bs0501-2

Boxer Shorts January, 2005 - 2 of 3

Editor's Pillion

by Victor Cruz

Victor Cruz Oh the shame, the shame. If freezing your butt off on a fast two-wheeled bullet is not your thing, whatcha gonna do over the winter? How to keep sane under the weight of cabin fever, entrapment and detention? As the new incoming Prez Craig Cleasby said in his acceptance speech, let's organize some tours!

The way I see it, winter is good for two things: planning your 2005 riding season, and reading about others who have gone before you. So you will see more book reviews and tour offers in the winter issues of the Shorts.

But first a word on 2004 officers. Let me be the first to extend heart-felt applause to the outgoing officers of the club: Kit Wise, Dave Harmacek and Bruce Ferguson. These guys deserve a mountain of thanks for their generosity. So please, show them your appreciation the next time you see one of these guys, and buy them a new bike, or at least say, "thank you for a job well done."

I'm sure most of you have your bikes under wraps right now. Black ice is the culprit but other hazards loom. Sand can make you slip, and that white residue you see caked on cars is sodium chloride. This ice melter is harmful to vegetation but since it's harmless to concrete and cheap, the highway department snorts the stuff like a nose addict. But here's the sniff. Rock salt will not melt at temps below 20o F. So they have to mix it with calcium chloride to improve low-temperature performance on highways. So maybe a rule of thumb should come out of this; maybe we should just stay off the roads at temps below 20o F. Besides, it's an ugly sight to see white crud on your engine. You must wash that white crud off, since how good could it be leaving it on? But water is cold this time of year and your outside faucets are probably shut off. Washing a bike in the cold is not fun. What if your entire bike were to turn into a popsicle? So we're back to saying, Oh the shame, the shame.

I fully expected not to be riding much once the curtain of cold came tumbling down. Yet I found myself calling Gerbings for a connector cord that would allow me to connect Gerbings' coaxial cable to my standard battery tender ends. I was happy to learn that they make this thing, and what's more, the nice lady at the end of the toll-free number told me it would cost me nothing, so I felt obligated to buy something. So I ended up buying a pair of their heated gauntlets and boy am I sure glad I did. Heated grips won't do the trick. You really need to spring for the $149 gloves as a Christmas gift to yourself. Get the heated jacket too; don't settle for the vest. Now you can ride outside when the weather falls between 20 and 45 o F.

According to my wind chill chart, if you travel at 40 mph when the temp is 45 o F, your body will feel it at 34 o F. If the outside temp is 35 o F, your body will feel it at 20 o F. Crank it up to 60 mph and your body will feel it at 17o F. Oh the shame, the shame.

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