More about Not Riding.

My Girlfriend goes to school in River Falls Wisconsin. Apart from being in one of the prettier areas of the state of Wisconsin, it is also over 300 miles away from my home in Milwaukee.

I try to visit her every couple of weeks, and since I prefer to ride whenever I can, this means I take my motorcycle there with some frequency. Motorcycle parking is free on campus too, which is a nice bonus.

With Valentines day this past week, it was a natural time to go and visit. The temperatures were only in the 20s, but I can easily deal with the cold, and was thinking the ride would be nice.

Then I checked the weather for the ride back.

When traveling in the Midwest in winter, a close eye has to be paid to the forecast, since we can get some pretty good snowstorms. I was traveling to RF on Monday, and returning on Thursday, in time to work at 6pm. The forecast for Thursday was very bad, with a large snowstorm across the entire state, and temps in the single digits - a little cold for riding. I did think about leaving on Wednesday instead, but the woman didn't like the idea of cutting the visit short, and so I was in my car.

There is a lesson here. I really wanted to ride the bike. In fact, the bike was packed, and I ended up bringing the saddlebags in the car. But Febuary is just a little too early in the year for longer road trips, and so I took the car. It was saver, and it is early in the year. There will be other trips.

Be safe, and keep the rubber side down.

Riding in the winter

It is Febuary, and I live in the Midwest. This means that on a good day, we hit the high 20s. Teens are frequent, and the only good news for this year and motorcycling is the lack of snow. So far, anyway.

I got my full dress touring bike back a few months ago. Prior to that I had been riding a BMW K100, a nice bike, but it needs tires. It is, however, much lighter, so even when I got my full dress bike back I kept riding it.

Lately, however, it has been the full dress bike all the time. I missed the XS11s, they are smooth, powerful, and the full dress bike cuts the amount of cold wind to a minium. I am sure people are looking at me like I am nuts, but that is life, sometimes - I am nuts.

Now, to ride in the winter, you have to dress warm, but the reall key is to reduce windchill. So at least, you have to be completely covered from head to toe with something that will eliminate the wind. To just be warm, I use Underarmor Cold Gear, under jeans and a fleece top. I have various warm socks, and when it is really cold or I have far to go, I wear silky dress socks under them. Like the Underarmor, this keep moisture away from my skin, which helps a lot.

For Motorcycle gear, I have First Gear, um, gear. A Kilimanjaro and HT overpants. I have waterproof winter EMS boots, which I only use in the winter, since they are not to comfy for walking. For my hands I have snowmobile gloves, which I can either use the included liner, or another, light pair of gloves under. My head gets a fleece balacava and a full face Shoei Helmet. You can use a flip helmet, if you want, but you should always have a helmet on. Perhaps more so in the winter, where the roads are less than ideal.

Since the Yamaha is air cooled, I give the bike a lot longer to warm up, and have winter weight oil in it, to reduce engine wear. After it is idling nice, I jump on, and on on my way.