Winter Road Conditions

[chucknorris]

Hey all,
Just wondering for you guy's who get winter!! DOes the Dept of Highway's use Salt or sand or a combo for slippery road conditions?? I live in Eastern Canada and they have to use a mix of salt and sand to ensure the roads are not slippery for driving.

I would ride all year round only for that,You can dress for the cold the same as ski-dooing if the roads were not salt covered and even sand for that matter.You Southern guy's don't know how lucky you have it:BLAA: I have to go to Florida in the winter months and rent a bike to cure the craving

 

[Outlaws Justice]

in New York, the only thing that keeps me from riding is getting the salt on the bikes. When it is DRY I ride.

You do not want to go to Florida, all the roads are straight!

 

[mxgolf]

Here in Oregon we use what's called sand but it's really pea gravel. Bad news for motorcycles and car windshields. They have also started to use this chemical on the roads to prevent freezing of the roads and it seems to work. We haven't had any real snow down below yet so I'm not sure how that stuff works with any real amounts of the white stuff. The motorcycle is parked mostly during the winter. I have two cages now. My 99 Tacoma pickup and a new 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid. No reason to ride in the crappy winter weather we have in the land of rain. :spank:

 

[Ssky0078]

I lived in upstate NY for awhile and they salted the hell out of the roads. In AZ we don't have to worry about any of that, only dirt and gravel that washes into the road from flooding every time it rains.

BTW Chuck Norris generates such an enourmous bio-magnetic field that he heats and dries all roads he rides on. Or Chuck Norris spit cleans everything.

 

[Azrael]

They use salt in New Jersey. Some towns are decent enough to use the small crystals but some others are jackasses and use the big crystals. Pretty terrible to drive on. I find them routinely embedded in my chain links when I'm lubing the chain, which is everyday now because of the high moisture and salt that gets onto it.

 

[chucknorris]

Yeah was in NY last year for the first time for a visit in Feb/March and got the same crappy weather we get here in Eastern Canada.... actually thinking of hitting upstate Newyork this year on bike if work allows.This is my year to leave this Island I live on and see the real world on 2 wheels...:rockon:

 

[Ssky0078]

This is my year to leave this Island I live on and see the real world on 2 wheels...:rockon:

Chuck Norris is free like the wind and goes anywhere he dam well pleases.

 

[OneCheekRider]

The other day I was behind a salt truck at a stop light (with some distance between us) and he was still dumping salt even though he was sitting still. There was literally a pile of it on the road when the light changed :shakehead:

I think the FZ will stay in hibernation until spring

 

[FIZZER6]

In central VA I'm lucky in that the only put sand on intersections and they only salt intersections, hills and curves on most backroads and we only have weather that requires that about 3 times each winter .

My problem is the cold! I can't stand riding in cold weather. At 8% body fat and 140 lbs I simply don't have the mass or insulation for it, even in cold weather gear. Anything below 40F and I don't ride. It sucks because that means I only get to ride a couple days in January and February. Things get better in mid-March usually but then I'm dodging rain showers.

My tolerance for cold riding would be better if I rode in a city but I ride all highway and backroads so my average speeds are 60-75mph. Cold is MUCH worse at those speeds!

 

[Baci]

SLC has an abundance of salt(Great Salt Lake is up there with the dead sea). So there is mass amounts spread on the roads. I think they started using a chemical too on the freeways, seems like a salt mix or sorts.

Today was a MAJOR tease, 42F right now, sun is out(smog in winter makes the sun dissappear for weeks in the valley, giving us some of the worst air in the USA. 1# i think)

I would hop my bike right now if there wasnt piles of salt and melting snow everywhere.

Florida in the winter months and rent a bike to cure the craving

I am heading there in March.....thanks for the idea! Bike rental is now on my list with boar hunting and fishing :rockon:

Idaho i hear puts cinder(volcanic rocks) on the roads, I was checking out a car to buy that had drove the winter in Idaho.....MURDER on the paint job

 

[VEGASRIDER]

This may sound crazy to most of you, but I really have come to enjoy winter riding. Single digit temps, rain, snow, ice is a very nice change from what I've been use to riding down in Vegas.

Plus I like the fact that I am the only bike out there riding. Can't even remember when I waved to another motorcyclist.

 

[JoeSTL]

I rode in some bad wintery weather last month, and it really was not fun. It was lightly snowing with wet and slick roads, plus extremely windy. I was actually more afraid of the wind than anything else. Since then, the bike is away until the weather is above freezing. There is too much salt and other crap on the road to really be safe.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Depending on how much worse it's going to get, I might purchase a helmet that comes with a heated pane visor to prevent the snow and ice from building up. Since the studs are working so well on the Enduro, I am seriously considering getting the FZ studded for next year.

 

[Baci]

This may sound crazy to most of you, but I really have come to enjoy winter riding. Single digit temps, rain, snow, ice is a very nice change from what I've been use to riding down in Vegas.

Plus I like the fact that I am the only bike out there riding. Can't even remember when I waved to another motorcyclist.

Crazy? :BLAA: haha why yes that is what comes to mind. Just messing really, snow and ice means snowboarding not motorcycles for me. Props to you if you enjoy it! With warm gear its not bad, I have just had a bad experience.

I laid my first bike down(only time) in the winter when i got hit by a surprise storm on my way home. Luckily it was only about @ about 15 MPH. The back end slipped out and holy **** the bike and myself were on the ground faster than you could imagine it. That spill taught me how nice an armored jacked would be.

You remind me of this dude who I sold some water proof gear to once when i worked retail back in the day, he wanted something he could ride in a down pour in and not get wet. I chatted him up and and told me he rode the bike 24/7. I admired him and it changed my mind about winter riding...for a short time. haha.

 

[dolau]

In the UK they use grit and slat mixed together- really trashes Yamaha paint jobs unless you are very careful when you get home after a ride..... that reminds me- I have some painting to do before spring ((

 

[why_not_Zoidberg?]

NW PA checking in, Lake Effect snow is the best! I don't call it winter, I call it Suby Season!

oh, salt most places, sand in downtown Erie (so salt doesn't run down to the lake).

 

[FIZZER6]

It is a shame that the things they use to make roads drive-able in winter also DESTROY paint and metal! Reason #1947473 that I will never live north of Virginia.