Winter is here, but that doesn’t mean you need to stow away your beautiful motorcycle or motorcycles in a dark garage until Spring riding season. However, you definitely have to put your mayhem-driven brain aside before rolling out into the great white winter wonderland. Below are 5 key tips that we feel are essential to staying warm and safe on your winter motorcycle rides.

1. Be Sure To Check Your Tires For Quality

Just as there’s no better feeling than a fresh set of tires on new asphalt, there’s no worse feeling than bald tires on icy asphalt. Simply put, tires are always your best friend in any condition. Since they’re the first point of contact on the road surface, they will always take the most abuse. There are some steps to take such as checking the birthday of your tires.

Find the 4-digit number usually next to the DOT markings. The first two digits signify the week they were manufactured and the second two digits indicate the year. A good rule of thumb is that anything older than 5-6 years won’t be great for winter riding.

2. Tire Pressure Is Key

The cold always causes air pressure levels to drop in a motorcycle tire. Be sure to check your bike's tires before every ride. A decent conversion to go by is that there is 1-2 lbs of air pressure drop for every 10 degrees Farenheit. There are a lot of tire pressure gauges/pumps out there like the Antigravity Batteries Portable Mini Tire Inflator which can be powered, even in low temps, by their line of Mini Jump Starters. 

3) Tire Temperature Is Also Key

Motorcycle tires take quite a while to heat up in the cold unless you’re tearing it up around corners from the start. Generally speaking, tire and asphalt do not get along until the tire reaches 135 degrees F. So make sure to mind your RPMs if you’re out for a short ride. If out for a long rider or trip, don’t get squirrel-y until you’ve given the tires some miles of stop-and-go to get them up to the proper temperature.

4) Always Wear Your Gear

Yes, we know, you’re ALWAYS supposed to wear your gear. This becomes even more important when the temperatures drop. 45 degrees can quickly turn into below freezing wind chills when you’re cruising along the highway. While you don’t necessarily need to go full Trans-Arctic Journey style with heated pants or gear, a good insulation “system” should always be applied. If you go out without gloves on then, well, you're kind of a psychopath. For those of you who do like to wear gloves in the cold we have some great options here from Biltwell, Inc.

5) Be Alert and Prepared For Road Conditions

If you live in an area with harsh winters like we do, you know that the roads take a beating. The constant freezing, thawing, and plowing creates countless potholes akin to the streets of Aleppo. If you can avoid riding your motorcycle after a snowstorm it is heavily advised. If not, take it slow and always scan ahead!