Winterizing and best tires suited for pavement

[Soggy Biscuit]

I'm looking at options for winterizing my bike when the time comes. I don't plan on storing for the winter. Which tires would y'all recommend for pavement riding during the winter and year-round? They will need to be good for riding in wet conditions as well. My current tires aren't any good for wet pavement.

For winterizing, I prefer synthetic oil. Which W-xx would you guys and gals recommend? As for the other liquids, will I need to use brake fluid that can withstand single digit temperatures? How about coolant?

 

[Shinyribs]

Oil viscosity required should be in your owners manual. Thats not a cop out answer, but the oil system of your particular bike will determine what it needs at what temperature.

Use the brake fluid type listed on the cap. It don't care about cold. Main thing is just don't mix types and keep it fresh. Brake fluid loves to absorb water from the air which makes the fluid start corroding things and prone to overheating. Fresh, fresh, fresh. If it looks brown rather than a yellow tinger, get it out of there.

Get one of these to test your coolant. They're small (about the size of a Sharpie), about $10 and will tell you what temp your coolant is good for and if you need more anti freeze in the mix or not. Again, just match what's already in the bike. They're all about the same, but mixing incompatible fluids can make a real mess.

As far as tires and type of oil, I've got a ten foot pole but I'm not going to go get it. I found synthetic oil to generally ( generally!) to be a scam and tire selection is so personal that recommendations are generally useless. I've found any tire is ok in the wet at long as it's not worn down so far that the tread can't evacuate water, and dual compound tires give you a nice, sticky cornering edge that doesn't rely really as much on being warmed up.

 

[Danno]

Hey...I lived up in that frozen land. 50/50 tires are the great. Or at least run something similar to shinko 705. The fall is damp with lots of leaves. And the road can be frosted. Street tires are for perfect conditions which dont exist anymore.

I like some twc3 in the gas for all my bikes. Winter sucks and a full operating temp cycle is the issue. Fuel with ethanol will etch things or your oil will contaminate from cold tripping. So basically one good heat cycle per storage time. 20 mins at full operating temp then store. Water droplets etch or freeze and block oil passages. So no 30 second run time in the middle of winter.

 

[Soggy Biscuit]

Hey...I lived up in that frozen land. 50/50 tires are the great. Or at least run something similar to shinko 705. The fall is damp with lots of leaves. And the road can be frosted. Street tires are for perfect conditions which dont exist anymore.

I like some twc3 in the gas for all my bikes. Winter sucks and a full operating temp cycle is the issue. Fuel with ethanol will etch things or your oil will contaminate from cold tripping. So basically one good heat cycle per storage time. 20 mins at full operating temp then store. Water droplets etch or freeze and block oil passages. So no 30 second run time in the middle of winter.

I plan on commuting since it's cheaper than running my car. I already have arctic rated gear so that won't be an issue. I'll only use my car when the frozen crap is present or has a chance to accumulate. Commute to work is about 10 minutes. The commute to my other job is almost half an hour in the morning. It's about 45mins in the evening. Shinko 705 is what mine is currently equipped with. IMO, they don't fare too well on the wet roads with leaves and wet pollen on the pavement. It feels as if I'm driving on either ice or over algae.

The bike came equipped with a trickle charger. I can do that during my regular work shifts.