Winter plans for your bike?

[S-Westerly]

3 hours ago, Trooper74 said:

Ice Ice Baby ..... If it’s icy the cover stays over the bike, ( it lives outside all year round ) if not its ridden. I tend to ride between 1000 - 1500hrs only in the winter ..

Yeah, if there's a risk of ice I tend to avoid darkness these days. Not helped by my bike having an external temperature display which reads low - showing 1 C when I know its 4 or 5.

[S-Westerly]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

 

Nothing like rubbing salt in to the wound  

At least he's not showing us endless pictures of godforsaken desert wastelands like someone used to.

[onesea]

2 hours ago, iangaryprice said:

 

These are the ones I bought off ebay. £15.79.

I connected mine into the headlight wire (headlight live when ignition is on) so did't need a relay. I put a 10amp breaker in the line (going to change it for a 5amp one soon).

I like the lack of control box as well, the oxford ones are quite large and stand out. These grips are fairly unobtrusive, only the control on the left grip shows they are fitted (wiring is mostly hidden). I didn't use the metal bracket supplied for the wiring on the right grip, I got it much neater with a cable tie ontot the exsiting wiring.

I'll get some photos later and upload them.

I checked the current draw with them set to maximum, it was about 2 amps (without engine running, I'll check again with enf=gine running). I think the Oxford ones are about 4 amps,

See how you get on I would not go back to Oxford, as I said I found them too hot in use.  If you find the grip a little small try a pair of these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133797989468

You still get most of the heat but comfy and less vibration. Cheaper version of grip puppies, top tip for fitting use an air line or dinghy / tent/ sup pump and blow them on..

[Breezin]

Nice dry day tomorrow. Day off, heated grips, good to go!

[fastbob]

59 minutes ago, S-Westerly said:

Yeah, if there's a risk of ice I tend to avoid darkness these days. Not helped by my bike having an external temperature display which reads low - showing 1 C when I know its 4 or 5.

Having slid along the road accompanied by a shower of sparks and a GS850 for at least 50 yards and got up without a scratch , I think I'll give riding on ice in the dark a miss . 

[Bianco2564]

Silverwing will get used throughout the winter except on icy or snow days.

R1,Gt380,RGV & SS won't see the light of day until March

[S-Westerly]

35 minutes ago, fastbob said:

Having slid along the road accompanied by a shower of sparks and a GS850 for at least 50 yards and got up without a scratch , I think I'll give riding on ice in the dark a miss . 

Something I used to do in my younger, stupider and randier youth. Beyond which I shall say no more. 

[DuRavary]

My bike is all packed up and ready to set out on my weekend camping trip. It looks as though it may be snowing while I’m pitching my tent!

 

 

[V650]

Gave the Bike a blast of ACF50 today after the storm as it stays outside year round 

have the oxford heated grips and with the big winter gloves I don't find them too hot 

paid about €60 for the UK spec ones 

Connected directly to the battery and auto shut off seems to work well

[iangaryprice]

Some photos of my heated grips. Left grip is a neat fit. The rigth one hasa gap between the grip and the bar end weight. I need to find something to fill the gap. The wiring I fed backwards an dunder the fairing. All the connections are hidden under the tank.

[billy sugger]

I think there is meant to be a gap so the grip does not get impinged on the bar end. NY bike has Hondas' own grips on it and there is a gap as well

[Marino]

Bike will be most of time in the garage connected to cteck charger. Maybe some occasional ride if not cold and wet.

[linuxrob]

On 09/12/2021 at 17:41, onesea said:

See how you get on I would not go back to Oxford, as I said I found them too hot in use.  If you find the grip a little small try a pair of these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133797989468

You still get most of the heat but comfy and less vibration. Cheaper version of grip puppies, top tip for fitting use an air line or dinghy / tent/ sup pump and blow them on..

Got them on the GS125 and Bandit all year and still ok. The Chinese £3.78 heated grips feel nice and warm under them on the GS125 but need the handlebar muffs on to stop the wind blowing the heat away at 45MPH +. Bandit and Z500 tucked up till spring, GS 125 taking the strain. 3rd wash of the week today, then it rained again. Just started a fresh GT85 can today. The cheap Chinese speedo is a year old now (2250 miles) and still works great

[DuRavary]

My short term plans will be cleaning the bike, it’s not too clean after its camping trip. 

[S-Westerly]

11 hours ago, DuRavary said:

My short term plans will be cleaning the bike, it’s not too clean after its camping trip. 

Definitely  an all year biker then. Just as a matter of interest do you use special tyres for this? If not how do you find your 'normal' tyres work in snow? 

[dynax]

This will be my first actual winter of full on riding whatever the weather

[Troy]

I got myself a set of crash bobbins (at an eye-watering price of £200+) which I’m looking to try and get fitted. Fairings need to be removed as they are a “non-drill” set.

[Chrissb6]

Filled all of my bikes to the brim with E5 and added  a fuel stabilizer E10 has no shelf life be warned.

[DuRavary]

4 hours ago, S-Westerly said:

Definitely  an all year biker then. Just as a matter of interest do you use special tyres for this? If not how do you find your 'normal' tyres work in snow? 

At the moment it’s still on its OE Dunlop Trailmax tyres. It coped surprising well on fresh snow, I did about 25 km during a heavy snowstorm, luckily about 20 of those behind a snowplough, with no trouble. They can’t cope with wet mud though. The camp site exit was up a steep slope about a food deep in wet mud. I needed a bit of help. . For that reason alone I think that in future I will look at a knobblier option for serious off-road sections. 

[DuRavary]

1 hour ago, Chrissb6 said:

Filled all of my bikes to the brim with E5 and added  a fuel stabilizer E10 has no shelf life be warned.

Oh dear, all my vehicles have E10 in their tanks, just like they have for the past decade. Thank you for the warning. 

[KiwiBob]

As the weather was good I went for a little spin over to Matlock for a coffee this morning .. I don't expect there will be many more nice days so the bike is parked up until further notice.

[billy sugger]

1 hour ago, DuRavary said:

Oh dear, all my vehicles have E10 in their tanks, just like they have for the past decade. Thank you for the warning. 

 

I drained my 600 to lay it up for a year. When I bought it out of storage I used 5ltrs of fresh e10 to fire it up and went for a run to clear the cobwebs and it ran like a dream. I went. I went back to the garage and put the drained fuel in. I got less than a mile and bike died and wouldn't restart. Called out RAC and told the mechanic about the fuel. He tried all the usual, plugs, spark, electrics, but no joy. We then drained the tank completely via the fuel pump and a battery pack so we did not flatten mine. We put 5ltrs of fresh fuel in and bike fired up immediately. The old fuel was the culprit, and it had gone a funny colour compared to the fresh stuff.

[Throttled]

Whenever there is a run of plus degrees weather, where the roads have not been salted for a day or two, ride it. Even in the coldest of winters, I have never gone a month without getting out for a ride.

[Chrissb6]

6 hours ago, DuRavary said:

Oh dear, all my vehicles have E10 in their tanks, just like they have for the past decade. Thank you for the warning. 

A Decade ago Mate? On September 1, 2021, E10 fuel became the default fuel in petrol stations across England, Scotland and Wales 

[MikeHorton]

48 minutes ago, Chrissb6 said:

A Decade ago Mate? On September 1, 2021, E10 fuel became the default fuel in petrol stations across England, Scotland and Wales 

I think E10 has been the norm in Europe for a lot longer. So interesting to see how those that have used it for some time have got on with winter storage