I wish that were a guarantee 
i meant my cb125 time defying machine
well im inclined to agree with Grim also, i usually am fortunate enough to get a company bike with my job, which means i get the best of both worlds, i dont have to use my pride and joy when the weather is really ****, and i get to ride all year round. Had i kept the tiger she would have been out in most weathers cos she was very good at looking filthy and coming up shiney as a new bike. The yam however doesnt like salt, thats why im gettin rid of those fekin polished rims…
i ride because i enjoy it.
i DONT find it enjoyable doing my hours commute in the rain or when it’s freezing.
been there done that…
but as soon as its mild and dry then any excuse is reason enough to ride whether its to work or around the lanes near me.
Good boy:cool:
Polished alloy is sooo last century;)
You guys are awesome, cheers for the input.
I find I am probably agreeing most with Grimbusa in terms of biking mentality. I never quite get past the ‘frisson’ of climbing aboard the bike, I just find that nowadays it’s on my terms rather than necessity.
I’ve been riding for just over a year now on my 125 and haven’t let the weather stop me. I didn’t enjoy the wet and windy conditions at 1st cause the bike used to drift about all over the place and that wasn’t enjoyable, but once I got rid of the naffy stock tyres this was a thing of the past.
I use my bike to commute to and from work; I don’t have a car or a licence for one so my only other choice is public transport and after having done that for a good many years I don’t miss it one bit.
I’d like to think that having experience of various weather conditions makes me a better rider - I’m certainly more cautious when it’s wet/windy. I’d also agree with some of the other comments about having a sence of satisfaction/achievemnet - but I guess that’s because I don’t have another mode of transport which would be as convenient as the bike.
One thing that does make me smile about riding in the rain is being able to turn up and work and get out of my wet riding gear and be drier than the folks arriving from their commutes (having been soaked in the downpour from their short walks from the car/tube stn.) Schadenfreude 
Im on a wave length closer to JohnD’s I enjoy riding even when the weathers not perfect, I enjoy the skill it takes to go fast when the weather conditions state I should slow down and grown up, every time I HAVE to get back in the car I realise that after 4mins “Id rather be riding”.
I don’t do public transport and track riding is awesome but I couldn’t live without a decent road bike.
Only time I can think of not enjoying a ride in the last 6months was having to ride to Brands Hatch at 5am damn it was could and the road was so straight
Occasionally when I have to use public transport to get into work, and I look at all the miserable diseased faces, trying to taint me with their fathomless depression; then I am reminded why I ride all year around.
The best part of winter riding are those days where everything is just great, a recent downpour has scrubbed the roads up nicely for grip, there is not a lot of traffic around and everyone sees you coming. Because you’ve had to ride through some really s##t weather recently, you are smooth; everything flows and as you ride, your balance is harmonised with the bike. There is no effort to change direction, gears come and go like fleeting memories and traffic lights are rare opportunities to put you foot on the floor, sit upright and wonder if you might have expired on that bend twenty minutes ago, as everything feels too perfect and you want to savour that ethereal feeling, hold onto it and make it more permanent. A feeling which lifts you for the next part of the ride; and truly you are in heaven.
Didn’t happen this morning though, I’m a bit tight across the shoulders and chest and rode like a freaking robot. Damn; maybe next time.
Agreed - car is not an option anymore… sold it a long time ago! If i lived in the country I guess it might be different, but driving/owning a car in London drives me nuts !!
great thread guys n girls!
I did all the riding thru all weathers as a teenager(cos i had no choice and better than a pushbike)but nowadays if the suns out then i venture out,call me a fair weather pansie…but way i see it is…if you stop enjoying it DON’T DO IT:D
Besides i am always busy repairing and altering your leathers so i don’t get out on me bike often enough:crying:
Great topic!
With respect, I think it’s got a lot to do with your mindset and the sort of bike you choose. I started off with it as a given that I would be riding all year round. I don’t want to keep another vehicle, so I needed a bike that would do everything I need and do it all year round…and I ended up buying a big scooter. Which means that I don’t get mobbed by naked nubile women whenever I take it out:D, but I also never have any problems with wheelspin, being in the wrong gear, front wheel lifting off, locking the back brakes, etc, so I don’t worry about winter riding so much and it’s not particularly unpleasant for me.
Others started off wanting to have a really fast bike that looks great, so they got a really fast bike, but the problem is that really fast bikes are often a bit too powerful for a lot of people in bad weather on real roads with other traffic on. And they’ve generally got no weather protection, so you’re freezing on them. And, as Grim has pointed out above, it takes a long time to keep them clean in winter. So they become a pain to ride in winter. And I don’t suppose riding a really fast bike through winter does a lot for resale values.
To me: if you want/need to ride through winter, then you’ll probably get an appropriate bike and then you’ll probably not find it a problem riding through winter. But if your bike buying priorities are to have a machine that’s much more capable (AND more demanding), then by definition you’ll be using all your skills even when riding it in the summer, so your views on winter riding will be coloured by that.
Wierd…I can’t remember posting this last night. Rocked in late after a massive ‘Thirsty Thursday’ and must have gone on to the site…i don’t remember getting home either so my beer scooter must have been working well :DNice to see I was relatively lucidI feel like hammered s**t today though:crying: :sick:
I’m with Gixerg**ner and Grim on this one:)
I’ve done my time commuting in all weathers into London for 20 odd years out of necessity more than enjoyment.
Nowadays my bike is purely a weapon of pleasure and to me biking has moved from being a mode of transport to an enjoyable pastime for sunny days, rather like golf, sailing or jet-skiing;)
There are no medals to be gained for freezing your cod’s off and I choose not to because I don’t have to.
It’s all about the choice:)
Warm & Dry Chunky;)
That’s spot on! I keep a car and a bike so the car comes out when it’s too cold/wet/dangerous to be riding a sports bike on the road.
AgreedI always had an old nail (invariably a trailie bike) for winter use for two reasons, firstly they make the best in town commuters as they are narrow and high, secondly it kept my decent bikes in mint condition:)
first few years of biking i would go to daft lengths to ride the bike everywhere, even when the car would have been a far better choice (and it was a pretty nice car too!). i’m over that now. during the winter there are those odd days when the roads somehow clear up, the ground is dry and i remember why i love riding a motorbike and have some fun. most of them are just a bit rubbish, but less rubbish than public transport. last sat used the bike to get to somewhere the car would have been a pain in the ass, and i was shaking with cold all the way home. theres no fun in that.
did without a car for a year plus, flipping glad i’ve got one again now. if i didn’t have to commute, i dare say my bike would be nicely tucked up for a lot of the winter too.
enjoy summer rides, but dont get the buzz out of them i get on track. maybe its just the winter blues tho…
That’s why I ride, the misery etched on every face on the Underground, the stench, the selfish pushing and shoving, the delays, the smells. Now fair enough you get bad stuff riding, but at least I’m on a bike enjoying it when I experience that, rather than being guided down little runs to stand in a sweaty cattle box with the other commuters… waiting… waiting… waiting for the over-paid UNIONISED tube driver to push a button that says forward and earn MEGA-BUCKS for doing so cos its such a tough job really. Oh and then the joy of London Underground raising the price for me to experience that hell… as the service gets worse NOT better…
They say vote with your feet… I already did.
Forget drugs… Just say NO to crap public transport!