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how bad are motorcycles on snow roads?

weflyhigh

weflyhigh

Senior member
I have a 1.2 mile (up hill pretty steep going there) commute 3 times a week which is an annoying distance because it's a 25 minute walk but only like a 5 minute drive.

I was thinking about buying a motorcycle in general and was wondering.. during the winter... let's say a road has been plowed but it is still flurrying, how bad would a motorcycle drive? Like if there was a real thin layer (whatever has landed since the plow came through), would it lose traction immediately or would it be unphased like a car going through that thin layer?


on another note, I havent bought a bicycle since I was little, over a decade ago, and it was a bmx bike.. how much are road bikes? $100? $300? $10? $500? nothing fancy, but reliable
 
weflyhigh said:
I have a 1.2 mile (up hill pretty steep going there) commute 3 times a week which is an annoying distance because it's a 25 minute walk but only like a 5 minute drive.

I was thinking about buying a motorcycle in general and was wondering.. during the winter... let's say a road has been plowed but it is still flurrying, how bad would a motorcycle drive? Like if there was a real thin layer (whatever has landed since the plow came through), would it lose traction immediately or would it be unphased like a car going through that thin layer?


on another note, I havent bought a bicycle since I was little, over a decade ago, and it was a bmx bike.. how much are road bikes? $100? $300? $10? $500? nothing fancy, but reliable
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there are guys that ride bicycles on ice.

motorcycles are fine in the snow. you're just fucked if it's icy. get studded tires, and don't make turns mean't for motorcycle racing, and you're golden.

regarding road bikes. for 600-800, you can get yourself a pretty serious road bike off craigslist. cheaper than that gets ya cheaper/older components, but still pretty good.
 
It kinda depends. good tires can be managable, if they do plow often..

I'd just get a $50 banged up disco nova for winter, though. Not worth killing yourself over.
 
logic says you can make it go OK on snow. Stopping is questionable, and getting killed by the other drivers on the road is much more likely in snow. You can't get out of the way and they can't stop. I'd be walking on those days.
 
IMO overall a bad idea until you're very familiar with the overall physics of how motorcycles work. FYI even though they both have two wheels the way motorcycles handle and are controlled is very different from a bicycle..


Only use rear brake, basically dirt bike style skills. I wouldn't try it with anything with fairings..


I've gotten caught in pretty heavy snow up in the mountains and have never had a problem... That being said it was already well below freezing when it started snowing so little chance of ice.
 
I watched two guys try to ride through an area with snow and ice still on the roads here in the local mountains on street bikes. Both of them went down.

I've ridden my motorcycle a few miles on gravel roads with no problem but I wouldn't even attempt this on snow on a street bike...not without some sort of tire designed for snow and ice anyway.

These tires would be completely useless on snow covered roads.

Bike_rear.jpg
 
Would be better off with the bicycle. Even if it isn't sticking I wouldn't want to have to take off after stopping on the hill. Nothing might happen if you're a vet but for who knows. No point in risking it.

I think they say you have about 80% traction in the rain. Not sure about snow. If you watch the 2008? MotoGP race at Indy those guys were riding in pretty much a downpour. It's amazing how far you can push a bike.

rossi-rain-indianapolis-motogp.jpg


Edit: You might be OK if you had one of the all terrain motorcycles. There's a documentary called The Long Way Around where Ewan McGregor drive from England to NY? They had to cross the road of bones at one point in Siberia. They might have walked their bikes across the ice patches though.
 
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Eli said:
Bad idea... Very bad idea.
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Seriously. Anyone that tells you it's a good idea just wants you to die. You'd probably be ok with nothing but some dry snow, but when is it ever just dry snow? As soon as it starts melting you'll be screwed, and riding in those temperatures will be about as enjoyable as this.
 
applepearwine said:
There is such a thing as on-road-off-road bikes, but I wouldn't want to be on one in the snow. I like living to much.
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That wouldn't be a bad idea, some kind of enduro bike. With some good tires it wouldn't be too terribly bad, and if you drop it you're not going to hurt the bike too much.
 
jtvang125 said:
How about the dirt bikes with their really knobby tires?
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1. Most dirt bikes are NOT road legal
2. I know a bunch of guys who ride their dirt bikes in the winter. And, they laboriously put screws into every one of the studs for traction.
 
Terrible. Hardly any mass to keep tires on the ground.

I would not get a motorcycle anyway as long as people still drive cars and F350s around me. I still have surgery 'tune ups' about every couple years from damage as a kid between motox and getting hit by a van once.
 
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