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Dirty Winter Bike
Blog Date - 01 February 2016
While I mock and tease the fairweather motorcyclists I do understand where they are coming from. Just take a look at my 125 after riding around this last week.
The rear end has that winter "patina"
If a rider takes on the wet and cold wintry roads they have to deal with tailgating Germanic executive transportation systems (TGETS), diesel spills and of course the cold and wet conditions. This in itself dissuades all but the most determined / foolish rider. The motorcycle also suffers as it is relentlessly splashing through the gritty grimy concoction of washout, road salt and gravel lifted from frozen tarmac. It feels like a lose lose situation for everyone concerned.
Take the chain. Personally my chain is lubricated at the start of each day with gear oil which I find to be effective. Any type of lubrication, be it wet or dry, greasy or waxy, needs to cling to the links as they experience massive centrifugal forces passing over the sprockets. This tacky adhesive nature also makes chain lube an ideal medium to capture grit which transforms the slick lubricant into grinding paste, not what you want for your chain.
So don't lubricate! That idea struck me a good few years back. I tried it for a couple of weeks then noticed that many of the links had simply seized up. The grit still gets into the chain and with no regular dose of oil to wash away the grime it just built up to the point where nothing moved at all. Back to the drawing board. The notion of a fully enclosed chain is still an appealing one.
Rust free - yes. Also gritty and grindy and grubby.
Bearings should sit behind tight rubber seals to keep the dirt out. Should being the operative word. When new these seals work well but as the miles pass they slacken and harden which allows the smallest particles of grit in. This rubs the rubber, wearing it out, letting larger pieces in which wear the rubber and so on and so on. Soon enough the bearing is under attack and that's the end of another 6203.
My bike is rarely cleaned. Why? Sharon is fixated with polishing and washing and waxing and there is little doubt the aesthetics of her bike are in good order - until you get into those impossible to reach nooks and crannies every motorcycle possesses. Hidden behind the footrest hangers, tight behind the clocks and secreted at the back of the motor the grime still lingers and spews forth the rust mites. After years of chasing them away I've finally accepted defeat so now I just focus on keeping the damn thing on the road safely.
No matter how much you clean there's always some part that will start to rust.
So why do I put both myself and my motorcycle through the torture of winter? I...er...I...erm...I'm not so sure really.
I think I have convinced myself that I relish the challenge. There is indeed a great deal of "WHOO YEAH!!" to be found in riding through a hellfire storm when the rain is coming in sideways and the wind is battering me all around. To take on the deepest chill and work out how to remain warm makes me think "Bring it on". The only way I can perhaps explain is in the same way that people explain climbing Everest, crossing the Sahara or cycling around the world - because it's there. There's no practical need to go to the North Pole is there?
However having taken on the challenge each winter I look at the ever more crusty, rusty and worn out bike and think to myself "What am I doing?" As each year passes I am becoming more aware of the effects the cold and damp will be having on my joints. Will this stop me? Probably not. I must admit though at 44 years old I am just a tiny teeny little bit more prone to taking the car. Is this the thin end of the wedge?
Reader's Comments
Bob said :-
SCOTTOILER! SCOTTOILER! Sorry for shouting, but you should install a SCOTTOILER!
I was skeptical about these things for years and would never stump up the 60-odd quid for one. Then I bought a bike with one fitted. What a revelation, the chain is always clean and moist with oil. On my 650 single I could go 600-700 miles between adjustments.
It's fit and forget, saves time every morning and keeps the rear of the bike clean.
My other best tip is ACF50 - coat all exposed metal in this stuff.
And finally, a hose pipe - mine is on a coil just inside the garage door. After every winter ride I wash the salt off the bike (particularly the brake calipers) before putting it to bed.
I've also been known to direct a good squirt or twelve of WD40 up under the tank and into the switchgear etc...
Age catches up with us all. I'm downsizing from my Versys 650 to a KLR250, I find the Versys increasing too heavy for my knackered back (I struggle to pick it up).
03/02/2016 11:41:29 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Hi Bob. Yes but like you I am resistant to the whole scottoiler thingy. I don't know why because it does make sense. Am I being traditionalist? Am I a stick in the mud? I'm probably too tight to spend my pennies that's what it is.
I've never worried about the aesthetics of a bike, to me they're for riding not for looking at. Rust is rust and as long as it's not on any moving parts or threatening to make things fall apart then I don't mind. Tell you what though, If ACF50 would stop mild steel exhausts from rusting I'd give it a shot. Sick of crumbling pipes.
The KLR250 should be a fun tool. I reckon you'll miss the power at first but your mind and your riding soon adjust and leave you wondering why you thought you needed it in the first place. Should be fun off road too!
03/02/2016 18:24:06 UTC
Bob said :-
Well, I haven't actually paid full price for any of my Scottoilers. The one I'm running at the moment was £5 from the Classic Mechanics Show autojumble!
I'm trying to get my head around the downsizing issue. I just can't shake the feeling I'm making a mistake, but the KLR is ~28HP so it's enough for a solid 60-65MPH which is all I used to do on the Honda 650 anyway.
I like the feeling of freedom that a big bike brings, thoughts of trips to the continent and Long Way Round type adventures and yet, with an 8 year old at home and a full time job it's just not going to happen. Most of my riding is either very early (before she gets up) or at night (after she has gone to bed) and I just get an hour or two for a quick blat around the Peak District. So why do I need 120MPH on tap for that?
The fact is my most enjoyable rides are the ones down the single track roads and green lanes, away from all the nobbers (on four wheels and two, especially in summer) and a 250 is more than enough. For the occasional long run it will still do it with no problems.
Last weekend I went up to Keighly, to look at the KLR250 I'm now buying and I had the idea of going on my KE100. My initial thought was "I can't do that!" then I realised, back in the day I went everywhere on my first bike (a GP100) and how soft have I become? So the Versys stayed at home and I set forth on the KE100 - over the tops of the hills, Woodhead pass, Holmfirth etc. It took over 2 hours from Chesterfield, but it was a hell of a ride. The little bike will hold 50MPH on the flat with no problems. I did the run as a test and it reminded me how much fun small bikes are.
Important for me is the feeling of unstop-ability, the feeling that you can ride across anything, get through anything. On the Versys there have been a few times when I've gone to turn down a lane, seen the mud and the broken surface and gone a different route - I HATE that!
The only fly in the ointment with riding smaller bikes is German cars and the people who drive them. I've discovered the secret to happy riding is to remove the wing mirrors! If you can't see how close they are you can put it out of your mind.
04/02/2016 08:42:25 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Hi Bob. I have created a new acronym regarding the tailgating German cars - G.E.T.S. which stands for "Germanic Executive Transportation System" or in reality "Germanic Executive Tailgating System". While other countries' cars may at times be a little too close it will typically be an Audi-BMW badge you'll see in your mirrors - if you had any. Obviously their business meeting or Chelsea's ballet lesson is more important than your safety.
If you wish to hold on to the romantic notion of travelling to far off worlds on your steed then a small bike need not stop this. Ed March on his C90 for example. I know many overlanders prefer a small bike for ease of use. Remember it's not a race nor is it a display of how wealthy or manly you are.
I too like you prefer those tiny quiet empty back roads. That's where the best places can be found and the sense of space and peace comes over me. A small motorcycle is truly at home on the back roads.
04/02/2016 12:09:36 UTC
Bob said :-
GETS, or just GITS?
Anyway, my experiment failed. I got the KLR250 and rode it around for a bit but I just couldn't adjust for some reason. On the KE I'm happy to pootle, but maybe that's because I know I've got something much faster back in the garage.
The KLR250 would indeed do 60-65MPH but I wasn't prepared for the full horror of having to sit there at 7-8K RPM to do it, it just felt like hard work.
So I splurged out on a low mileage BMW G650X Country, I had one of these before and I still think it was the best bike I've ever had. 54HP and 141KG makes for a fun and engaging ride!
So as not to wear the "X" out prematurely I thought I needed a motorway bike, to do the boring long distance runs, so I picked up a 1992 KLE500. It had a rattly cam chain, but an ER-5 tensioner sorted that out. It is also a very good machine.
So I think I've settled on 40-50HP as my lower limit. I got on very well with my SLR650 too....
25/02/2016 09:22:17 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
GETS Bob...we don't want to offend the BMW/Audi owners now do we...? I wonder if it is politically incorrect to be "Executive Driver - ist"?
I must be a little different to your good self. While I do sometimes miss the power and performance of a larger motorcycle I don't miss it enough to warrant the purchase of one. I do rather fancy a CB500X or perhaps the NC750X. But could I justify it? I'm writing a piece about this so all will be revealed.
I see from your blog (thanks for the email) that you've played around with C90's, a CD250 and quite a few other smaller capacity bikes. I take it in the perfect world you need a big bike and a small bike to cover all bases?
25/02/2016 17:14:22 UTC
Bob said :-
In a perfect world I'd like a small bike with big bike power!
That BMW is the closest I've found thus far.
Weight is the killer for me, my back won't let me pick up anything that weighs much more than 175KG wet.
The CB500X and NC750X are good bikes, but I need genuine off road ability and sadly there are very few bikes in production these days that meet the criteria and certainly none I'd be prepared to trust from a reliability point of view.
26/02/2016 11:00:31 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Yeah both the 500 and 750 are off road style, not hardcore off roaders. There seems to be a growing aftermarket section for the CB 500 X to improve it's off road ability but that is expensive.
Personally I am looking for - ahem - Gold Wing comfort, reliability and luggage capacity with ZZR 1400 power and speed, Ducati handling, KTM off road ability all together with CBF 125 light weight and fuel economy. Why oh why oh why oh why is no-one making this motorcycle???
26/02/2016 11:33:58 UTC
Nigel said :-
Just proves that the "All Year Biker" treatment is worth every penny.
allyearbiker.co.uk/...
04/03/2016 19:34:28 UTC
John S said :-
This was written in Feb 2016 which is 3 soon to be 4 years since. If the bike was in this state then what sort of a state is it in now?
11/11/2019 11:48:47 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
The bike remains, for the most part, in pretty much the same state John S, I guess there comes a point where it can't get any dirtier.
11/11/2019 16:27:52 UTC
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