Ten Tips for Riding Your Motorcycle in Winter
You don't need to live in the Canary Islands to be able to spend winter riding your motorcycle. In this article, we're going to give you some tips so you can better face the challenges that arise when riding a motorcycle during winter.
Riding in cold weather is more demanding if we want to remain as safe as possible. Perhaps you're the type who's about to say: "That's why I have a car with nice heating and a roof, because travelling by motorcycle in winter isn't fun."
That's fine. I won't consider you any less of a rider, but acknowledge that some of us genuinely enjoy the challenge of riding a motorcycle in winter and don't want to put our machine into hibernation for several months. Furthermore, from my point of view, it's when you can most comfortably undertake long journeys without suffering from the heat of summer, especially in the south of the peninsula. We respect each rider's risk tolerances and preferences.
I don't travel as far or as often in winter, but even short trips improve my mood, and I also like not being completely rusty when the first spring ride comes around.
If you're like me and prefer to keep riding your motorcycle during winter, you have to deal with the challenges of riding a motorcycle in colder climates, which requires an additional mindset and vigilance.
These are divided into three categories: the environment, your body, and your equipment. Here are 10 points we need to consider to ride our motorcycle safely.
We must always ensure that the tyre tread is deep enough to provide optimal grip in rainy conditions.
Riding in Winter in a Hostile Environment
It's a cold and cruel winter in some parts of the peninsula, so consider these dangers.
1. Anticipated Loss of Traction: Snow and Ice.
I got stuck in snow on a motorcycle twice, about 15 years apart, and luckily both times I was less than 5 kilometres from my destination. I survived, but I'll never do it intentionally. Riding a motorcycle on snowy asphalt can be fun (at least for a while) and instructive, and they say ice racing is quite an experience, but riding on the street in snowy or icy conditions puts you at the mercy of traffic situations that you won't be able to competently deal with.
As I mentioned earlier, we all have to determine our own risk tolerance, but ice or snow is where I personally draw the line. You make your choices and live with the consequences. If you decide to ride in snow intentionally, you'll need studded tyres, and the laws for riding with such tyres vary widely, so check in which countries and areas they can be used.
2. Unexpected Loss of Traction: Hidden Ice.
Even if you never intentionally go out in icy conditions, you still need to increase your vigilance. Let's say the day is sunny and dry, with temperatures around 5°C at midday. You can still find frost or residual ice in shaded or low-lying areas, so be alert to these situations. It's never a good idea to ride a motorcycle on the street carelessly with a wandering mind, but in winter weather, you must be even more engaged, constantly scanning and analysing potential hidden dangers.
We love to complain about the damage that road salt corrosion causes to our motorcycles, and for many people, it's reason enough not to ride. (If you're one of those, see tip number one in the equipment section below.) But salt can also deprive you of traction. It's similar to gravel when freshly spread on the pavement and similar to dust when it has been ground down by thousands of circulating vehicles. Yes, even that fine salt dust reduces your tyre's grip.
In some countries, instead of using salt, we might find that they use ashes, such as those produced by wood-burning stoves or fireplaces. These can be spread on pavements and roads to help melt ice patches and thus increase wheel traction on the asphalt, with the added advantage that these ashes do not become environmental waste, as they dissolve cleanly and can act as fertilisers.
Another thing motorcyclists love to complain about on hot summer days are those tar snakes we find on the roads; they are also a danger when the weather is very cold. In the heat, they become sticky and slippery, but in the cold, they become hard and even more slippery. Finally, we all know that the freeze-thaw cycle can cause potholes and cracks to worsen even further, so be alert to new dangers even on your usual routes.
4. Anticipated Loss of Traction: Cold Tyres.
In the 16 years since I returned from the tropics, I've had two minor street accidents. Both at very low speed and both on particularly cold January mornings, both falls occurred less than 2 km from my home, and as expected, the tyres contributed to both accidents.
Probably almost all motorcyclists know that cold tyres offer very little grip, but as I found out some years ago, knowledge is useless if you don't act on it. Braking, acceleration, and leaning must be moderated to progressively accommodate cold tyres, especially at the start of a journey.
Riding in Winter: Rider Care and Nutrition
Beyond having the right equipment, you must also keep yourself in good working order.
1. Cold Makes You Tired
The longest cold-weather ride I did was a trip to Lake Como. It was sunny for most of the journey, with temperatures around 6 degrees Celsius, so I didn't have to worry about ice or snow. A 500-kilometre day is exhausting under any conditions, but in the cold, your body is working harder, generating heat. Additional rest stops, eating well and regularly are important.
Also, don't think you can only get dehydrated in warm climates. Dry winter air saps your moisture without you realising it. Days are shorter, and temperatures can drop quickly after sunset, so be mindful of your planned distance. Almost all my cold-weather rides are short, but if you're going to cover a long distance, consider if it's realistic.
2. Cold Reduces Mental Concentration
It's not just your frozen fingers. Hypothermia sets in gradually and also affects your most vital organ, your brain. We tend to associate hypothermia with physical effects, such as stiff, numb, or aching hands and feet. But perhaps the greatest threat to the rider is the impact hypothermia can have on mental acuity.
Our thinking often slows down, our active analysis and anticipation of potential threats diminish, and our judgment can be seriously compromised. As a result, bad situations seem to develop more quickly and more frequently. And when they do, the physical limitations of stiff and numb hands and feet make responding to a threat even more ineffective.
Even northern winters offer days when the roads are clear, even if the landscape looks positively wintry.
Riding in Winter: Equipment Matters
There's no ride without your motorcycle, the third essential part. My tips:
1. Buy a Winter Motorcycle.
Here's a great excuse to buy another motorcycle. If you're one of those riders who store their expensive motorcycle during the long winter months because you don't want to expose it to salt or test your throttle control skills with a high-powered machine in dubious conditions, buy a cheap motorcycle.
When I had a regular Monday-to-Friday commute to an office job, I bought a humble Honda Nmax for about 1,500 euros and fitted it with good rain tyres to use throughout the winter. The tyres performed very well in the cold, as expected; its light weight and moderate power made it easy to handle when the asphalt wasn't in optimal condition. When salt corroded the brake caliper and I had to replace it with a new one, the 30 euros it cost me on Amazon didn't hurt much.
2. Don't Neglect Maintenance.
Days are short. You go home from work and arrive at dusk. Performing maintenance in the cold sounds about as appealing as having a stone in your shoe. But salt is damaging components (possibly vital ones, like the single front brake caliper on my old Nmax). Seized cables are not likely to move more freely as the temperature drops. Take your time to stay on top of what's happening with your ride (easier to do if you've stored your good motorcycle and only have to attend to your winter motorcycle).
3. Winter Tyres.
We probably won't be like a car driver who changes to snow tyres for the season, but it makes sense to consider overall performance when choosing tyres. Sport-touring tyres are generally designed with more sipes to displace water and with compounds that perform well across a wider temperature range. If you ride with all-terrain tyres, today's 50-50 adventure tyres are excellent street tyres in wet conditions and could be a real lifesaver if you get caught in a bit of slushy snow.
So there are 10 of my tips. However, there must be a million kilometres of experience under our readers' wheels, so please add your own tips below in the comments.
We recommend you visit our post on "The Best Gift Guide for a Motorcyclist", now that it's gift-giving season, so you can get some ideas for presents.