Honda-SOHC
Other Stuff => Misc / Open => Topic started by: UK Pete on December 04, 2010, 10:13:22 AM
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I am getting well pissed off with the snow now, most of my bikes will not see tarmac till spring , but even my old winter rat bikes are marooned in the back yard waiting for snow and ice to clear, i need to get out and ride
Pete
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Hi Pete,
Been to work on my 400/4 every day this week here in Sheffield. NOBODY could get in by car.
Interesting to say the least riding through 12" of snow - but at least you can push a bike out of trouble. No plans to go out this weekend though!
Cheers - Chris R.
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Your a brave man chris, i used to be a die hard all weather biker but i must be going soft as i get older the thing is even though its possible to ride its not really enjoyable, a friend of mine trashed his 1200 bandit this week in the ice, you have to be so carefull
Plus the salt water eats the bikes alive
Pete
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I've installed myself in the cellar with a goal to finish my 650 project, music on the stereo and warmth....makes up for not enjoying riding on ice.
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You are right, its what every one else does on the roads that can be the problem. But, I have never owned a car (commuted by bike for 34 years now), and faced with a 7 mile journey to work, no buses or trains, no holiday left and wanting to get paid, I made the best of it. Enjoyable - No! Necessary - sadly, yes.
The salt is indeed having a good time with the 400 - its on its second frame already, the other having rotted through at the rear shock mounts. Hopefully it will last till retirement and can then go for scrap! Can't save them all.
Chris R.
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Wow Chris - now that is dedication. I used to commute everyday from 1977 till about 1991 about 8 miles but my wife put a stop to it when my 400/4 got stolen and I bought a Z650B1 as a temporary stopgap. The 400/4 looked tiny compared with it and for some reason she thought that the bigger the bike, the more dangerous it is.
I have your solution for next winter until retirement - turn a Sandcast into a trike ;D
Cheers
AshD
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I bet the sandcasts dont come out in the winter Chris ;D ;D
Pete
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I normally ride through the winter but even I am having a rest at the moment, it's just too cold even with several layers of tweed.
The local authority haven't bothered to salt the local roads so until I reach the B roads it's like riding on an ice-skating rink and I'm getting old; I used to bounce more easily.
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Old Age, dermatitis and arthritis stop me riding in the winter, Its bad enough piloting 53 ft long 8 ft 6 wide and 44 tonne bending things in this weather, just come back from a 500km run to find 1/2-1 inch of ICE buildup on the mirror backs (NO SNOW ON ROUTE) from the freezing fog----thank god for 12 ltr diesels with good heaters!!!
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Bryan - how come your truck is measured in feet and inches but tonnes and ice is measured in inches but distance in km?
That last one got me - the last thing I can think of in metric is distance (that and mpg anyway)
I one was told by a gas pump attendant in the USA: "We're going metric - inch by inch" !
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Its cos I am a geriatric old fart and the speedo/tacho(Time/distance/speed spy not revcounter!) is in KPH and KM and Vosa work in Tonnes-max gross 44 which is 43.3 real tons.
Anyway how often you gone out and bought a 2mtr length of 2x1 timber? (or 4x2 if the teenager is being a real pain!!)
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So when you are on the road and the sign says "Gloucester 44" - do you mentally convert it to km or just know that it is 44 miles?
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Once got stuck in the snow on my K6 back in the eighties, bloke on a C90 helped me dig it out and get going again, then fell off outside the pub on same trip but still got to work.
Also riding K6 home the night of the big storm in 87, couple of re-routes to get past fallen trees at about 4.00 am, thought it was a bit blustery! Barber poachers jacket but no tweed Florence.
It amuses me that an American friend buys "two by four" as I buy "four-b-two" in meters.
My VW shows me MPG but I only buy diesel in litres ;D
Hard to judge the grip level as tyres stay cold and it's seems hellish greasy with all the stuff that's flung onto the road.
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I just look at me sat nav mate as i have that in Miles, its crazy what we have done to weights and measures in this country isn't it, neither one nor the other---its getting to the point where you don't have to be talking across the pond to be divided by the same language
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Bushels .pecks. furlongs, dynes Oh those were the days. When I did my 'O' level physics im 1970 it was the year we were changing over to SI units. The text books were in imperial , some questions in metric and some in imperial and we had to use log tables! Nightmare !!
Cheers
Ash
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WHEN MEN BRAG AT THE SIZE OF THERE MANHOOD ITS ALWAYS INCHES NEVER MM
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Think of the number if it was mm!!!
I did my OND in 72 in metric then went to sea on ships built in the 50's with a big blank look and a Huh? at all the gaugess!!!
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this is the first year i have decided not to 'hack' it through the winter and i think my choice was well advised! nothing worse than a fubarred bike due to road conditions.
all i can say is that my bike electrics and new seat i am constructing will have more time spent on them than they really need!
although being skint and having no new winter project is sending me up the wall. all i can do is wait til spring now.
:-\
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Went out on the dirt bike last Sunday...sideways on black ice...no problem...sure gets the heart beat up though. The main downside to dirtbiking in the snow is that you cannot see the ruts...
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I bought a CB500/4 in 1980 about 3 months before I actually did my test, got a mate to ride it from the dealer to home, then let him ride it to Edinburgh and back with me on the back. In January. It is the only time I have had one of my eyes freeze shut. Oddly I remember enjoying the trip too, and with only the kit that student finances would allow - AGV polycaronate helmet, no earplugs, knitted sweater and leather jacket with thin nylon oversuit. Now I have heated jacket, heated gloves and a fairing. But the ultimate winter clothing for an old fart like me is a car. Roll on spring, or at least temperatures which allow me to work on the project in the garage! I jealously salute the ones who keep riding in this weather, but am equally happy to wimp out!
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When my first CB550 was stolen from outside of my flat back in February 1979 I was a bit down. While at a friend's party my brother suggested that we ride down to Hastings for a laugh...at 11pm at night. Thinking that he would back out as soon as I said yes, I got my jacket on & walked towards the door, telling him to get his keys ready. At this time the M25 was still being built around the Sevenoaks turn off, so he rode a bit gingerly due to patches of ice. Having got down to the Little Eater/Happy Chef on the A21 near Flimwell we swapped places. Now the lights on his XL250K3 were not good at the best of times, & on this dark night they were no better...how we got down to the coast I do not know. The place was dead, so we turned around & headed for home, with me still driving. We got as far back as the M25/A21 roadworks when one of the pillion footpegs fell off. I must admit, at 3am, the sight of my brother walking all doubled up with frozen knees was soooo funny it still makes me smile to remember it now. Having no tools on board, we made the best of remounting the errant footpeg & carried on into Bromley & my flat. I slept until the pubs opened & we made our way to discuss the previous evenings adventure. The problem was that nobody believed that we rode two up all of the way down to the coast & back just for a laugh.
Those were the days...I wouldn't do it again.