Winter in the UK and effect on motorcycling

[Mr Bignall]

http://www.wiltshirebikers.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=1009&stc=1
yes i know most of you probably front out the winter, especially those that commute but it isn't always the nicest ride, spray from other vehicles, cold hands having to be warmed on the cylinders at traffic lights and the shorter days with blinding headlights from newer cars or people who leave their spotlights on. Any experiences? I knew a bloke who used to pack out his bike gear with old newspapers on a long winter run that he used to do, for insulation of course. Me, I tend to go through protracted withdrawal symptoms, after all, the opportunities for leisure rides become more limited and less fun - on getting to your destination things are often that much more bleak in the winter period with less bikers to talk to.

sorry i haven't got the hang of image size edits, any advice appreciated.

[Mitch9128]

For me, it's about enjoyment not necessity , i don't enjoy winter riding at all, car is THE solution.

[RobLee]

I only started riding in August (a little 125) and I made it to Christmas before the bike went away and she didn't come back out again until March.
Even then it was rather cold in the mornings and did take some of the fun away from it but boy did I miss it!

I will confess, the bike did spend an evening in the hallway just don't ask how that happened...

[WR6133]

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.

[Mr Bignall]

Good replies there - thanx keep them coming :D

[shiftyblake]

My winter ride enjoyment is proportionate to the gear i wear and confidence. I ride all year (but prefer Spring) 10 - 14 degrees, but I have heated gloves to use, thermals if needed etc. I always wash my bike and check tyres etc. I wear very decent rain proof textiles, gloves and boots. I feel as happy cornering in the wet as I do the try. Rain cleans my kit !

[Toph]

I ride all year round..I use the bike not only for recreation..I love riding the bike..but also for the work commute.
I have a car, but my wife works too and she has first "bagsy" as she doesn't ride.
I use base layers, and have a waterproof oversuit if it's wet. It's only 3 miles each way though... so not a real hardship!

[wasted_ace]

Winter never stops our group.
We do just as many rides in the winter season as we do in summer only the rides are somewhat shorter...

[Mitch9128]

3 miles?! Get a push iron.

[Aidbox]

I've got a work van and my only other transport is my bike. I do the same with the ACF50 at the end of summer.

Only passed my test last year but was doing a 160 mile round trip on a YBR 125 every weekend right through the winter last year. I did stop occasionally and warm my hands on the engine.

I did North Yorkshire this January which I think was a 300 mile in a day ride. Coming back was torrential rain and 70mph winds, took me nearly 10 hours but the heated grips and the gear I've got were great. It tended to be idiots not dipping their lights that made the last 50 miles so much more difficult. Having the right gear makes such a difference.

Also, riding in the winter makes me appreciate the summer more :cool:

[Mr Bignall]

It's a funny old business, every two to three weeks I travel to Kent, invariably on my bike, although pouring rain or exceptionally cold then I plead with the Mrs to borrow her car. However the car isn't much fun as I can get clanged up in traffic unless I go the long way round, ie: the m25.

Hard to to recall now but there have been summer days when really I was too hot, all the gear all the time being a mantra I follow - just yesterday I saw a biker in thin trainers. Generally though, for me, winter is a bit of a drag and that's mainly due to the shorter days.

[Aidbox]

It's a funny old business, every two to three weeks I travel to Kent, invariably on my bike, although pouring rain or exceptionally cold then I plead with the Mrs to borrow her car. However the car isn't much fun as I can get clanged up in traffic unless I go the long way round, ie: the m25.

Hard to to recall now but there have been summer days when really I was too hot, all the gear all the time being a mantra I follow - just yesterday I saw a biker in thin trainers. Generally though, for me, winter is a bit of a drag and that's mainly due to the shorter days.

I've seen people in shorts and t-shirts, frightening !!

[Jed]

I think the mantra should be amended slightly to all the right gear all the time, eg thermal and waterproof in the winter and vented gear in the summer. I think being too hot and dehydrated in summer is equally as dangerous as being cold and numb in the winter. I ride all year round but mostly for pleasure as I don't need to travel to work so more miles in summer but still riding every month in winter. This last year I've also been a volunteer rider for a blood bike group which means I have to go out when there's a call irrespective of weather; the service is overnight and at weekends so it's been good for maintaining poor weather riding skills!

[Mr Bignall]

You tend to forget the summer issues - plagued by flies is one haha, coming back from somewhere or other I took a break in wantage one summer evening and met a guy there on a yam 800 naked type machine and he was absolutely covered in dead flies, the fairing keeps the worst off mine but I probably don't do the speeds that bloke did.

[QB1]

I ride all year - just for pleasure.

I'd go mad locking the bike away for months.

I dont tend to go quite so far when its really cold (which for me is below about 5 degrees) thats the only difference really.

Sometimes I actually prefer it with the roads being emptier

[BugsyB]

I commute each day to North Bristol. 25 miles each way, all year round. The car comes out in ice, snow or fog. VFR800 is the all-year round bike. Others (classics and hyper sports) are fair weather only. -6 and sunny was coldest this Winter. Many mornings sub-zero. Very good kit + thermals and glove liners make it possible. Tips of fingers can feel unpleasantly cold on the worst mornings. Must get round to fitting heated grips, which I had on an RF900 I sold last year. Quite effective. Tyres are like concrete for much of the winter, particularly in the wet or on motorways. Just go slower and compensate. It's not rocket science.
If I feel cold I just look at the car drivers sitting in jams as I serenely glide past. That warms me up. If the bike sees salt on the roads it gets buckets of rainwater thrown over it before putting away each time. I've see bikes of mine really fall apart from salt.
In past years when HM The Wife and I only had one car and one bike, I commuted into Bath from Corsham every working day. She had the car as we had kids. Come what may, -10 I remember one year. I was on an MZ with a cable front brake, which was frozen. That made 15 bhp feel really scary.
I've worked in Canada where winter biking really is a no-no. We are in 'in between land' here in Southern England. California is paradise, Canada in Winter is not nice. Wiltshire's somewhere in-between. Go for it!
By the way, I'm nearer 70 than 60.

[tomearp]

I'm a pretty new biker; passed DAS in October 2015 with limited previous experience.
I much prefer riding over driving and only drew the line if it looked really horrible outside of the window so that meant plenty of riding over the winter.

Some things I have learned about winter riding...

Ice or heavy fog is bad. Take the car.

ACF50. I did mine just before the salt trucks started to come out and play. I didn't bother cleaning it again until they stopped, just an occasional go over with the hose pipe to keep the worst of what Wiltshire roads have to offer off. Everything cleaned up nicely (and have reapplied it) and no progression of existing corrosion, so it seems to work.

Tyres and brakes are important. More so in the winter. Previous owner of my bike didn't take very good care of either, overhauling them all in one hit was costly but it made a massive difference (especially one day when the wildlife decided to come out of the hedgerow and join in the fun).

I didn't notice too much difference between dry and wet riding. It's mostly common sense really, accel/decel more smoothly, try to avoid the vast quantities of heating oil on the Wiltshire roads, don't be a tit etc.

"Waterproof" is a relative term. I did get caught in the occasional downpour which meant sometimes having a wet jacket/trousers despite the bold claims of the sales blurb. To be fair I was always dry underneath (separate waterproof and thermal linings) but there were times when I was putting damp gear on the next morning which isn't pleasant. Cheap thermal t-shirts keep you toasty on the colder mornings.

Heated grips are awesome.

I was finding I was getting condensation on the bike in the garage and the beginnings of mildew on grips etc.
I bought a cheap oil filled radiator, started on minimum and adjusted it upwards each day until the condensation stopped.

In terms of differences between summer/winter riding...
I was very lucky with the weather when learning in the September. On my limited number of rides to/from the test centre I was preoccupied with controlling the seemingly monstrous bike I was riding but I remember sunshine and dry roads being a lot of fun, even though I was still a bit scared. I also remember there being wasps :(

I'm glad to have ridden over the winter, even if the learning curve was steep at times. It has taught me how to (and how not to) approach riding in a good mixture of weather and road conditions. I have also learned a lot about maintaining my bike.

[Vulcanboy]

Winter riding is not for everyone. Last week, whilst up in the French Alps, I saw a bike (with lady pillion) coming up the mountain whilst snowing! Years ago I used to ride to work in Northfleet, Kent, over the winter, through snow ( legs apart to act like skis !) and through dense fog up Wrotham Hill only to find that the fog had gone ... but my goggles were still misted up! Would I recommend it now ... No! So, why did I do it ? The answer is simple ... I had no choice , as a poor student!