QuoteI think all of us snowbound GS'ers should band together and get our respective governments to pass laws banning all riding from mid November until mid April. That would be fair. If that doesn't work, then I'm sure all of our fellow GS owners would be willing to voluntarily stop riding during the winter months out of respect for us. thumbsup Cheers

hmmm fort lauderdale, other then the hurricanes and the cost of living its ok.

but your right, i wont ride my gs during those months....





ill ride my honda Digger or my katana 600 instead.

In England you can pretty much ride all year. If the roads are icy I will not ride but cold or rain don't stop me. I road last year when the roads were icy because I did not have a car and dropped it at the car park at work and also my drive way. The main roads are fine as they are salted but some places are still dangerous.

I'm in Seattle and the weather can really suck with the cold and the rain but it usually only snows a couple of days a year. I ride year round and almost every day, since I don't have a car right now. I used to live in eastern WA without a car and that really sucked. I have ridden in temps as low as 15 F and through ocasional snow. I've gotten pretty good at controlling slides and I have only been down once, and that was in the summer.

   And a tip for the more adventuresome winter riders, when it's really wet or may be icy, acellerate really hard ocasionally to test the traction. It's a lot easier to have a tire spin when acelerating in a straight line than to have your front wheel lock up or scoot out from under you in a corner. For the same reason, brake only when traveling straight and use the rear brake more than normal. Sometimes when I'm slowing down and I'm going less than 20 or so, I'll lock up the rear wheel for just a split second to test the traction.
   Also, a very important thing to do when you ride through a puddle or when it's raining and a stop is approaching, lightly drag the brakes for a few seconds to dry the brakes before you need them. If you grab the brakes and they are wet nothing happens, so you squeze really hard, then the brakes suddenly work and you lock up.
Good luck

Quote from: ducati_nolanAnd a tip for the more adventuresome winter riders, when it's really wet or may be icy, acellerate really hard ocasionally to test the traction. It's a lot easier to have a tire spin when acelerating in a straight line than to have your front wheel lock up or scoot out from under you in a corner.

I use the rear brake to test traction.  Moving at a reasonable speed in a straight line, apply smooth pressure on the rear until it locks up, then release (before it starts going sideways).  

I don't think I'd want to play games with traction when accellerating hard...I'd think it might be more difficult to regain traction before the rear goes sideways since the weight shifts backward and gives the rear more traction under throttle, and might rebound when the rear starts slipping.   :dunno:

sitting out?

I've not even ridden my dagnabbit bike yet.  Saw it, wrote a check, and stuck it in a garage.  Like blue balls, except you're told "I'll be back in a few months.  Just hang on 'til then."  

Does kinda make me want to move south, though.  I like North Carolina.

Last night I had my first ride of the true NorCal winter.  It was raining and pretty chilly outside. I had ridden in light rain before with no issues.  Last night was pretty unpleasant, especially the brief trip on the highway.  Fortunately (for once), Californians have absolutely no idea how to drive in the rain.  This meant that the highway was moving pretty slowly, about the pace I wanted to go.  My jacket held up pretty well in the rain, my tank bag has a rain hood.  Water proof gloves would prolly be good so I'm not wearing leather ones in the rain.  Unfortunately my textile pants were at home, not on me....  Today that has been remedied....

I sat out today.  But, there's snow looming...  I can't imagine the GS would do very well in the snow.

You think snow is bad? Imagine riding the GS through a hail storm. THAT is a painful experience, let me tell you. Think snow is slippery? Try big chunks of ice! :lol:

Hail = bad.

Quote from: niteshadesitting out?

I've not even ridden my dagnabbit bike yet.  Saw it, wrote a check, and stuck it in a garage.  Like blue balls, except you're told "I'll be back in a few months.  Just hang on 'til then."  

Does kinda make me want to move south, though.  I like North Carolina.

Yeah, you wouldnt be alone ; nightshade. Quite a few people in the Triangle are from Chicago aswell as myself. But you can possibly ride yearound except for those months that we get snow and ice.  At that point, its not hard to tell whose used to the snow and ice and who isnt :nana:  :lol:

Snow and ice? Move to Texas! We don't know the meaning of those things! The main thing is just getting used to the unrelenting heat. Aside from that, though, it's wonderful.

Yeah, I imagine hail is worse than snow. As long as snow doesn't accumulate in the roads, it isn't bad. I've ridden the bike with snow on the ground, but not in the roads.  Roads with heavier traffic tend to warm the road up enough so it does not stick as much. You just gotta watch out for the occasional splush pile. Hail would HURT though    I've had some heavy rains sting me, and even that sucks.

The main hazard here when it is real hot are the tar snakes. You must have that problem in Texas.

snow rocks.  got over 5" thankgivingday back home in saratoga NY.  take up snowboarding or something.  id rather have my non riding season full of snow to play with, than rain to do nothing with.

Don't get me wrong...  I don't fear the snow.  I can drive in some really NASTY conditions provided I have a 4x4 with good tread and weight distribution...  Even without that...  I've driven FWD and RWD cars in some nasty snow, with and without chains...  Just avoid the short down-hills.   :lol:  And if you can't do them in first with as little brake use as possible.

I just don't want to get caught in snow and leave my poor GS somewhere 'cause I'm too much of a sissy to try to get home.  And I really don't want to crash, even at 10 MPH.

I'm with RVertigo -- I like my GS500 too much to risk a change of direction on a patch of ice I didn't notice 'til too late.

I'm in close proximity to "denman" and "flyingbeagle71" and the near future doesn't look appealing.  Anyone east of the rockies and north of the 40th parallel has to deal with solid precip between December and March.  

If my GS was a Rat Bike I might contemplate a "winter's sunny day ride", but it's too good to risk an "off" or chloride attach, so my season may be over as well.  Time to start reading David Hough with a Motorcycle Show in January to break up the boredom 'til March.

PS.  Should have ridden yesterday -- 50 mph winds from the south, occassional driving rain, but heck, it was 60F out there.    :dunno:

Quote from: DMacBecause I am!

Just wanted to rant a bit about how so many of you it seems still are able to ride and will ride throughout the year, and it's not fair at all. Yes I know it's my choice to goto a university in a city that snows (Ottawa) however, I still read these boards and post every so often.

How many others are stuck sitting out due to winter? Are some of you just delaying accepting it's going to be winter soon(or is already)?

The way I see it is the posts about new bikes and such are from those who can't ride their GS's. At least that's the only time I start thinking about new bikes, and call and bug my insurance guy (who is getting annoyed w/ me I think)

Okay so let me know what the situtation is.. How far south is the minimal distance till you get no snow and year around riding?

(Btw, did you know that a new Ducati 749 is only 23$ more for me to insure than a new SV650, and about 1500$ less than a new GSXR? That's the devil temping me into debt!!)

I do not know if I can ride the rest of the week since maybe I will have to go to the beach and if I ride the bike I might have to open the vents on my jackey so as to not get tp warm.    
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/forecasts/SCZ050.php?warnzone=scz050&warncounty=scc019

All I ahve to say is that tkm433.. That was mean. haha

althought today got about 45 so I was happy, then it started to rain, but oh well. My bike is still in storage.

I hit some ice the other day when I was home...that sucked..i was suddently sideways, it felt alot like riding a dirtbike. That was the first day I rode, the second day i opted for the zzr, more wind protection is good when its so coooold. Those were the only two days it was warm enough to ride, it snowed the rest of the week. At least I got a couple hundred miles in.

already have the battery out

I miss my GS

Quote from: JazzzzzOn the east coast, you can't really ride year round (and I mean more than once or twice a month on a clear day) until you get to middle or southern Georgia.  West coasters can ride year round farther north than that.  Folks in the middle of the country have to go farther south.

I think southern Texas, Florida, SoCal, and maybe Louisiana are the only 100% guaranteed year-round no snow/no ice areas.

I live about 20 miles northwest of atlanta, and I ride year round.  It gets nippy, but a heavy sweatshirt and my tz-1 w/ a liner gets me along in the 15 min commute to work.  When I'm going further (sometimes to athens (uga) to see friends, I use gerbing's heated gloves under thick leather race gloves and am plenty warm.   It gets down to maybe 20 here... not much colder than that.  The worst thing at that temp isn't riding, it's waiting for the damn bike to warm up.  (zx6r is h20 cooled, and takes at least 10 min to warm up if it's outside at those temps.

I used to totally love winter until I started riding... now its a form of agony... I still enjoy the winter sports, but miss the riding a lot too.  Oh well, only about 5 months before it stops snowing...