Brace yourselves - Winter is coming...
 

I've just moved jobs for winter, I no longer have to travel 80 miles a day...

Now the challenge is 7 miles a day, BUT...
I cannot have a single day off work when I'm on shift.

This means getting to work even if there's a foot of snow.
I live in the middle of the Chiltern hills in Buckinghamshire.

Options:

1. Snow tyres
2. Buy a 50cc road-legal scrambler
3. Walk

I would love to hear your suggestions for some decent tyres for the Ten, tyres that will deal with Snow, Slush, maybe Ice?, and wet roads.

Or suggestions on how YOU cope with the snow.

Am I mad to take my lovely beast out in this kind of weather?


Regards,
Steve.

If you even think about riding on ice the is now way around studded tires.

On snow any decent tires with big knobbies will do. Snow will pack like mud, so a high front fender is a most. And it is very easy to get stuck parked on a snowdrift under the engine.

But a high center of gravity is not the best on winter roads, so a lower bike you can ride with two feet flat on the road might be worth a look

I rode my old xt600z all year round - the picture after i had to turn arround because i could'nt get trough the snowdrifts. Enstead i of the road i took it
http://mc3.webgallerier.dk/galleri/1...-xt600z-tenere
across the fields where there was less snow.

The first picture on is 300km from - a long way home in that weather ... http://www.motorcykelgalleri.dk/gall..._xt600z_tenere

I've ridden the Ten in the snow plenty of times. Fresh powder it's great, but where cars have compacted it to ice it's a bit alarming - especially mine jacked up to 'rally height' :D

I therefore suggest a CG125 with a trials rear tyre on both wheels. Low and lightweight is the way to go.

I did a good few snowy trips on my old xtr and it's ok but very slow and heavy. I'd go for an old small 125 maybe even the xtr 125 with knobblies. a lot lighter to control and also if you do fall it's a smaller bike to lift

i use mine all year round. only stopped for a few days last year due to the whole road being iceas its not cleared where i live and the snow compacted into a couple of inches of ice.
you could buy a pair of swiss army tyres. they are dead cheap and will be loads better in the snow/ice than road baised tyres. i have a pair and while the were great off road i didn't like them on the road so took them off. they are cheap enough to just fit for a few months then take off again and store for next year or the old trip doing proper off road stuff - if you fancy joining in next year?

I have a 7 mile commute to work too. When the snow/ice is serious enough to cause problems I find the quickest, safest and easiest way to cover the 7 miles is on a mountain bike! The Tenere just isn't the right size or shape for successfully negotiating the sort of icy and hard packed snow in we get Britain. Yes, you could fit studs, but they'd be pretty pointless in the UK as it'd be only for, at best, a few days a year and the roads are always so inconsistently covered with snow/ice, even during the worst periods of weather.

The only bike I'd trust myself to stay upright on in such conditions would be one of these. ;)

Buy a Landy......

...spend eight hours stuck in a traffic jam behind a load of normal cars.

Pirelli MT21s worked for me when I was using the bike for commuting all year and doing a lot of greenlaning on my days off but they are a bit hairy on tarmac.Continental Tkc80s are better on tarmac but worse in the mud and snow.

Gratuitous pic:icon_biggrin:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3533/3...48c88097_b.jpg

The snow is not so much the problem, it is the ice underneath it. I came off last year, fell on my right side everything ached for weeks. I keep the bike under wraps now when the temp falls below 3c.

Thanks for all your suggestions and comments.
After reading speedlime's input (sorry to hear that, mate) I think I will have a look on freecycle or gumtree for a mountain bike for those 2 days a year that I will be afraid to get on the Ten!


I'm actually more concerned for the bike than I am for myself!

Still gonna put some knobblies on for the winter though, Mitas E09's look like the best/cheapest idea...

It's all fun and games when you're young.

I'm too old for that now and got one of these as like you we are expected to get in to work no matter what the conditions.

I hate fog on the bike more than anything else this time of year.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8322/8...9671346c_b.jpg

http://www.blocket.se/stockholm/21__...htm?ca=1_8&w=3

Not good on dry tarmac, for afterworkfun :-)

I have that on mine, here it works for commuting (if you don't work in the city) as long as the roads are icy enough, but in UK it would be money not so well spent I guess. The afterwork stuff is fun! =)

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/5213/qeh8.jpg

I've been thinking about getting some of THESE for the bad weather.

Maybe just the front to save on outlay, i can handle the rear sliding out alittle but not the front :laughing5:

28c outside and it must be time for the 15+ sun screen here in Brisbane:icon_sunny:

Here in Italy (and as I understand like most of mainland Europe) during the winter I fit winter tyres to my van and to the wife's car. I have purchased an extra set of steel wheels to accomodate the winter tyres which I keep in the garage over the summer and fit in October ish and then remove in March. The winter tyres mean that you dont need snow chains, and as soon as the temp goes below 15 degrees they are more efficient, and they are brilliant in rain and on snow. Why dont the UK use these tyres?????? given that you could use them most of the year....

For the XTX (my all year round bike) I have just fitted a set of Michelin Pilot 3s which SHOULD be good all year round as they are bi-compound and they have very deep cuts which I hope will make them very suitable for the rain......of course since I had them fitted the sun shines every day......