[vito]

Today 40 degrees with 40mph winds. 3-5 inches of snow tomorrow with lows of about 12 at night. Highs in the 20's and low 30's most of next week. I guess it is really time to retire the bike for the season. This will be the second year in a row that I didn't wait until December. Oh well, I still have my 7 monthly motocycle magazines and can look forward to the International Motorcycle Show in mid-February. I plan on sitting on some new bikes, maybe buying new modular helmets for my wife and myself, and will try hard to avoid buying any more pairs of gloves to add to the drawfull that I already own.

 

[mike721]

I'm sorry your season is ending. I'm still hanging in here in Pennsylvania and hoping to ride into December. This year so far so it's been good but the weather could turn at any time, this storm that's bringing you snow is only supposed to be rain here but it's getting close.
I probably will have to end the 4 am commuting soon, I've been riding in below freezing weather in the mornings and just making sure it's dry out but I'm afraid of hitting black ice on the interstate if I misjudge the weather in the hills I cross on the way to work. After that I hope to at least get a few rides in during the day until things really get ugly and the bikes get hibernated.
I didn't ride into work today, it was warm this morning and only drizzly but supposed to be really rainy and windy later, I don't mid either of those in moderation but the combination sounded like a bit much especially as night falls so early when it's stormy..yeah, I wussed out and took the cage.
Tomorrow looks better though, I plan on riding.

Today 40 degrees with 40mph winds. 3-5 inches of snow tomorrow with lows of about 12 at night. Highs in the 20's and low 30's most of next week. I guess it is really time to retire the bike for the season. This will be the second year in a row that I didn't wait until December. Oh well, I still have my 7 monthly motocycle magazines and can look forward to the International Motorcycle Show in mid-February. I plan on sitting on some new bikes, maybe buying new modular helmets for my wife and myself, and will try hard to avoid buying any more pairs of gloves to add to the drawfull that I already own.

 

[Porky]

You tough guys would probably ride here in SW Missouri where right now it's 46 degrees under bright blue skies and will more than likely go up to 65 or so.

In order for me to ride comfortably with the bikes I currently have, I'd have to put on so many layers of clothes, I'd look like the Michelin Man or the Pillsbury doughboy and people in town would be laughing and pointing fingers at me and my virgin feelings would be easily hurt:biggrin:

55 and above is okay with me but I prefer 70!

Sam:biggrin:

 

[Rollin']

Same here in S.E. Wisconsin. Riding to work today, tomorrow the snow starts. :frown: It has been a great fall.

 

[CTX]

This retirement nonsense is not working out as I had planed. I'm busier now then when I was working. I was hoping to get the bikes put away and the batteries pulled before the first snow but it didn't happen. If we get the higher amounts that they say we might get, hopefully it will melt in a few days so I wont need to clear a path out to the barn.:icon_mad:

 

[hogcowboy]

Well I certainly hate to hear it because that just means the cold is about to hit here. They are predicting 28º for Saturday/Sunday. My hour+ rides will be very uncomfortable from here on I guess.


Edit: Well heck. They just lowered it to 27º. By the time it gets here they'll have it down to 20º

 

[vito]

Once it gets much below 50 I just don't enjoy the riding very much. Bundled up and with heavy gloves and boots, thermals under my jeans and the cold air still sneaks in under my helmet. Its funny but the same weather that says to me that its time to pack it in for the winter is more than fine when spring arrives. After not riding for awhile I am more inclined to put up with the cold than I am after months of great riding weather.

As to winterizing, I haven't pulled the battery out in years. I've had, on my last few bikes, a Powerlet added directly to the battery. I just plug the Battery Tender in and leave it untouched for the winter. So other than hooking up the Tender, all I do is add the Stabil to the tank (and then let it run for about 5 minutes), stuff some rags in the pipes, and put the cover over the bike. I don't even bother cleaning and waxing it first (by the time I get ready to end the season its already too cold to be out there with a bucket and hose). I do clean the bugs off the windscreen so that they are not permanently affixed when I go out in the Spring.

 

[mike721]

46/65 and blue skies sounds glorious!

You tough guys would probably ride here in SW Missouri where right now it's 46 degrees under bright blue skies and will more than likely go up to 65 or so.

 

[Critter]

50's and off and on rain here. Tomorrow may be okay, but then the temp drops over the weekend with a high of 42 Sunday (and I will be on the boat in a fishing tournament). I need to get out tomorrow it may be the last chance for a while

 

[Jeckler]

It can still hit 80 here in Phoenix, but the morning temps are getting into the low 40's. I had to put the liner in my jacket last weekend.

 

[CTX]

I've got dozens of batteries to keep charged, so I pull the smaller ones out (both 6 and 12 volts) and have a charging station down in the basement. This way I see them and remember to charge them. An hour or so on a tender and they're usually good for a few weeks. The summer cars and tractor batteries get charged a few times during the winter (when I remember.) And if I make it out to the barn.

 

[DianneB]

We're having our first "winter storm" here today as well - temperature of 25F right now and dropping to 14F tonight. It has been snowing since the middle of the night and there is already a small drift in front of my garage door.

The batteries are still in all the machinery, the tractor is in the garage but the snow blower is out in the 'back 40'. Oh well, there's always tomorrow .....

 

[hogcowboy]

Does your first snowfall stick and it just gets deeper or does it melt so you can move things for the winter?

 

[Dodsfall]

Does your first snowfall stick and it just gets deeper or does it melt so you can move things for the winter?

The first few snowfalls usually melt. Once mid-December rolls around it, stays for the winter.

 

[joejinky]

I am anxiously awaiting the end of my riding season here in southern Kentucky. ALL of the chrome is coming off of my bike, and everything is going to be powder coated so that I do not have to fuss with trying to keep everything shiny going into 2016. I am going to powder coat three sets of wheels, the mufflers, the crash bars ... everything! I want to be able to clean my bike with a power washer, not a toothbrush and a wad of Never-Dull!

 

[CTX]

Does your first snowfall stick and it just gets deeper or does it melt so you can move things for the winter?

Any snow we get before late December is just a nuisance that melts in a few days and messes up the roads. I don't usually count on lasting snows until after Christmas and or after the ground freezes.

 

[hogcowboy]

Well this is all well and good but the question was actually meant for DianneB in Canada. I should have quoted her. Being that far north I was thinking things might be different. Much colder when the first snow falls so maybe it stuck. Never been that far north so have no idea.

 

[DianneB]

Does your first snowfall stick and it just gets deeper or does it melt so you can move things for the winter?

Depends on temperature and sunshine. Any time from Halloween onward, it just might stay. The temperature has dropped so fast that this snow is likely to stay. I have a gravel driveway so I need to get a hard-packed base of a few inches before I dare use the snow blower otherwise it picks up and throws stones and that thing has one hellof an arm! LOL!

I went 12 miles to the nearby village after lunch and the highways were TREACHEROUS! Almost solid ice so the pavement temperature has dropped below freezing.

Hard to believe I was out riding on Sunday ...... and now this *****!

 

[Stainlesstehle]

The fall was rather short for me. I seemed to be too busy whenever we had some really nice days. Otherwise it's been rainy or cold and windy.
I have my bike put away lightly though. I can bust it out at any time weather permitting.
I don't mind cold or rain, just not together. With the coming storm I don't expect snow to stick yet, the ground isn't frozen and I don't think there'll be enough to last long...but I could be wrong.

 

[Offcenter]

Raining like hell here in Jersey at the moment. But nice weather is predicted for the next week or so. I'm still planning on racking up a few more miles before I have to park the bikes.