(Big silly dumb-ass grin) -- it's -2 C and snowing hard (2" so far) and the Dnepr didn't want to start. So I went online and got a clue - chokes on, tickle the carbs, ignition off - kick it over 6 times to prime the motor - ignition on, kick - FRACK! Sputt... silence. Repeat the above 5 times -- motor finally coughs into life. Warm it up while steam rises all about it from various bits getting hot... then I take it around the RV park, waving at girls shoveling snow and trying to impress them by spinning yoowwies and 360's on the slippery roads. Life sure has its fun moments. SQ Vancouver, BC, Canada
With my Dnepr, it was chokes and ticklers, ignition on, started first or second kick - but I also gave it a tiny amount of throttle, slightly more than just taking up slack on the cables, before I kicked it, then whacked the throttle open as it caught. This was pretty reliable for me.
Further to my last A while after that, when the snow was deeper, I took a test drive in a quiet neighborhood with no traffic to try various speeds and maneuvers. Question is, would my Dnepr, or a 2WD Ural, or for that matter any other legal "motorcycle" (which includes trikes) be suitable for Greater Vancouver roads in winter and keep up with the pace of traffic. It would have to perform least as well as a cage (and preferably better); ie. stop, turn, accelerate, climb slippery hills, etc in all conditions. Prelim conclusion: Either the bike or my skill level isn't up to it. Above ~40 kph (24 mph) the bike wouldn't steer in today's conditions (3" of damp, but not slushy snow). * I'd turn the front wheel and the bike would just skid instead of turning. Stopping was also a problem. Sometimes I would have to drift the bike around sideways and skid to a stop. Of course the steering response is asymmetrical -- turning right (towards the sidecar) is easier than turning left. It's easy to spin a 360 turning right; the bike seems to swing itself around the chair as if it was square dancing. I read that the Ural/sidecar combo is popular up north and is used in winter. However, Arctic snow conditions aren't necessarily the same has down here by the 49th and the bike's performance here is what counts (I'm not planning any winter bike tours in the Arctic, not even Edmonton.) Anyway I'm planning more testing. Next step is to invite some of the above mentioned girls to take a ride in the chair (for research purposes, of course). * I don't have 25 different words for types of snow like the Innuit do. SQ
Well, I know a Suzuki Katana 650 doesn't do too well, as I had to take mine down to Vancouver Suzuki one day to have a 2nd-gear problem fixed. "Had to" as in I was flying to Oz later and they were to fix the bike while I was away. But, we had several inches of snow overnight... Somehow I managed to get from West Point Grey down onto W 4th OK, but then I had problems with traffic. The cars wouldn't give me enough space in the slushy snow, and the high compression of the 650 meant that whenever I had to close the throttle the back wheel would skid. I made it, but bathed in perspiration by the time I got there. -- Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration, Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005 WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon) KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".
Thus spake platypus () unto the assembled multitudes: I seem to recall I used the same procedure with my BSA C15, which had an Amal Monobloc carb with a tickler, but no choke. Still worked though, starting on first or second kick, waking up all the neighbours as it did so with its stubby little megaphone! Happy days...
