GStwin.com GS500 Message Forum

I generally use my motorcycle to commute to work and island trips during the summers.   How often do you ride?

This time of year, I ride any chance I get!

Thank goodness for good mpgs! I use it for commuting to other cities, for errands and for fun! Love it!  :cool:

Anytime the ice and snow are off the road...I'm riding at some point...okay, maybe I don't head out in the rain...but I just carry my rain gear incase I get caught out...happened a couple of times...once with the gear on the bike, but I tried to get to an underpass or a gas station...I was soaked before I could find shelter...???

Oh well...

Later.

Australia doesn't really have a riding season as such, so I ride as often as possible.  I only take the cage if I have a bunch of different places to find and I want my GPS, if I have to take passengers, if I'm not confident of having somewhere to change out of  or stash my gear or if if it's absolutely miserable weather.  I don't mind riding in the rain if I have to get somewhere, but it's cold and wet and I don't get to have fun in the corners.

It's on days where it's been raining on and off in different parts of town that really scare me.  You get some parts of the road that have dried out, with occasional wet patches especially in the shade.  I'd rather it was just all wet to be honest, constant changes in traction seem like a recipe for disaster.

I enjoyed my motorcycle much more once I had a car

Have only driven my car 4 times since getting my license in Janaury!

Like Cosimo said, Australia doesn't really have a season. I ride all year round in temps from 45 degrees Celsius to -3 degrees celsius.

its hard to ride when the roads are snow covered

Quote from: Unsane on March 18, 2011, 09:26:52 PM
Have only driven my car 4 times since getting my license in Janaury!

You guys in Australia are so lucky! I live in NY and is miserable in winter, but
I'm hopping the weather will get nice soon.

How do you do it?  My work just sent me interstate for most of this week driving a van, so I went like 6 days without riding which is the longest I've done since I got the bike, I usually try to get on it at least once every 24 hours.  I hope you get to ski or sled or somehow take advantage of the snow, cos otherwise that's rubbish. 

Biggest fear for me is getting done speeding, because I'm on my first year on a bike license it's automatic disqualification if I'm caught over the limit.  It's a stupid reactionary law that didn't exist when I got my car license. 

Around here the roads are snow-covered for up to six months: November 2010 - March 2011 so far this year. When they are clear they are straight and flat. With lots of potholes because we get freezing/warming cycles sometimes over the winter. These eventually get fixed, but you have to really watch it for the first couple of months after the snow clears before they get the worst ones repaired.

So you get maybe 12 weeks of good riding weather where it is warm enough to enjoy the bike, on straight flat roads. In traffic.

Except for going somewhere else where the riding is actually good (i.e. smooth, twisty roads with weather consistently above 15 degrees Celcius) I maybe ride twice a month in the summer (that's 8 times if you want to do the math). The rest of the time it's like golfing - a good walk spoilt :cry:

My answer is "whenever I can", which is not listed.  If it ain't freezing or pouring I'm riding.  I even do a fair amount of riding in the rain, although I try to avoid it. (but not too hard)  "Year round" is not a choice where I live, winter is just too nasty!

+1 on whenever I can.  I've been riding year around here in NE Ohio for 27 winters now and this was one of the worst.  Only a half dozen rides this Jan and Feb but I'm cutting loose again now.  Don't ride if streets are slippery with ice or snow but I splash thru the salt water and my bike looks it.  Put 15-20k miles/year on GSs for years but with less longer rides now it's dropped off to about 10k/year the last couple.  I still ride as often but don't go as far, age is taking it's toll.   :cry:

How often do I ride?

Every day.

Temp wise around here. Yeah, sometimes it gets down to -5 Celsius in Winter and I'll ride in that and guys at work think I'm hardcore.

Only time I won't ride is if it is raining where I am going. Getting wet on the way home is fine, but being wet until I dry out is a bummer. If I can get there between rain I'll ride.

Michael

I ride as long as there is no snow or ice on the road. I've found that about 10 degrees Fahrenheit to be my personal limit - my daily commute is 35 miles each way. I'll ride in the rain as long as the visibility is good enough that I'm sure I'll be seen by others. I think it's important to be comfortable in the rain - because if you get caught out and have to ride in it, you would want to be very familiar with handling the conditions.

It helps to be a little wacko...  :cookoo:

I ride about 12,000 miles a year - it's my primary form of transportation... by choice!

:cheers:

In MN we definitely have a riding season.  Snow / Ice / Cold keep folks off the roads for at least 4-6 months every year.  It's dumb.

Other than that whenever I can, to work, for pleasure, errands that I don't have to carry too much stuff, and so forth.

Like the others from Aus said, we dont have a riding seasons, especially up in central Queensland where I am. I ride whenever i get the chance  :thumb:

I commute to work as long as it's not snowing, raining, or below 35 degrees.

About the only time I don't ride is if I'm sick. Which has been kinda frequent  :icon_sad:

Mary

Question for the winter riders,
does it take a long time to warm up the bike in cold weather?
I might be able to ride to work, but after a long day of work I don't want to sit in the parking
lot forever waiting on the GS to warm up.
Thanks

In my experience, yes. When it's in the 20's (Fahrenheit), it may take more than 10 minutes before the oil cooler starts to get warmish to the touch. IT does take a while to warm up. I'll probably change my pilot jets before next winter.

:cheers:

I don't do anything different in Winter than I do in Summer. At work or home my procedure is the same...

- put choke on full
- Start the bike
- Tie bag to luggage rack (then make phone call when leaving work to let gorgeous wonderful wife know I am on the way)
- Put on jacket
- Reduce choke to idle around 2000 or just above
- Put on helmet
- Put on gloves
- Get on bike
- Back it out
- Click it into gear and ride off sedately (turn off choke once I am on the road)

I do all the above at a Leisurely pace.

I've done the above since new. And my 09 is getting very close to 39,000 clicks of trouble free riding.

Michael

It doesn't matter to me, after a minute of choke, all you're doing is wasting gas and building up carbon in the combustion chambers.  I ride off and use the throttle to keep the rpm's up.

Quote from: scratch on March 21, 2011, 09:25:03 AM
It doesn't matter to me, after a minute of choke, all you're doing is wasting gas and building up carbon in the combustion chambers.  I ride off and use the throttle to keep the rpm's up.

I ride with the choke on when warming up, the engine will warm faster under a light load than just idling in the driveway or parking lot.  The only reason to keep the choke on is so that it doesn't stall at a light...once I am past where I won't be hitting lights for a few minutes, I turn the choke off...in the colder weather,  below freezing temps, it will take longer but I use the same practice...

I wanted to go out riding this weekend, but the bike wouldn't start on Saturday...so I put the battery on charge (first start of the season)...then Sunday it snowed...then snowed again...more snow this morning...the forcast is for snow all week until Thursday...boo...maybe next weekend, but it isn't supposed to go above freezing until Sunday, so probably not... :dunno_white:

Later.

i ride rain hail or shine

Just a hint...slow down in the hail...hail & 115kph (72mph) friggin' hurts...just so you know...

If you are riding with a guy that has a touring bike...let him go, and catch up after the hail...yup, 'nuff said... :cheers:

Other than that, I'm the same...no ice or snow...avoid hail... :icon_mrgreen:

Later.

Temperature-wise, I ride all year.
But I only do it when it's not raining.

I rode today, cause it was in mid forties.  She started fine, with the choke out, but then it started to rev too fast (3-3500 rpm). I tried to just use less choke, but then it would die. I then turned choke off and kept it running @ 1500 rpm with throttle. I'm probably doing it the hard way, but didn't want too high rpms on a cold engine. Was I doing it wrong???
Used my GS for some errands around town. Then I went around both lakes twice. Probably the last ride this week. 20s to 30s, rain/snow that's it in a nutshell. sigh....  :dunno_white:

Plan to use her lots, when the weather shapes up.  :icon_mrgreen:

I ride all year round.

Never found rain a turn off, other then the effort of putting my wets on. Hail that shaZam! I'll try to avoid. I agree it hurts allot to ride through hail.

Thanks guys for answering my question!
It must suck to have to put the bike away for winter, but I think I'll try to ride
year round. What's in order? Lot's of layers and a good winter jacket, heavy gloves
and a good forecast to see if it's going to snow?
Have you ridden to work on winter and when you came out in the afternoon you found 6" of
snow on the ground? What did you do?