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My first ride on snow on my Ural
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We in the Denver Metro Area woke to snow for two days this week. It had started lightly at around 10 PM on Tuesday and lasted till Thursday evening. Estimates from the weather guessers were ranging from 6-14 inches in the Denver metro area.
Well, I finally got the snow I'd been wanting; just another case of beware of what you wish for!
Wednesday morning, I got all geared up and left the house around 7:20 AM with Miles, my youngest son in the sidecar so I could get him to school.
Off to school and work, not much snow on the ground yet!After I dropped him off at the school, I slowly made my way out of the neighborhood and onto the main roads. They were wet and slushy mostly, with everyone staying in the channels created in the snow by the previous cars. I had to concentrate on keeping the Ural's wheels in these same channels for maximum traction. The snow was falling pretty heavily and the winds were making sure the snowflakes flew about.
All went well, the only point where I felt the pusher wheel slip was moving from a standing stop, there was lots of ice formed at the intersections. I was one of the slower vehicles on the road but not by much, everyone was being very careful due to conditions.
Got to work with no issues to speak off:
Here's Natasha after spending the day in the parking lot getting snowed on
Fulltime 2WD, backing out past the accumulated snow piled up by the snow plows, no problem!I left work after spending only seven hours there, wanted to get home before dark and before the wet slushy roads turned icy. I must remember to carry an small ice scraper with me as the mirrors were frozen over and I could not monitor who was behind me.
Natasha was doing just fine on the way home except for the engine running a bit rough about halfway home, I think it was a combination of water condensation in the fuel system and the air filter being wet and probably frozen in spots.
Then, a momentary moment when about 1 mile from the house, the throttle got stuck in the wide open position. I am thinking it was ice forming on the throttle cables or the butterfly levers. Some quick wiggling of the cables and the throttle steadied down. Not a good thing, wide open throttle on snowy roads! Luckily, traffic was light and no one was behind me as I dealt with the issue.
Home safeSo, Natasha did pretty good for our first ride in real snowy conditions! I think I'll cover her air filter intakes somehow the next time I leave her all day in the driving snow. Perhaps instead of covering the sidecar, I cover the bike huh?
Covering the bike should remedy the air filter getting wet/frozen, the control cables getting wet/frozen and finally the mirrors staying dry.
Of the three days of snow that I had to commute in for work, I rode the car the second day. Ironically, I got stuck in six inches of snow coming home as I neared my house! I should have ridden the Ural that second day as well!
Some lessons learned for future snow rides:
- Carry an ice scraper for your mirrors and windshield if you don't cover your motorcycle.
- Cover your motorcycle's control cabling, air intakes and anywhere where driving snow might get in and freeze.
- Slow and steady wins the race, you will slide a bit when coming off a standing stop, just like the cars around you.
- Blink your brake lights as cars approach you when you're stopped, hopefully it'll get their attention.
- Heated gloves and layered warm clothing are key! If no heated gloves, heated grips with ATV grip covers to keep the wind off your hands.
- Get some anti-fog stuff for your visor and eyeglass lenses if you wear glasses. I also had to ride withthe visor cracked open a tiny bit to keep things unfogged.
Ride Safe, Ride Aware.
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