[Shiver]

After ABS and fuel injection, one of my main reasons to upgrade to a Wing was for the reverse.

I have a North facing garage with a cement driveway. It is always icy in the winter to some degree, especially when the melting snow starts dripping off the roof right in front of the garage door. With the freezing rain we had a couple of weeks ago, the driveway is downright treacherous by the door.

When I got home from work on Thursday, I actually got stuck trying to get the bike turned around. The back tire was on ice and I had to take about 10 runs at it to get over a 1" deep section of snow where the kid's car had been parked. Once the bike was straight, I hit reverse and it walked the bike right into the garage.

I normally have a really hard time pushing the bike backwards because I can't get any footing on the ice. The reverse on the Wing performed way better than I was anticipating. So, at least 5 thumbs up :yes1::yes1::yes1::yes1::yes1: for such a handy feature.

 

[BACKDRAFT]

You need to mount an LPG cylinder on a stick and melt that snow before backing into the garage. LOL

 

[Keghead]

Normally I would make some smart @$$ comment about you being nuts driving a two wheeled vehicle in such conditions as indicated by the picture in your post. But then I thought I would reconsider and say something a little less confrontational... so here it goes...

Shiver, with all due respect, are you nuts????

 

[cycledude]

how good did reverse work Saturday and Sunday ?

 

[bluestreek-02]

Normally I would make some smart @$$ comment about you being nuts driving a two wheeled vehicle in such conditions as indicated by the picture in your post. But then I thought I would reconsider and say something a little less confrontational... so here it goes...

Shiver, with all due respect, are you nuts????

+1 4:4:

 

[doszer]

:bow::superman1:

 

[Daycruiser]

Studded Motorcycle Tires ? :shrug:

 

[3turtles]

ya ok

NUTS I say!

May god have mercy on your soul! :bow:

 

[7scole7]

Mike,
Nobody can accuse you of being a fair weather rider.:bow:

 

[jbales]

He's trying to back it back in the garage! LOL

 

[murf]

how good did reverse work Saturday and Sunday ?

Well, if Shiver was out Sat morning riding the wing, it was only a mere -21 with nearly -35 below windchills. That was in the St Cloud area and he is 40 miles to the SE were it was "somewhat" warmer.

Wasn't exactly warm this Sunday morn either, -12 with -25 below windchills. Wonder how he handles the black ice on the roads on two wheels?

 

[EAGLEFAN67]

My bike doesn't even know what a snow flake is ....:shock:

 

[Shiver]

Well, if Shiver was out Sat morning riding the wing, it was only a mere -21 with nearly -35 below windchills. That was in the St Cloud area and he is 40 miles to the SE were it was "somewhat" warmer.

Wasn't exactly warm this Sunday morn either, -12 with -25 below windchills. Wonder how he handles the black ice on the roads on two wheels?

No rides this weekend. I just got back from butchering 1/2 a beef up north of St. Cloud and it doesn't feel like it's warmed up much.

Tomorrow should be a fun ride to work. Supposed to be around -10. No ice on the main roads, but the roads near work were still icy last week. Hope they cleared up some over the weekend......

 

[pshivers]

Shiver,

You will be glad to know that the 1800's reverse works equally well for getting out of belly pan deep gravel!

My cousin up in Susanville forgot to tell me to come up the left driveway to her cabin and not the right one as she had just poured a new 8" layer of gravel on the right side.

Needless to say by the time I realized the problem the Wing was buried to the frame in gravel unable to move forward, the rear wheel would just spin. I was able to step off the bike and survey the problem. The bike stayed up perfectly straight with the gravel supporting it!

Put the bike in reverse and was able back out of my predicament following the track I had created coming in.... Yep, that reverse is a real handy thing!!

 

[redwing57]

Shiver,

You will be glad to know that the 1800's reverse works equally well for getting out of belly pan deep gravel!

My cousin up in Susanville forgot to tell me to come up the left driveway to her cabin and not the right one as she had just poured a new 8" layer of gravel on the right side.

Needless to say by the time I realized the problem the Wing was buried to the frame in gravel unable to move forward, the rear wheel would just spin. I was able to step off the bike and survey the problem. The bike stayed up perfectly straight with the gravel supporting it!

Put the bike in reverse and was able back out of my predicament following the track I had created coming in.... Yep, that reverse is a real handy thing!!

(I posted the following once before; fwiw I'll confirm too that the reverse works well. You may risk frying the thing though. That's a whole lot of heavy load on the little electric motor. Probably need to run it for a few seconds and then let it rest a while to cool down. Electric motors don't like to be bogged down.)

Wing not happy in soft gravel....

I got my Wing stuck up to its belly in wet sandy gravel (thanks to unwisely following my Zumo 550's directions - it routed us onto a *seasonal* gravel road!). Getting her unstuck was a big job, involving digging gravel away from the tires, putting down some sticks for traction, backing it up, etc. and so on. Yuck...

Actually, had I been alone I would not have gotten it freed up. It fell over when I finally got it moving the first time in reverse (treacherous footing and slow speed are a bad combo). My co-rider and I both then had to push it back up, since the gravel was so soft my feet kept sinking into it as I tried to "walk" the bike up using the usual technique. Without her added push I couldn't have done it. This was a seriously unpleasant time, as we were alone on a pretty remote road on Michigan's west side.

My procedure now when encountering an unfamiliar gravel road is to immediately practice my u-turn skills and go another way!

 

[motorcyclemom40]

:bow:And I thought I was nuts:bow:

 

[Dream Catcher]

:bow:And I thought I was nuts:bow:

Of course you are! :joke:

Don't start doubting yourself now.:lol:

Now.... back to our main feature.....

Confessions of the Surface impaired....

Or...

How I persevered with a ........ "roll Reversal"....:wrong:

 

[eharshaw]

Real riders will ride in just about any condition!:bow:

 

[FrontrunnerButch]

Well I hope you never need it but if I were you I would make sure I kept my insurance paid up!

 

[tourman]

I don't live to far from you, I can't believe you ride this time of year!

Ice, Snow, Road Salt, The cold! Wow