This has been a good year for winter motorcycling, but if I'm honest, I'd probably say I've taken my level of risk to the next level to keep going.
Last night, I rode almost 100km home from a distant client site at 01:30 in the morning. The frost was thick on the bike, black ice was plentiful on city streets, parking lots provided challenging footsteps. I didn't plan on riding at that time, but I got caught out with a problem at the client site, and we worked until we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer. Then I rode home.
The bike handled it really well. I'm always cautious when there is black (seemingly unsalted, therefore black ice) pavement. Overpasses and raised roads can often be more frozen than ground-level streets, so slowing down and keeping the bike as stable as possible is warranted.
I've been using Warm & Safe heated gloves for a few years. They're good gloves; fairly well built, and I haven't had one lose its heating capabilities yet (unlike several pairs of Widder gloves before they left the market).
This year, I added a W&S heated jacket liner. It is pretty thin, water resistant, wind resistant, and does a decent job of replacing the thicker liner that my Tourmaster 3/4 length jacket came with.
A serious problem this heated liner has presented though is the load on my bike's charging system. Honda engines are bulletproof, but their electrical systems are crap. The stator location does not allow much of an upgrade option, and the stock one doesn't give you a lot of headroom for additional electric loads. I am losing count of the number of times I've come to a stop with a dead battery, and I now carry a spare charged battery on the bike at all times, though my backup battery seems to only have a small charge potential left to it, despite being only about a year old.
So far this year, I've had 3 days at -16c. The bike behaves kinda differently at that temp. Seems that below about -14c, the engine needs to run with the starter (which also turns off the headlight) for about 10 seconds before the engine can run on its own.
Another experience is that under -14c, my anti-fogging helmet visor starts to frost up inside. I saw someone who ran wires inside their visor with a power lead and a switch to help defrost the visor in arctic winters.
This is also the first winter that I've change my tires to something more winter-appropriate. Continental released the TKC-80 knobbly tires in sportbike (well, BMW GS) sizes. I haven't put studs on the tires yet, but the added confidence on <ice is worthwhile. The only thing to help with ice is studs.
Studs are technically illegal in Ontario if you're an Ontario resident that lives south of about Parry Sound, but the HTA also defines what a stud is; to be a "stud", it must extend greater than a couple mm from the tire, and exceed 7 on the Moh's hardness scale. Stud hardness isn't usually a documented spec, so unless the court is willing to test the hardness of your studs, you might be able to argue tickets on the subject.
I also think if you go the studs direction, I don't think you don't need to riddle the tire with them unless you plan on doing deep stuff. I imagined just doing every 3rd knob or so would help in those infrequent ice patches, enough to keep you upright until you pass the hazard. Maybe demonstrating restraint could also work in your favour in the case of a legal challenge.
As I suggested, I've managed to ride this year in weather I would never have considered before. Despite that though, I've only managed 2000km so far this winter. My usual range is 2500km, with one weathery winter only 1800km and last winter being epic at 4500km. I've got some work to do over the next few weeks.
My other winter-condition accessories include a simple neck sock (which cuts down but doesn't eliminate neck windburn), mid-to-heavy merino wool longjohns (and long sleeved tops when not heading to work). When I'm commuting or it is a short <30 minute ride, I just wear jeans. A longer ride would earn an upgrade to my Tourmaster riding pants with the rain/windproof liner (but not the additional insulated liner). I might wear Tourmaster rain pants over my jeans for medium-length work rides or on days where I can expect some salty spray from cars.
I also have a pair of lobsterclaw overgloves from Aerostich to help keep my hands warm. However, they make gripping the handbars a serious challenge. I'm tempted to smear rubber cement all over their fingers and palm.
For really long winter rides or if there's considerable moisture in the air, I might also throw on a Tourmaster rain shell over my motorcycle jacket to cut the wind.
Posted with Blogsy