, 2006, 07:03:48 PM
Quote from: Codger on September 18, 2006, 06:10:05 PM
I remember winter last year. It got so cold that I had to wear a long sleeve shirt under my mesh jacket.
Man was I glad when those two weeks were over.
Dude...how did you SURVIVE!? ???
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :thumb:
That's not so bad, the year before it got so cold that I had to wear underwear.
HAHA I live in georgia and ride my bike year round rain or shine but n e way just thought i'd give some input :icon_lol:
I took it out yesterday, 'twas 4C / 40F and drizzling. Should get a bit of an indian summer later this month, and I plan to ride til halloween.
y'all should look at saskatoon on a map, it'll give you a good laugh for the afternoon.
Ha I have changed my mind, I dont envy you southerners, I strongly dislike you...
I'm so moving south as soon as I'm done with college...I hate shoveling snow with a passion.
Damn, I just got my bike out for winter. It's too hot and muggy for me to do much riding during the summer. I'm soaked by the time I walk downstairs and get on the bike. I work in an office, so arriving sweaty and nasty isn't an option. I rode to work for the first time in months today. It was a glorious day. :icon_mrgreen:
Quote from: Codger on September 19, 2006, 04:16:39 AM
Quote from: pandy on September 18, 2006, 07:03:48 PM
Quote from: Codger on September 18, 2006, 06:10:05 PM
I remember winter last year. It got so cold that I had to wear a long sleeve shirt under my mesh jacket.
Man was I glad when those two weeks were over.
Dude...how did you SURVIVE!? ???
That's not so bad, the year before it got so cold that I had to wear underwear.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Quote from: scratch on September 20, 2006, 05:55:00 PM
Quote from: Codger on September 19, 2006, 04:16:39 AM
Quote from: pandy on September 18, 2006, 07:03:48 PM
Quote from: Codger on September 18, 2006, 06:10:05 PM
I remember winter last year. It got so cold that I had to wear a long sleeve shirt under my mesh jacket.
Man was I glad when those two weeks were over.
Dude...how did you SURVIVE!? ???
That's not so bad, the year before it got so cold that I had to wear underwear.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
scratch is just laughing cuz he NEVER wears underwear.... :icon_twisted:
And pandy is just confirming because.....
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a146/pandyz/angel.gif)
Northern NJ and I ride all winter.
I ride more in the cold wether than the hot weather.
Some of the best rides have been winter rides.
I do cheat since I favor the V-Strom in the winter.
Quote from: Egaeus on September 20, 2006, 02:47:06 PM
Damn, I just got my bike out for winter. It's too hot and muggy for me to do much riding during the summer. I'm soaked by the time I walk downstairs and get on the bike. I work in an office, so arriving sweaty and nasty isn't an option. I rode to work for the first time in months today. It was a glorious day. :icon_mrgreen:
+1 The other day was glorious, the first day in like what 5 months that it did not hit 90'+ during the day and actually dropped into the 60's at night. It was nice not having to sweat riding the GS all geared up. This is the time of year when I start riding everywhere, finally. 8)
Hi all,
WHAT A BUNCH OF BABIES! :)
I live in central PA and ride all year round.
In fact, I love to take my bike out specifically on winter-marking holidays like Christmas and New Year's Day just because I can. Winter be damned, I say! :)
I went to high school and college in Madison, Wisc., so believe me when I say I know about REAL COLD. I bought my first bike when I was 16 in high school in Madison and put 10,000 miles on it my first year. I rode every day except when snow or ice were on the roads. But because it was Wisconsin, they cleaned the roads up rather quickly, so I missed few days due to snow. It sure was COLD though!
I don't store my bike in the winter here in PA.
I RIDE it, with several layers of clothes, great gloves or heated gloves, warm socks and a huge smile.
I just had to add my comments to this conversation.
Yours,
Todd
Rode non stop for 7 years in Oklahoma did'nt own a car!!! I have ridden in snow sleet and thunderstorms. I'll ride all year round, but for regular commuting during inclement weather I'll take the cage.
Storing a bike who does that good god what are you gonna do when you have one of those freak 70 degree days in December :flipoff:
Quote from: Trwhouse on September 22, 2006, 11:02:16 AM
Hi all,
WHAT A BUNCH OF BABIES! :)
I live in central PA and ride all year round.
In fact, I love to take my bike out specifically on winter-marking holidays like Christmas and New Year's Day just because I can. Winter be damned, I say! :)
I went to high school and college in Madison, Wisc., so believe me when I say I know about REAL COLD. I bought my first bike when I was 16 in high school in Madison and put 10,000 miles on it my first year. I rode every day except when snow or ice were on the roads. But because it was Wisconsin, they cleaned the roads up rather quickly, so I missed few days due to snow. It sure was COLD though!
I don't store my bike in the winter here in PA.
I RIDE it, with several layers of clothes, great gloves or heated gloves, warm socks and a huge smile.
I just had to add my comments to this conversation.
Yours,
Todd
Heated gloves sound nice, but heated underwear would bring a smile to my face during cold weather riding! :icon_razz:
Haha, call me what you like but both of my bikes will be garaged by november or december. I cannot imagine riding a bike through a few inches of snow. And driving a car in snow is just too much fun to try to freeze myself and kill myself on a bike. Seriously, though, how do you possibly ride in thick snow or ice on a bike. Or do you not live in NW PA and your roads are actually taken care of? :dunno_white:
Atlanta here. Don't really store it, twice a week I'll take the bike out for a 20 mile ride.
Quote from: mattf on September 22, 2006, 02:53:06 PM
Haha, call me what you like but both of my bikes will be garaged by november or december. I cannot imagine riding a bike through a few inches of snow. And driving a car in snow is just too much fun to try to freeze myself and kill myself on a bike. Seriously, though, how do you possibly ride in thick snow or ice on a bike. Or do you not live in NW PA and your roads are actually taken care of? :dunno_white:
http://www.mv-motorrad.de/cosmoshop/lshop,showdetail,13240,e,1105803788-30287,,10107,,,.htm
When I was riding in Eastern WA durring the winters, there were two corners on not very busy roads, that I had to take before getting on the busier streets. I would take the corners and roll on the throttle untill the rear tire would spin out just a little, this gave me a pretty good feel for how slick the roads were and I would ride accordingly. Also every so often I would see how much rear brake it would take to lock the wheel when coming to a stop, and how much throttle it would take to spin it while taking off from the stop. I never went down once that winter! :thumb:
Obviously it isn't the safest way to go but you get used to it. I'm not so sure about that claw idea. I don't think you could go faster than about 10 with that thing on the rear wheel. Also the front wheel is the one you need to worry about loosing traction. If it's so slick that you can't get going without chains or something on the rear wheel, you're just about gauranteed to lose the front wheel and go down.
Too bad they don't make studded tires for street motorcycles
Have fun you guys :cheers:
What do you guys do for winterization? I am assuming I will need to fill the tank and add winterizer, shut off the gas and run the carbs empty. What else?
Quote from: pmdepr on September 26, 2006, 09:03:13 AM
What do you guys do for winterization? I am assuming I will need to fill the tank and add winterizer, shut off the gas and run the carbs empty. What else?
Put in fuel stabilizer, and run the engine until it gets into the carbs. Don't worry about draining the carbs. That can cause more trouble. Change the oil. Pull out the spark plugs and put fogging oil in the cylinders (if you're lazy, a touch of motor oil). Turn the engine over a few times to work the oil in. (Put the spark plugs back in.) Stuff a rag in the tailpipe to keep mice and wasps out. I probably forgot something... but that's more than most people do.
OR
Do what I do. Start the engine every 1-2 weeks until it's warmed up. Dream about summer as you rev the engine. If the roads are clean and the temperature is above freezing, put on some heavy gear and go riding.
It's not THAT cold in our area. Even in the dead of winter, we have days that get into the high 30s.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=312.msg1730#msg1730
Here's one way to store your bike for the winter:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8735195355185448330&hl=en
:icon_mrgreen:
Quote from: Chilly Willy on October 01, 2006, 11:02:15 PM
Here's one way to store your bike for the winter: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8735195355185448330&hl=en
:icon_mrgreen:
I hope the rider wasn't hurt...but that was GREAT! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I live in Northern England and our seasons are pretty comparable with the East coast US ...... early November is about when I'll tuck her up for the Winter.
It warms up again from late Feb ....BUT.... we have serious rains until May !!!!!
England has to be the worst place outside of Bangladesh (rain) and Siberia (Ice) for riding !!!
:mad: