I ride all year round, going by MOT certs about 55k miles on the current bike in the last 2 years.
Some conditions are and always will be crap, ice and 40+ mph wind gusts spring to mind, as they are unpredictable and force you to be on guard all the time (I have a video somewhere of me getting hit by a gust on the seven bridge strong enough to put me across 2 lanes). However with the mostly mild winters we've been having you can remain comfortable and enjoy yourself. Stupidly bright headlights/fog lights/always on full beam/etc........... I could write a 10 page rant about that and still not be satisfied but that's not a condition of winter it's a condition of thoughtless amoebas sat in tin boxes, probably the same ones that SMIDSY bikers come summer.
Alot of it is prior prep.
For the bike it gets a really deep clean before Winter and everything gets layered in ACF50, other than wiping down the fairings/wheels and regularly blasting out the calipers with brake cleaner it doesn't see another deep clean till end of Winter. I like to think this approach works, for a 26 year old hack about to go round the clock my bike has very little corrosion, I often see bikes a 1/4 of it's age and mileage that look far worse.
For me it's about the correct kit to stay warm/windproof. Little things like wearing a thin pair of cotton gloves under your bike gloves can be the difference between miserable with cold fingers or happy with warm hands.
From a enjoyment riding perspective roads during the winter are emptier, less tits with speed guns and the cafes are quieter. Obviously you need to pick your days based on the weather but there's fun to be had.
