No ice along my lane but when I turned onto a bigger lane where there was no tree cover I found myself on ice. Although I was on a straight and only going 15 to 20 mph, the scooter went to the left and went to the right. No damage to scooter but a badly sprained ankle and twisted knee.

The same patch of lane and another section further along and a nasty deep dip with bends have ice most mornings. The council don't grit the lane.

So whenever it's below freezing I end up going to work by car.

Its over 2 weeks ago now and the ankle is almost recovered but the knee is badly swollen with a huge water swelling over the knee cap so I can hardly bend the leg  and it hurts like hell. 

I'm posting just to remind people it isn't worth risking 2 wheels when there might be ice.

 

Nothing like an honest to goodness tank slapper to keep it real.

Have you done the bloke thing or did you see the doc.

32 minutes ago, Cynic said:

Nothing like an honest to goodness tank slapper to keep it real.

Have you done the bloke thing or did you see the doc.

Bloke thing. I dislocated my knee and did all the ligaments back in 1974 and have had trouble with it ever since and I've turned ankles so many times fencing and playing squash, so am well versed in treatment. 

Must admit it's affected my confidence. Weird feeling, my conscious brain is saying it's ok there is no ice plenty of grip but my subconscious brain doesn't want to lean. Confidence is coming back but I'm much more wary of leaves or mud on the road and anything which looks like it might be slippy.

I take it no tyre has grip on ice? 

No choice for me, 2 wheels or no wheels. Thankfully the council around my way are pretty good at gritting

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4 hours ago, Trev The Rev said:

Bloke thing. I dislocated my knee and did all the ligaments back in 1974 and have had trouble with it ever since and I've turned ankles so many times fencing and playing squash, so am well versed in treatment. 

Must admit it's affected my confidence. Weird feeling, my conscious brain is saying it's ok there is no ice plenty of grip but my subconscious brain doesn't want to lean. Confidence is coming back but I'm much more wary of leaves or mud on the road and anything which looks like it might be slippy.

I take it no tyre has grip on ice? 

Not unless you want studs?

Its not that bad , just demands respect. I admit to using the car nowadays as I'm no fan of wet and cold and the Mondeo is actually cheaper to use for work. I did 5 years riding full time on a gsx600 and some days the ice fell from my leathers like broken glass.

Be smooth, no jerky steering or brake grabs and most times you wont even realise the ice is there. Crossing slopes is something I always worry about, was one of my first crashes. But again you can see it coming.

Actual tyre wise, any quality tyre will have far more grip even on ice than you might think, there were days I got off of the 600 and slipped on my arse in the car park I had just ridden into.

 

3 hours ago, Cynic said:

Not unless you want studs?

Its not that bad , just demands respect. I admit to using the car nowadays as I'm no fan of wet and cold and the Mondeo is actually cheaper to use for work. I did 5 years riding full time on a gsx600 and some days the ice fell from my leathers like broken glass.

Be smooth, no jerky steering or brake grabs and most times you wont even realise the ice is there. Crossing slopes is something I always worry about, was one of my first crashes. But again you can see it coming.

Actual tyre wise, any quality tyre will have far more grip even on ice than you might think, there were days I got off of the 600 and slipped on my arse in the car park I had just ridden into.

 

Totally concur Cynic, also from experience I've learnt  not to use the front brake at all. Just take your time and cruise slowly up to roundabouts/lights/junctions etc.

let the engine brake and a bit of back brake just to test the traction now and then

6 hours ago, Cynic said:

Not unless you want studs?

Its not that bad , just demands respect. I admit to using the car nowadays as I'm no fan of wet and cold and the Mondeo is actually cheaper to use for work. I did 5 years riding full time on a gsx600 and some days the ice fell from my leathers like broken glass.

Be smooth, no jerky steering or brake grabs and most times you wont even realise the ice is there. Crossing slopes is something I always worry about, was one of my first crashes. But again you can see it coming.

Actual tyre wise, any quality tyre will have far more grip even on ice than you might think, there were days I got off of the 600 and slipped on my arse in the car park I had just ridden into.

 

I didn't brake or accelerate or deviate direction, there was a slight camber to the road. I've ridden on snow but this was ice. No grip whatever. 

 

My bike is my only transport so I've never had an option when it comes to riding on snow and ice, and in my village snow can easily end up 2-4ft deep, go slowly, be cautious and you'll usually be fine, or that's that I've found

Would these be better?

http://www.continental-tires.com/motorcycle/tires/motorcycle-tires/off-road-enduro/tkc-80

On ‎15‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 9:00 PM, Trev The Rev said:

I didn't brake or accelerate or deviate direction, there was a slight camber to the road. I've ridden on snow but this was ice. No grip whatever. 

 

You will have, it was just on a subtle level. If you were adding zero load to the tyre it would not have slipped. Even tensing up you grip on the bars will have an affect on the bike.

Also those piddly scoot wheels have nowhere near the gyroscopic mass of a bike wheel. That makes direction changes far easier, makes them less stable.

Your confidence will come back bud.

Back in Y2K I bought a brand new Hinckley Triumph and used  it as my sole form of transport for 3 yrs with a 53mile each way trip to work. This trip covered some town miles, some motorway and the last 15 - 20 through Glen Fruin pass (A817 Look that up on google maps....great bike rd in good weather) and then through a smallish 'A' rd through the Argyll hills. One morning (0630 start) I was on the last stretch of road, a 6 mile MOD rd so council gritters didn't, and the MOD gritters only occasionally did,  and I noticed the road was white. I thought it was salt so rode these last miles totally relaxed and with only gentle movements. The last half mile was a downhill stretch and I noticed a car in a ditch facing the wrong way. The driver and passengers were out waving their arms frantically at me. Only then did I put my feet down and the white 'salt' was actually a thin coating of ice. Now I was not relaxed and had tensed up with jerky movements and nearly off'd a few times

I had a few incredulous looks when I pulled up in the car park, iced up from head to toe and took me about 3hrs to thaw out.

My moral being whilst I was relaxed there were no issues on the, now known to be, slippy surface, but as soon as I tensed this was passed through the bars and pegs and movements became jerky almost causing me to fall off