10+ Winter Riding Tips

I just got back from a couple of hours riding. I was lucky enough to get out on Super Bowl Sunday for a couple hours more. As I was riding, I was thinking about what I should be looking out for and thought I'd pass these "tips" along!

1) Smooth is even more important - it's always important to be smooth on a motorcycle but winter riding really brings the point home. Conditions are generally not conducive to hard acceleration or braking.

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2) Keep an Eye on the Road Surface - Sand, salt, water, ice, packed snow. All things and more you'll likely encounter while riding in the winter and all things that can create a loss of traction.

3) Cold - not just your body but your tires and the road you're on. Your tires take longer to heat up (if they get heated up at all) and the road can have pockets where it's colder - especially bridge surfaces.

4) Room between You and Cages - you want to leave even more space than usual between yourself and the vehicles you are following. Braking distances may be compromised and you don't want to slide into the rear of the vehicle in front of you!

5) Airborne Water - Hand in hand with the above. When cars run through puddles or standing water, they'll likely throw up a spray that not only gets on your bike but can cloud your faceshield. Always carry shield cleaner and stop whenever necessary to wipe it off.

6) Speed - It should go without saying that your speeds should be well within your abilities. Road conditions can change suddenly and you don't want to be going too fast to recover/adjust.

7) Track/Lane Position - If you are a "One Track Rider", you'll either have to get out of the habit or not ride. The "best track" can change from corner to corner and in a very short space of time. You have to be ready, willing and able to change tracks/lanes to find the "best" place to ride in.

8) Straighten the Curves - You do *not* want to be leaned over in a curve only to find the road conditions changing on you and you not having anywhere to go. Winter riding means a much less aggressive style and much less lean angle.

9) Ride the Familiar - A winter ride is no time to be discovering new roads. Stick to ones you are familiar with and, even then, stick to fairly heavily travelled main roads. Those will be the ones with less sand and salt on them.

10) Pass with Caution! - Patience is a winter riding virtue. I was out today on a familiar road in a place where I would normally have made a (legal) pass on the cars in front. But I noticed all the sand and salt had been pushed to the center of the road and lay on top of the yellow line. No way do you want to pull out and accelerate on that stuff. I just laid back and enjoyed the scenery.

11) If it looks Wet, it might be Ice! - Riding through puddles might be fun in the summer but in winter, avoid any road surface that looks wet - it could be covering ice or even be the dreaded black ice. Always ride on the direst part of the road and, when you have to ride through wet sections, keep in mind that your tires will have less grip for a while even *after* you've gone through the water.

12) Be a Weatherman - Weather can change quickly in the winter. Make sure you know what is going to happen in the area you are going to ride and, if conditions worsen, have a plan for getting out of it. Don't take a chance - only ride in conditions that are stable or stay around home and just putter around the neighborhood in case you need to make a beeline for home.

Do you have any of your own to add? Leave a comment or email them to me at shawn at yourbikelife.com!