Cool Running

sproggy · Post by **sproggy** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:22 pm

Minus 3 when I left home this morning, with fog as a bonus. Nice. Coldest day so far this year, I think. The bike ran better than it ever has done! Here's my theory:

I'm running with a higher than standard fuel pressure which makes the bike run rich - too rich normally, but I haven't got around to putting a PC on to sort the fuelling properly yet. I reckon that the colder, denser air is compensating to a degree for the extra fuel (more oxygen per cubic whatever of cold, damp air) and this is making the bike smoother by making the mixture closer to optimum. If this is a taste of what's to come when I get it set up properly I'll be booking my dyno session sooner rather than later

Anyone else found benefits in riding in these temperatures or have you all got your bikes tucked up under a fluffy blanket behind the sofa

throttlemeister · Post by **throttlemeister** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:30 pm

Actually, the fog is the more likely cause. Moist air works wonders on performance. Droplets of water turn to steam during combustion, increasing pressure and thus power.

sproggy · Post by **sproggy** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:36 pm

Maybe I should fit a water injection system to replicate the effect on those dry, hot days

throttlemeister · Post by **throttlemeister** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:37 pm

That actually works and is very common practise with turbo's

Ade B · Post by **Ade B** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:38 pm

Had a good run back from Sleaford to London last Saturday... bike seemed a bit crisper in the mid range which I put down to valve adjustment and throttle balance... temperature was 7-8 degrees, which was just about bearable..

regarding tucked up behind the sofa, mine is nestling under the old R6 cover for the first time in a long time - which I found out wasn't heat resistant as it neatly bonded itsself to the hot headers...

Had forgotten what its like to ride at speed in cold weather, the cold really gets into you after a while... fine pootling around the city but bombing down the motorway....brrr

Ade

sproggy · Post by **sproggy** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:45 pm

Ade B wrote:Had forgotten what its like to ride at speed in cold weather, the cold really gets into you after a while... fine pootling around the city but bombing down the motorway....brrr

Ade

We have a 15 mile run down the A1 each the morning - it's certainly a good way to find out which bits of skin are still exposed...... It reminded me that I need to dig out my buff windstopper thing - my chin was so cold it was painful. Maybe it's time for a beard extension......

Duggers · Post by **Duggers** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 4:31 pm

I still havn't worked out if it's better to wear winter gloves to keep the back of your hands warm or summer gloves to feel the nice toasty grips

Ade B · Post by **Ade B** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 4:33 pm

it's certainly a good way to find out which bits of skin are still exposed..

Oh yes.. somehow after a petrol/pee stop, didn't get the snood right and everytime I shoulder checked to change lane - icy blast down the neck... at least it kept me awake on a dull ride..

If I had to do it on a regular basis I would definately invest in heated stuff. Once your core temperature goes down it takes more than a coffee stop to get it back up...

Coldest I've been on a bike is riding through snow 1/2 way from Porto to Madrid one easter and coming back from Norfolk on a cool summer evening with just Summer kit - wind chill that gets me every time..

Ade

sproggy · Post by **sproggy** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:00 pm

My coldest trip was in my despatching days. Based in Southampton, I got a job to Hull around lunch time on a day in January. Rode up there in temperatures struggling to reach zero on roads partly covered in ice, somehow managed to stay upright, dropped off the parcel and as I walked out of the building the first snow flakes started to fall.

By the time I got back to the motorway the snow was settling fast and I was riding with both feet down trying to keep the bike upright and somewhere between the two rows of armco. I was on an R80RT - the snow would build up on the screen until it was about 3 inches thick and then break free in one huge lump, jump over the top and smack me in the face like a big, soft snowball. Oh, how I laughed at that every half a mile...... Not sure how far I rode like that but I reached a service station and stopped, dropped the bike on the icy/snowy car park (it didn't fall far - it had crash bars around the cylinders), went inside and spent 20 minutes melting all over the service station. After a while of standing under a hand drier in the toilets to warm up (got plenty of strange looks) I went back out, unearthed the bike from the snow that had covered it and carried on. By Watford Gap the snow had turned to freezing cold rain and the road re-appeared through the snow. I never made it back to Southampton that night - stopped at my parents in Welwyn for the night. Miserable, and I probably made about £20 after costs, missing out on the early morning runs the next day because I had a 100 mile trip to get back to Southampton and couldn't drag myself out of bed early to get there. Net earnings - zilch.

The following week I bought an old diesel 205 and despatched in that for the rest of the winter - made far more money as I could do many more hours a day without dying/freezing, carry a lot more and take phone calls to juggle jobs from different companies.

Happy days........NOT.

winger · Post by **winger** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:01 pm

I remember rideing back from Utrecht in Holland many years ago in mid january,in the days when you either had a Barbour wax jacket or nylon ski jacket from C+A!!!!!,couldn't even drive a car in those days,so was hardened 365 day a year man, when i got home took three people to get me of the bloody bike.

sproggy · Post by **sproggy** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:08 pm

winger wrote:when i got home took three people to get me of the bloody bike.

Ah, the days before decent kit. I rode 100 miles on my GPZ500 (I didn't have a car then either) to visit a mate. As I pulled up outside his house I put my feet down.......but they were so numb with cold I couldn't feel the ground. Dropped the bike on top of my leg - couldn't shift it on my own so was trapped. Mate came out of the house laughing so much he couldn't lift the bike either! By the time we'd both struggled with it I'd warmed up but was so knackered I fell straight asleep on the living room floor still in all my kit....

sproggy · Post by **sproggy** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:10 pm

Actually, all this makes me wonder what I'm doing still riding bikes in sub-zero temperatures OUT OF CHOICE???!!! Must need my head examining....once it's thawed out. Older, but apparently no wiser

winger · Post by **winger** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:13 pm

With the way the traffic is darn sarf,i don't think boys have got much choice.

sproggy · Post by **sproggy** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:19 pm

Sure, it's the quickest and most reliable way to get to work (in London) whatever the temperature. But it's not just the 90 minutes of cold each day that I suffer - it's Mrs Sproggy complaining about it. And those complaints start at least half an hour before we leave home in the morning and carry on for a good hour (depending upon temperature) after we get home in the evening. How much suffering can a man take

Oh, and I see they've forecast snow for tonight

Ade B · Post by **Ade B** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:51 pm

With the way the traffic is darn sarf,i don't think boys have got much choice.

Takes about 45 mins of London riding for the cold to get through my normal kit. If I'm out any longer it gets miserable and dangerous as reactions slow... Luckily that equates to my Kingston commute which is my longest regular journey..

If I know I'm going to get cold I put on pretty much every thermal layer I've got under my winter kit, 2 pairs socks, snood up to eyes etc.

And it still gets cold after 45mins

Biggest problem I had the other day was low sun reflecting of wet roads - forgot my shades, which made visibility interesting at times.

Do like winter riding though, a crisp, clear cold day makes you glad to be out and about sometimes. Not as keen as I was a couple of years back (Did a December track day I seem to remember

)

And you can always warm your hands at stops on the cylinder heads.. (which also keep my feet out of the airflow which I didn't appreciate until riding an F650 courtesy bike last winter..)

Ade