Winter Riding Tips
Since winter is rapidly coming on, and some say is already here, this is a good time to cover some winter riding tips.
There are plenty of hazards during the good riding seasons. Winter brings some that if we are not aware of, or have forgotten, could cause problems.
Reduced daylight means more night riding
with reduced visibility caused by darkness, rain, and fog.
Let your eyes adjust to the darkness before
starting out.
To save your night vision use the right-edge fog line
as a guide when oncoming traffic passes then return your focus to the road
ahead.
Make sure all your lights are working and think
about adding more to increase your visibility.
If you haven’ t replaced your tinted visor with a clear, now
is the time.
Increased rain and fog will make the roads slicker more
often. Stay out of oily center lanes and off of plastic traffic
arrows. Both can be very slick when wet.
Windy weather presents problems when wind gusts try to blow
you off the road. Be ready to counter steer to lean the
motorcycle upwind quickly and to straighten it up when the gust has passed.
You do counter steer don’ t you?. Practice until it is second nature and you
don’ t have to think about it.
Watch out for surface hazards on the roads. They
increase greatly in winter. Just because there wasn’ t a chuck hole there
yesterday doesn’ t mean there won’ t be one today.
Watch for sand used on icy roads. It gets pushed
to the outside of lanes and often collects near the curb. Watch the street
surface and make wider turns. If you have to cross loose sand, keep your
motorcycle more vertical, avoid rapid acceleration, hard braking, or sharp
turns while driving through it.
Finally, remember to stay warm. Hypothermia causes our brains to slow down resulting in serious mistakes. Insulate your neck and head. Use electric heating if your going to be out long or the temperatures are low. Remember, the wind takes away a lot of your body heat and cannot be made up without help.
These are just a few winter riding tips. Hopefully, they will remind you of some of the things you may have forgotten. There are lots of good safe-riding information available and, remember, safe motorcycle riding is mostly mental.
Ride Safe.
Ken Dean, Chapter Rider Educator