Before kids I used to ride all year round. Never on any of my Ducati's but a mixture of Honda and Suzuki winter hacks, Bandit 600 and a CBF1000 which was a surprisingly competent and resilient bike.
I used to back in the day. I never rode my summer bikes, always had a winter hack (usually 250 four strokes from japan). I didn't have a car license until I were 29. Bikes came at 17, but 12 full winters were enough. But, for many years now, I don't ride at winter. Cold or wet is no fun for me.
Commuted for 15 years in every condition imaginable, while doing it with all the proper gear you don’t think much of it, occasional journey where you question your sanity(-11) I changed every nut/bolt and washer to titanium on the blade I used as no matter how much protection you think you have, everything will rust at some point. brake and fuel lines I had made to quick release for ease of cleaning as you’ll be doing it most nights. Definitely a winter hack is best and the most sensible option
I used to back in the day when I was 16 / 17 years old but that was many many years ago. I would not use the Duc in winter.... just fair weather rider. Although a winter hack sounds kinda interesting..
Ducati Diavel Carbon 2016 gen 2. Ride all year but pick my winter days, if there is a clear dry spell say in January I'll ride. Only thing that stops me is the dreaded road salt on my baby, so any moisture on the roads and I don't bother. I do spray the underside with that anti salt spray ( can't think what it's called right now) but take no chances.
Same as others ,used to ride all year round for about six years ,got fed up freezing my blocks off ,so bought a Reliant Robin ,stuck a set of mini wheels on it and it was great Now i ride as long into the autumn as the weather allows ,and then put the bikes away until late Feb or so .
I used to ride all year and used ACF50 and Scotoil FS365 to keep my Multistrada in good condition over the salty months. But now I’m retired that’s not something I plan on doing any more.
I rode my 748 back in the day through every weather imaginable, at one point having to ditch it in a snow storm on the commute back from work! These days, if it's below 10C I'll simply skip riding.
ACF 50 is indeed the trick, I've been using it for years now, only ever applying via a paint gun to properly atomise the solution as instructed. The hand bottles with a pump spray will never transform the solution into a fine enough mist to provide anything other than patchy protection. I cannot recommend a proper ACF 50 application enough, it will save your bike from a lot of rust if done correctly.
Ride all year round on the zed which is winterized...as much stuff as possible is cerakoted or powder coated....as many fixings as possible are either stainless or Ti. I tend to clean it once every two weeks sometimes every week (exhaust. calipers mudguards, some panelling) thats kept it looking as good as new...
Yep, all year round here, its what the Hyperstrada is for, decent kit inc heated gloves and job jobbed
I quit when the gritting lorries come out. Up here it's usually in October. There levels of salt are horrendous, sometimes gritting the same roads two or three times a day. You can hear it crunching under your tyres. Just not worth riding in that. I've followed bikes over the fells on dry sunny winter days when the roads look clean but you can see clouds of white salt dust kicked up. Not for me.
