I can’t be the only one

I do and I would but up here they use that nasty stuff called salt in copious amounts.. And now using brine even when it is not snowing, which is insidious and creeps in every where.. Not sure I could wash the rig enough to do any good. In the car industry it is creating havoc with the amount of rust on things. I guess I shouldn't be complaining, the amount of brake repairs is going through the roof. Which is awesome for a repair shop. LOL   Mixed blessing I suppose. 

Sounds like a blast to me.  🙂  Great pictures.  Really tells the story!

We had a light snow fall, and I thought it would be fun to get out and ride.  But it evaporated (not melted) off the roads before the chance presented itself.   Hoping to get an opportunity before they salt the roads.  Otherwise, it is time to fire up the woodstove in the garage, and get to work on SYZ for next season.

In the mean time there is a fresh 22 tons of rock spread out on the driveway to get stuck in.  Because riding out of the garage on a paved driveway would be too easy.  😉

Tim, I promise you that if/when we get snow in my area, I will take the BattleWing Galactica out for a drive, and post pictures.... just to show that you are not the only Nutter here.

In the early '90s, I used to host a ride around Lake Tahoe....in the falling snow....on 2 wheeled motorcycles. It was a hoot 😁

Quote from Tim Lankins on December 1, 2023, 10:12 am

I can’t be the only Nutter on here that likes to ride in the snow. Fun 12 mile commute into work. Six inches of fresh snow on the ground in Aspen.  Icy and snow/slush coated roads all the way in and an ear to ear grin.  

I've lived in snow country before (Idaho & Montana) before I owned a sidecar, but now I would have to drive for hours to get to snow. 

I see you are in Aspen, back in the early 80's I used to go to Aspen for the World Cup Downhill Ski races, good times!

Some impressive winter rides;

In 1981, one of the Binkley boys (not sure which one), of the Binkley family that has been plying riverboats on the Chena River since the 1890s, rode a BMW R90 from Prudhoe Bay to Ushuaia, becoming the first motorcycle rider to make the trip. He smuggled the bike up the Dalton Hwy before it was open to the public and began his ride in February.  He had no heated gear of any sort, so he carried a pillow case full of old socks and rags.  When he began to feel a cold spot on his body he would stop and shove a rag in the cold spot for insulation.

In the 1960s, the late George Rahn rode a motorcycle from his home in Fairbanks to his family home in Pennsylvania.  Like the Binkley boy he made his ride in February on a BMW of the era.  George was the BMW dealer in Fairbanks from the late 50s until he sold it in 2007.  His dealership was run out of a log cabin with a travel trailer grafted on to it. He lived with an outhouse and wood stove until his passing in 2016.  The ALCAN was unpaved at the time of his ride.  George told me he rode on packed snow most of the way and mostly in the dark.  At one point he went down on the road and he and the bike spun around several times.  When he got himself together he was fortunate that the bike was undamaged and the headlight still worked, but he could not determine which way he was headed before the accident.  There was no signage of any sort and the bike had not made any helpful marks on the hardpack. He made a guess and learned he had guessed correctly when he saw a sign for a town several miles down the road.  He didn't encounter any temperatures above freezing until he got south of Edmonton.

Back in 2013 I rode my '12 Super Tenere', along with a riding buddy on his (my old) '05 R12GS, and we rode up to Prince George, B.C. in early January, handed off our bikes to a friend up there that had a matching pair of '03 R1150GS sidecar rigs, with studded tires on all 3 wheels, on both rigs. We then continued up to Fairbanks, AK, where we met freezing fog. Luckily we had head to toe Gerbing Heated Clothing, and really taxed the alternators on those R1150GS's. Then rode up to Prudhoe Bay, and it was actually warmer in Prudhoe Bay than it was in Fairbanks.

From Prudhoe Bay, we started the DOWNHILL ride to Ushuaia, Argentina.....trading off the sidecar rigs in Prince George again to pick up our 2 wheeled bikes, but it had snowed pretty heavily since we had been in Prince George 2 weeks earlier. Having ridden ON snow covered roads before, I knew the trick was to ride in the SNOW, and not on the ice that is in the tire tracks of the 4 wheeled vehicles, or the big trucks. Riding a 2 wheeled motorcycle on the snow isn't that bad, as the snow will give you traction. It's the danged ICE under the snow that makes for a slippery ride.

Anyway......down to Ushuaia, Argentina...then back up to Seattle area, which was my 4th roundtrip ride of this same adventure.

But, back in 1996 I was on a '94 Goldwing 1500, and left the Seattle area wanting to ride down I-84 in Oregon, through Pendleton, down to Boise, Idaho, then down to Winnemucca, Nevada for a motorcycle rally. When I got south of Pendleton, Oregon, I could see there was snow up on Dead Man's Pass, on I-84.....but I chanced it. Had my CB on, and listening to all the truckers making bets as to which mile marker sign I was going to fall over at, as the roads were very icy. Well, they were right, and just as I crested the top of Dead Man's Pass, I slid down the road. No damage to the bike, or me, so a couple guys help me pick it up, and I crept along the crusty shoulder of the road for a few miles, until I got down from the snow covered roads.

Riding in the snow is always a fun thing, even if it is just a couple of miles to get groceries. There are times, not very often, that I do miss my Ural Patrol.

In 2009 we hosted a couple of riders at our home in Fairbanks who were riding from Key West to Deadhorse, in February.  The woman, Doris Wiedemann is German and the man Sjaak Lucassen is Dutch.  Sjaak was on a Yamaha R1 and Doris was on an F800GS.  They made the trip up and back without many problems, although they were caught in a winter storm on the Chandalar Shelf. They spent three nights as guests of the crew at a convoy assembly facility and had three hot meal a day, showers and warm beds. 

Common here.  Heading out yesterday with the larger one.

Should be on the list.  If Any of yall are ever in the area and needs help Call. Have trailer that will haul any sidecar or bike.

Seems it is getting hard and taking long to get any towing service out even for cars now days. Just went thought that this week with wife's car.

Went for a walk this morning to go get some coffee. Talking to one of the local cops. He was telling me about an accident they had yesterday. Seems somebody was looking at a sidecar motorcycle headed into town as they were headed out of town and the driver rear ended the car in front of him. Oops 😅 

Quote from Tim Lankins on December 2, 2023, 9:30 am

Went for a walk this morning to go get some coffee. Talking to one of the local cops. He was telling me about an accident they had yesterday. Seems somebody was looking at a sidecar motorcycle headed into town as they were headed out of town and the driver rear ended the car in front of him. Oops 😅 

You are becoming an "influencer".  One accident at a time.  😉

I've had some pretty epic snow rides on dirt bikes.  A few of the rides we were the first to break trail before the snow mobiles came in.  Was like riding through a post card picture.  Absolutely stunning.   Took some fire roads up to an off road trail area in the Uintah's.  Not enough snow for snow mobiles but enough to make it fun on the bike.  

Stationed at Ft. Carson, the first warm day of spring, my buddies, our girl friends and I decided to ride "up" into the mountains on some fire roads we discovered the year before.  All of us on 750 street bikes.  We didn't gain 1,000' elevation before running into snow. All the tunnels were sheets of ice.  Being a bunch of young over confident kids we plowed through the whole day before pitching camp and praying it didn't snow overnight.

Picture:  * Heading up into the Uintah's to play southeast of Woodland, UT.  * Exploring the Wasatch Back southwest of Midway, UT. shortly after getting the bike.

in 2017 Some snowmobile riders reported a Gold sidecar passed them on the trail coming off a farm on Wellman rd. Had a picture and wanted something done about.

 President of the club informed then that it was my land they were riding on .  I could ride on it I wanted to. The stretch of 1/2 mile they ride across my land it one place they can fly across.

I’m betting that shut them up.  LOL