Sexagenarian Posted March 31, 2014 Share #1 Posted March 31, 2014 For those of you in the southern states where snow is not a problem, I envy you!! Sunday was near 60 degrees here in central Minnesota. The sound of the motorcycles going by on a county road caused me to wonder. How soon is too soon to hit the road as we transition from snowcover to springtime? There is all kinds of salt residue on the roadways yet. My municipality smothers the roadways with salt and sand all winter long. The county roads feed into these municipal streets. I have visions of salt and sand debris causing myriads of problems with the chassis, brake calipers, underside of the fenders, etc..... Are these visions unfounded? Should I be that concerned? Does anyone, beside me, wait until after the first good rainstorm rinses all the winter crap off the roadways. Just curious what the thought process is for everyone from these cold winter areas?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert2006 Posted March 31, 2014 Share #2 Posted March 31, 2014 Definitely wait until a good rain washes out the salt. Also allow time for potholes to be filled a bit and watch out for loose gravel and cages who will not be looking out for you. We are still in the middle of a 2 day ice storm here in the maritimes, this after a 40cm blizzard lest week.....when will it ever end???:snow2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonslayer Posted March 31, 2014 Share #3 Posted March 31, 2014 For those of you in the southern states where snow is not a problem, I envy you!! Sunday was near 60 degrees here in central Minnesota. The sound of the motorcycles going by on a county road caused me to wonder. How soon is too soon to hit the road as we transition from snowcover to springtime? There is all kinds of salt residue on the roadways yet. My municipality smothers the roadways with salt and sand all winter long. The county roads feed into these municipal streets. I have visions of salt and sand debris causing myriads of problems with the chassis, brake calipers, underside of the fenders, etc..... Are these visions unfounded? Should I be that concerned? Does anyone, beside me, wait until after the first good rainstorm rinses all the winter crap off the roadways. Just curious what the thought process is for everyone from these cold winter areas??I feel so sorry for all of you (Ya'll) up North. Not only do you have to wait out the snow but, in addition you have to wait out the salt from the winter road service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orlean1 Posted March 31, 2014 Share #4 Posted March 31, 2014 I live in Northern Ohio and as long as the road is not frozen I ride. The potholes are numerous but I use that to home in on my swerving, braking, and analyzing skills. As far as the road salt I think thats more of a personal choice. I might wash my ride 1-3 times a year because i would rather just ride but some others will wash a lot more. In either case if you wipe off the corrosive elements you will be fine. I put 25K on this bike last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongobobny Posted March 31, 2014 Share #5 Posted March 31, 2014 Yup! Mine won't be out for several weeks minimum!! This winter does not want to give it up, and until they stop salting the roads AND we have a couple of good gully washer rains, AND they fix the potholes mine won't go out. I paid a lot of hard earned money for mine and I do not want any salt dust into the cracks and crevices. No, I am not a fanatic and do not wash it every time I ride it, and because of that even more reason to not allow corrosives to get on and in my bike! Just because the roads are dry and bare does not mean there is no salt dust on the roads. Of course, this may very well be the last new bike I ever own, if yours is older and you plan on buying another sometime and don't care about the next person to get your bike, then ride on every time you feel like it, who cares!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoomerCPO Posted March 31, 2014 Share #6 Posted March 31, 2014 With 39 New England Winters under my belt I can tell you the smart riders up there WAIT until the Spring rains have washed off ALL the salt/sand from the roads before the scoots hit the road. That salt they use up there is NASTY stuff and will do serious damage to your scoot if left on for ANY period of time....and hitting even a little sand on the road can run yer pucker-factor right off the scale if it catches you off guard. Boomer....who sez ya still gotta contend with potholes and blind Cagers too.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowpuc Posted March 31, 2014 Share #7 Posted March 31, 2014 Living right on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Muskegon Mi and having friends like FLYINGFOOL in Wisconsin who sends me all of his left over snow and ice gives me a chance to know exactly how you feel Sexa,, we use TONS of salt to get rid of this,, pretty white stuff(blood pressure control)... Problem with waiting around here is that it might be June before all the salt is gone (remember, as the ice mounds melt on the sides of the roads they are putting salt right back on the freshly rain cleaned roads) and it will certainly be mid July/early August before the road patchwork is complete (if even them).. I personally dont wait.. I take every advantage of riding that I can BUT I also dont ride big dollar stuff either.. If I KNOW I am riding thru salt water and dont end up riding in rain I might stop and squirt it off BUT,, even salt dust wreaks havoc on Aluminum... I have several times in the past shot down my bike (no,, not the brakes or seat,, come on you guys,, be real)) with wd40 to slow down corrosion and it helps... This last winter TXSTURGIS (Brian) posted a thread about some stuff they use on Air Craft that is suppose to be extremely anti corrosion,, I am still waiting for some with the intent of trying it for a bike bath in just the application we are talking here (I really wanna try this stuff on electrical connections - riding a pitted out ol beater I dont mind,, when they die cause of a corroded up electrical connection - I MIND... Around here,, if your concerned about pot holes or gravel spots built up from plowing being a problem ya probably should think about another mode of transportation.. We have had it so bad the last few years that there are actually some main roads that the county has just allowed to go back to a gravel/pot hole asphalt mix.... Bottom line for me is,,, I aint letting no salty roads or pot holes keep me off the roads,,, now the cold weather at my age,, different story.. I have a couple buddys who ride 30 thousand dollar bikes and we dont see them out and about until July 1,, nice bikes - great guys and all that,, they just dont get the riding in that I do.. I TOTALLY understand their point - thats a LOT of money to take out and destroy... Ya know,, I wonder if VR folks who live near oceans have the same problems,,, if they do,, I wonder how they deal with it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigLenny Posted March 31, 2014 Share #8 Posted March 31, 2014 Man, I'm glad I don't have to put up with those long winters like you folks up north. Y'all do realize we live in country that moving from state to state is allowed, right? Come on down to the south, the weathers fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonslayer Posted March 31, 2014 Share #9 Posted March 31, 2014 Man, I'm glad I don't have to put up with those long winters like you folks up north. Y'all do realize we live in country that moving from state to state is allowed, right? Come on down to the south, the weathers fine!That's what I said on an earlier thread. But, They don't seem to want to take the advice. I guess it's easier to b!tch and complain than move. I get that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigLenny Posted March 31, 2014 Share #10 Posted March 31, 2014 But, then again, I have a brother who lives in Tampa, Fl. that can't for the life of himself understand why I would want to live way up north here in Arkansas and put up with what medium amount of snow and ice we get. As far as he's concerned, I might as well be living in Fargo, North Dakota. He says Florida has 4 seasons: Before Summer, Summer, After Summer, and Next Summer. I told him that isn't enough seasons for me. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongobobny Posted March 31, 2014 Share #11 Posted March 31, 2014 Hey, they're still fighting the Civil War down there, aren't they?? Don't they still think they won? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoomerCPO Posted March 31, 2014 Share #12 Posted March 31, 2014 Hey, they're still fighting the Civil War down there, aren't they?? Don't they still think they won? We did win. The damn Yankees wrote the History books tho.... Boomer....who sez Rebel Pride beats Yankee Liberalism any old day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowrollwv Posted March 31, 2014 Share #13 Posted March 31, 2014 We did win. The damn Yankees wrote the History books tho.... Boomer....who sez Rebel Pride beats Yankee Liberalism any old day. :rotf::rotf::rotf: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyinfool Posted March 31, 2014 Share #14 Posted March 31, 2014 Living right on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Muskegon Mi and having friends like FLYINGFOOL in Wisconsin who sends me all of his left over snow and ice gives me a chance to know exactly how you feel Sexa,, we use TONS of salt to get rid of this,, pretty white stuff(blood pressure control)... Just for that I have more snow to send you this week ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckShot Posted March 31, 2014 Share #15 Posted March 31, 2014 I have a friend that rides a Harley and he used to ride as soon as the roads were clear and no snow on the sides of the road.....washed his bike after every ride and wiped it down....in two years he had all kinds of pitting on the underside of his 2 year old bike....he don't ride now untill we have had a couple of good rains to wash the roads off. Just sayen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowpuc Posted March 31, 2014 Share #16 Posted March 31, 2014 Just for that I have more snow to send you this week ........ ME AND MY BIG MOUTH:ignore:,, FF,,, with friends like you,,,,,,,, may as well sell the bike Venture and buy a snowmobile Venture,,,, sheeeesh,,,,KNOCK IT OFF WILL YA!!!! Send this batch down to those rebel suthna's,, like YammerDan, Ventura's and Dragon Slayer,, they like the stuff..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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