Was out for about 1/2 hr today.
Temp was 44F here.... both me and the bike were a little sluggish.
Temp was 44F here.... both me and the bike were a little sluggish.
Who else rides in winter when able?
- Thread starter LoneRanger
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I was out today as well. Temps in the mid 50's but overcast & gloomy looking. Clean roads, though. Cool air, new plugs, new air filter, fresh Silkolene ... she was wanting to gallop. And did here and there...
My bikes are my commute vehicles all year. Ice on the roads is rare here and snow more so. Even so, some days I see few bikes on my 100 mile r.t. commute.
True Snow riding story...
Back in 78 aboard my street legal 250cc Husqvarna my friends and I
were headed towards Running Springs on a dirt road in the San
Bernardino mountains... The higher we climbed the more patches of snow
to knife through... It was always a race to be the first to part the
virgin snow and cover your buddies in an icy spray... Taking the lead
I was topped out in 4th gear in a turn on the side of the mountain and
came upon a single white patch that looked to be all of 1 inch deep...
no problem, I thought, I'll just power slide through it at 60 mph and
spray my friends in tow... but the only trouble was the innocent
looking patch wasn't innocent... mercy it was actually 24 inches of
deep of powder... First snow shot off both sides of the front tire
with such a force that my feet came off the pegs... next a wall of
white enveloped the handle bars... and finally front end plowed in
with such a shuddering force that I became air borne without a visual
clue where to land... mayday mayday... as I cleared the wall of white
the sight wasn't pretty... it was an aerial view of the canyon
below... I had ejected me and my Trusty Husky clean off the side of
the mountain road... I had micro seconds to set up for the best
approach... I leveled the bike... stood on the pegs and cringed hoping
for no rocks... the crash proved to be uneventful as the mud cushioned
the landing to the point I was stuck... there I sat looking eye level
at the road surface I just departed... peering over my shoulder I
witnessed my buddies looking in all directions for my whereabouts...
they couldn't believe how I could have vanished right in before their
eyes... white out to wipe out that's how...
Back in 78 aboard my street legal 250cc Husqvarna my friends and I
were headed towards Running Springs on a dirt road in the San
Bernardino mountains... The higher we climbed the more patches of snow
to knife through... It was always a race to be the first to part the
virgin snow and cover your buddies in an icy spray... Taking the lead
I was topped out in 4th gear in a turn on the side of the mountain and
came upon a single white patch that looked to be all of 1 inch deep...
no problem, I thought, I'll just power slide through it at 60 mph and
spray my friends in tow... but the only trouble was the innocent
looking patch wasn't innocent... mercy it was actually 24 inches of
deep of powder... First snow shot off both sides of the front tire
with such a force that my feet came off the pegs... next a wall of
white enveloped the handle bars... and finally front end plowed in
with such a shuddering force that I became air borne without a visual
clue where to land... mayday mayday... as I cleared the wall of white
the sight wasn't pretty... it was an aerial view of the canyon
below... I had ejected me and my Trusty Husky clean off the side of
the mountain road... I had micro seconds to set up for the best
approach... I leveled the bike... stood on the pegs and cringed hoping
for no rocks... the crash proved to be uneventful as the mud cushioned
the landing to the point I was stuck... there I sat looking eye level
at the road surface I just departed... peering over my shoulder I
witnessed my buddies looking in all directions for my whereabouts...
they couldn't believe how I could have vanished right in before their
eyes... white out to wipe out that's how...
Temps still get hot in the winter, it just takes longer.
Originally Posted By: buckeyejake
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: buckeyejake
I don't unless its fifty and we have had rain to wash the salt away . If I get a chance I like to put 50 miles or so , and top off the gas . Cold weather riding is hard on Harley as oil never really gets warmed up.
Jake
Sure it does. I rode in November a few seasons ago. It was -8c. I had my heated gear on.
My dipstick oil temp gauge showed 220f after 7 miles riding to the main highway. So why would you think a harley doesn't get hot. Just because it's air cooled doesn't mean cold ambient temps will prevent the engine from achieving operating temp.
In fact ambient temp has very little effect,if any,on combustion chamber temps. So if those temps are consistent as with warmer operating conditions then ambient will have little effect on the temp inside the actual engine.
Sure the front jug will be cooler however that doesn't mean inside isn't hot.
Where did you record that temp from ? The tank ? That seem way out of line , the hottest I have seen is about 230 . Winter temps would be way less than 200
Jake
I had a dipstick thermometer so that's the sump temps as the oil returns to the pan after spraying out of the bearings and trickling down from the top end.
My bike is a dyna,so it's a rubber mount,so no oil tank/bag.
My bike is also significantly modified. S&S 106 kit,tw6-6 cams,heads were milled to insure flat and increase compression. Manual compression releases,10 row oil cooler,S&S 58mm throttle body. I'm forgetting some stuff.
It's got 107hp/115tq. It's tuned to run lean once the PCV detects a cruise condition so at highway speeds it's cylinder temps are somewhat warmer.
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: buckeyejake
I don't unless its fifty and we have had rain to wash the salt away . If I get a chance I like to put 50 miles or so , and top off the gas . Cold weather riding is hard on Harley as oil never really gets warmed up.
Jake
Sure it does. I rode in November a few seasons ago. It was -8c. I had my heated gear on.
My dipstick oil temp gauge showed 220f after 7 miles riding to the main highway. So why would you think a harley doesn't get hot. Just because it's air cooled doesn't mean cold ambient temps will prevent the engine from achieving operating temp.
In fact ambient temp has very little effect,if any,on combustion chamber temps. So if those temps are consistent as with warmer operating conditions then ambient will have little effect on the temp inside the actual engine.
Sure the front jug will be cooler however that doesn't mean inside isn't hot.
Where did you record that temp from ? The tank ? That seem way out of line , the hottest I have seen is about 230 . Winter temps would be way less than 200
Jake
I had a dipstick thermometer so that's the sump temps as the oil returns to the pan after spraying out of the bearings and trickling down from the top end.
My bike is a dyna,so it's a rubber mount,so no oil tank/bag.
My bike is also significantly modified. S&S 106 kit,tw6-6 cams,heads were milled to insure flat and increase compression. Manual compression releases,10 row oil cooler,S&S 58mm throttle body. I'm forgetting some stuff.
It's got 107hp/115tq. It's tuned to run lean once the PCV detects a cruise condition so at highway speeds it's cylinder temps are somewhat warmer.
Hit the 50s yesterday around here too, so I took her out for about an hour. I winterize with a strong dose of Stabil in the tank and top off whenever I ride. That's as far as I get, I just keep riding as much as I can otherwise.
Just got back from a 200 mile rt Polar Bear ride. The sky started out sunny, but then turned overcast and stayed that way. Temp was 45 f when we left, and only went up yo 48 in Collegeville PA. The roads were clear with wet patches every now and then. The closer we got to Pa, and while in PA , there was between 1-4 inches of snow on the grass.A nice invigorating day. The bike ran good while getting 43.3 MPG, which is about average.,,
Used to ride until snow arrived, but once that happens salt stays on roads until first good rains of spring. Even if weather warms up, there is so much salt dust on roads I won't pull out the bike.
The more I ride the C14 in cold weather the more I think it's a bad idea for water cooled bikes. My air cooled Kawasaki 1000 would burn condensation off pretty quick and the sight glass would be clear as a bell. The C14 doesn't do so well, I can ride for an hour and the sight glass is still frosty white with condensation. Anyone else notice this on their water cooled bike ?
Originally Posted By: FastGame
The more I ride the C14 in cold weather the more I think it's a bad idea for water cooled bikes. My air cooled Kawasaki 1000 would burn condensation off pretty quick and the sight glass would be clear as a bell. The C14 doesn't do so well, I can ride for an hour and the sight glass is still frosty white with condensation. Anyone else notice this on their water cooled bike ?
My Kawasaki ZX600 temp gauge would barely move when it was in the 20s or less. Sight glass stayed clear though.
It's replacement, a GSX-R750 L, which was air/oil cooled required the choke to be run for a long time when it was that cold. You could touch the cooling fins with a bare hand. I think maybe the oil got hot enough being squirted at the bottom of the pistons to burn off the acids and condensation.
Ironically, the least of my bikes, my CN250 Helix, you just step on the brake pedal and press the starter button and go. The radiator is like, what,...6 feet away from the engine? It doesn't care. Its engine is nestled nicely in its tupperware somewhere behind me. It just thumps away happily from 30° to 105°. It knows that its .8 qt of oil will get changed frequently
The more I ride the C14 in cold weather the more I think it's a bad idea for water cooled bikes. My air cooled Kawasaki 1000 would burn condensation off pretty quick and the sight glass would be clear as a bell. The C14 doesn't do so well, I can ride for an hour and the sight glass is still frosty white with condensation. Anyone else notice this on their water cooled bike ?
My Kawasaki ZX600 temp gauge would barely move when it was in the 20s or less. Sight glass stayed clear though.
It's replacement, a GSX-R750 L, which was air/oil cooled required the choke to be run for a long time when it was that cold. You could touch the cooling fins with a bare hand. I think maybe the oil got hot enough being squirted at the bottom of the pistons to burn off the acids and condensation.
Ironically, the least of my bikes, my CN250 Helix, you just step on the brake pedal and press the starter button and go. The radiator is like, what,...6 feet away from the engine? It doesn't care. Its engine is nestled nicely in its tupperware somewhere behind me. It just thumps away happily from 30° to 105°. It knows that its .8 qt of oil will get changed frequently
Being in South Carolina at the moment I can ride pretty much year round, as we will typically only get 1 or 2 days of significant snow: if that. In SO FLA it never gets cold at all.
I commute daily, and ride in the mountains(western N.C.) on the weekends. The mountains are typically 10-15 degrees cooler than here in the foothills. I won't ride in the mountains if there is snow as sand/salt, and twisties just don't mix.
I commute daily, and ride in the mountains(western N.C.) on the weekends. The mountains are typically 10-15 degrees cooler than here in the foothills. I won't ride in the mountains if there is snow as sand/salt, and twisties just don't mix.
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Originally Posted By: FastGame
The more I ride the C14 in cold weather the more I think it's a bad idea for water cooled bikes. My air cooled Kawasaki 1000 would burn condensation off pretty quick and the sight glass would be clear as a bell. The C14 doesn't do so well, I can ride for an hour and the sight glass is still frosty white with condensation. Anyone else notice this on their water cooled bike ?
Must be a poor design behind the C14. My Multistrada's sight glass has never shown condensation inside and temp readout shows normal rise to operating range. Runs great in the cold, wants to lift the front wheel all the time.
The more I ride the C14 in cold weather the more I think it's a bad idea for water cooled bikes. My air cooled Kawasaki 1000 would burn condensation off pretty quick and the sight glass would be clear as a bell. The C14 doesn't do so well, I can ride for an hour and the sight glass is still frosty white with condensation. Anyone else notice this on their water cooled bike ?
Must be a poor design behind the C14. My Multistrada's sight glass has never shown condensation inside and temp readout shows normal rise to operating range. Runs great in the cold, wants to lift the front wheel all the time.
merely ride?
i have a race this weekend!
i have a race this weekend!
That's the spirit!
Coldest I've ridden to work is 19F here at Ft Hood area...
I did a day trip to Dallas (3 hours up) and it was 25F when we started..
If it isn't raining, snowing, or foggy, I'm riding!
I did a day trip to Dallas (3 hours up) and it was 25F when we started..
If it isn't raining, snowing, or foggy, I'm riding!
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I ride my C14 until they drop too much car cancer on the roads over here in Wisconsin. I have never seen condensation in my sight glass. Rode to work a few days ago, it was 18 out and saw nothing. Only a 20 minute ride to work if I can avoid the texters, mobile beauty salons, and paper readers.
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