Folks,
I'm used to riding all year (+/-) round. I live in NE Ohio and we get both winter and lake effect storms here.
3 of my 2 wheelers went through some snow, and a whole lot more slush. My first Sportster lost a lot of the fin mass on the voltage regulator heat sink due to road salt. But all in all the body and frame parts on it and my 2 Victory bikes held up really well. Except for the inside front fender on the Vegas which I had to scrape and treat with Por-15.
The Urals were in the snow all the time. Covered them with a can of Boeshield and hosed them down with cold water before putting them away. Dern things, being painted rather than powder coated rusted a bit in spite of it all. Especially the Taiga which had no primer under the top coat, er, I mean only coat which was prone to peeling.
Ran a synthetic 20W50 in the hacks and I could head out in single digit temps. But most of the time when I was out, even with the 2 wheelers, was when it was 20 or above and the roads not icy but wet (salted.)
My question: who here runs in the snowy times and what if anything different do you do?
(I know we have Alaskans here, and a lot of other cold country inbetweeners.)
I figure Harley lubes are good above 15 degrees or so (right?)
2 wheelers and hacks can be operated in the ruts, that is that inevitable crown of slush/snow in the middle of the lane can be avoided or straddled. A trike, not the case, front tire right in the thick, so I think I'll need to avoid overly snowy roads if I want to be able to steer. Just plain snow, not good for 2 wheelers (though I did get caught a couple of times) but nothing for the Urals and maybe not toooo crazy on a FW.
I suspect the cold water hose down is still in order.
Anyway, who here does winter riding and any war stories or tips?
Thanks,
emskee
I'm used to riding all year (+/-) round. I live in NE Ohio and we get both winter and lake effect storms here.
3 of my 2 wheelers went through some snow, and a whole lot more slush. My first Sportster lost a lot of the fin mass on the voltage regulator heat sink due to road salt. But all in all the body and frame parts on it and my 2 Victory bikes held up really well. Except for the inside front fender on the Vegas which I had to scrape and treat with Por-15.
The Urals were in the snow all the time. Covered them with a can of Boeshield and hosed them down with cold water before putting them away. Dern things, being painted rather than powder coated rusted a bit in spite of it all. Especially the Taiga which had no primer under the top coat, er, I mean only coat which was prone to peeling.
Ran a synthetic 20W50 in the hacks and I could head out in single digit temps. But most of the time when I was out, even with the 2 wheelers, was when it was 20 or above and the roads not icy but wet (salted.)
My question: who here runs in the snowy times and what if anything different do you do?
(I know we have Alaskans here, and a lot of other cold country inbetweeners.)
I figure Harley lubes are good above 15 degrees or so (right?)
2 wheelers and hacks can be operated in the ruts, that is that inevitable crown of slush/snow in the middle of the lane can be avoided or straddled. A trike, not the case, front tire right in the thick, so I think I'll need to avoid overly snowy roads if I want to be able to steer. Just plain snow, not good for 2 wheelers (though I did get caught a couple of times) but nothing for the Urals and maybe not toooo crazy on a FW.
I suspect the cold water hose down is still in order.
Anyway, who here does winter riding and any war stories or tips?
Thanks,
emskee
