Minutes of a Motorcycle Addict

Pål A. Dahl is a keen BMW rider and currently (as of Oct 08) the President of the Norwegian BMW Club. He is also a keen winter rider. Early in 2008 he printed this article on winter riding in the Norwegian BMW Magazine. I found it so informative that I asked his permission to translate it and publish it in The Great Guide to Winter Riding, which he accepted. He even provided me with some pictures of his visor solutions - thanks a lot, Pål!

Long distance motorcycle winter riding

Text and photo: Pål A. Dahl

I'm writing this article because this is what I'd like to read myself when I started winter riding with my BMW R100GS bringing along my tent and sleeping bag. I'm not writing this because I'm some kind of world champion or because this is THE way to do it, but to contribute my two cents to those who are considering to start winter riding themselves.

Variations

The main difference between riding in the winter and riding in any other time of the year are the variations. In winter you must be prepared for rain, hail, snow and a mix of all these – at the same time. The surface on which you ride may vary from dry asphalt to snow and ice. Temperatures may vary from +10 to – 30 centigrades, and you may have it all on the same ride. Light conditions and sight varies enormously, and fogging of the visor is a challenge. Winter riding is therefore first and foremost about finding solutions that work!

Preparing your bike

Most of us are preoccupied with the combination of road salt and aluminium. I used a paint brush to apply a wax based anti corrosion stuff which can be washed off with engine cleaner and hot water. After a long ride with lots of salt I hose off the bike with cold water from a garden hose. I still cannot detect any corrosive damages on my bike.

I recommend semi-synthetic 10W-40 oil for boxer engines. In the gearbox and cardan I use the same oil as the rest of the year. When you start a boxer [and any other engine – HP's remark] make sure you pull the clutch handle until the motor is well running as it doesn't have to drag around all the gears and splines inside the gearbox when it's cold. All wires must be in good working order, obviously, and when greasing them make sure you use grease that doesn't freeze. Most wire stockings today doesn't withstand grease, so do some checking before greasing the wires.

It may be smart to protect the operating handles on your bar so that rain, water and salt are prevented from entering handles and wires and freeze it all up.

A bike will start easier if the ignition is somewhat retarded. Down to -15 centigrades it was fairly easy to start my boxer. Below this I had to do some special actions, and at times like that it's nice to have a set of starter cables available. I made a set of 6 square-mm cables and some small clamps which I bought off a car accessory store. I bring along a battery charger and charge the battery through a BMW plug as often as I can. Thawing of a boxer can be done with a liquid fuel burner like a Primus or disposable grill, assuming that the engine doesn't leak oil. I have also considered using chemical heaters around the battery. A warm battery has a considerable better output than a cold one.

Tyres

I ride with Trelleborg Army with lots of studs. In the middle of the tyre the studs are large but not too long. At the side of the tyre there are large studs which are somewhat longer. The studs on the sides are the one used in curves and when negiotiating frozen wheel tracks. The most difficult surface is the one you get when the temperature is around 0 centigrades as well as old ice and salt in -15 centigrades and colder. Then the rubber of the tyre gets so hard that only the studs provides a grip. In lots of snow the tyre pattern provides the grip.

The long studs on the sides of the tyre may make the rear tyre touch the swing arm. A 5 mm spacer will solve that problem.

Clothing

The toughest condition is when you start in rain but then the weather turns to below zero temperatures (eg when going from the coast up to the mountains). Your riding suit must therefore repell the rain to a certain degree. I use a snowmobile suit. It has CE approved protectors in the back, on the shoulders, elbows and knees. It works well in the cold weather but is not water proof forever.

http://www.bs-yrkesklar.no/_hp/produkter.php?kid=8&serie_id=95

Wool in many thin layers is what works best. Fleece is also very good. Electrical heating in gloves, soles and visor is almost a necessity if you're riding long distance. This you can make yourself, what you need is so-called Katal resistance wire (sp?). Many put too much power into e.g. the gloves and soles so that you need to switch the power off and on constantly. This makes your hands and feet becoming warm and cold, warm and cold, and you enter a hopless never-ending circle. The alternative is to get a DC/DC regulator so that you can regulate the power steplessly. Here are a couple of alternatives you can consider. You can also make one yourself.

http://conforteck.com/english/conforteck.htm

http://www.softline-online.de/english/warm/zubehr.htm

http://www.national.com/pf/LM/LM2576.html
(for those who wants to make a regulator themselves)

7-10 watt for each sole and 10-15 watt for each glove should be sufficient. In the glove you put the heating threads on the ouside of the hand and all the way out on each finger. Inside the palm you can use ordinary handlebar heating. I used simple thin gloves and attached the heating threads by sewing them on. Then I threaded a new glove on the outside of this. Then the threads are between the two gloves. As a top layer I used a wind and water proof mitten.

In the sole you must put the threads in a stright angle to your foot. If not, they'll break right under your toe balls. Some use heating threads under the toe balls and toes only. If you're warm here you will not freeze on the heal either. I use the same principal here as with the gloves using some coarse cotton fabric e.g. denim. I then spray the sole with mounting glue from a spray can. The threads are put into this sticky surface and «closed» with the denim layer.

IMPORTANT: If the wires (12 volt + and -) cross the heating threads they need to be insulated with silicone based insulation stockings. I had a short circuit in a glove and got a solid burn. This happened while riding in 80-90 km/h on a nice winter road in a right bend. It took a while before realising what was actually the problem and manage to switch off the right switch. I think I was the only one arriving at the Krystall Winter Rally with a burn...

The visor heating wires should be able to be regulated in at least two steps (ideally steplessly), 10 watt and 35-40 watt in step 1 and 2 respectively. I used a inner visor from Nolan and mounted heating wires on that. I then mounted it on the inside of an ordinary visor in a Schuberth Concept helmet with some plastic clips that came with the visor. The wires then sticks between the visors. To a Concept helmet you can buy a readily made visor with heating wires but it cost some 1800 Kroner (200-220 Euros). If you can prevent warm moist from your mouth and nose to reach the visor you have a good situation. Most helmets have solutions for this, or you can use e.g a Neoprene mask.

Other issues

On an old boxer you have some 240 watts available under ideal conditions. The best solution will therefore be having stepless regulators so that you can have just a wee bit effect on, but all the time. Proper isolation on hands and feet reduce the heat loss. I either use ordinary riding boots with a snowmobile warming sock on the outside, or Baffin winter boots. If you have plenty of electric power available I guess it doesn't matter what you opt for.

Vibrations reduces the blood circulations, so be careful that you maintain an easy grip on your handlebar. Smoking has the same effect, so you'll start freezing easier. Eating regularly has the opposite effect. Each time you've eaten moderately you body starts working with distributing the nutrition into you system and you withstand the cold better. You should eat a wee bit every other hour. Warm drinks are good, but not coffee or tea as this tends to increase the need for peeing. It requires much energy to heat up 0.3 litres of fluid to 37 degrees, so hot drinks like chocolate or non-alcoholic toddy is better than coffee. Besides, it's a real job to get off all your clothes to go peeing – especially for the ladies.

Your shape and condition also matters, as does mental preparation. If you're afraid or tense you'll ride more defensively and the chill gets into you even easier.

And – if you need to go to the toilet, you go. Do not wait. You consume a lot of energy just keeping «it» there. Besides it is a common mistake to postpone all practicalities while winter riding: Postponing to go to the toilet, adjust your clothing, eating – the result is that you start freezing. Winter riding on a motorcycle is actually quite a lot of practical work! If you get the chill in you, you can always dismount your bike and push it 50-100 metres. That will give you the warmth back!

Enough time!

When you ride long distance under winter conditions you must have good time and whatever you do, do not stress! You cannot plan riding in the same way as the rest of the year. You must be able to have breaks and ride in your owt tempo so that the riding is easy and you have fun. This has all with experience to do – in the beginning I felt that enough time was the most important thing.

Sleeping outside

Again: I'm no world champion in this, but I have tried some different approaches and felt it when I did mistakes. The sleeping matress is extremely important for having a comfortable winter night. I heard about this but didn't take it seriously enough in the beginning. If heat disappear to the ground you can have the best sleeping bag in the world – it will not help. I use an air matress to lay comfortable (not warm!), but this is as cold on the topside as the ground underneath it (air does not insulate in this instance). On top of the matress I use a good insulating matress e.g Ajungilak Bamse Extreme. The sleeping bag cannot be good enough when it's really cold. Depending on how cold it is you should have wool or fleece on you, and remember to cover head, hands and feet. It's pretty common to freeze on these extremities.

The body prioritize blood disposition to the different body parts if it detects that it's getting cold. The temperature sensor is placed in your ear, behind the tympanum. Arms and legs have the lowest priority. Next on the list is the body and its inner organs. The brain has top priority. Therefore you need to keep warm on your head and neck. Alcohol and tobacco contributes negatively. Food and warm drinks (except tea and coffee) contributes positively. Also, remember that the metabolism goes down when you sleep, that's why many awakes freezing in the middle of the night.