Anyone ever try putting knobbies on their GS so that you can continue riding all year?? If I get some hand guards to deflect the wind and wear snowmobile clothing over some armour...I think it would be a hoot to pull up beside someone in the winter with studded knobbies and leave them spinning their tires...
Of course then I would be "that crazy bike guy", but who really cares...guys ride sleds at -40, so why not a bike?
Thinking out loud, well kinda... :icon_mrgreen: :icon_twisted: :cheers:
Later.
I wish quads were street legal here. I would just ride one all winter. I've always thought it would be fun to have a snow mobile for those days in winter when it snows so hard/fast that the city shuts down for a night. I'd just run around everywhere on the roads and there's no way you could get in trouble because no one could catch you. We only get maybe 2 of those days a year, so it's really not worth the cost of a snow mobile.
As far as your question, never done knobbies on a normal bike, but one of these years I think it would be fun to get a small dual sport, or just an old honda cb125-350 with some off road tires. Something small enough that I can still keep my feet on the ground for when I hit some real snow, and light enough that I could get off and help push it if I got in something too deep to ride out of. You'd be going slow enough that the cold wouldn't be a huge issue, and it would be way more fun than shoveling out a car and hoping you make it where you're trying to go.
Up here you can ride quads on the street, as long as you are heading straight to the lake to ride...not for touring around town...of course there are abusers that are ruining it for the rest...as for the sleds on the streets...the cops have them here, so you would be effed...kinda weird to see a sled with cherries... :police:
And yeah, the studs would suck on dry roads...kinda like riding on a street with a dusting of sand...maybe it is time for the all season bike...
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XzHeOPXAEVE/TOWFD2qRnzI/AAAAAAAAAY8/7LWzCxxZSxQ/s720/2009-Can-Am-SpyderRoadsterS5a%5B1%5D.jpg)
Put on some Blizzak winter tires and you're off...900cc V-Twin...traction control, ABS, etc...
Later.
Kinda funny this comes up - I just did a bunch of searching around on "tire screws". Knobby tires by themselves may get you through some snow, but as soon as you hit some packed snow / ice then the knobs would probably just slip all over the place. Check out what these guys did with some Honda dirt bikes:
http://www.snowmobiletrails.com/moto/index.html
Quote from: tt_four on November 26, 2010, 09:57:33 AM
I wish quads were street legal here.
This shot was taken an hour or so away at Noosa. Not only are cops allowed to ride them on the road - only They can get them Registered for the street, the public can go spit - they are Not required to wear helmets when riding them but will fine you $100 if you're on a bicycle without a helmet. Double standards here me thinks. Oh well.
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5202/5209475077_3dcd65acbf.jpg)
Michael
No idea how you can ride a vehicle with 2 wheels, a can am with 3 wheels, but all of a sudden you throw a 4th wheel on there to make it even close to a car and you're not allowed on the road anymore :cookoo:
I wonder if you could get a can am, and put a trike rear end on it and still make it street legal?
Quote from: tt_four on November 26, 2010, 05:50:30 PM
No idea how you can ride a vehicle with 2 wheels, a can am with 3 wheels, but all of a sudden you through a 4th wheel on there to make it even close to a car and you're not allowed on the road anymore :cookoo:
How about the Outrigger for the rear of the bike. Essentially making the rear a three wheel rear and one wheel front. You can ride those, with a bike license.
I wonder what the four wheeled Quadro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2OJa-vWEaE will be classified as?
Michael
Oh how I love Tucson. No snow in the city. Just about anything with a four-stroke, mirrors, and signals you can get street legal. Yeah, this includes ATVs. A few times a month I see guys riding around on their raptors, etc, with street tires on them.
I live in the city, I could get one of those 6 wheeled amphibious things and just ride down to the river and float my way downtown.
Quote from: mister on November 26, 2010, 06:25:21 PM
Quote from: tt_four on November 26, 2010, 05:50:30 PM
No idea how you can ride a vehicle with 2 wheels, a can am with 3 wheels, but all of a sudden you through a 4th wheel on there to make it even close to a car and you're not allowed on the road anymore :cookoo:
How about the Outrigger for the rear of the bike. Essentially making the rear a three wheel rear and one wheel front. You can ride those, with a bike license.
I wonder what the four wheeled Quadro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2OJa-vWEaE will be classified as?
Michael
a scooter lol
Quote from: mister on November 26, 2010, 02:23:02 PM
This shot was taken an hour or so away at Noosa. Not only are cops allowed to ride them on the road - only They can get them Registered for the street, the public can go spit - they are Not required to wear helmets when riding them but will fine you $100 if you're on a bicycle without a helmet. Double standards here me thinks. Oh well.
Michael
I talked to a cop here about helmets on quads, because I noticed that they weren't ticketing anyone for no helmet on a quad...they said because of the four wheels they didn't require a helmet..?? WTF? People roll them all the time...I don't understand that one, but in his defence either did the cop...just wasn't a rule to enforce...
Later.
I just wanted to add... no helmet law in Arizona either. Brain Bucket is a choice. However, eye protection is required.
Quote from: Elijafir on November 27, 2010, 07:24:52 AM
I just wanted to add... no helmet law in Arizona either. Brain Bucket is a choice. However, eye protection is required.
Eye protection is actually required in all 50 states - I don't know if that includes 3 foot tall windshields though.
PA allows you to not wear a helmet after you've had your license for 2 years or something. Don't know the details on that one since I like my skull....
Quote from: Big Rich on November 27, 2010, 01:00:43 PM
Don't know the details on that one since I like my skull....
Eh, brains are over-rated. :icon_rolleyes:
Quote from: tt_four on November 26, 2010, 05:50:30 PM
No idea how you can ride a vehicle with 2 wheels, a can am with 3 wheels, but all of a sudden you throw a 4th wheel on there to make it even close to a car and you're not allowed on the road anymore :cookoo:
BMW has a quad, can't think of what it's called at the moment, but I have seen one on the street here a couple of years back.
Quote from: madjak30 on November 26, 2010, 08:13:50 AM
Anyone ever try putting knobbies on their GS so that you can continue riding all year?? If I get some hand guards to deflect the wind and wear snowmobile clothing over some armour...I think it would be a hoot to pull up beside someone in the winter with studded knobbies and leave them spinning their tires...
Knobbies won't do it. On a well-treated (plowed, ice-free, and/or sanded) road regular tires work fine. On thick ice and hard-pack snow, ice screws work fine. Ice screws don't work (or last long) on dry pavement, and tires with or without knobs don't work well on ice or untreated snow. I've ridden far into the winter - and I've fallen down hard, usually when fresh snow arrived, especially on the little bits between a road (treated) and a parking lot (not so much treated.) Takes very little side-slip to make you go down. Get a sidecar or trike rig if you really want to play in winter.
Removed
Quote from: JB848 on December 13, 2010, 10:22:22 PM
I sware I saw a post in here where there was a video of a motorcycle with skis next to tires for riding in the snow.
Kind of like training wheels? Good idea.
Removed
We have some snow here right now. Saw a guy out on his snowmobile, going down a county highway the other day shortly after the snow stopped falling. I don't know the legalities of it.
We just had a change in the Bylaw...as of Dec. 1, 2010, no more "off road" vehicles allowed on the streets...we used to be able to ride quads/sleds down to the lake to ride in the winter, but now they all have to be trailered...should be interesting to see if they actually try to ticket these guys...the only people these laws hurt are the ones that follow the rules anyway, not the ones that actually screwed up the previous law...I think it will be pretty hard for them to enforce...
Later.
Here in bottom right-hand corner of UK we have had snow off and on since end of November, somewhat earlier than expected and the end does not seem near. When things are like this I won't ride the bandit, use the car when possible, or my feet! However I have been thinking it might be both fun and practical to get a 125 or 250c dirt bike that does not mind being dropped and light enough for me to pick-up which might be a bit of a problem with a GS in slippery conditions and just about impossible with the heavier bandit. :dunno_black:
About ten years ago I rode snowy roads on a Honda 125, it was light enough and I often found myself staying upright with one boot down, speedway style but possibly a little less quick! That worked out quite well but it was not a long winter, my bones will get to be 65 this winter so I am acutely aware that coming off a bike could be rather nasty. >:(
Something does draw me to a light dirt-bike with big studdy tyres though, seems like fun.
Incidently I thought that "no quads" rule was a bit odd, I see quite a few here, summer and winter, where our laws are often even sillier than some. :D