| Embracing Winter |
For those of you who care to inquire, the answer is yes: winter in Northern Illinois is cold. Very cold. Since moving back to Illinois in 2005, for
3 months out of the year I did little but try to stay warm. The racing season would begin each March, and my first race was usually my first
ride of the year.
That all changed in 2009, with my transition to country life. With a few acres as my backyard, I could warm up in the garage, open the door
and start riding. All I needed were a few accessories.
3 months out of the year I did little but try to stay warm. The racing season would begin each March, and my first race was usually my first
ride of the year.
That all changed in 2009, with my transition to country life. With a few acres as my backyard, I could warm up in the garage, open the door
and start riding. All I needed were a few accessories.
Here's where it all starts: studs. I had
Kyle DeFauw of shreddinstuds.com
stud a pair of Maxxis IT's for my riding
pleasure. The studs have carbide tips
to dig into the icy underbelly of packed
snow. These are not for ice - up here
in the Great White North, we leave that
to ice screws. The studs allow me to
go pretty much everywhere I'm used to
riding during the other 9 months of the
year.
On another note, I would like to
apologize to my mail carrier for what
must have been an uncomfortable
handling, after the studs poked their
way through the cardboard wrapping
on the trip to my home. They are sharp!
Mounting these is less painful with a
good set of Carhartts. In total, there are
over 200 studs in each tire. Inserting
these into each knob is a long, tedious
process, which is probably why the
tires cost over $200 each. It's a lot of
money, but the alternative is sitting on
the couch watching Jersey Shore in
HD (I'll pass).
Kyle DeFauw of shreddinstuds.com
stud a pair of Maxxis IT's for my riding
pleasure. The studs have carbide tips
to dig into the icy underbelly of packed
snow. These are not for ice - up here
in the Great White North, we leave that
to ice screws. The studs allow me to
go pretty much everywhere I'm used to
riding during the other 9 months of the
year.
On another note, I would like to
apologize to my mail carrier for what
must have been an uncomfortable
handling, after the studs poked their
way through the cardboard wrapping
on the trip to my home. They are sharp!
Mounting these is less painful with a
good set of Carhartts. In total, there are
over 200 studs in each tire. Inserting
these into each knob is a long, tedious
process, which is probably why the
tires cost over $200 each. It's a lot of
money, but the alternative is sitting on
the couch watching Jersey Shore in
HD (I'll pass).
With traction taken care of, next up was working on keeping my body warm. Whenever temperatures drop into the 30's (F), my fingers get
cold. Another 10 degrees lower and my face and feet start needing some help. Here's what I did to help keep from freezing off body parts:
cold. Another 10 degrees lower and my face and feet start needing some help. Here's what I did to help keep from freezing off body parts:
Above: Grip warmers have been around for many years. These are
adhesive-backed heating elements that stick to the handlebars and throttle tube.
The grips slide over them, and the wires are hooked into the bike's electrical
system. Right: These canvas-backed hand guards, often called "Elephant Ears",
help shield hands from wind.
adhesive-backed heating elements that stick to the handlebars and throttle tube.
The grips slide over them, and the wires are hooked into the bike's electrical
system. Right: These canvas-backed hand guards, often called "Elephant Ears",
help shield hands from wind.
These grip warmers are made by Symtec. The throttle side is pictured above. Symtec's grip warmers are designated clutch and throttle
side, due to the heat characteristics of the handlebars (clutch side) versus the throttle tube (throttle side, obviously). The plastic throttle tube
heats up quickly and transfers a great deal of heat through the grips. The clutch side sucks away heat through the aluminum handlebars
(aluminum makes a great heat sink), and the grips are thicker on that side. Other brands compensate for this by sending full power to the
clutch side and reducing power to the throttle side with a resistor. Symtech, on the other hand, uses different heating elements. You can see
the difference in the side-by-side photo above. I screwed up and ordered grip warmers designed for ATV's. Both heating elements were the
same as the clutch side element in the motorcycle-only version. Unfortunately, this doesn't work well. When set on the high position, the
throttle side gets so hot that the tube just might start to melt if you let it heat up too long (and it will nearly burn your hand off). Once I got the
correct throttle side heating element, it worked much better.
side, due to the heat characteristics of the handlebars (clutch side) versus the throttle tube (throttle side, obviously). The plastic throttle tube
heats up quickly and transfers a great deal of heat through the grips. The clutch side sucks away heat through the aluminum handlebars
(aluminum makes a great heat sink), and the grips are thicker on that side. Other brands compensate for this by sending full power to the
clutch side and reducing power to the throttle side with a resistor. Symtech, on the other hand, uses different heating elements. You can see
the difference in the side-by-side photo above. I screwed up and ordered grip warmers designed for ATV's. Both heating elements were the
same as the clutch side element in the motorcycle-only version. Unfortunately, this doesn't work well. When set on the high position, the
throttle side gets so hot that the tube just might start to melt if you let it heat up too long (and it will nearly burn your hand off). Once I got the
correct throttle side heating element, it worked much better.
Between the headlight, LED
handlebar-mounted light
and the grip warmers, this is
the most wiring I've ever had
to stuff in between the triple
clamps. It all seems to fit,
though. The Symtec
instructions do a pretty good
job showing how to wire the
grip warmers. All I had to do
was figure out how I wanted
to tap into the power. The
stator pumps out AC, which
is fine for the grip warmers.
At 100 watts, I need all of it.
The halogen headlight is
about 65 watts on the High
setting. The grip warmers
are about 35 watts on the
High setting. However, with
my LED lighting system, the
headlight isn't really
necessary when I ride at
night (which is mostly when
I ride). So most of the time I
turn it off and let the LED's
do all the work.
handlebar-mounted light
and the grip warmers, this is
the most wiring I've ever had
to stuff in between the triple
clamps. It all seems to fit,
though. The Symtec
instructions do a pretty good
job showing how to wire the
grip warmers. All I had to do
was figure out how I wanted
to tap into the power. The
stator pumps out AC, which
is fine for the grip warmers.
At 100 watts, I need all of it.
The halogen headlight is
about 65 watts on the High
setting. The grip warmers
are about 35 watts on the
High setting. However, with
my LED lighting system, the
headlight isn't really
necessary when I ride at
night (which is mostly when
I ride). So most of the time I
turn it off and let the LED's
do all the work.
One of the key advantages of snow machines over dirt bikes is their wind screens. In the sitting position, a snowmobile rider can tuck in
behind the screen, feel the warmth of the heated grips and a comfortable warm breeze of engine heat on boots. Dirt bikers have to
improvise a bit. I knew I'd need some help keeping my face warm, so I did a little research on what the crazy bicyclists in Chicago used to
wear when I'd see them riding to work in single digit temperatures.
Psolar had what I needed - an under-the-helmet mask that covers everything but my eyes. Perfect. It also has something they call a heat
exchanger, which is designed to warm up cold air before you breathe it. Some call this a balaclava; I call it cool.
behind the screen, feel the warmth of the heated grips and a comfortable warm breeze of engine heat on boots. Dirt bikers have to
improvise a bit. I knew I'd need some help keeping my face warm, so I did a little research on what the crazy bicyclists in Chicago used to
wear when I'd see them riding to work in single digit temperatures.
Psolar had what I needed - an under-the-helmet mask that covers everything but my eyes. Perfect. It also has something they call a heat
exchanger, which is designed to warm up cold air before you breathe it. Some call this a balaclava; I call it cool.
| What up, ninjas Dang, I got me a pointy head.... |
| The final piece of cold weather gear focuses on the toes. Off-road riding boots are poorly designed for warmth, so a little heat down there is necessary. If you want to spend some serious money, go with Hotronics foot warmers. They will set you back a couple hundred bucks, but supposedly it's a pretty awesome product. The cheaper alternative is to buy some air-activated toe warmers from your local sporting goods store. They work pretty well. The only downside is you can't control them once they start producing heat - it's all or nothing. But that's ok. There's no wires or batteries to deal with, and I'll go through about 100 of these for the same cost as the fancy Hotronics product. |
So, you say...in the end, all I have is a dirt bike that can ride moderately well in snow. But not as well as the snow machines, though. Can't
go through deep snow. Hard to stay warm in single-digit temperatures. Well, there's no arguing that logic, but building a snow machine was
not the point of this exercise. Staying on the bike during winter was my intention, and that I have accomplished. And, thanks to my lights, I
can do this any time I want. In fact, I prefer night riding. It's just flat-out cool to bust through snow drifts at night. If you ever want to know what
complete seclusion and silence feels like, shut off the engine in the middle of a harvested cornfield on a still night. Look up into a clear sky
with a full moon and thank the Man upstairs. Then go ride some more.
go through deep snow. Hard to stay warm in single-digit temperatures. Well, there's no arguing that logic, but building a snow machine was
not the point of this exercise. Staying on the bike during winter was my intention, and that I have accomplished. And, thanks to my lights, I
can do this any time I want. In fact, I prefer night riding. It's just flat-out cool to bust through snow drifts at night. If you ever want to know what
complete seclusion and silence feels like, shut off the engine in the middle of a harvested cornfield on a still night. Look up into a clear sky
with a full moon and thank the Man upstairs. Then go ride some more.
| It was about 2 degrees (F) when I took this picture. That is just a bit below my tolerance, even with all that I did to make the KTM rideable in the winter. |
| January 2010 |
Update February 2010