Paul and all,
Here in the DC area, it is possible to ride just about year-round, but like the
concensus, getting all the required cold weather riding gear on and off twice
daily for a commute is too time-consuming and bulky for most, including me. At
times the road surface adds risk, particularly for an early AM commute. Also,
the anemic charging system of the CB-650SC doesn't safely permit (comments
allowed....) addition of heating elements....namely grip heaters and a plug for
a heated vest. I have toyed with the idea of adding heated grips to my 1984
CB-650SC (in black, stock except for Sargent seat), but always declined to risk
it (even with the injunction only to use it on low setting and after getting up
RPMs) when it was my sole motorcycle and main commuter. Now that I (newly!)
have a second motorcycle (1985 CB-860SC, in Candy Empire Blue, which I will
dress more eventually), I will likely take the chance on grip heaters on it,
and if the test works out, do so for the '84 as well. It's the fingers that go
first in the cold for me.
My winterizing routine (I live in Vienna VA, 18 miles west of Washington DC,
and commute to DC for work as a Navy engineer) is more of a seasonal shift in
riding habits....
April thru October: Full riding, pretty much daily commuting 18 miles each way
on GW Parkway. Local light chores/errands. About every other weekend fun
dayride to Blue Ridge, Middleburg VA back roads, or to visit daughter 50 miles
south, singing gig, or evening pubsing 20 to 50 miles each way. About every
two months a cruise to DE to visit MC/singing buddy, Norfolk, PA to visit
youngest brother, or Norfolk on business. Once a year, fly to middle brother
or middle son in (northern and southern) Calfornia, to ride their backup bikes
there (FZ-1/smallVulcan pair for brother in Redding; Ninja 500 + rental
(eventually 2nd N-500?) for son in San Diego).
'Shoulder season'. March and November. Constrained riding. About half the
commutes still motorcycle, but shorten to 4 miles each way to Metro and take
the Subway into work. Still good weekend riding, just pick the day and time of
day for not the coldest.
Winter. December thru February sometimes mid-March. Token (but at least every
two weeks) riding. Pick the warmest, driest day of the the weekend over two
weeks, and take a short ride on each bike in the middle of the day. Mostly
keep them on Battery Tender Jr. and under cover. Seafoam in the tank (half a
bottle each). Winter maintenance/improvement projects (like maybe a Sargent
seat refit on the '85 this winter, or a grip kit and replacement on the '85).
Hopefully NOT a carb cleaning on the '85 (going thru a Seafoam procedure on it
now, fingers crossed).
I've had the '84 for about 3 years now, and now feel I really know and trust
her. So decided this fall to upgrade/replace tires (Avon) and get her a
stable-buddy (the '85) which I am now working up but do not yet fully trust.
My other main option was to stick to a single bike and get something a tad
newer (I was thinking a c2005 Suzuki DL-650 V-Strom). But two bikes is useful
to me for a trio of reasons.....
a. my middle brother and middle son and I have the 'transcontinental triangle
loaner bike' thing going, and that's fun. My '2nd bike' for a while was a
trainer 250 Nighthawk, but I sold that last year as son was trained up, and
youngest daughter decided against MC after a few demo lessons (cargirl instead,
with an old Porche 944 with 200k that she's working up), and due to 250's
limitations on highway. My gapfiller 2nd is to rent for a visitor (we have a
Manassas (mostly Harley) bike rental place nearby). But two CB-650SC's fits
the bill best for me,
b. either can be a 'parts bike' for the other, or allow me to take one down
for maintenance/upgrade without losing my motorcycle daily ride (which saves me
about $50 in commuting costs average per week March thru Nov, depending on how
you figure....).
c. I can keep one 'naked/stock' which is what I prefer for commuting, and take
the other 'dressed with removable screen and top box' for excursions or
wet/cold. With eventual screen and top box and (hopefully) heated grips, I
guess I can extend my season by a couple weeks at least on either end.
So, about Thanksgiving is the 'last hoorah' for a decent/long weekend ride for
me here in DC, and the magic elixer Seafoam and judicious choice of warmest
part of the day keeps me in only token winter riding, enough that I (a) don't
have to really winterize and (b) I have the bike available for an 'indian
summer' winter day or backup to my normal sedan (TSX) ride in winter. But the
TSX is also reliable as all get-out.... and I enjoy XM radio in the winter....
Regards,
Mike
Michael Bosworth
Vienna, VA
2005 Acura TSX
Shiloh, 1996 15.3hh quarterhorse gelding
1984 Honda CB-650SC
1985 Honda CB-650SC (rack)
1985 Ford E-150 (TurtleTop, tow rig, MC (3 2"x10"x9.5ft plank) ramps, working
on 'rough camper' along left side).
Downtube 9FS folding full suspension pedal bike (can be strapped to back of '85
with rack easy or taken as luggage on airplane)
(motorcycles pay for themselves and the horse and van...almost...)
- - - - - - -
Topic: Finally got the bike put to bed for the Winter
Paul <[email protected]>Nov 21 06:50PM -0700
Okay, before I get started here, I just want to say that I don't want to
hear a WORD from any of you people who get to ride your motorcycles
year-round. That just isn't fair!! :)
Having said that, today was the day the bike finally went into it's winter
hibernation. Only about 42 degrees today but I bundled up and ran it down
to
the gas station (thankfully only about 2 miles from where I live) and
filled
the tank with Premium gas. Before filling up I dumped an entire can of
SeaFoam in the tank to stabilize the gas over the winter. Then, a quick
clean up, bike cover and off into the back of the garage on the center
stand.
You know...I have to say though that riding in low 40s weather wasn't all
that bad!! If I owned a snowmobile suit with something to keep air off my
neck and a good warm pair of winter gloves, I think I could be quite
comfortable. The only problem is getting dressed up like that is such a
pain!! How often would I realistically go out for a ride during the winter
if I had to do that kind of dress-up routine every time? Knowing myself I
wouldn't. Besides, we DO get snow here in Eastern Oregon, and the highway
department puts down gravel for traction and that is REAL scary on a bike
when you're rounding a corner. I usually don't get my bike out in the
Spring
until the sweeper trucks have made their way around and swept up the
remaining gravel.
How many of the rest of you have done your winterizing yet?
Paul
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