MIXED UP WEATHER

Hi All,

I was just looking at the trees around my house and they are getting blossoms on them. It's only the middle of February! Do you suppose it will be an early spring We had a few days here in NE Oklahoma, recently when the temperature was over 70 Deg and I went riding.

Is spring just around the corner for your neck of the woods? I hope so.

DennisB :D

Have not noticed any trees budding yet, but we had some really nice weather
here in NC last week. Temps in the 60's & 70's in my area. Today is another story.............high of 47 & off & on lite rain. Looking outside, I'm wondering if it will rain or not. Next week is showing temps in the 40's & 50's, still not bad riding weather as long as it's not raining.

Ground Hog says 6 more weeks of winter, but so far it has not been too bad.
Could he be wrong?? Hope so.

I gonna take a jest at this one - The Gound Hog!? I love this as a prediction tool, a casual glance at the calendar shows that it is approximately 6.5 weeks from February 2 til March 21 so technically it is 6 more weeks of winter no matter what. But still it's sort of funny to watch full grown adults on TV treating this like serious news. - Sorry my brain doesn't really respect a rodent that lives in a little house and masquerades as a part time weatherman.

Like Debbie we've had weather with all of it's oddities. Last weekend was comfortable and we rode about 200 miles on Sunday. I rode to work on Monday (upper 60's) and if not for other demands could have ridden on Tuesday and Wednesday. By Thursday it was cooler. Today it is in the low 40's and drizzely.

Two years ago we had an extremely early bloom and the fruit trees even blossomed, then had a hard frost in March. Really hurt the local orchards.

We had two weeks of -10 Celsius (windchill -20) weather and it goes to 4-5 degrees for a few days - talk about flu weather - maritime climate.

We always say that you can get four seasons in one day here. Problem is they use salt on the roads so you'd never ride in that!

We have had a lot of rainy days here. Even though it doesn't rain hard but it is consisitent and all day. When I lived in Illinois we would get and 1" or 2" of rain all at once and then it was goine. But out here it can rain all day and we might only get 1/2" if lucky. But I am getting ready to ride the bike down to the shop to get my new tires put on. It looks like it shouldn't rain the rest of the day.

Hi Dale..............I don't take much stock in the whole Groundhog thing either. Just thought I' throw that in :D , heck our weatherman can't even get it right most of the time. I figure some of the officials up north have nothing better to do, so they have to get the Groundhog out & wish for better weather. :lol!: I do hope that the weather gets better soon for the northerners so they can get out & ride. I really enjoy being able to get out & ride just about year round.

Debbie,

You get some snow up there in NC, especially in the western part.

The drizzle is lifting here and the sun is trying hard to make an appearance, who knows tomorrow may be a good day to ride. I rarely check the weather except what I see out of my windows or through my glasses. I grew up on a farm and weather was a much bigger deal to me then. Now I don't worry too much about the weather. It's going to happen and all I can do is live.

We had a snow storm here in March of 1993 that dumped about 18 inches of snow. Snow is not such a big deal it's the ice that preceeds and follows that shuts down the roads.

Yea......the mountains do get their share of snow. I'm in the middle of the state. We've had two lite snowfalls in my area so far this year & they were back in January. Haven't had what I would call a decent snowfall in quite a while. Biggest since I've lived here was about 18" back around 2000, I think.
I'm not good at remembering dates but I do remember having a great time it the snow sledding with my son. I'm just a kid at heart.

Goodthing i live in the south cuz i can NOT
handle the cold weather at all. Heck when
the temp drop below 73 in the house i put the heat on lol. This is true BUT you know
i do not mind the cold around the xmas
season and all. I use to live n fla years
ago whern i was kid and had HOT
weather year around yukkkkk. Well some
of the trees in houston are budding out
now so spring will be here soon.. Then
we will be complaing it is to HOT at
90 something degrees and the
sweat drippng from you like a waterfal
lol.. Been there done that. See when i am
out in the heat mowing lawns in texas
i have to wet myself down to keep cool
with a waterhose. So turn into a
weback it is a joke nothing else. From
head to toe i am soaked lol it does work
to keep cool.
Ghost rier Greg
Houston tx usa

Here in Northern Illinois we had a few warm days but I was helping my daughter in her move to Iowa and didn't get a chance to ride. Today (2/21/09) we have had about 5 inches of SNOW and a strong wind. This long, long winter is really getting to me this year. They say time goes by faster when you are old, but even though I am 65 this winter feels like it is endless. I just bought a new Helmet, gloves and jacket and I can't wait to ride, but I guess I will have to. I don't think the SW does too well in several inches of snow.

Vito,

Where in Illinois are you from? I used to live up in Antioch, Illinois until I was about 11 or so. I know what you mean about the weather but since I've been in Calif I haven't had to worry about weather anymore. Not trying to rub it in but it is nice and even though I would really like to get back to the midwest, the past 13 years out here have been nice in respect to the weather.

I'm getting real tired of walking by my covered Silver Wing in the garage. It's just not right! This is the first time in my life I am fed up with winter. I want it to end now. NOW I SAID!

It is true about the crazy weather this winter, but here in Colorado the craziness is how unseasonably warm it has been. So far in January and February we have had more than a dozen days with day time highs in the 60's. Since January 1, 2009 I have been able to ride to work 21 times. Sometimes the morning ride is a bit chilly with temperatures ranging from the low 20's to the mid to high teens - but it is worth it when I am cruising home in the evening and it is still in the 50's. The only part of me that has been cold is my fingers, so I think I may try to put on a pair of those heated grips before next winter.

I have seen several different types of heated grips available at bike shops and/or online. Does anyone have any recommendations for what type of heated grips to use? Are they all the same or are there some I should avoid?

I had BMW stock heated grips on my recent K1100LT. They were GREAT. But, I'm almost positive that they won't work on a Swing (besides, BMW prices their parts at a very high plateau). Try www.twistedthrottle.com