Fun?

In a recent post on Scooter in the Sticks, Steve Williams asked the question "Is it fun to ride in the winter?". I have been giving this some thought as I hear similar questions all of the time. The most common being "Why?". First of all, I do find it "fun" to ride in the winter on something suitably equipped for the conditions. But that goes for just about anything. You may be able to get away with driving a cage with marginal tires or leaking fluids in the summer but it'll probably get you into trouble come winter.

Falling over even at a standstill is not my idea of fun. The sidecar helps to keep one from falling over even on roads where it's challenging to walk. The studded tires give you a little bite into the ice and to a lesser extent on packed snow which helps when accelerating, braking or cornering. Riding my old mountain bike with studded tires in the winter is fine as long as I stay out of deep snow, if I tried riding my road bike in similar conditions, I'd be on the ground before I ever make it out of the driveway. But even with studded tires, traction is still tenuous at best so there is still a fair amount of wheel spinning and sliding. The sliding is usually in the "fun" category.

Being cold is not my idea of fun. Dealing with winter temperatures while riding is easier if wind chill can be minimized. The full fairing, barn door sized windshield and bar end muffs on the RT provides such a pocket of air that I rarely needed anything more than my normal riding gear. The windshield, lowers and bar-end muffs on the Ural don't provide as much protection from the wind but it's enough. Many riders refuse to ride with a large windshield let alone a fairing. Those that ride without real wind protection generally feel frozen even at moderately cool temperatures. This was evident from my recent experience with other PBC (Polar Bear Challenge) participants. Some mention needing six or seven layers on top of heated gear and grips and still be frozen after a short ride. The heated jacket liner, heated gloves, flannel jeans and a fleece liner under the Roadcrafter Light was more than adequate down to -40°. At times, too warm.

Not being able to see where you are going is not fun. The Bombardier modular snow helmet that I picked up used last year has largely resolved that problem along with improved lighting on the rig. If it gets really cold, the visor will still tend to frost up even with the rubber face mask. Whojigger, the recent visitor from Ketchikan, riding a blue/white Ural, had an electric visor on the newer version of the same helmet. His visor never frosted up even without the rubber face mask. I may have to look into that. The air vents on the side of the helmet that the rubber mask connect to froze up a couple of times. This made breathing a bit difficult and the rubber mask felt somewhat clusterphobic.

Is it challenging to ride in the winter? As long as you are prepared for the weather and road conditions, not really. Am I trying to prove something? Maybe that a motorcycle with sidecar is a practical year 'round transportation option. Will I continue next winter? Probably. I don't see any reason to stop. The Ural is easier to ride during the winter as I don't need to shovel as much snow. Even with 8" of fresh snow on the driveway and road, no problems at all. I wouldn't try that with the BMW. But, is it fun? I think riding in the winter is more enjoyable than the summer but I don't have enough confidence in the hardware (Ural) to try a long winter ride.

There is a risk to relying on the engine running to stay warm. That would be a good reason for a large capacity battery in place of the standard motorcycle battery. But, on a motorcycle, you are generally on the road system and not in the middle of nowhere. If you were the typical dog musher or snow machine rider, you'd be off of the highway system and not near emergency services.

Trip update - For the rest of the week, we'll be in Elizabethtown, PA, spending time with Bridget's father. The temperatures are much more winter-like than Chicago. I've probably taken a picture of this bronze statue w/printing press before but I like the subject and the contrast with the sky. Note, no green grass yet. Clear blue skies for now but snow is forecast for Friday. It may not be too fun driving back to Philadelphia on Saturday for our flight back to Alaska.

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