all season riders: How do you prepare your bike for the cold months?

Any good and worth the

Money ot dont't bother https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282231069035

Also

im not too fussed about if it looks fuggly, i am little worried if the muffs would clear the front speedo and cowling

Yzf r125

I highly recommend a heated seat.

I highly recommend a heated seat.

and a heated screen 4 wheels and a roof!!

I highly recommend a heated seat.

 

and a heated screen 4 wheels and a roof!!

You beat me to that one

A question for the all-seaons-riders: How do you prepare your bike for the cold months?

I admit, that I don´love ice and snow riding. Usually I try not to be out on the bike when the conditions are really bad, but nonetheless I spent a lot of time on my motorcycle at low temperatures because I´m an addict and I live „car free“.

My modifications for the cold season are:

- winter tires (K60 M+S Silica (SiO2)) – I bought them last year by chance and they turned out be good. The rubber is really soft. Thereby I put new SiO2-K60 on just these days.

Heated grips + handlebar muffs- The muffs look horrible, but in combination with the heated grips they are a real pleasure. Much warmer fingers than with standard hand protections. You get the best results if you ride with semi-warm gloves since that allows much more temperatur transfer on the inner side of your hands and the outer side is wind protected by the muffs.

So again the question: How do you prepare your bike for the cold season?

Cheers

Frank / Motorcycle-Vagabonds

Interested to know why you've opted for a 50/50 tyre instead of a road tyre??

I'm on the heated grips and muff game. Can't be heated for warmth + weatherproofing.

I tend to just pack out in about 4 layers of clothing and I'm good to go. Only thing that changes really is the muffs go on.

My modifications for the cold season are:

- winter tires (K60 M+S Silica (SiO2)) – I bought them last year by chance and they turned out be good. The rubber is really soft. Thereby I put new SiO2-K60 on just these days.

 

Interested to know why you've opted for a 50/50 tyre instead of a road tyre??

Hi Phil, as far as I know this winter tyre is only available with this profile.

Why should a motorcycle tire producer make a winter tyre with a road tyre profile?

Cheers

Frank

My modifications for the cold season are:

- winter tires (K60 M+S Silica (SiO2)) – I bought them last year by chance and they turned out be good. The rubber is really soft. Thereby I put new SiO2-K60 on just these days.

 

Interested to know why you've opted for a 50/50 tyre instead of a road tyre??

 

Hi Phil, as far as I know this winter tyre is only available with this profile.

Why should a motorcycle tire producer make a winter tyre with a road tyre profile?

Cheers

Frank

I don't think I made my question quite clear enough. Let me try again.

Why are you choosing to ride with a block profile tread pattern for winter instead of a more appropriate road bias tyre?

Why are you choosing to ride with a block profile tread pattern for winter instead of a more appropriate road bias tyre?

The profile is no my first concern. I want a WINTER tire = soft rubber. All road tires would have harder rubber = less grip.

This one is of different rubber than the normal version of the K60 Heidenau.

I don´t know any other motorcycle tire producer, who offer a tyre with soft rubber. Thereby there´s no choice for the profile.

Anyway you think a road tyre is more appropiriate in winter? Can´t see why this should be when it comes to snow etc.

Cheers

Frank

Frank, with respect, this is nonsensical.

You want optimum grip but go for a soft compound tyre with less rubber. The soft rubber needs to be warmer to grip well, it's not as grippy as something like a pilot road which has a much broader temperature range. All that will happen with the soft compound is it won't last as long (though the K60 is good for around 8k).

You have a significant amount less rubber than that of a sport touring tyre which means less grip.

As for snow... Forget it. These don't have the required profile to handle snow and mud. Its better than a road tyre for sure but it will still require a lot of rider input and skill to be remotely useable on mud and snow.

Whatever the advertisements are, I would say this is far from a 'winter tyre' and you should just go ahead with a harder compound more grippy tyre in colder temperatures.

But of course end of the day... if you ride defensively, even knobblies will be OK.

knobblies are the considered winter tyres by the German plod - fwiw

Not by me... I'm riding on them every weekend. Maybe the German plod make a habit of riding around forests.

Frank, with respect, this is nonsensical.

You want optimum grip but go for a soft compound tyre with less rubber. The soft rubber needs to be warmer to grip well, it's not as grippy as something like a pilot road which has a much broader temperature range. All that will happen with the soft compound is it won't last as long (though the K60 is good for around 8k).

You have a significant amount less rubber than that of a sport touring tyre which means less grip.

As for snow... Forget it. These don't have the required profile to handle snow and mud. Its better than a road tyre for sure but it will still require a lot of rider input and skill to be remotely useable on mud and snow.

Whatever the advertisements are, I would say this is far from a 'winter tyre' and you should just go ahead with a harder compound more grippy tyre in colder temperatures.

But of course end of the day... if you ride defensively, even knobblies will be OK.

Phil - The winter K60 isn't about just softer rubber, it's a proper high-silica compound winter tyre. Different beast to the normal all season K60. Frank is on the right track, these tyres are specifically designed to offer increased grip in low temperatures.

Little bit of info about winter tyres from the AA:

http://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/safety/winter-tyres-in-the-uk

And an article about the K60 Winter in particular:

http://defylife.com/travel-gear/motorcycle-equipment/winter-tyre-review-heidenau-k60-silica/

Edit: Sport Touring tyres aren't going to be an option for a Transalp, surely? Similar size rims to my old BMW and I recall being limited to dualsport or adventure tyres for that. Metzler Tourance is just about the best you could get for all-weather use on those rims, but there's no way in hell those thing would have even a slim chance on snow or off sealed roads, and they weren't particularly hot in the cold *ba-dum-tss*

As for snow... a knobbly that handles snow and mud well is only going to make even bigger compromises on the cold wet roads. A perfect 50/50 tyre is a borderline myth at the best of times, throw winter into the mix and the idea of a perfect do-all dualsport tyre rapidly vanishes into the distance As far as I can tell, the K60 Winter is as close as it comes to a do-all tyre for the winter months. On road, off road, even a fighting chance at the slippy stuff with some common sense and skill behind it.

...Of course, I was too cheap to swap out on mine so I'm running my D606's through the winter. Slippy!

If it's soft when cold, it will last a weekend at normal temps. If it doesn't... It isn't that soft.

Anyway, point still remains... Less rubber, less contact patch, less grip. Thread patterns don't disperse water very well meaning they are worse in wet weather and like I said... For snow... Forget it.

Anything can work I just don't think this is a great choice for winter where it's cold and wet.

Glass houses, as far as I'm concerned. I'm certainly not gonna be a dick to anyone for their tyre choices while I'm running a 10/90 set

Not by me... I'm riding on them every weekend. Maybe the German plod make a habit of riding around forests.

Should your theory be sound we should be riding slicks.

Not by me... I'm riding on them every weekend. Maybe the German plod make a habit of riding around forests.

Should your theory be sound we should be riding slicks.

Why?

Glass houses, as far as I'm concerned. I'm certainly not gonna be a dick to anyone for their tyre choices while I'm running a 10/90 set

Yeah but that's a ridiculous choice for road as well...

That's why my main bike has an appropriate tyre on it and my dirt bike has an appropriate tyre on it.

The R1 has an inappropriate tyre on it (pilot power 2CT) and I know about it and regret putting it on.

Glass houses, as far as I'm concerned. I'm certainly not gonna be a dick to anyone for their tyre choices while I'm running a 10/90 set

Yeah but that's a ridiculous choice for road as well...

Yes. That's the point of what I said. Well done for deciphering my code.

Hey Frank!

If you don't mind me asking, where are you from? You're pics in the first post look awesome and I'm jealous of your rugged bike

In terms of the winter tyre argument, I have never changed to them on any of my vehicles but that's just because I think winters in the UK can be so mild compared to other parts of Europe that I've never seen it to be necessary.. However with snow banks like your first pic I can totally see why you would!

I asked about at my work as I know one lass here used to work in the purchasing department of a winter tyre manufacturer in Romania, who's told me lots already about different tyres for cars.. The guy who sits next to me said that back in Poland his neighbour would ride in all weathers, but personally when the snow set in he said anyone would be crazy to go out on the bike

I have to admit I'm not great with bike special treatment in Winter as I haven't had a garage for 6-7 years now, so I just do what I can with for a bike that spends so long outside.

Though my Sprint is not in Jay's mums garage I rarely get out on her.. Though she's just had an optimate fitted to stop the alarm murdering batteries!

Website says Köln/Cologne

Not by me... I'm riding on them every weekend. Maybe the German plod make a habit of riding around forests.

Should your theory be sound we should be riding slicks.

Why?

Always depends on the amount of snow, of course, but ...

... knobblies have greater displacement

... more than street tyres which in turn have more ...

... than slicks.

Hence the reference to slicks. On snow nothing can beat knobblies. Bit like the forest you're talking about really - tends to have mud and stuff.

If you can see a bit of tarmac it is a different ball game again and I reckon one could philosophize for the next twenty pages about what is better.

Just as way of explanation.

Should your theory be sound we should be riding slicks.

Why?

Always depends on the amount of snow, of course, but ...

... knobblies have greater displacement

... more than street tyres which in turn have more ...

... than slicks.

Hence the reference to slicks. On snow nothing can beat knobblies. Bit like the forest you're talking about really - tends to have mud and stuff.

If you can see a bit of tarmac it is a different ball game again and I reckon one could philosophize for the next twenty pages about what is better.

Just as way of explanation.

Either you didn't understand my comment, or how tyre treads work but knobblies displace mud, snow etc. Road tyres with their tread displace water.

Anyone that thinks knobblies displace water better than something like a PR3 or even a Pirelli scorpion trail is just living in cloud cukoo land.

How slicks come into this debate is beyond me...

It appears we were talking cross purposes here. I thought winter and snow. My road tyres are wicked on water

Well as it's a UK site, I'm thinking UK winters... wet, cold and slimy.