Involuntarily Dancing on Ice

Brrrr! If any of you Smokey London folk are coming out to the 'burbs then take it very, very easy.

I went out at midday, bright sunshine, birds tweeting and back wheel doing the sideways shuffle when I least expected it. (The art is making it look like you meant to do it . . . they can’t hear you scream if you’re going fast enough!):wink:

It’s fun with two wheels at the front though! Back wheel drift? Add some throttle!

Seriously, point taken, lots of untreated roads and micro-climates, and to a two-wheeler the treated roads aren’t much better with the slippery sh1t they spread around these days.

I want one of them three wheelers jim…your really bad for bringing that to the ride out…now I want one…with a bit more oomph and a bit more colour…yellow one…me thinks…

I was just walking on the pavements this morning in sunny SE London and it was like being on an icerink! For once I’m glad I cannot ride until beginning of January as the roads are perilously slippery. At least I’ve now got the bike insured and all I need to do is fit a new rear tyre, C&S and MOT it. Badoom tish!

I got to the end of the road this morning, back wheel all over the place, so then turned back to get the tube.

Delays, signal failures and a security alert. Ahh, dont you just love public transport!

As soon as I saw ‘Involuntary Dancing’ I woulda bet my cbr it was going to finish ‘on ice’!

Went out for a calm ride yesterday after washing it, going around the hood tadadada lets give it some throttle WOAH LETS SPIN AGAIN LIKE WE SPAN LAST SUMMER!!!

Seriously its only a 600 and really crap low end since i changed the can without adjusting fuel/air ratio, I cant imagine anyone on anything bigger giving it throttle and not fishtailing down the road like I did…

As an aside, the back started fishtailing, and I eased off the throttle which seemed to fix it. Was this the correct thing to do? I know that for a tank slapper you give it some throttle to take the weight off the front end and stablise it (Again if im wrong please correct me, Im always eager to learn!)

What tyres are you running?I know this time last year on Pirelli Diablos (standard compound), I had no confidence in these conditions on my R1 as the rear would lose traction with a gnat’s sniff of throttle.

I’m on Michelin Pilot Powers 2CTs this year and just as they were in the summer, in rain and now on frosted roads, they just grip and just work. They’re unbelievable.Ofcourse I don’t go WOT in this weather though :w00t:

I find that the best way to avoid these problems is to leave mine tucked up in my folks heated garage in the country from late Nov to March :smiley:

Can’t be arsed with the cold and wet.

That’s fair enough, but I’d rather my bike got rusty than my skills :slight_smile:

Not sure what tyres im on, the ones that are recommended for the bike, will have a look when i get home

They have been good to be so far, but i think both the front and the rear are slightly over inflated so maybe thats why its spin happy

To each their own. Of course you know nothing about ‘my skills’ on a bike or otherwise therefore to post a trite comment about them would seem to be presumptious. I usually find that the first trackday of the season is quite enough to remind me how to ride a bike as several years experience must invariably have been forgotten over the Xmas turkey…

Live out in the sticks and climbed onto the bike at 5am this morning; beautiful clear starry sky. Boy there was ice everywhere. It was the black ice which had me really worried. Slide down the drive and stuck to the speed limit and rode s m o o t h all the way into town. Even got overtaken by a few cars on the dual carriage way. I cannot remember the last time that happened.

My girlfriend had to bus in to work very early this morning and decided to call me to ask me to leave bike at home as everything was frozen. I nearly did then thought ‘bugger it’ and rode carefully and it seemed to work pretty well. Didn’t notice any sliding and will have to be as careful when i head home tonight. The thought of having to go back to the bus- even if just a few weeks is dreadful. This is my first winter on bike in London… wish me luck!

I started a topic simular to this yesterday! it is getting into silly season now! I road down all the side streets round my end! with both feet sliding beside me like paddles. :hehe: finally hit the main roads and i was away! :smiley:

Thinking of buying a crosser with some evil tread as i dont have a car licence “never botherd me before now” because i have to make the 20 mile commute to work everyday.

I think afro is right I decided that I should stay on the road over winter to keep my skills up…dont think he was having a go at you gixxergooner…just a statement for him…I’ve seen him ride he needs lots of practice…:D:D

get yourselves a “teapot” sod all power to spin the wheels lol, no seriously just keep your wits about you and you be fine, trouble is im a halfwit therefore in trouble :slight_smile:

My old blade is coping pretty well with the cold weather … Just being gentle on the throttle.

I don’t know if it’s of any help/relevence but using a higher gear than one would normally can reduce the risk of wheel-spin on slippery surfaces.

I get wheel spin on the R1 if I open her up before I have done at least 5 miles on the road…in the dry…in the wet its hardwork, in the slime we see at the moment it would be a nightmare…will go on the bandit instead…me thinks

You don’t really wanna be doing that do you?

In these conditions you need to use your back brake as much as the front otherwise you are likely to lock the front end and wind up with a cold ar$e:w00t: