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Somewhat to my surprise, after several years of warm winters, Kent has actually been struck by a week of icy roads. This generated quite a lot of traffic on Visordown (www.visordown.com) with riders
slip sliding around. So this is a distilled version of what I posted there, plus useful tips from other contributors to the relevant thread. Thanks guys!
The best solution to dealing with ice is to try to avoid it in the first place!! First start is the weather forecast. Then check the car windscreens and the lawn. Then if you can, take the car or the bus.
Yes, I was a "real biker" for many years and learned the hard way. Bikes and ice don't mix. Sportsbikes in particular are very difficult to ride on slippery surfaces because so much weight gets
thrown onto the front wheel because of the handlebars - motocrossers, designed for slippery conditions, do not have upright bars by accident.
Sometimes we have no choice. Out on the road, if you know its icy, try to anticipate where you might find it. Just because the sun is out and the roads have thawed, it don't mean that there is no ice
about. Back lanes are often going to be much more likely to be icy than main roads, residential roads more than motorways, out of town rather than in town which is generally a degree or two warmer.
Anywhere in the shade will be icy longer, so behind buildings, high sided vehicles, under trees. Look for ice anywhere water pools, so on the slopes and bottoms of hills, where springs run off the
fields, near car washes in towns. Monday morning can be bad in residential streets because all the car drivers decide to wash the car on Sunday. Burst water mains nearly always accompany really cold
weather, but you can normally spot the problem during the day - but if you see water splashing expect ice. Watch out for all those slippery, when wet bits too, like manhole covers - metal cools faster
than tarmac and will freeze sooner! Expect ice early in the morning, late at night.
On the road surface itself, the bit of the road that usually clears first is where the car tyres run (tyre friction warms the surface). On the other hand, if all the surface is icy, the roughest and hence
grippiest bit of the road is generally in the middle of the lane.
A good indicator of a slippery bit of road is if it is "shiny". Stick to the bits that are not reflecting light and you should be OK. Black ice is usually looks like a wet road - about the only
thing that gives it away is that it looks wetter, if that makes sense. It usually occurs when there has been a late evening shower followed by clearing skies and a frost - it's tough to spot and VERY,
VERY slippery. Even if the road appears generally clear, there may be colder frost hollows or exposed areas where it isn't - bridges are often frosty when the rest of the road is clear because they have
two surfaces to cool!
The other main problem to worry about are car drivers who haven't tried clearing the screen and therefore can't see you even if they're looking, and car drivers who have no idea of your problems on
slippery surfaces. I fell foul of the latter years ago when a car driver looked at me for about 5 minutes as I rode cautiously towards him, waited till I was about 10 yards from him, and then pulled out!
The road was so slick the only way I and the helpful lorry driver could pick the bike up was to slide the wheels up to the kerb.
If you do think you are about to hit ice try to stay loose on the bike - sit forward on the seat, grip the tank with your knees, brace your back and keep your elbows loose to keep your weight off the
bars... if the bike does twitch (and quite likely it will) let it get on with it - normally it will sort itself out, trying to fight the wobble will normally make things worse. It's difficult to do, but
it improves your chances of riding it out massively.
Most important thing to do on ice is not to touch the brakes... it's a very strong instinct to overcome, but hit the front and you are likely to end up in a big heap before you even know what's happened.
Even the rear will probably lock and slide but at least you can possibly save it.
Next rule is to keep any steering or acceleration slow and smooth if you think you might be on ice. Shutting the throttle suddenly is almost as bad as braking. If you think you see ice ahead get the
braking, gear changing and steering done as early as possible.
Use a gear or two higher than normal, but don't go to extremes. I remember reading that advice to lug a high gear. Unfortunately like a lot of "knowledge", it applied to 60's Bonnies and BMW
flat twins, but you have to be careful applying it today because it doesn't really go hand in hand with peaky sports bikes...
I had this brought home to me last autumn on a nice warm evening... I was toddling round a corner on the Gixxer which has a nice flat spot at around 2500rpm in a higher gear than usual (combination of
laziness and bad planning) and compensating for the flatspot by giving it a bit of a handful... halfway round the corner (and out of sight from the main road) was a large sheet of metal across a trench
in the road, wet from the brief shower 2 mins earlier that hadn't dampened the road.
As I ran onto it, the rear tyre spun, so the revs lifted out of the flat spot. The handful of throttle then caused the engine to rev up harder still, which spun the rear tyre which stepped out sideways
and as I shut the throttle to stop myself low-siding I damn nearly high-sided instead... at about 10mph!!
So the answer seems to be find a compromise, maybe a gear higher than normal, but any gear that forces you to use a lot more throttle than your normal gear should be avoided.
The experts says steer into a slide, but on the couple of times I've hit ice and crashed, I've been on my ear so quickly I've had no time even to think about it. Dealing with snow is different as you do
get a degree of grip, so you can steer a little but braking is still next to impossible!
Take it easy out there, and stay shiny side up!
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