riding cycles in snowy conditions

[cookiedough]

https://www.channel3000.com/news/madison-motorcycle-club-keeps-new-year-tradition-nearly-50-years-strong/960689182

not so sure I would want to take any cycle on roads the day after a 4 inch snowfall with icy conditions around in 22 degree temps, even if it was probably 15 miles tops.

Any takers?  Just glad no one got hurt since a few New Years Eve night in the snowfall lost their lives due to accidents being the first slippery, icy snowfall of 2018, also the last day of 2018.

You do not see though any HUGE 700+lb. cycles in the pic though..

I know if I took any cycle down my road today glare ice it would be tipped over on the road for sure.  I shoveled my elderly neighbors  steep driveway today after the icy snowfall and slipped on her driveway falling down luckily no injuries.

[MAD6Gun]

 No way in H E double hockey sticks. I had my fill of snow on the infamous ride myself,my brother and 98T took at the Billings Insane on the Bear tooth highway. Plus I would never punish my Valk like that with the salt on the roads.

[Sorcerer]

The I-Cycle Derby was held today in Mpls Mn. 4* at start time. Started in 1949. It is run as a timed road rally event.

[csj]

If I was going to try that, I'd have a dirt bike with hex-head screws on each knob of the knobby tires. Might  up the asphalt some, but would give the required grip.

Suspect the  would object.

[Alpha Dog]

Harley Davidson says we can ride on the snow also.  New event sponsored by them at the X games coming this Jan. I believe.

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/events/racing/xgames.html

[The emperor has no clothes]

Looks pretty fun to me 

[0leman]

Back in the middle  60's, we didn't have much money and only one car.   Since we had two kids, I road my bike to work year round,  a '69 Honda 450 CL.  Yeah it was only 4 miles, but on snow pack/ice it was fun.  Usually by lunch there was two lines of bare ground.  Had trial tires which gave a better bite than normal road tires.  Never went down, but did have a few close calls.

Wouldn't do it now if you paid me, paid me a lot.

[..]

Used to do it on an off road bike when younger. Someone had to go get the fish and chips!

[..]

From my time as a motorcycle messenger

IBM used Pony Express for a multi drop job once a week. This was something like 25 or 30 pick ups and drop offs starting in West London at 4 in the morning and ending up in Essex. Quicker you did it the sooner you got on with the rest of the day. That was a hoot absolutely flying across London with minimum traffic until the worker bees started emerging at around 7am. One time in winter I walked into the last drop and jumped up and down on the entry mat. The front of me fell off. I was cased in frozen slush from neck to crotch and knees to ankles.

[gregk]

About 15 m. In 2" of snow back in the eighty's would not go over 25 mph. A cop followed me the last mile and once home he told me he'd ridden all his life but you gotta be a fool , an I told him where I came from an he just shook his head. That cop was one of the best we had. 
I will not with a car tire.

[Jess from VA]

One tolerable winter day, a group of us rode over to WVa some years ago, up on a mountain.  Stopped for coffee and a snack, and it proceeded to snow 4 inches on our bikes.  We stayed put in the coffee shop as it was snowing hard, and blowing sideways to boot, and there was a lot of laughing going on.

When the storm cleared (about an hour and a half), we went out and cleaned the snow off our bikes, suited up, and slowly departed down the mountain.  Fortunately, there were a lot of big dump trucks hauling dirt and gravel for some huge project nearby, and we rode in their tracks (slowly), which rapidly turned to deep muddy slush.  An hour later we were off the mountain and out of the snow, but I never had a bike (or me) more covered in crud, mud, dirt, and ice ever before, or since.  My Valk looked like I had been competing in a motocross event.

It's always a good idea when boating or MC riding to check the weather, not only where you live, but where you are going.... and if that includes mountains, watch out.     

[Gryphon Rider]

I would do what they were doing, on a dirt bike, or on a small street bike with knobby tires, especially if the roads were pretty much clear or wet.  I would not intentionally chance ice or snow on a heavy cruiser like a Valkyrie, although I have ridden Gryphon on hail-covered highways until I found a safe place to pull over and wait out the storm.

[msb]

I would not ride my Valk in snow....intentionally. I have on more than one occasion over the years been caught in an unexpected snow storm in a mountain pass in May or June, and believe me it is one scary situation on a Valk. The last one was enroute to Spearfish Inzane, where the Mrs and I encountered up to almost a foot of snow (not forecast) on the Kelowna Connector/97 as we headed North to attend a work convention prior to carrying on down to Spesrfish the following week. If it were not for the fact that we were two-up with 3 weeks of gear strapped in/on the bike and when the snow hit we were able to follow a 5 ton truck in his tire ruts all the way (snow was too deep to pull over), we wouldn't have made it.

Like Oleman, I used a Honda 250 XL as my daily transportation to work year round when our kids were born as we couldn't afford two vehicles since the Mrs had quit work to be at home. That was much more manageable and even fun at times...especially given that the roads were all lower elevation and in much better shape when it did snow. Froze by ***s off for 2 years though

[DirtyDan]

Only once on purpose

About 200 miles in snow across New Mexico back in 11

Dan

[Rams]

I used to do a lot of silly (dangerous) things, then I discovered just how much falling down at speed hurts.   Trying to avoid repeating that experience.  

Rams

[..]

I used to do a lot of silly (dangerous) things, then I discovered just how much falling down at speed hurts.   Trying to avoid repeating that experience.  

Rams

Yep, I don't bounce anymore.

[NewValker]

I got my m/c permit Jan 2, 1974.
Jan. 3 I rolled my Honda 160 out of the garage to ride to school. My father told me it was going to snow and I should take the bus.
Come on, what does the old man know anyhow?
3pm, walk out of school and see 4 niches of snow on my bike. Back then I didn’t know what a “pucker” moment was, but I sure had a 12 mile pucker ride home.
Yeah, he was usually right...
Craig

[98 T]

Cookiedough,   To add to  Mark's post.......  Mad6Gun  (Mark),  Psychotic Bovine (Chris)  and I were caught in a sudden snow storm in late June 2017.

Here's a photo of us taken  from a passenger in the car behind us as we worked our way down from  11,000 ft. altitude... slow and easy going!!

Mark is in front,  I'm in the middle, and Chris is in the back.

Don't want to do that again... at least with a heavy bike...maybe a  125cc dirt bike... maybe.  

[cookiedough]

that is a cool pick 3 valks and a car behind following way too close for comfort in case one rider goes down might get run over....  ONLY time I have been in snow/deep mud is my ATV's on 4 wheels and that ONE time in March when the trails were thawing from winter was NOT pretty.  I had 4-6 inches of mud caked on all over me and the ATV''s going afterwards to a power washer 2x's for over 10 minutes attempting to get 2 atv's and open trailer somewhat clean, enough so to actually hand wash them with a garden hose again when getting home.   We were going thru water/mud over our floorboards in a few long stretches even in 4wd was iffy giving them both heck to not get stuck in the muck.  Fun at the time until AFTER attempting to clean them up was NOT fun then.  Wife was yelling at me to NOT go thru the deep water/mud holes but had no choice, one time was afraid we would be swept down the swift running creek a few yards to the right of the ATV trail being flooded over.   My kid at the time riding solo (me 2-up) was having a blast though.

[¿spoom]

Back in the day in the land of High School, I would put a set of trials tires from JC Whitney on my little 305 Honda, for about $45~$50 dollars and maybe $20 for some hex head sheet metal screws to put in them. Most of the time I could get a ride to school from my older sister, but other days if it were too snowy to ride a bicycle I'd take the bike about 12 blocks towards the HS and then ride along a RR right of way to within a block of the school.
Would I do it today? No. I have nothing left to prove on the road, and worked too hard to get to 90% retired at age 62.
Dec 31 there were 2 fatal accidents in SE Wisconsin from slick roads-icy rain that turned to snow. Both accidents were cars that lost control and crossed the centerline into an oncoming vehicle. It's my plan not to be on a bike when it's snowing, in case I'm the oncoming vehicle.

[F6Dave]

Cookiedough,   To add to  Mark's post.......  Mad6Gun  (Mark),  Psychotic Bovine (Chris)  and I were caught in a sudden snow storm in late June 2017.

Here's a photo of us taken  from a passenger in the car behind us as we worked our way down from  11,000 ft. altitude... slow and easy going!!

Mark is in front,  I'm in the middle, and Chris is in the back.

Don't want to do that again... at least with a heavy bike...maybe a  125cc dirt bike... maybe.  

I was there too, but got very lucky.  Here's the same road one day earlier.

[DirtyDan]

Mt Evans ?

Dan

[Gryphon Rider]

Mt Evans ?

Dan

Beartooth Pass during Billings Inzane.  I was considering taking my son with me on the same route on the same day, but the forecast dissuaded me.

[DirtyDan]

Mt Evans ?

Dan

Beartooth Pass during Billings Inzane.  I was considering taking my son with me on the same route on the same day, but the forecast dissuaded me.

Thank you

Dan

[G-Man]

No way in H E double hockey sticks. I had my fill of snow on the infamous ride myself,my brother and 98T took at the Billings Insane on the Bear tooth highway. Plus I would never punish my Valk like that with the salt on the roads.

I saw the video of that chit!  Amazing stuff.  Glad you all made it back that day.  When I saw the video, I kept thinking, had Cher and I gone to Billings, we prolly would have been in the snow with you!!!

[98valk]

Cookiedough,   To add to  Mark's post.......  Mad6Gun  (Mark),  Psychotic Bovine (Chris)  and I were caught in a sudden snow storm in late June 2017.

Here's a photo of us taken  from a passenger in the car behind us as we worked our way down from  11,000 ft. altitude... slow and easy going!!

Mark is in front,  I'm in the middle, and Chris is in the back.

Don't want to do that again... at least with a heavy bike...maybe a  125cc dirt bike... maybe.  

and that's why you go Darkside. 

[rocketray]

Car and Driver magazine just had a great article on snowmobiles--all sub 4 second to 60 mph--204 hp--top speed over 100--apparently all the trails start and end w/ a bar--they publish the B.A.C. in the obituary

[Valkorado]

Have found myself in snow accidentally several times.  Couple seasons back it was sticking atop the Continental Divide.  Did NOT enjoy, but as the elevation dropped it turned to just wet again.  When I was a kid we rode enduros in snow and ice for fun, til' we almost froze to death.
-8 F now, was -20 when I woke.  It ain't a gonna happen for quite awhile!

[cookiedough]

Car and Driver magazine just had a great article on snowmobiles--all sub 4 second to 60 mph--204 hp--top speed over 100--apparently all the trails start and end w/ a bar--they publish the B.A.C. in the obituary

pretty  much any snowmobile goes too fast, let alone the souped up fancy ones.  Been over 80 mph on one on frozen lake,  once was enough hitting snow, then ice, then snow again having grip then NO grip sliding sideways some.  Agree,  snowmobiles in general where I live go bar hopping from town to town is about it but then again,  only able to go out 5-6 days of winter with less than snowy winters lately I guess is not such a bad thing.  My neighbor spent big bucks on a newer skidoo touring 2-up and another faster 1-up sled along with a snow trailer buying new.  He only went up north twice in 3 years owning them and maybe 2-3 times he said locally as well, just not worth the expense vs. usage where I live.  He ended up selling as an entire package deal for around 15 grand finally finding someone who had that kind of dough to spend on such limited usage machines.  I much rather prefer ATV's going slower and for me, more comfy as well sitting up higher and quieter as well.  I just wish the snowmobile trails locally were all OPEN for ATV use as well and none really are if over 4-5 inches of snow since the snowmobilers get pissed at ATVer's either ruining their groomed trail or going to slow for them.   Once on my local boring bike trail ATV route in winter if UNDER 4 inches of snow, suppose to be ONLY ATV use, but have seen once a few snowmobilers on them behind me with only 1-2 inches of snow on the trail.  They seemed pissed me doing around 40 mph them behind me wanting to pass and finally I pulled over 2-3 miles further up to let them speed demons go by me blowing by doing near 100 mph in no time flat.