Winter riding is the last great bastion of motorcycling. I class winter motorcyclists at the top level, together with GP racers and round-the-world daredevils.
Theres nothing to beat going in to have your haemorroids removed on a stormy day with subzero temperatures and drifts of snow, walking in to the doctors waiting room in your full gear, removing your helmet in a puddle of melted snow and seeing the fantasies flitting across the eyes of the pretty young mothers in the room.
Or when the Ducati/Harley blokes at work, who won't talk bikes with you in the lunch break bacuse you're not one-of-us-anyway-with-that-cheapo-bit-of-#$%*e, give you the nod when you arrive at work covered in a layer of snow and crud, and you can give them a witheringdon't-look-at-me-you-wimp blistering glance of disdain.
Or the feeling of deep and utter satisfaction when you reach that state of nirvana on a piss-wet day with zero visibility and freezing temperatures, when you physical discomforts disappear, and the sound of your trusty and dependable winter bike fills your soul, and you glow with the realization that you are one with the elements, and you are the ONLY biker on the road...it must be the same feeling of elated solitude Everest climbers have for that split second before a party of Japanese tourists make the summit.
Its also the technical challenge of preparing a bike for a hard winter. My winter bike is an XT600, battle scarred and worn, gaunt and dependable. I love this bike, I have the same feeling for it as an old bloke I saw at a watch shop the other day. I was standing next a to a young couple buying a real flash Swiss automatic chronograph with ALL the glitzy chronometer functions, helium release...you get the picture, and this weatherbeaten old farmer walks in and takes off a heavy, battered tin mechanical wristwatch, asking to have it cleaned. The clerk smiled and pointed out that for the price of the cleaning he buy a nice quartz watch and enjoy great precision, to which the farmer replies: My father set this watch every day to the grandfather clock, and I have done the same ever since. My watch tells me what time it is, all day, every day. Clean it.
Where was I...ah, technical challenges! If there are any 750ers out there who would like to preheat your oil before cold weather starting, check out my XT600 (also a dry sump) oil-heating page:
http://www.biosciencecommunications.dk/XT/Heater.htmAnyone else have winter riding tips - I would sure love to hear them!
