Like fools i decided id invite 2 other riding buddies for a cold snowy ride this weekend. I actually have more than 2 friends, all the others were smarter and stayed at home doing honey do's. 2 tw's and a crazy guy on a beemer650. This oughta be fun.
Trail was nice and dandy..typical conditions of rocks and ruts..few jeeps and fj's thrown in to scoot around, some cows to flip off and honk the horn at. We run into a gentleman on a ktm and he laughs at us not for having tw's but trying to get up to crown king for lunch.
He tells us theres a bunch of snow and ice and we'll never make it thru. Well that just made me want to try
SO like a bunch of fools we weren't gona turn around..we knew there was a nice and juicy cheeseburger waiting up top for us. First icy section wasnt bad..then the little inclines start to come..i can feel it slip and slide a little but the fun is just getting started. The other guys are having a problem..i guess i just want the cheeseburger first. I could leave them behind, but i figured id need them in-case i get stuck. So i help them push their bikes up..slipping and falling a few times. We make it past a few more sections of slippery white stuff..more ice..but the further we go the better the cheeseburgers will taste. Took us a good hour to get thru what is normally a 15 minute section. Im not trying to brag..but i had very minimal problems going up any of the hills with my terracross. A few slippery spots but i didnt spin out
So we manage work our way into crown king which is a good 6500 ft in elevation and guess what? No cheeseburger yet..one more test of 2 wheels. More snow..ice..and slushy stuff. I think we all had a few good saves on this stretch.
We worked our asses off for that cheeseburger..oh and dr pepper..or was it mr pibb..who cares..it was great!
The guy on the beemer decided he'd take the smooth way back which had no snow. Sounds great but with a top speed of 50mph i dont want to take the highway back to the trucks..so me and the other tw ventured off..up and down a few more icy trails. The cheeseburger was kicking in and got tired of fighting the bike so we laid it down a few times along the way back. Hauled ass to get back to the trucks before dark.
All that work for a greesy burger?? i hope you never get a chance to ride with this fool....
I salute you and all the other riders out there who refuse to park our TW's for the winter. Winter may slow us down, push us over, but not damper our riding spirit and stop us. Now that I've said all the winter riding B.S., how was the cheeseburger? I'm gonna borrow mrgizmow's idea and use cable's, cable chains, or chains to ride on those snow slicked trails. Thanks for sharing, it looked like fun. And if I lived down yonder, I would've gone with you. I think! For a burger anyway!
Slip slidin awaaaaaay. Slip sliding awaaaaaaaaaaaaay. Oh, I guess you're too young to remember that song. Anyway, looks like fun. Cold, but fun. It also looks like you're enjoying the new bike. Good on ya, and thanks for sharing. I did miss the videos from that cool camera of yours, though.
i hope the tdub is as good in the snow as i think. i plan on using my tw200 to pull my sled across the lakes when i go ice fishing. if there is no snow on the ice it could get interesting!
Since you plan to ride on ice, you should probably plan on using studs (ice screws) on both the front and rear tires or possibly chains/cables. Otherwise, things could get very "interesting" as you say.
I don't live in snow country, per se, but a few years back I got snowed in for 3 days and the only way I could get to town was on the TW.
It had the stock tires at the time and it worked like a champ as long as I stayed in the snow. Out on the icy unplowed pavement it was 2 mph with both feet down. Kinda surprised me how flippin' scary the fat knobby was on ice.
Great photos, and really nice country. I didn't think they had snow in Arizona. Seems snow means cold and for some reason, I seem to be growing less interested in being cold.
I think the chains would help a lot if you feel like fussing with putting them on. Those more adventuress can try this. What I present does work, but could use some refinement. Thanks for sharing your adventure. Gerry
Since I have been "laid-off" have been spending my time looking for affordable health insurance and ways to make my modest 401k 'work for me'.
As I look once again, XDAC had some great pictures of what appears to be a really fun adventure (if you are dressed warm). Here is a link to my last 'ski' post. Money is not an issue, just time and the willingness to go off on a tangent. Gerry
Looks like fun. And speaking of snow, I once rode a 50cc Honda Ruckus moped through 8 inches of snow, through literally miles of dead stopped traffic on the freeway, lane splitting, slipping along...you get the picture. Good times!
that looks like fun riding thru the snow. Don't really get snow where I live but have ridden quads in it up at Stonyford OHV. Thanks for the good pics.....
On Friday I rode my t-dub to work through some fresh snow. 5km commute through city streets. Well I have two words for the performance of stock tires in snow: fracking terrible.
I dropped it twice at stops because the rear kept trying to get to the front! Every time I tried to slow down the rear tire would lose grip and start to fish-tail.
And I should mention that I am no newbie to snow riding: I used to ride my studded dirt bikes in the snow as a kid, and have ridden heidenau shod scooters over many winters.
Anyone know of DOT snow tires for the t-dub? I might stud the stock tires with aerostitch studs, but once you stud, you basically destroy the tires...
https://silodrome.com/ford-marmon-herrington-super-deluxe-4x4/
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In tempe for 5 days and looking to find some folks to ride trails with. I have no familiarity with the area. Have tons of experience and comfortable on the most challenging terrain but also happy to do more casual stuff. Generally available in the evenings Text 907.707.4757
Also if you just have...
OK, this is primarily for total noobs and experienced road riders, just getting into off-road.
And even experienced off-road demons maybe, as a quick refresher.
And yes, we certainly are lucky enough to have off-road "pros" on this forum who could easily have scripted this vid!
I hope they will...
Wanted to get out for a ride but wasn't able to till later in the afternoon. I decided I would just take a quick jaunt along some local service roads. Definitely wouldn't say it was warm out haha.
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