What did you do to your Royal Enfield today?

[The_Rigger]

^ Dayum. They are surely slacking as you are away on tour, unless they really haven't received the parts..

Sadly, I have no way of knowing. I do think, however, that in the future, I may be visiting the *other* Michigan dealership for warranty work. Just sayin'...

[Alan LaRue]

Mine was in the shop for a couple of months, mostly waiting on the counter-shaft seal to arrive from India, I believe.

Speaking of what I did... Yesterday I rode to Katy at 8:00 (arrived at 9:00) and got an original muffler installed. The ride home was much quieter than the un-muffled ride over! I think that's the first time I've ridden 120 miles in a morning. Guess I'm not a die-hard, but I did manage 5000 miles on it the first year, almost 100% of that commuting. I only put 15,000 miles on my "work car" in that year instead of the usual 20K, so that's a good thing. Maybe I can shift the balance more toward higher miles on the Bullet in the next 12 months.

[Ducati Scotty]

5000 miles is way more than most people do in a year.  That's a very good effort!

Scott

[REdmonton]

It was a sad day today.  I had to put the bike away for the winter. We've had snow this week and it has been too cold to ride to work in the morning. 

I lubed the cables, filled it with gas and fuel stabilizer, changed the oil (first time I've done it on my bike), took out the battery, and cleaned and polished it. It's the now in the garage, covered up and dreaming of spring.

[gremlin]

I feel your pain my brother 

[barenekd]

As I think about the many winters I've spent in snow country states, I don't ever remember putting away my bikes for the winter. I rode on plenty of cold days, but always has adequate clothing for the weather. I did a lot of dirt days in the snow and raced on New years Eve and Day. I did a 24 hour Hare Scrambles race in Wyoming in February. Ended up third. I've played in the dirt in 10 degree weather and 6" of snow. If the weather warmed up above freezing or the streets weren't iced over I'd go riding around on the streets.
I worked in an ice house in Wyoming for my dad. I guess that must've gotten me used to the cold, but it never even occurred to me that I was supposed to stop riding in the winter. I sure racked up a lot of miles doing that though. In Wyoming you have four seasons, June, July, August, and Winter. I guess I just never wanted to miss that last nine months.
I bought my BSA Spitfire Scrambler in early February because my Matchless had been down fora couple of months waiting for parts. I anted to be riding. They day I bought it it started snowing while I as at the shop installing the magdyno and lighting systems. It was late afternoon before I got ready to take it home. The snow had been dropping those big wet flakes and had accumulated about 4" or so on  the roads. as I was ridng up the mountain road mountain road, the snow was stacking up on my glasses and I couldn't see very well. The road forked and I thought I had reached the fork and turned onto a ranch road in error. I turned around to get back on the highway and a car stopped on the rod in front of me and the driver yelled out, 'Hey, Bare, Is that you? After a short conversion he told me to follow him and he'd get me home. I followed him to where our little half mile combination scrambles track/hill climb dirt road that was the final run to our house started. He said, "Here you are," and went on.
To this day, I don't know who he was! The next morning, in 10 degree weather, I went out riding with our club and fell off thirteen times in the  snow. It was a great day!
Bare

[Arizoni]

Ah!  But you were young and invincible back then. 

Like me, your still young (at heart) but I'm betting the invincibility has diminished with the passing of time. 

[busmec]

Took short ride today had a steady 15mph wind gusting to 30 mph wasn't too bad till I got out in open field area all the corn is down, and no  trees around for a wind break , the wind took its toll quickly. Lucky for me almost all the was home was into wind , lot easier to handle a gust of wind head on then side ways , especially a large gust.

[gremlin]

I'm guessing the 50 year old memory of riding in the snow is sweeter than the reality was .........

[barenekd]

I'm guessing the 50 year old memory of riding in the snow is sweeter than the reality was .........

I still catch a little ice and snow riding even in SoCal. There is snow in them thar hills. The Norton Club's New Year's Eve ride up the Crest to Newcombs Ranch has had occasion to have  that hard precipitation on the road.  Jack and I encountered some on a couple of our rides last winter. makes me glad I learned how to do it those 50 years ago! Actually the rides back then were lot of fun. You just couldn't sweat the small stuff, like falling off! I was usually exhausted by the time I got home. Kinda like riding a good hard enduro. When you're in the middle of it and trying to dig yourself out of a boggy creek crossing, ya gotta ask,  "Am I having fun yet?" Must've been, though, because we were out the the next weekend doing the same thing!
Bare

[Ducati Scotty]

A friend and I have done a New Year's Day ride for the past two years.  The first year it was so cold we only rode for ten minutes and called it quits. The next time we rode for maybe an hour.  It always ends with hot coffee and bike talk, I think it's more about that than the ride.  Who knows, maybe this year someone else will actually join us.

Scott

[gremlin]

I still catch a little ice and snow riding even in SoCal. There is snow in them thar hills.

True that !
from 79 to 83 I was assigned to the Airbase in Victorville.   I spent those years with a CZ250,  a Honda CL350 and a beautiful Trident.
Best riding of my life ..........

[idk]

I changed the oil in mine to get it ready for a ride down to North Carolina (from Marylandistan) on Wednesday. I will be there for a couple of days then a nice ride back through the back end of Virginny over the weekend.

[barenekd]

Took a putt out to the shop just to see how hot it was getting...pretty damn hot! It's 95 at my house now, so definitely over 100 out there. But got a quick 100 miler out of it.
The boss was pressure washing a Triumph, so he let me use the sprayer on my bike. Knocked off the big stuff. Now I need to do the detailing... Maybe in the morning.
Wasn't paying attention and made an unintended turn onto the 60 freeway, so I had to spend more time on the freeway instead of cutting through the farm country. Oh, well, got home quicker, and the bugs aren't as bad.
Bare

[REdmonton]

Well I am about 1200 kms north of Wyoming. It gets kind of cold here. It's not like I am a wimp in the cold. I spent about 12 years living in northern British Columbia without running water, electricity or a phone. Sometimes it would get so cold in the house that if you spilled water on the counter it would instantly freeze. I've ice climbed at -40, skied at -30, and been partially buried in an avalanche. Occasionally, if it is a good winter, it is possible to get a ride in here and there. It is way too dangerous to ride regularly on the city streets. Ice, snow, gravel on the roads (salt doesn't work when it is too cold), crazy drivers without snow tires sliding through red lights put the objective hazards outside of my comfort zone.