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From: gadfly@ihlpa.UUCP (Gadfly)
Newsgroups: net.cycle
Subject: Re: Cold weather (sux)
Message-ID: <2129@ihlpa.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 23-Oct-86 14:42:32 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihlpa.2129
Posted: Thu Oct 23 14:42:32 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 24-Oct-86 08:26:47 EDT
References: <3523@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 49

--
> Since I'm crazy (and don't own a car), I'm going to try to drive
> my bike ('83 Kawasaki KZ-750, 3200 miles) to work through most of
> the winter in Boston (I only have about 3-5 miles to go)...
> 
> Does anyone have any experience with doing silly things like this?  
> How cold can it get before the battery is in danger? 
> Are there things like block heaters for bikes?
> Should I forget it and ride the bus?

Yeah--I ride year 'round.  In Chicago.  I have a small bike--an '80
Honda 200, old enough to have a kick starter.  If you have only
electric start, your battery may not have the cranking power against
below-zero oil sludge.  I'm curious whether the new-fangled bikes are
actually startable in the winter, since I don't count on too many
more reliable winters with that bike.

A fully-charged battery can take 25-below, but you can't be sure
just how charged it is, can you?  When a blizzard comes through, I
take the battery out and put it on the charger, then put it in on
the crystal-clear blustery 15-below morning that eventually follows.

You have to dress warmly--hypothermia can come on after a few *blocks*,
and it's insidious as it makes you silly.  I have never successfully
solved the helmet shield icing problem, either.  But I never ride on
a snow or ice-covered road (I'm crazy, not suicidal).

You'll have to wash your bike very regularly (any above-freezing day
you get) because the salt on the roads will eat through your pipes
in a matter of weeks.

It's not an easy task you set out, but a 3-5 mile trip (mine's about
the same) is better than 2 cups of coffee in the morning (that cold
slap-in-the-face, oh yeah), and you get the thrill of having the
lone bike in the parking lot and telling all those wimps who ask
"But isn't it awfuly cold to ride?" that it's a test of a man's
ability to withstand pain.  And you'll find that the car-pointers
along the way give you a wide berth for a change since you are
obviously a lunatic, and with all that clothing on you look like one
too.  I love it.

Good luck.  On King!  On you huskies!

                    *** ***
JE MAINTIENDRAI   ***** *****
                 ****** ******  23 Oct 86 [2 Brumaire An CXCV]
ken perlow       *****   *****
(312)979-8042     ** ** ** **
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