Riding thru Slippery Stuff
Dec 22nd, 2008 by Leo
We got a mess of snow here in NY. It’s not the best time to ride, but sometimes you just need to get out. It’s possible to ride patches of snow and ice without risking a spill…dirt riders ride through similar conditions all the time. You can ride through anything as long as you remember a few basic rules of riding…
- Keep the bike as upright as possible. Fair weather sport riding is about leaning your bike over and wearing off those chicken strips. But after the first snowfall, once salt and gravel has been thrown on the ground, riding is all about keeping the bike as upright as possible. That means lower corner speeds.
- Easy on the brakes. Once you’re at feet-up speed, you can go straight over just about anything as long as [a] you’re on the throttle lightly [b] you don’t brake or turn. But if you do have to brake on a patch of ice and snow, do so gently (and maybe with your feet down).
- Get off your butt (when you can). Putting your weight on the footpegs actually lowers the center of gravity (because the footpegs are lower than the seat) and helps stabilize the bike through slippery conditions. If you’re going at a walking pace over snow, then it’s natural to put your feet down to help keep you balance; but once you get moving at a faster pace it’ll be easier to manage the little slips and bumps if you put your weight on the pegs.
- Feel free to wiggle. People tend to tense up their arms when the riding gets slippery, but that’s the last thing you want to do. In slippery conditions you need to be able to make many tiny adjustments to the steering just to go straight. Keep your arms loose and keep steering in the direction you want to go.
- Don’t go too slow. Of course you don’t want to go too fast in slippery conditions, but you also don’t want to go too slow. The bike is more stable at speed. So if there’s a 20 foot sheet of smooth ice up ahead you can probably ride straight thru it with a little bit of throttle at 30 mph without noticing much of a problem; but if you tried to do the same stretch at 5mph, you might find yourself sprawled out on the ice.
- Stay on the throttle. As you approach a slippery spot or a patch of snow you can slow down as you approach it, but then get on the throttle as you ride over. It’s okay to have your rear wheel slip a little, you want to stay on the throttle through the slippery stuff, so plan your entry speed accordingly.
- Weigh the outside peg. As upright as you keep your bike on turns there’s still going to be a little bit of lean. To stabilize the bike in the lean (when you have your feet up) you want to weigh the outside peg. If you’re turning left you want to put your weight on the right peg and vice versa. If you do this right you can still lean your body in the direction of the turn, but put your weight on the outside peg. For scooters, you can maximize your weight leverage by putting your foot on the outside edge of the floorboard. When turning left put your weight on the outside right edge of the floorboard and vice versa.
I wouldn’t do a 20 mile commute through the snow, but riding through the city isn’t too bad; and a ten minute local ride to a bank or movie theater is a nice way to feel not-so-cooped-up. Just be extra careful around cars…for obvious reasons.
If you’re bored check out this other video. He’s not exactly a pro at this (I’m guessing a first year rider?), but I think he has the right attitude. If you really want to make sure you’ll be okay in bad weather, gear up and go to a parking lot and get used to what it feels like to ride in these conditions… that’s the quickest way to learn. Then come back to the list and tell me if there’s something that helped or that you want to add… Cheers!
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i’ve lost 2 blinkers and some fairing in the snow…
…i give in…to storage…