[nau_lax21]

So I’m 19, and I’ve been staring at motorcycles on the road for as long as I can remember. Now I’m finally in the market for a vehicle of my own. I live in southern California where a bike (I think) is a no brainer decision, it makes sense to get. However, in the fall I’ll be starting my sophomore year at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. Flagstaff is a mountain town that gets decent snow in the winter. It definitely doesn’t snow every day in the winter, and the roads are kept pretty well. I can accept that on days that it’s snowing I CANNOT be riding (but at my budget a car that I’d be buying probably shouldn’t be driven in the snow anyways.)

So I guess the question is, is it OK for a pretty new rider (or any rider at all) to ride during winter in the mountains? By the way I can keep the bike in a parking garage if that matters.

Whether I end up getting getting a bike or not I’m still taking the MSF course (this weekend actually) and have my M1 license test in the middle of July.

Opinions?

Thanks,
-Ryan

[acidpope]

I know over in europe and the uk, where gas prices have been higher than ours forever it seems (our high gas prices are still lower than their low prices), they’ve been using them as year round commuters for awhile. Not sure if any people across the pond read this site, but maybe find a forum with uk riders and ask.

[bam37]

i used to live in the Netherlands and rode a aprilia RS50 as a 16 year old. I had it for two years and rode it year round.

However,
Europe does not get nearly as much snow as the states does. Given, i dont know how much snow Flagstaff gets, if it is anything like Holland, Michigan(where i live and we get 120 inches a year…) then its probably not a good idea. But if it is light snow, as long as you learn how to ride in the summer and fall before it gets too snowy, then you can practice on the snow with knowledge of how to ride. All it really takes is practice. (obviously, if its a snowstorm it might not be smart to ride)

Good Luck

[Rab]

Motorcycle and side-car would be okay (Ural make some).

http://www.imz-ural.com/

I know that some folks ride on two wheels in the snow, but it wouldn’t be me. I had enough trouble with 4 wheels when I lived in Boston, MA.

[Rab]

bam37 said:

“as long as you learn how to ride in the summer and fall”…

What, learn to fall off?

Har! Har!

[megaspaz]

Hey! there is an art to falling!

Actually, in the olden days, from what I heard, the MSF used to teach how to slide in an accident…

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[uncle_bernie]

The MSF course I took and the book Proficient Motorcycling promote the idea that it’s better to try to keep the bike upright. Once you lay it down, you’ve completely lost control. To paraphrase, better to take your chances on two wheels instead of none.

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[acidpope]

I live in MA too. Most of New England gets moderate to heavy. But atleast we aren’t as bad off as the people in say, Buffalo. I have never seen a motorcycle on the road in 28 years after the first snowfall.

[Matt]

Every year on January first some guys in my office take their bikes out for a ride, regardless of weather.

Several times this winter, when the roads were clear and skies clear, a few hardy souls rode thier bikes into work. We are talking -10C days here… Nutters, the lot of them.

[megaspaz]

Indeed. Just commenting on the fact that the MSF used to go over techniques for laying the bike down… I’m thinking it was more classroom kind of teaching as I don’t think it’d be in the rider portion… I hope not at least, but people certainly did cahrazy things in the past…

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[linuxpimp20]

I took my MSF course in central MA and the instructor rides year round. He has heated gear.

[bam37]

hardy har har…lol…

[bam37]

nice joke Rab, lol…or maybe not…

[Matt]

Cehck out Advrider, there are a fair number of very happy ural riders out there. They take these things up and tour the north western territories, yukon, and alaska, and well, everywhere… pretty awesome.

[Author]

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