salt everywhere
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,976
Likes: 49
From: Northern California
Call me a pansy a$$ fair-weather rider, but at 51 I've "been there done that" many times over (i.e. ride in cold, crap, salt, etc...). This is why I wait until a few good rain gushers before breaking out the bikes...normally April's my month to start the riding season. Even though it's tempting, and I see bikes everywhere, I'm waiting for Mother Nature to make the salt & sand disappear.
For some folks it is not just a desire to go for a ride or to say "I took a ride" look at me !! Not everyone gives a crooked root what anyone else thinks of them or what they do.
It can be a mind cleansing soul filling real need to be on a bike and worth the effort to bundle up in the freezing cold, dodge puddles and clean the bike after. The bike is part of life.
There is a reason the #1 Tattoo is Harley Davidson.
For others a bike is just another toy.A status symbol. Something to modify. Whatever the reason to have a bike it is all good.
Not bashing on anyone at all just offering up a different point of view.
Enjoy the ride whenever you can. I don't know how you folks that have such short riding seasons do it. Riding has been large part of life and I need to be on one, if I do not I get grumpy, even a 20 minute ride does my soul wonders.
Tourer
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 496
Likes: 0
From: Plainview, NY
The wife and I have been fighting like crazy and the only saving grace for my sanity has been getting out on the bike for a ride.. There's much more sand than salt here which in itself keeps me off the hilly backroads for a while... I gave the bike a good bath after my last ride.
On a good note, the street sweeper cam down my block today and it's supposed to be raining...
On a good note, the street sweeper cam down my block today and it's supposed to be raining...
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 6,154
Likes: 2,562
From: CT/FL
I rode for 45 min last Saturday - it felt really good to be on the bike again! I spent an hour Sunday washing the bike off. It looks really good. I ride when I can, not to say I did but because it feels so good. I dry the bike with a towel so I'm a heathen anyway. haha
Thread Starter
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 11,217
Likes: 3,046
From: St.Louis Mo.
a ride is the only thing that fix's my head after being cooped up all winter. i spent most of the day washing and detailing the bike. i flooded the bottom of the bike and waxed everything i could get my hands on,wheels and bottom of frame. i sprayed it off real good staying away from the wheel bearings. salt wasn't on it for very long. it'll be all right as i keep it waxed up all the time. i'm sure if you let it sit on it very long it would eat it up.
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,951
Likes: 33
From: Upstate NY
I just look at my wife's car and my truck and judge the salt condition by how white they both are. This winter I think they used twice as much salt. Everything is white when the roads do clear up. So its not cold that stops me, just the idea of pitted parts. I used to ride Enduro bikes year round and they were a pitted mess after just two winters of riding. I may get another just to get out when the salt is still there. Hey if you can taste it you are either at the Salt Flats or you are north of the Mason Dixon line.
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
With a big road trip planned for early April and a brand new SG in the garage, I've had little choice but to get the break-in miles done whenever I can. Spent two hours wiping everything down, bags off, side overs off, cleaned the wheels....every nook and cranny. PA has been pretty salty this year, but like someone said, they're made to ride. I'm at 508 miles now, so I have a few weeks to get the 1000 miles and the service done.
Way I'm looking at it, the dealer was eager to deal with me since it was January when I bought it. So, if I saved any money, the trade off is a winter break-in. I'm just going to do my best to clean the thing and not stress too much about it. If I need to replace some fasteners and whatnot down the road, so be it. I bought this thing to RIDE.
Way I'm looking at it, the dealer was eager to deal with me since it was January when I bought it. So, if I saved any money, the trade off is a winter break-in. I'm just going to do my best to clean the thing and not stress too much about it. If I need to replace some fasteners and whatnot down the road, so be it. I bought this thing to RIDE.
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Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,542
Likes: 5
From: Cleveland, OH
That's why I resist the urge to ride until I get a dry day AFTER a good rain washes off the roads. It's killing me, but I'm not giving in. I feel your pain waiting for the weather to break though, we're getting clobbered today!
