Getting through the winter months as a rider is always difficult. Some riders brave the elements and push it all the way through until the snow falls and even then some trudge on through the white stuff. However, as a few brave souls have come to realize, motorcycles aren't designed to handle the snow particularly well despite the great strides made in tire and suspension technology. There's always the option of getting studded tires or retrofitting tire chains to work with your bike, but the current options available aren't very practical for anyone besides the extremely hardcore and none of this makes any account for the damage caused by exposure to the elements and the salt. And no, salt isn't only hazardous to chrome, but it wreaks havoc on driveline components like your chain, braking hardware, seals and painted parts. So outside of buying a second beater bike with studded tires that we don't care about rotting away from rust and oxidization, what is there for a rider to do during these bleak months?
Many have found that the "off-season" is a great time to take the bike apart and get into the nitty-gritty of motorcycle cleaning and maintenance. When's the last time you took a brush to the cylinder heads to clean out the cooling fins? What about that suspension refresh you've been putting off because it would be too much down time? I know there are plenty of times during the riding season where I saw a part of the bike and said to myself as I was putting on my helmet, "I'll have to put some elbow grease on that when I get some time". Well, what better time than right now as you're sitting there fantasizing about seventy degree and sunny days on the open road? Besides prettying up your ride, doing some maintenance and cleaning up your bike is a great learning experience as you learn through the immersion of your senses as you smell the different chemicals and feel the different materials that constitute your machine with your hands.
Of course, we haven't talked about one of the best parts of having some down time with our motorcycles: upgrades. One of the things that attracts a lot of us to motorcycles is the expression of our individuality and a lot of the time that attitude is culminated in custom and aftermarket accessories. One of my favorite past-times is window shopping for my next upgrade and trying to figure out when and how I'm going to go about buying the parts and putting them on. One of the great joys in the life of a rider is to see a project go from paper to reality. Sometimes that involves putting stuff on, sometimes it involves taking stuff off and other times it means putting stuff on that should never have been taken off.
Speaking of window shopping, I find it ironic that so many people will visit show rooms in the winter expecting deals on new bikes, but rarely consider that repair and service shops are likely a lot less busy and often running special deals on labor rates. Check with your local shops to see what kind of discounts they are offering because you may be able to save yourself a bundle on that 16,000 mile service you've been putting off because you just don't feel like you can justify $1000 on a valve adjustment right now. It beats having to wait a month because the shops booked up when you really need to get it done or worse yet, bending a valve.
Great post!
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