Llandegla Jan 2010

To anyone with sense the weather of the past couple of weeks was the perfect time to get on with those tasks which have to be done with the bike off the road; servicing, repairs, renovations and similar tasks.

How do we fair in this country when the conditions deteriorate? Not very well it seems – the roads haven’t been gritted anywhere near enough and the roads are sheets of compacted ice and where the ice has melted loads of deep potholes.

My GoldWing is stuck in the garage as the ice is solid all the way to the door. I can barely keep upright walking to the garage on the ice, never mind riding the GoldWing

What does Eddy do?

You may think that he has every opportunity to keep riding now that he has a GoldWing trike. Well would you believe he didn’t use his trike?

Oh No -Not Eddy! – He used his Royal Enfield solo. (And I’m sure he would have been solo as Anne has too much sense than to go with him).

Eddy does not own a car so he has braved the roads on his bike to get back and to for work, and then he has braved the roads to go a a bit of a ride round the area.

Having heard that the Horseshoe Pass was closed due to the snow he decided to go and look for himself. On his Enfield!

The picture of Eddy was taken by an astounded Council Worker in his 4X4 vehicle who couldn’t believe his eyes when Eddy rolled up.

Eddy out for a quiet jaunt

Eddy's everyday bike

Stop Press: Nigel has asked me to point out that he too takes his bike out in the snow –  and he has submitted the photo below as evidence.

Nigel and his Wing playing out in the snow

A gritter spreading it's deadly contents

It is about time that this weather went away and the council stopped gritting the roads with that ‘horrible stuff’ they use now.

The gritter-wagons seem to be spreading a new type of salt that sets just like concrete if you give it a chance to dry on your bike. Even when still wet it seems to have the consistency of jelly and does not want to wash off the bike, or the car.

This is a major concern to me as I have an American model GoldWing Trike and these do not have the protection that UK GoldWings have. I understand it is down to lacquer on the wheels and shiny bits. Either way I am not chancing the bike on these
roads until the salt has had an opportunity to wash away. Therein lies the problem.

The weather has been too cold for the gritter-wagons to stay off the roads and there has not been enough rain to wash the salt away in between. There is a constant layer of salt on the road waiting for the opportunity to transmute chrome and aluminium to
rust and fur respectively. The GoldWing and other luxury bikes laden with chrome, like Harleys and Japanese cruisers, are the first ones to suffer if exposed to the chemical mix.

I rode my UK model 1800 last winter and took time to ensure that it was well washed and rinsed after each trip. The intention was to ensure that my lovely chrome work remained intact. I have to admit that Honda’s chrome was able to withstand the vast
majority of the process but all the aftermarket bits rotted away with very little resistance to the salt. It was very frustrating to see the lovely shiny bits becoming horrible hairy bits or watch chrome literally peeling off, once it had seen any salt.

What is the answer to this problem? The answer is simple: there isn’t one. Until the U.K. Authorities  stop using road salt in times of icy conditions then there will be badly corroded bikes. Interestingly, the weather in the U.K. does not go to the extremes like some other countries, USA being one. In the USA very little use is made of road salt in times of icy conditions. It does not bring the area to a standstill at the first sign of white stuff falling out of the sky. People get used to driving in the terrible conditions or they change their transport to one that does keep going. The cars have chains fitted if needed to keep moving, and if the weather is that bad that a car cannot be used then snow-mobiles come out. It is also a matter of driver/rider training for the conditions.

I am seriously thinking of having the shiny parts on my bike powder-coated. This will hopefully sort out the problem of corrosion as then no metal will be exposed directly  except brake discs and bits of the engine which cannot be powder-coated.  This will hopefully extend the amount of time during the winter when I can still get out on the GoldWing.

Some of you may want to tell me of new products which are supposed to protect the bits of the bike exposed to salt. They don’t all appear to work all the time and consequently signs of rust and furring will still be found, despite the liberal use of these anti-corrosion products. I cannot trust them on my pride and joy.

All I can say now is “Roll On Spring” then hopefully the salt will be gone, washed away by the rain-fall, which with global warming, is likely to bring floods to water-log all our favourite rides!

Dave T