[stevet]

Winter finally arrives in earnest in the next 48 hours. We've been enjoying a wonderful late fall here in Minnesota, but due to a shot of winter early in November some salt was put on the roads so Via and my motorcycles went to bed for the season. Well, with today being the end of autumn weather, I'm pulling out my Yamaha FJR and going for my first-ever motorcycle ride in December. March 10 was my earliest salt-free season start in the Twin Cities, Dec 3 will be my lastest season ending.

Riding in December, this is good, mentally. Now I can fool myself into believing that I just need to get through January, February, and most of March so I can start planning for the ragtop/two-wheel season again. We are less than 3 weeks from longer daylight hours.
Heck, with that mindset winter is almost over, sweet!

Anyway, other than the nine-to-five routine through the week, and clearing snow every few days, I'll be working hard at staying away from the TV set by spending time in my woodshop, playing outside with my camera, and searching out jazz and bluegrass at small local venues.

How about you? How will you be spending your free time and avoiding cabin fever?

Steve.

 

[steve6225]

I don't like the winter at all, and I despise snow. New Hampshire is not a great place for me to live. I don't ski or snowmobile like most people around here because that would mean being outside in the cold. I am a sea kayaker, so if there is a very warm winter day (40's +) with favorable tides, I take the day off and go kayaking. I wear multiple base layers and a dry suit, so I stay nice and warm, even when I go in the water to test the dry suit.

Other than that, I pretty much go to work or hibernate in the house. I try to go to Florida for a week every winter for a break from the cold... But then I hate to come home!

I put my Spider in storage the first weekend of November, where it will remain until at least mid April. I don't have easy access to it because it is in a car bag with desiccant canisters.

I do spend the winter planning my next summer. I lead kayaking trips for a large club, and I plan the tips over the winter. I have some ideas for interior mods for the Spider. I have been putting in quite a bit of time lately researching my options.

I am trying to figure out what to do with the steering wheel, I want the red stripe at 12 o'clock, and I would like to replace the black dimpled leather with red perforated leather. Redline goods added steering wheels to their catalog, but I am not sure what it will look like because they have no photos.

Rev 9 has carbon fiber covers for the chrome plastic bezels on the steering wheel and a matching carbon fiber shift boot trim.

I am also thinking about covering the door panel insert (the panel behind the armrest) with black pleated leather with red stitching - Diamond pattern. I will probably have to cover the armrests with leather too so it looks right. Hopefully I can find a local shop that can do the work. I have the red and black seats.

Everyone seems to think the car costs $100,000... Might as well make it look like it does!

For performance mods, I am trying to decide between EC's V2 or V4. I will also purchase a smaller and lighter AGM battery, exhaust (probably GWR) and an EC tune.

I will buy what can be bought over the winter and pile it up in my basement, ready for installation in the spring. (that way, I can stay under the wife's radar!) I'll take care of the rest in the early spring.

 

[GregtheBike]

Looks like winter fun in the Dolomites

Probably don’t dump the same prodigious amounts of salty there...

Looks like fun

 

[GregtheBike]

Whoops
Wrong link

 

[stevet]

Whoops
Wrong link

https://youtu.be/J11rT_L_Esc

Yeah, but he's got the top up. That car has a great heater, the top should be down, the best way to enjoy that wonderful scenery.

But not my car, not in the winter.

Steve.

 

[JWA]

Two years ago we had a mild December so I was able to ride my motorcycles through til close to Christmas, where in the past I’d usually make it to mid-November and put the bikes and sports cars away. Based on that I decided to make a point to ride a bike at least once per month all through the winter. We usually have one day in each month where the roads are pretty clean, and it’s relatively warm. I kept it up last year too. My Ducati Scrambler has basically become my dedicated winter bike. It really changes the rhythm of the year. Try it - it’s great.

We were fortunate to have a Ray’s MTB indoor mountain bike park in Milwaukee the last few years, but sadly that’s now shut down so I just bought a fat bike to try to get out in the snow a bit.

I also make sure to have a “winter sports car”. That’s the Abarth this year. You have to be able to have some fun or the winter really drags you down.