Triumphrat

MassiveAttack · 11-15-2009, 10:59 PM

I save nothing on gas (about what I'd get from a Honda sedan). That I'm 35 affords me a slight discount on my insurance policy. People are either willingly or unwittingly trying to kill me every day. It's a video game with no "reset" button.

This is how I go to Work. And I work for the bar-ends, the K&N, and that 24k service that's about to kick me in the berries.

Still, when I am cold...when I understand that my single rear is the cost of most generic American cage tires x 4, I still do it. I grimace at fair-weather asshats but wave, nonetheless.

I'm the worst sort of junkie.

EDIT - I was drunk when making this post. Treat accordingly

EvilBetty · 11-16-2009, 02:14 AM

I ride unconditionally until the freezing temperatures hit.

Then if there is a single sign of rain I drive the cage. Riding is fun, but sliding out on ice or watching your bike rot from the salt spray is not.

If you can afford the gear to stay warm all winter nothing else should stop you

MassiveAttack · 11-16-2009, 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilBetty

If you can afford the gear to stay warm all winter nothing else should stop you

Ride cold. Also tells you who loves motorcycles.

And then there are squids...

MassiveAttack · 11-16-2009, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilBetty

I ride unconditionally until the freezing temperatures hit.

Then if there is a single sign of rain I drive the cage. Riding is fun, but sliding out on ice or watching your bike rot from the salt spray is not.

If you can afford the gear to stay warm all winter nothing else should stop you

True. I'm a Southerner, and don't deal with ice (here). But 23F at 80mph hurts.

johnyC · 11-16-2009, 04:15 AM

MassiveAttack,

I ride all year round, have done all my motorcycling life. My 'commute' for nearly 20years (400mile round trip every couple of weeks) has been mostly done in all weathers by motorcycle too. Easter Monday 08 I was paddling along with my feet down, in 2nd gear, in a blizzard, between Inverbervie and Aberdeen. On other occasions I've sat for 4or5 hours in p'ing rain or 10 below. No medal required, loads of riders do it.

However. As a result, my bikes often have to sit in a salt solution, under a tarpaulin, for two weeks at a time, while I'm at work (north sea) This is torture on the bike and me. So, for the first winter in living memory, my bike is cleaned and stashed away in the shed and I'll be taking the train or hiring a car. Significantly, my T100 (chromed cases, etc) is the first bike I've had where I can't bear to have her trashed by being left stewing in salt under a cloth for two weeks at a time. Keeper? I'll be naming her next

jonkster · 11-16-2009, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnyC

Keeper? I'll be naming her next

no! no! no! never name them!

You'll regret it, you know it!

Once they have a name they'll know they've won.

Comes the time when good sense says to just let 'em go gently into that good night - you won't be able to do it (or not without hating yourself for the rest of time). Don't do it! Don't name them!

propforward · 11-16-2009, 06:50 AM

Well, it's 24°F out, and I'm about to suit up to ride to work.

I am nuts, I think.

drainbamage · 11-16-2009, 06:56 AM

Fanatically riding all year round.

They cry "Are you mad? There's 110km/h winds out there today! The rain is horizontal! The fish in the sea are being evacuated to the tropics and the trees have gone under-ground! Why don't you use your car!?!?!"
I answer "yes."

Note: the weather conditions have been dramatized to make the poster seem very manly.

Tbirdnz · 11-16-2009, 06:58 AM

It's not such a big deal here in Auckland, end of Spring now but I ride all my bikes right throughout the year. I don't necessarily set off in rain unless I have an organised outing with another biker(s) but I prefer it to high winds.

I think I've ridden more this last winter than I have this Spring but I try to get out most days on the bike, failing that I'm always on the farm bike all weathers.

-------------
Ride on !

Bonnie06Tangerine · 11-16-2009, 07:50 AM

I don't commute to work; too much stuff going on...gear to haul, meetings, site visits, yada yada yada. Just not practical for me plus riding on Bonnie is an escape of relaxation so I am not sure if I would want to incorporate her into my work life if I could. With that said, I do gear up and ride year round; it can be done with the right gear. I found the hands are the biggest challenge for me but the guy I bought Bonnie from threw in those gloves that plug in to the battery. I am not sure the name of them but they do a good job. There are probably better products out there but these keep the fingers toasty for the entire ride. The ride I did on Veterans Day to pay respects out at Madingley cemetery was a good test for them as it was only 36 degrees when I left out in the morning. I was certainly ready for a cup of coffee by the time I got to the cemetery but it wasn't so bad that it wanted to make me stop. I then proceeded after the wreath ceremony to go out for a six hour ride. No commuting for me though...impractical and my Trumpet is a source of escape and enjoyment from the daily grind. Where does that rank me on the Motorcyclists Elitist Totem Pole?