Anyone ever ride in the snow?

[redneckK20]

I can never really say I looked forward to this, but I got caught out of town in a bit of a snowstorm. I was near my parents place, so I took off this morning and rode through 20 miles of a snow/slush mix on country backroads. Unfortunately I didn't have my gopro handy, but I do have an after picture. Oh and it was 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[~TABASCO~]

Ive ridden in snow many times.. To be more clear I didnt leave when it was snowing and there was no snow on the ground, but I did get caught in snow. Ive been caught in a sleet/hail storm too, that beat the crap out of me and I cried like a five year old going down the high way no less, until I could find shelter under a bridge. (I could have died from that ride, I just got caught in it) I didnt have on my heavy duty gear, and it looked like I was shot 200 times with a paint ball gun a close range.. That sucked.
I dont care riding in snow per se, but if there's a chance of ice or accumulation of snow Ill be pulling off the road pretty darn quick.. In slow circumstances I dont mind the snow, but the ice is totally different. I want no part with any ice... Im off the road by then.. I have run into all this before, I ride 24 - 7 - 365 everywhere........

 

[Swagger]

I won't do it knowingly ... not anymore. I got caught by a freak snow event and ended up crashing my beloved FZ1 .... not an experience that I care to repeat. That was back in December 2009 ... broke too many bones and still feel it today.

 

[Roge]

I got caught up in the NW of Scotland and HAD to get back to Preston 10hrs coldest in daylight -8 deg C and - 11 at night. Keep to a speed at which you can still feel your fingers and toes at all times, if you can't stop. Beyond that you will start to make less than good decisions. Treat it all as a challange and know youur limits

 

[terrysig]

Have spikes on my dirtbike so do it all the time. Even with spikes the steering and traction management lesson is fantastic. Road this weekend in "leftover" snow and ice. Trying to ride dirt roads during a pause in winter but mostly got roads as shown below. The BWs are poor but can't imagine anything but full on knobs would do much good. BTW TC gets a big thumbs up for some of the steeper hills.

 

[Buckeye56]

On a trip to Hyder, AK it snowed for 100KM west of Edmonton, AB. It accumulated around 6 inches but the tire tracks on the highway were mostly clear. Kinda scary as it was coming down hard enough to limit visibility and I was worried about getting rear-ended. Had to keep reaching over the wind screen on the ST1300 to scrap the snow off to see the road. I won't be sorry if I never do that again!

 

[redneckK20]

I was wishing I had my Heidenau's on for this trip, I feel like it would have been much better. I'm getting ready to head back home, about 200 miles. It's below 20 degrees Fahrenheit statewide, so its going to be unpleasant. Luckily I have heated gloves and the rest of my gear is stellar.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I did it when I was around 11 or 12 years old. Learned it was damn near impossible to have a reasonable level of control (I was in a field), and have had no interest in ever trying again. I park it when there is significant snow. A few flurries don't bother me, but that's it.

 

[AlsoRan]

A couple of times while racing desert back in the day. One time there was about 6" of hard packed snow on the ground at start time. Ordinarily you would use the dust as an advantage to thin out the competition but this was going to be a "dust free" day and add a mass start, 6" of snow and it was pure crazy. Bikes zig zagging all over the place, darting across the race lines at 90 degrees etc. I remember I was on a 125 and it was either screaming or bogging depending on the gear - no in between. It was a blast though!

 

[timothy.davis]

In 1977 I was riding a KE250 during the aftermath of a pretty good Midwestern snow storm. Probably about a foot of snow had fallen; it was real cold so the snow was very powdery. There was this beautiful snow covered field that needed someone to drive across it so I took off. It was a lot of fun just tooling through the snow until I hit the ditch. One moment I was riding the next I was without a bike and submerged in snow. The ditch was large enough to swallow the bike. Did not get hurt in any way but pulling the bike out was a real task. It was an absolute blast, one minute you're riding the next you're not. Will never forget the experience.

 

[EricV]

More times than I'd like, I've gotten caught in snow storms while traveling. Crossed the Siskiyous on I-5 in 4" of fresh, wet snow heading South at the end of Jan one year. I was really happy to have ABS on the FJR that trip. Got caught in a freak snowstorm heading over a range in OR in mid June on a FZ-1 and ended up dumping the bike three times before I finally got a clue and turned around. Was only a mile from the summit, and the detour added 125 miles to my little day trip ride, but a pick up had just passed me going down hill and stopped to tell me it was worse on the other side of the pass, so I followed his tracks back down into the rain, and was never so happy to be riding in the rain too!

Rode about 100 miles in 20F temps on snow that had fallen the night before in NV, coming from Beatty to Hawthorne, NV. Was fine until I came over the hill South of Hawthorn and it had warmed up... glistening roads of wet ice and packed snow. Tossed the bike in a low side, slid for a ways and then picked up the bike and while doing an assessment of myself and the bike, the plow came by. Followed the plow into town and got some coffee at the McD's, then made some minor adjustments and rode the other 800 miles home to Portland that day/night, having lost the windscreen and both mirrors, then my electric jacket liner died in Ashland, making the remaining miles home in the dark very, very cold. Took a 40 minuted hot shower when I got home to warm up.

I try not to look for it, but will deal with snow, ice, hail while on the road and usually keep going unless it gets stupid or the wife is with me. Left on the last long trip with 25F and starting to snow, but was heading South and knew the worst was forecast for later in the day locally and better/warmer farther South, so left anyway. No issues.

We did get stuck in Fort Stockton, TX with 4.5" of snow having fallen the night before. I might have left on my own after noon or so when they opened the interstate again, but with the wife, we waited until the next day after it had warmed up and most had melted off. Only a few spots of ice on the interstate.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Sure.
Last June in Yellowstone we rode a full day in and out of snow. More in Glacier and then up Mt. Rainier.

But like Dirt_Dad I try avoid more than flurries. Partly because all the aluminum in motorcycles doesn't like all of the salt they use on the roads around DC.