one tone ride at 7 (Fahrenheit)

Hi,

so today I visited my mother which means 33 miles mostly on highways to her. Going up to 100 mph it was my fastest ride on 2-wheelers ever sub 10 (fahrenheit). It was sunny and the air was crispy- road condition dry-wettish and snowy (mostly minor stripes) mostly only on the city streets. Decided to buy new scooter-boots (my feet in motorbike boots went cold).
And yes we have unlimited highways in Germany and yes a wide part of the trip was done at 80mph on limited two/three lane country roads.

Used gear:
demi jet helmet with visor(my allday helmet through out the year)
some DIY mask and one medium thick balaclava
fury gloves
a fury hoody
one hd kidney belt
textile touring jacket
knee warmers (non heated)
fury motorbike boots (leather - too cold on the scooter)

on the scooter large windshield and, i have to admit, heated grips


Yes and I am beside the SW used to ride dirt bikes and scrambler for daily commuting.
But commuting in winter on snowy conditions it is very helpful if you are able to keep both feet on the road and brake by hand the rear wheel.

I've ridden in 35 degree weather, but no colder. You're a better man than I riding in temperatures below 10 degrees...or REALLY felt guilty about not seeing your mom for a while!

You cannot brake rear wheel alone on SilverWing...linked brakes.

I motorcycle/scooter commuted year around in Germany for over 20 years----Vespa 150, fine, MZ ETZ ok, best and safest in the 50's, BMW R51/3-Steib S350--Heinrich fairing and legshields good weather protection----Thermo Boy completely warm suit----US Rubber overshoes, very warm on feet---In the 80's I tried Moon Boots, your feet got wet after a few hours.

Messerschmitts (had 2, 200cc) had heater and were big improvement over bike and really fun in snow.

@John

No - you can- I have tried it already as this was an important point for me- despite linked brakes- Honda made this really clever:

If you take the left brake on slippery ground the rear wheel will the first wheel that will block.
If you take the right brake the front wheel will be the first.

I dont know if this was really the intention of Honda but at least on my SW the brakes function like this.

But I think this is on all SW without ABS- at least in 2 reviews about the SW the result was that the SW stops earlier if you use both brakes.
This would support my opinion as the left one has more power ( two caliper pistons front) but more ( or at least earlier) force on the rear and the left one is weaker (only one caliper piston front) but has more force on the front.




@Kenjj
aaah- better man? I would not dare to say so.
But on my daily commuting traffic with cages is terrible-
I need up to 1,5 hours for 16kms- and on a bike I takes normally less than 20-25 mins and in summer I already managed it in 15mins. So the last two winters I rode a KLE 500. Have only to rest for a week as my right hand got almost frostbite.

Despite this I thought the SW would have a better milage than the Peugeot (206 CC) from my wife- but it is almost the same. With both in winter I got ~40mpg- so next time I will probably take nthe Peugeot. (as we had a bank holiday) But after getting a new hip last october I was eager to make a longer ride und it was sunny  

... and no - I visited my mom already last weekend  

Yes rear brake comes on, followed by front however not easyest, safest control when really slippery....if front come on=down you go. SilverWing, I have over 80,000 miles with Honda linked brakes and then another 22,000 with Reflex, ridden in slippery conditions.=not the best system for people who really know how to ride


My experience, I love rear brake control as balancing aide.....but not on SilverWing/Reflex-----rode Helix down Baja Mexico, foot pedal control control of rear alone worked well in deep sand, Japan dry pavement, heavy traffic great help in keeping bike upright and fitting thru small spaces.

I agree to this concerning slippery conditions. But on 15cm new, wet snow I keep my feet sliding on the ground and so very soft braking with mor force on the rear will be sufficient.

Got caught by such a snowfall more than 10 years ago on my way back home. Riding a 180 hexagon with winter tyres but it was almost impossible to get forward with the tiny whels of the hexagon. The hexagon had a bit to less weight- switching between riding on the snow and sinking to the ground.

I used the brakes as though they weren't linked. Both my several Goldwings and the Silverwing had linked brakes. However they are biased to put much less pressure on the front than the rear unless you really reef down on the lever. I use the method of slow riding as described in the 'Ride like a Pro' video series and really never noticed much difference if any in riding either the GL or SW with linked brakes or my BMW K1100LT without linked brakes.