Time to quit riding on the edge!

[CAC]

I'm on my way to a meeting in Leechburg PA. It's a mix of snow and rain with temps at about 34 degrees. I just stopped at a plaza on the pike to put on my heated gloves my thin dirt bike gloves just are not doing it!. This is the first time this fall for them. Any way I have just about 1,300 miles to go to reach my mileage goal to the season. May be tough to squeak it out! I want to crack the 1/4 million mark before I park it and do my winter maintenance. That will be 40,000 for the season.

[kwthom]

Hard core, man...

[haulinmail in md]

never ride on just be safe.. if its nice next week on sunday think were going for a ride i will try to let you know ..

[CAC]

Please do!

[hparsons]

That's definitely on the edge. I ride a lot, but if the temps are below freezing, and there is precip, I put it away. About 23 ears ago, I got scarred up from not taking icy conditions seriously enough. 5 years ago, I decided to take a risk, and almost put my bike down again. I tuck-tailed it back home, and decided that's my last attempt on icy conditions.

[530ktm]

I have been caught on some icy mountain roads in the past and it is nothing I want to encounter again. When the weather is that cold there is no reason for me to be on the bike. Problem I had was it was nice down on the valley floor but 7,000 feet up the mountain road it changed quickly.

[WB-Ron]

Hard head, man...

Fixed it for ya kwthom!

Just kidding Clair. You're having a great year for miles ! Be safe out there.

[kwthom]

Ha! Cute...

[HBarlow]

I admire someone with the testicles and skill to ride in those conditions but I don't do it. My old bones might not survive a crash.

[CAC]

It really wasn't bad,(although it could've been I guess) no laying and above freezing the whole time. It was supposed to have cleared up by the time I rode, dang weather men! I've also been caught in some real nasty conditions. I don't plan it though. I'm home safe now, so all is good for another day.

[MMR]

There have been TOO many times that I have been "caught" in icy or snowy road conditions. Heck, I even used to host a ride (a long time ago) that offered the riders a minimum of 50 miles of "falling snow", as we rode around Lake Tahoe. Most of it was in 2nd or 3rd gear, and inevitably there would be riders that fell down, but at slower speeds, on snowy roads, there is generally no damage, other than the bruised ego.

Had one time (1998) that I was riding south on I-84 in Oregon, south of Pendleton, going over Dead Man's Pass, and had to listen to all the truckers on their CBs talk about the crazy motorcycle rider out there in the snow, and they had a pool going as to what mileage marker I was going to go down at. Sure, I could have turned off my CB, so I wouldn't have to listen to the chatter, but I had money in the pool too, , so I knew which mileage marker to let the bike slide down the road. No damage...it was kinda funny, and several truckers stopped to help me pick up the bike.

Had another time (1997) that I was heading south to go to the White Stag rally down in Nevada...in January, and got caught in snow in southern Idaho. I kept riding, but at about 25 mph, behind a Idaho DOT snowplow. The problem was..it was also very cold, so with all my Gerbings Heated Clothing on...head to toes....and my PIAA 910 super lights on...but only going 25 mph, I was using more electrical power than I was producing. This was on a '94 GL1500 (much smaller alternator output). I eventually ran out of electrical power....engine started missing on a couple cylinders, and eventually the bike died.

The snowplow operator turned around when he saw that I had stopped.....he called the local sheriff....which came out with their 4x4 SUV....the sheriff used his vehicle to jump start my Wing...I then ran with no extra lighting, and only my heated jacket liner on, and I continued to follow the snowplow. The snowplow operator did NOT stop at the Idaho/Oregon border, but he continued on for another 25 or so miles to a small town in Oregon, made sure I got up to the parking lot of a motel, and then he headed back to Idaho.

Been far too many times like that. Much older now...probably not any wiser, but as CAC said..."Time to quit riding on the edge".

[kwthom]

<...>Had one time (1998) that I was riding south on I-84 in Oregon, south of Pendleton, going over Dead Man's Pass, and had to listen to all the truckers on their CBs talk about the crazy motorcycle rider out there in the snow, and they had a pool going as to what mileage marker I was going to go down at. Sure, I could have turned off my CB, so I wouldn't have to listen to the chatter, but I had money in the pool too, , so I knew which mileage marker to let the bike slide down the road. No damage...it was kinda funny, and several truckers stopped to help me pick up the bike.<...>

Doing my SS1000...early September, approaching the Continental Divide along I-40. Dark black cloud I'd been watching in front of me for 20 miles....decides it's gonna cut loose.

Well, I had already put on the Frog Toggs...so that part didn't bother me. Like you, the trucker's were yakking about the crazy SOB on the black bike riding in hail.

Right about that time, a four-wheeler spun out due to the slushy conditions and into the median, just as I was passing. I just backed off another 10 MPH (by then, I was probably doing ~25MPH) and kept things moving. About 1/4 mile past that point, the hail turns into sleet for a few seconds - the pucker on the seat got a bit stronger, and then the sleet changed to rain. As soon as I knew the road conditions were just wet (no frozen stuff), I gunned it out of there!

<...>Been far too many times like that. Much older now...probably not any wiser, but as CAC said..."Time to quit riding on the edge".

It's nice to know that if needed you can still ride on that edge; yes, it doesn't make it any easier, especially after all the years of experience.

[CAC]

I've posted this before on the other site, but I got caught on a trip out west, this was between Cheyenne and Laramie WY. It was beautiful and they weren't calling for anything. Started to sprinkle, sleet to snow in no time at all.

[MMR]

I've posted this before on the other site, but I got caught on a trip out west, this was between Cheyenne and Laramie WY. It was beautiful and they weren't calling for anything. Started to sprinkle, sleet to snow in no time at all.

CAC...oh...I have been on that stretch of road so many times, and it is very normal for changing weather to happen right before your eyes.

One time...going from West to East, they closed the Interstate 80 at Rawlins...for a short time, and when they reoponed it, there were high wind warnings for the next 500 miles...Eastbound. After I got through the little bit of drifting and blowing snow that was on the Interstate, I saw 13 big trucks...18 wheelers...that had been blown over onto their sides, from Cheyenne, WY...to Lincoln, NE.
The trucks were told to stay in the left lane because of the high winds....the left lane that I normallly fly-by in. So I spent 500 miles dodging trucks...some all over the roads, some laying on their sides.

Another time, rode from Seattle down to Norman, OK. for a RTE, weather was great going down there. Less than 24 hours later I was doing the return trip, and between Pueblo, CO. and Denver, CO it was snowing. I "should" have pulled off the Interstate, and found a room. But "no"..I had to tough it out. (stupid move) I continued north on I-25, thinking I would find a room around Fort Collins....snow was getting worse, and I forgot that everything for Fort Collins was wayyyyyy off the Interstate. Nothing close to the Interstate. So I blew past the exit for Fort Collins, and when I crossed over this small bridge that separated Colorado from Wyoming, I got into a full tank slapper, front and rear. I kept it up....slowed down to the side of the road...crept along the shoulder in 1st gear....then stupidly hit 2nd gear...then ignorantly hit 3rd gear....and that was all she wrote. Down at speed, punched my highway peg through my valve cover, oil all over me and the bike and the snow. Had to transport bike up to Cheyenne, spend two days there waiting for the Interstates to open, as they closed that town down tight for 2 days. Finally hauled the bike home in a U-haul, all the way back to Seattle.

Weather...changes quickly. When given the chance...pull off the road.

[hparsons]

I've posted this before on the other site, but I got caught on a trip out west, this was between Cheyenne and Laramie WY. It was beautiful and they weren't calling for anything. Started to sprinkle, sleet to snow in no time at all.

I couple bad experiences (one of them really bad, for me) has made me a total coward on icy roads. I'd have probably pulled over and called Mama to come get me...