[stephenmarklay]

Since last year I have been riding a lot. I stopped in December due to the snow. Last year I was riding in the snow on my newly purchased KLX250s. Nothing slippery just spitting snow etc.



I am now going mental. There are not enough pills to help. I need to ride a little. I sold the KLX and moved onto street bikes I won't ride those in any poor weather. My Vstrom has ABS but its tall and 450 pounds and too much...



I originally looked at a TW and I still love the little beast. Is it possible to stud the tires (professionally) with good results or are there good mesh type tire chains that are workable? I assume the standard tire choices are not great in the cold. I mostly want a bike to ride around to the gym and store etc.

 

[canyonlock]

Lots of people ride in the winter, I tend to just ride to and from work but recently rode 30 miles south of town to be the first MC of the year @ a biker bar up Turnagain Arm. Traction addemdums are the key to winter riding for me. Icy roads are fine, fresh snow on icy road is less fine as your traction addendums need to engage the road surface. The scary part is riding in traffic with cars tailgating. My first day of riding to work this year was jan. 3rd. This winter, I have not initiated a ride if it is colder than (-)15 , there were a few days it got colder as the day went on so rode home in colder temps. The bike runs great in cold weather. rw

 

[stephenmarklay]

Lots of people ride in the winter, I tend to just ride to and from work but recently rode 30 miles south of town to be the first MC of the year @ a biker bar up Turnagain Arm. Traction addemdums are the key to winter riding for me. Icy roads are fine, fresh snow on icy road is less fine as your traction addendums need to engage the road surface. The scary part is riding in traffic with cars tailgating. My first day of riding to work this year was jan. 3rd. This winter, I have not initiated a ride if it is colder than (-)15 , there were a few days it got colder as the day went on so rode home in colder temps. The bike runs great in cold weather. rw

Can you explain "Traction addemdums are the key to winter riding for me"?

 

[FortPayne]

Have a look at the Admiral's post here.

 

[n2o2diver]

I ride to work everyday, all winter long. Fortunately, all that is required is switching from open face to full face helmet and some thicker gloves.

 

[admiral]

I originally looked at a TW and I still love the little beast. Is it possible to stud the tires (professionally) with good results or are there good mesh type tire chains that are workable? I assume the standard tire choices are not great in the cold. I mostly want a bike to ride around to the gym and store etc.

Howdy fellow snow rider!



Not sure of what snow road conditions you may consider when riding, so I'll throw little of everything your way.



None of the TW tires do well in snow, but if you want just a smidge better, you could buy at Kenda 270 or Shinko SR 244 for example (not inclusive).



If you plan to ride on a combination packed snow and pavement, you could buy some screw in tire studs. For the front tire, best to have a tire similar to what I listed above as you'll have more tread depth to work with. Here's a link of what I'm talking about. http://www.woodystra...screws-off-road



Here's a homebrew method I've used for off-pavement use. I put a set of chains on my rear tire and short sheet metal screws in my front Shinko SR 244. Rear chains work on packed snow/ice and fluffy snow. Sheet metal screws work ok on packed snow and ice, but not in slushy or deep snow conditions. I'm on the lookout for a small set of chains for the front.



Note: I changed the pattern slightly from what you see in the photo. Instead of a screw in the center lug, I placed a screw in each "side by side" lug between the single center lug, but you get the idea. I kept the screws in the outer lug as seen in the photo.

I love the chains!

You could also get or make some "strap on" chains. I plan to make a set for the front and rear for next year. They will be easier to install and remove.

 

[canyonlock]

Can you explain "Traction addemdums are the key to winter riding for me"?

Traction addendums around here can be car studs and lots of them installed in the lugs, making a dedicated winter tire. There are a variety of spikey things that the ice racers use, northern europeans and russians in particular have some very agressive spikes which seem to be available. Car studs work well on pavement, especially for longer rides. The steel spikey things work on ice only . What I use are called "Gold Screws", or cold cutter screws. I bought a kit of 1000 of them at the yamaha dealer in palenville (wasilla). They are a tempered screw much like what the admiral used but are made to be traction addendums (taller have sharp edges) and perhaps work better than conventional screws. As I understand it, they were originally made for snow machine tracks. In my DR650 tires, I would sometimes rip them out of the tire, but the TW does not seem to loose them much. The TW is a much easier winter ride than the DR.



What I have found is for placement, I put them in every outside lug of the front tire (running stock tires) , the point being for the screws to just kiss the road while running on just rubber when straight up, lean over into a turn you get full engagement of multiple screws. I am careful going around corners and try to not have to much lateral force. The rear tire I start the season with a light pattern on the outside lugs of the rear tire, and as winter gets more serious, I double up the number in the rear tire, still avoiding the center line. If the screws are not on a perfect line, you can get a weird wiggle as the bike traks on the screws, better to be mostly on rubber with traction back up on the side. Plus, running on steel only has its own issues on pavement.



I ride in town, on icy pavement in traffic. Tail gaters are very scary. The worst conditions and the reason I did not ride today (other than the fact it was a white out blizzard) is fresh snow on top of an icy road surface does NOT allow your traction addendums to engage the street surface. That is OK if you can go at a comfortable speed, but the other traffic wants you up to speed.



I am not set up to post pictures, PM me an email address and I will send pics of my set up. rw

 

[stephenmarklay]

Howdy fellow snow rider!



Not sure of what snow road conditions you may consider when riding, so I'll throw little of everything your way.



None of the TW tires do well in snow, but if you want just a smidge better, you could buy at Kenda 270 or Shinko SR 244 for example (not inclusive).



If you plan to ride on a combination packed snow and pavement, you could buy some screw in tire studs. For the front tire, best to have a tire similar to what I listed above as you'll have more tread depth to work with. Here's a link of what I'm talking about. http://www.woodystra...screws-off-road



Here's a homebrew method I've used for off-pavement use. I put a set of chains on my rear tire and short sheet metal screws in my front Shinko SR 244. Rear chains work on packed snow/ice and fluffy snow. Sheet metal screws work ok on packed snow and ice, but not in slushy or deep snow conditions. I'm on the lookout for a small set of chains for the front.



Note: I changed the pattern slightly from what you see in the photo. Instead of a screw in the center lug, I placed a screw in each "side by side" lug between the single center lug, but you get the idea. I kept the screws in the outer lug as seen in the photo.

I love the chains!

You could also get or make some "strap on" chains. I plan to make a set for the front and rear for next year. They will be easier to install and remove.

That last picture does look great. It appears to be just individual rather than all linked to together. I like that. My fear with a chain was that it would break free and do a lot of damage.



Thanks for all of the great tips!

 

[stephenmarklay]

Well I am pulling the trigger on a TW tomorrow. I found a nice 2011 with less than a 100 miles and a nice savings over new. I like red too,



Looking forward to the bike. It will be perfect second bike.

 

[atleastbehandy]

Snow to the axles!

Took forever to turn around...

 

[stephenmarklay]

Now that is some real snow riding.

 

[atleastbehandy]

Now that is some real snow riding.

Less like snow riding and more like snow pushing!



Front tire was just a big snowplough. I had to wrestle the thing to that spot. Then gave up and turned around.

 

[jontow]

I've found a couple of things around here:



Cold (not 'packy') snow is much more enjoyable to ride in, although if its deep, you can forget it on the TW.



If the snow is warm ('packy'), you get good traction for the most part, but it tends to get grabbed by the front wheel and sucked under the fender, where it will literally stop the tire. The few occasions I've had to ride in that type of snow had me pulling the front fender off entirely. A supermoto type fender would help.



Any time the base of the snow is slushy, I won't bother riding, you have almost no control over the front wheel with any traction aid, and the rear just makes a mess spinning crap up everywhere. I did have some fun when it warmed up very quickly and the snow got packy but the base was still semi-frozen; turning wasn't easy, but the traction at the rear wheel was amazing with a chain.



Also--wondering why so many people seem to be taking off their rear tire to chain up? I just lay the chain over the top of the tire and roll the bike forward a bit, then get it loosely hooked. Roll a bit more forward and adjust the cross sections, then tighten up and ride. I've yet to take the bike apart to do it: there are too many paved roads between me and the trails to run chains full time.

 

[stephenmarklay]

I have not ridden in any really deep snow. I rode to work with roads covered and fairly slushy and had no problems at all. For about a week I rode with various amount of slush and snow and was really impressed. I did add a mud flap which I tested one rainy day and it kept some of the dirt from getting to the cylinder head fins and out of my boots.



Thanks for the advice