Your motorcycle will also need to dress up warmly for a ride in cold weather. You will not need to worry about putting on warm blankets over your bike, but you will need to be careful that your poor ride does not get frostbite.

Radiator

If you have a water-cooled motorcycle, just like with a car, you will need to put in antifreeze in the radiator. If not, you will have severe problems when you have stopped and the radiator cools down.

Read your motorcycle’s maintenance manual how much, and which kind of antifreeze.

Tires

If you are riding on slicks or race tires, forget it. Just do not bother, you might just as well put on ice skates and go to a skating rink, since that is what you will be doing on your motorcycle. Make sure you have at the very least street tires fitted. Knobbies are much better, since they will bite into snow, but obviously studded tires are the best when you have got snow or ice. At the very least, normal street tires will offer better grip and reach operating temperatures much quicker than slicks.

Oil

The best oil to use during winter months is a thinner oil. They will improve performance, especially right after starting your bike. Get an oil that is made for winter, but do check your motorcycle manual which ones are recommended by the manufacturer, since not all companies allow a different oil type to be used.

When shopping for oil, make sure the viscosity grade has the letter “W” next to it (e.g. 20W or 30W). The “W” denotes Winter use (source).

Protecting Your Bike

When you say winter and snow, I say salt on the roads. In most parts of the world, when it starts snowing or freezing, salt is sprayed on the roads. It’s great to ride, since the roads are far less slippery, but it does mean that you will get salt on your motorcycle, and that means corrosion. If you want to prevent this, spray some WD-40 oil on all the parts that are exposed to salt & slush, typically below your fairing, forks, engine and mudguards.

When you have finished your ride, wash off the salt from your bike. If you leave it on for the rest of the winter, chances are by spring you will find some rust spots.

Lights

It gets dark quickly, and even during daytime, it can get dark, so it’s a very good idea to make sure that your lights are in good working order. Test them out before setting off.

Mirrors (and visor)

Because of big temperature differences, it is wise to spray an anti-fogging spray on your mirrors and helmet visor.

Battery

Check the water level of your battery. If it is lower than normal, you might have a leak, and during the winter, that is not a good thing. Top it up, but make sure you close the tops firmly.

If you will be riding with heated gear, make sure your alternator can handle it. Read your motorcycle manual to see how much wattage gets generated. If the sum of what is used by riding (lights and other components) plus your heated gear exceeds the wattage supplied, your battery will run out. On its own, this will not prevent you from riding, but you will not go a long distance, and you will need to recharge your battery when you are home again.

Brakes

You will need to apply brake grease to your brakes, since sludge and salt will form around the brake pins.

Next, we will look at riding tips.

But if you live in an area where it is cold, rainy and sometimes some snow, you can still ride, but you’ll need to take some precautions.

Trap Heat

The most important factor for riding in the cold, is that you need to trap your body heat. Heat tends to dissipate into the cold, and it is difficult to stoke the fire inside your body to replace the lost heat. So the best way is to insulate your body from heat loss.

In the old days, people would wrap old newspapers against their body to trap the heat. Nowadays you will not need to worry about newspaper ink rubbing against your skin, giving you who-knows-what-kind-of-sickness. A microfiber layer against your skin is the first defense layer against the cold. A microfiber T-shirt is great, better yet a long-john made out of microfiber. If you don’t have microfiber, get a good cotton one. A one-piece is better than two, but having one is better than none.

TIP: You need to put on the first layer, the microfiber, when you are warm, not outside in the cold. In that case, all you will be doing is trapping the cold temperature, so defeating the idea of keeping warm. Put on the microfiber when you are warm!

Next you can put on layers of woolen sweaters or cotton or silk shirts. Don’t put on too much, if not you’ll not be able to operate your motorcycle properly. Alternatively, you can get a heated vest. Plug it into your 12V system, and you’ll be as snug as a bug in a rug.

The final layer, your jacket, needs to be totally windproof; leather or nylon will do the trick, and ideally it should be a one-piece suit. If you don’t have a one-piece suit, get one that can be zipped between the pants and jacket. This way, less heat will escape.

Extremities

Your body extremities will see the fastest heat loss. Feet, hands and very important, your head, will loose heat very fast. It’s important to keep them warm.

Hands: Make sure your gloves are the gauntlet type, i.e., fit over your jacket sleeve. This way, no cold air can come in or out via the top. You might also want to get some silk gloves to wear inside your normal gloves, since they keep the fingers warm & dry. Remember that your hands & fingers are exposed to a very cold air when riding. It’s the reason many all-year riders have heated handlebars, or heated gloves.

TIP: If heated handlebars or gloves are too expensive, consider chemical heat packs.

Feet: Your feet will not be moving much on the motorcycle so they will tend to get cold quickly, but they have a source of natural heating; your motorcycle’s engine (unless you are riding a sports motorcycle).

But you will still need to wear warm socks, preferably with silk under-socks. Make sure your boots are rainproof and do not let wind in (and therefore hot air out). In the worst case scenario, get rain boot covers.

Head: Your head, believe or not, is very important. A head, and therefore brain that is exposed for long periods of time to cold temperatures will not function properly. You will start to loose concentration, and make judgment mistakes; your reaction time will diminish dramatically. At the very least, wear a balaclava, preferably with a silk hood underneath it. An advantage of a balaclava, one that goes up to your nose, is that it will prevent your visor from fogging up, something, no matter how good your visor, will happen in the winter.

Since you will find that cold air will enter your back, get a proper neck warmer that covers your neck, chest and shoulder.

Next we’ll look at what you need to do for your motorcycle in order to ride it in the winter.

The easiest thing is to leave it in the garage, but you’ll need to do some preventive steps if you want to be able to ride the motorcycle after the winter has melted away.

First of all, if you don’t have a garage, you’ll not want to leave your motorcycle on the road, especially if you live in an area where there is snow and frost. Your bike will not like it. If you do not have a garage, rent some space in a storage area, preferably one that is specialized in winter storage for motorcycles. These places are usually well adapted, and the good ones will assist you in preparing your motorcycle for the winter.

If you have your own garage, there are a couple of things you can do to make your bike hibernate properly:

1. Service your motorcycle, either yourself or at the dealer. Make sure the oil is changed (leaving old oil in a bike’s engine is not a good idea).
2. Fill up your fuel tank before storing.
3. If you have a carburetor, block the fuel flow and start the engine until all the remainder fuel is drained from the fuel line. This way, there will be no fuel in the lines.
4. Put fuel stabilizer in the fuel tank (if your dealer doesn’t have any, head over to the local marine supply store). No matter how full the tank is, after a while, condensation will form, and that can put a stop to you riding the following season.
5. Clean your motorcycle throughout. Remove all dirt and grease.
6. Degrease your chain (if you have one). Put oil (WD-40) on moving parts; joints and spray some inside the exhaust. The WD-40 will repel moisture from forming.
7. If your garage is not weather-proof, ie, it can get cold and humid, your best bet is to put some Vaseline or other wax based products over your chrome and other noticeable metal bits, including the fuel tank. You can also use a good chrome polish. The last thing you want is to have rust forming on your bike.
8. Preferably remove your battery, and place it on a dry surface (not the ground). But whether you remove the battery or not, connect a trickle charger to the battery. This will ensure that the battery is fully loaded and in good working condition for the day you fire up the bike again.
9. If your motorcycle has a center stand, use it. If you really want to, place your bike on blocks. This will relieve pressure from your suspension and tires.
10. Inflate your tires to the maximum pressure. It is going to get cold in your garage, so there’s no worry that the tire will inflate any further.
11. If you live in an area where it really gets cold, make sure you have put anti-freeze in the radiator (that is, if you have one).
12. Put a cover over your motorcycle. Do not put some plastic wrap, or anything but a special motorcycle cover, since proper covers allow the bike to “breath”, making sure humidity evaporates.

It sound like a lot of work, but it shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes maximum, and this way when the riding season starts again, you can go straight for the ride instead of having to bring it to the dealer.

Your motorcycle will thank you.

Yamaha show their latest concept, the XTW250 RYOKU motorcycle (link). From a first look, it appears to be a motorcycle straight out of a cartoon. All it needs is its own character.

The XTW250 RYOKU concept is a cross between the Yamaha XT250 and the dual-purpose TX225, but modified to carry heavy loads. The closest this bike comes to something we all know in the car world, is the SUV, or more like a HUMMER.

Yamaha-XT250+TX225=XTW250

The concept motorcycle has a very fat tire in the rear, and even the front tire is not as narrow as its “parent” counterparts. The fuel tank is low to the ground, implying a low center of gravity, enabling you to carry heavy loads and still maintain a good control over the motorcycle.

Throw in the rather large cargo rack at the back, and you’ve got a motorcycle that will be an enormous hit in Asia.

Asian Motorcycle Carrying Cargo

Motorcycles will carry anything in Asia, and most of them are low displacement engines. A 250cc engine, rugged, able to carry heavy loads and still maintain control should go down well in those parts of the world. The only question will be the price. The only other real “SUV” on the market today is the Rokon, but that motorcycle is a two-wheel drive and is very expensive.

But will we see this motorcycle appear in the North American or European markets? Time will tell, but I doubt it.

But you’ll need to get the right size helmet. You do not want the hassle to have to return the helmet because the size is wrong, so let’s get it right.

Follow the red line

The process is quite easy, but there are a few hints that will make this go smoother:

1. Use a piece of string long enough, or if you have one, a measure tape (the soft kind tailors use)
2. Roll the string (or tape) around your head, some ½ inch (10 mm) above your eye brows, and keep the string at the widest part of your head. If at all possible, ask someone to do this for you.
3. If you are using a measure tape, write down the length, if not use a ruler to measure the length of string.
4. For a best possible result, repeat the process once or twice to get a good average.
5. Next wait a day or two, and repeat the process. This is because a head expands and contracts slightly depending on heat or cold.
6. Look at the results, and take the largest measure.
7. A good and responsible web site will be featuring the size charts of that manufacturer (manufacturers have different charts). Take your measure and take the one that is the closest to your, always making sure you round off the result upwards,
8. Order your helmet

Once you have gotten your new helmet just make sure it fits snugly, that there is some movement, but that it is not tight. You should be able to move the helmet with your hand, but only slightly. Too tight is not good, and too loose neither. That’s why it is important to follow the steps above.

While there have been motorcycles that have sold for a lot more, over $600,000, those were usually collectors items and sold for so much due to their uniqueness. Bikes such as the 1915 Cyclone sold for $520,000 at auction. More recently the Vincent Black Lightning was put up for auction and was expected to sell for over $600,000. The bikes are basically works of art and one of a kind. The bikes on this list, however, aren’t one of a kind. They are production bikes that anyone can purchase if they have enough money.

When it comes to the top 3 most expensive production motorcycles there seems to be general agreement to what they are: Ecosse Titanium Series, Dodge Tomahawk, and the MTT Turbine Superbike. While there are some who say that the Dodge Tomahawk is not actually a motorcycle due to it’s unique four wheel design, there are also many people who argue that the overall design is still that of a motorcycle, regardless of the way the wheels are configured. It doesn’t matter which school of thought you belong to, it’s still a really cool looking vehicle!

Here is a little more information on each of our top 3 most expensive motorcycle contenders:

1) If you’ve got an extra $550,000 just burning a hole in your pocket you might want to check out the Dodge Tomahawk. This very limited production bike (so far only 10 have been made) is not street legal and may not even be a motorcycle, you can decide that for yourself. But it is a very unique looking bike and it is fast. This will definitely be one of those things that is more status symbol than mode of transportation.

Dodge Tomahawk

Here are the vitals for the Tomahawk:

V 10 4 stroke, 500 hp @ 5600 RPM, 525.5 ft lbs of torque @ 4200RPM, liquid cooled, 2 speed gearbox, maximum RPM 6000, Total weight 1,500 lbs., 3″ ground clearance, 76″ wheel base, monocoque central engined stressed member frame, double disc front and rear brakes, top speed 300 MPH, 0 – 62 in 2.5 seconds, 3.25 fuel tank capacity.

2) If you have a more modest budget, say around $275,000 you can pick up your very own Ecosse Titanium Series. While almost 300 grand may seem like a lot of money for a motorcycle, you’ll be glad to know that they’ll also throw in a custom made titanium watch with every purchase! The production will be limited to 10 so you’d better hurry. This motorcycle was dreamed up by American Donald Atchison and is the first bike to sport an all titanium frame.

Ecosse Titanium

Here’s all the information you need to know before you run out and pick one up:

The engine is an Ecosse/Engenuity Racing 2150 cc polished Billet aluminum 45 degree American twin-cam V-Twin, 210 ft./lbs of torque, 6 speed close ration transmission with final overdrive gear, all titanium frame, ISR custom radial braking system, 440 lbs., 60.5″ wheelbase, 12 adjustable position foot peg, with rider specific adjusted suspension when you pick up your bike.

3) And if you have more common sense than money, the MTT Turbine Superbike might be just the ticket. Priced at ‘only’ $185,000 it’s the budget friendly option of the top three. The worlds only turbine powered motorcycle has been featured often in the media and most memorably in the movie “Torque”. The Superbike holds two Guinness World Records.

MTT Turbine Superbike

Here’s all you need to know about the Superbike:

Rolls Royce Allison 250 series gas turbine engine, 320 hp @ 52,000 RPM, 425 ft/lbs. of torque @ 2,000 RPM, 2 speed automatic transmission, aluminum alloy frame, 500 lbs, carbon fiber fairings, custom colors available, diesel and kerosene fuels, 8.5 gal fuel capacity, 1.5 gal reserve tank capacity, 17″ carbon fiber wheels, 68″ wheel base, 3×320 mm floating system 4 piston caliper brakes, rear mounted camera with LCD color monitor in dash.

So there you have it, your next years Birthday Wish List! Not many of us will ever be able to afford any of these bikes, but they’re still fun to look at and marvel at. And who knows, maybe some day you’ll win the lottery and if you do you’ll know just what you want to buy with your money!

For those who believe the descent from the peaks of Lake Tahoe and Donner Pass (CA) to Sacramento is a smooth one, think again. One hundred miles is a short ride, yes, but dropping nearly 8,000 feet is not.

It was in the low 40s when I departed Lake Tahoe, bitterly windy, and bits of snow still clung in the shadows under the pines and the peaks in the distance. The road, littered with sand and other debris as winter approached, required intense concentration. In the high altitude, my poor carbureted bike – I call her Molinara – had a painfully-low idle devoid of horespower. I lean on the throttle, and she barely responds. I looked forward to the increasing temperatures, but I did not adequately anticipate their abrupt arrival.

I began that one hundred mile downhill ride fully bundled, miserably cold, and with every bit of exposed skin covered with some form of protective gear.

Half an hour later, steering with one hand, I was flipping open visors, unzipping vents, loosening cold weather gear, and sweating. The only one enjoying the ride was Molinara, who saw a quick restoration of her torque and a robust roar in her pipes. She was happy, but I was not.

Baking in the now-70s temperatures, I pulled over outside of Sacramento to start peeling off layers and switching to lighter weight motorcycle gloves. There, parked conspicuously on the shoulder of a highway entrance ramp, I made a number of wardrobe adjustments.

As I stowed my gear, a California Highway Patrol (CHP) car tore past me, tires smoking, engine protesting, and disappeared onto the highway. Whomever he was chasing was going to be disappointed when he quickly overtook them. Another good reason to abide by the law. But strangely, another CHP patrol car pulled up behind me not five minutes later. Scrambling out of his car, the officer strode towards me severely.

“Have you seen anybody driving crazy here recently. Spinning their tires or something?” he demanded.

Yes I had, I told him, but it was another patrol car – no doubt responding to a call. Hearing my response, he started giggling.

“Yeah, that was me; I was bored. You gotta practice that stuff, you know?”

Over the next ten minutes, he tried to recruit me to CHP, talked about his time in the Marines (he and I were both infantry), and insisted that I use his name if I apply. If I make it, he gets a week’s vacation as a reward. I told him I’d consider it.

As we both readied to leave, he told me to be safe, watch my speed, and if I wanted, I could tail behind him for a bit. It sounded like a license to exceed the speed limit, so I quickly agreed.

He did at least fifteen over, and I followed directly behind him. Getting bored of it, I guess, he turned on his lights and pulled over somebody doing merely ten over. Popping an ugly, left-handed salute towards me, he grinned, and I kept going – fifteen over. Later that day, having arrived in the Bay area, I climbed off of Molinara, thanked her for safely carrying me more than 5,500 miles from one side of the continent to the other, and gave her a kiss. The other, I told her, I would save for when she got me back home.

When I enlisted in the Marine Corps Infantry, I was surprised with the responses I received when others learned the news. Most, probably envisioning me marching away to war, expressed concern for my safety, a handful indicated they were proud of me, and the vast majority tried to relate: “hey, I have a cousin in the Army. He says he likes it, I guess.” A few, however, blurted that I was going to get myself killed. Thankfully, that reaction (a disconcerting one) was rare. But when I purchased a motorcycle, it was the norm.

 “So you just got a motorcycle, huh? Well, you’re gonna crash and die.”

 An incredible number also felt compelled to tell me about specific incidents where that had happened, too. It was always somebody distant to them, like the husband of a cousin’s neighbor’s niece. Invariably, something horrible had taken place. That, too, was disconcerting. It was always bad news…

  “You got a motorcycle? Yeah, I just had a patient who ground his entire lower body to a nub when he skidded off his bike doing 100mph on a back road. Have fun riding.”

 “You got a motorcycle? Our prayer requests in Bible study yesterday were for the surviving family of a man killed when he was riding his motorcycle on his farm.”

 “Motorcycle, huh…..you ever seen that video of Evil Knievel hitting the pavement after his jump? I think he broke every bone in his body – at least twice. It was heinous. He looked like a rag doll.”

 “Yeah, my cousin bought a bike, but he crashed it on his first ride and now he’s in a wheelchair.”

 “One of the neighbor’s kids used to ride, but then he wrapped himself around a tree and died. I think he was about 20.”

 “Well, bikes are neat, but I’m too afraid to ride. I’m terrified that somebody will open a car door and I’ll go flying off. Have you seen that movie where there’s this scene….the guy landed in an intersection and got run over. It was pretty cool. But I don’t want to ride a bike, though. Too risky.”

I even had one person offer to pay me NOT to purchase a motorcycle. Naturally, I declined.

 Yes, it may be dangerous, but so is life itself. Besides which, there are number of measures one can easily take to mitigate the risks – beginning with a motorcycle safety course, leathers, and a motorcycle helmet. Furthermore, most other risks can be drastically reduced if riders set aside their pride, ignore the compulsion to exceed the speed limit, and simply enjoy the road. That you have a bike – a sleek, powerful beast with lots of shiny parts – is showing off enough. Respect it, be hyper-vigilant, and you’ll be just fine. You have a greater risk of injury riding a horse (according to the Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation).

In looking back on the whole ordeal, I’ve reached the conclusion that the first thing that comes to mind with a non-rider is the dangers of motorcycling. Thus, that’s what comes out of their mouths. For a rider, however, is the freedom, the road, the roar of the pipes inside your helmet, and the known fact that people in their boring little cars are staring at you with envy. All their kids are waving, too, much to the horror of their mothers. Maybe everybody’s a killjoy because they’re jealous that I’m going to have a lot of fun and they’re not. 

And here’s the best part: Now only two years after purchasing my first motorcycle, nearly every person who said something negative about riding has since gone riding with me and thoroughly enjoyed it – to include the person who offered to pay me to not buy the bike. At least one has purchased a bike of his own, and several more have expressed interest in buying them in the future. I win, folks. Well, motorcycles win. (I will note that one passenger kept peering over my shoulder to monitor the speedometer, but I think she still had fun.)

 There’s something about a motorcycle that’s almost universally appealing. Something about the way it hugs the road in curves and bolts up the long inclines that cars struggle to climb. Or the deep rumble as you cut through tunnels and under overpasses. Maybe it’s the subtle statement that, “I can go fast if I want to, but I’m happy just relishing the ride.” All you naysayers, we’ll win you over yet. And then, we’ll see you out there on a bike of your own. You can’t help it; it’s just fun.
About Ben Shaw, the author

Motorcycle Trip Planning-To Plan or Not To

Prior to embarking on a long ride far from home, it seems logical that you should turn in your bike for a thorough servicing. Take every precaution to ensure that your bike won’t leave you stranded, irritated, and walking from the Middle of Nowhere to Somewhere. Or worse. In my case, Molinara – yes, she has a name – received valve adjustments, fluid servicing, new brakes, and a new rear tire. The bill, of course, was astronomical. But, we can’t place a price on safety, right?

When the repairs were complete – and only a few days prior to my much anticipated departure – I had a friend drive me to the dealer to pick up the bike. I left like a bat out of hell, leaving my friend to drive back at a more reasonable, responsible speed.

26.5 miles later, roaring along swimmingly at 70mph on the highway, I heard a loud ping, a crash, and suddenly the bike sounded like it was on the verge of death. To my credit, I didn’t panic and do something novice. Instead, I simply pulled over, discovered my PIPES missing from the mid-joint back, and an enormous gouge torn out of my new rear tire. My pipes, by the way, were a quarter behind me in the ditch, severely dented, scratched, and at that moment searing a char mark into the grass. Despite being livid, I was thankful that my friend would be along shortly to spot me on the shoulder and help me out.

Completely ignoring me, he drove right by. Use a cell phone? No way. He never turns his on. He might have to actually TALK to somebody, you see. So, I called the dealer (who was now closed), informed them that I was standing on the side of the road with a broken bike, and that it was entirely their fault. That done, I limped the bike to a nearby exit, found a Waffle House, and sulked.

To my surprise, the manager called me back fairly promptly and announced that a vehicle had been dispatched to deliver me a loaner bike from their floor, and take mine back for repairs. They even paid for my Waffle House lunch.

But the loaner, of course, was tiny. And I’m 6ft 3in tall. I’ve listed the pro’s and con’s below:
Disadvantages of the loaner bike:

1. No windshield – and my friend called me a weenie for objecting
2. I ate bugs on the way home – I want to see HIM eat bugs
3. Smaller
4. Not loud and attention-getting
5. No saddlebags
6. It’s not my bike

Advantages of the loaner bike:

1. Um, it’s not my bike (ride hard)
2. I got home safely
3. It’s black
4. It’s better than walking, which isn’t cool at all

My Bike

Loaner bike

To shorten a very long story, the dealer discovered that they had failed to properly reattach my pipes after their work. The tire was replaced, the bike fixed, and returned to me – still broken and lathered in grease marks. So I took it back, and they fixed it again (meanwhile, I’m leaving in a couple days). Then my brand new sissy bar bag broke some buckles. Then it rained. Then I finally left – and was immediately rained on. And then, a state later, Molinara broke again, leaving me stranded, and sleeping overnight on a concrete stoop outside another dealer’s repair shop. And the next morning I was almost mugged in a gas station bathroom. Then, I tried something different.

Quite simply, I stopped planning. I would go where the road took me, stop when locals insisted there was something to see, and not stick to any schedule whatsoever. And you know, it worked perfectly. The next 13,000 miles were completely disaster free.

Don’t plan, folks. Sneak up on your trip and surprise it. The gods of fortune will never know what hit them.

In 2008, Shaw rode cross-country, expecting to cover 5,500 miles in roughly a month. Four and a half months and 9,500 photographs later, he returned – having ridden 13,500 miles. Since then, he has undertaken several shorter rides, and looks forward to available time to cross the United States on a northern route.

Shaw’s experience with riding is that there is danger, beautiful scenery, long, low curves through beautiful countryside, and a profusion of interesting people met along the way – often just as savory or unbelievable as the ride itself. The most important thing about biking, thus, is being simply curious about everything. Without fail, schedules never work, the weather never cooperates, weird and amazing people abound, but it all becomes the stuff of stories riders will tell for years to come. As any rider knows, strange things always happen on the road.

Shaw currently resides in Virginia, and works as a combat journalist and veteran advocacy writer.