How to ride a motorcycle in cold weather conditions?

Most of the times when we ride our motorcycle, we set off without too much prep, and in most cases, that is how motorcycling is supposed to be. It is after all one way for our wanderlust to manifest itself, but this is not an approach that will serve you well every single time. For instance, if you are going to be riding in the cold weather conditions, you need to prepare yourself and your motorcycle beforehand to make sure you can ride well and ride sage. Here are some of the things we recommend making your cold weather ride a little bit easier.

Prepare yourself mentally

It is you who have decided to ride in the cold, so if you prepare yourself mentally, half the battle will already have been won. Some people might misinterpret this as just using sheer will power, but that is not the case. When preparing yourself mentally, what you need to do is realise that you are going to be riding in cold weather conditions, and you need to prepare for that beforehand. Once you put this in your head, you will be better able to go about taking care of all the things you need to do, to make sure your ride is a safe one, and a fun one!

Check your rubber hoses

In most cases, excess heat is the enemy of motorcycle parts, but excess cold can wreak havoc too on your motorcycle too. For example, rubber parts tend to shrink in cold weather, so if you have any old rubber hoses on your motorcycle (the connection from the fuel tank to the fuel pump), it would be a good time to change them now. If the rubber is brittle, it could crack and disintegrate due to the cold.

Get proper tyres

Depending on how cold it will be, and what kind of terrain you will be riding on, you need to get the proper tyres. Your regular summer tyres will shrink in the cold weather, not visibly, but enough to make a difference to your motorcycle’s handling, and that’s not a good thing at all. Get snow tyres with studs if you are going to be riding on snow, otherwise get tyres that are rated for winter riding.

Winter riding gear

Most often than not, it’s not the machine, but the rider that gives up in adverse riding conditions. A lot of people will use their regular riding gear with a warm liner inside to ride in cold weather conditions, but that will not be of any help, as when you are riding, cold air has a way to sneak inside your gear and drop your body temperature. This will in turn result in lethargic responses, which could be hazardous. Therefore, we suggest you get proper winter riding gear to insulate yourself from the cold.

Don’t ride in poor visibility

Sometimes, it’s just a better idea to stop and take shelter. This is especially true if the visibility has dropped. If you can’t see where you are going, you are not going to get very far. Furthermore, if you can’t see, chances are oncoming traffic can’t see you as well. This kind of cold weather is generally found in the hills as well, and visibility in the hills is doubly important. Therefore, even if you reach your destination a little later than planned, you will reach it safe and sound.