Start of the season

[Osnabrock]

What's a ball park date for when most of the "roads" in the Black Hills National Forest are passable? 
Does the Forest Service control when travel is permitted?

[The Yeti]

The trails are mostly clear of ice & snow around mid-April.  I'll sometimes go earlier just to check out the conditions, but usually get turned back by large tracts of ice.

The forest service doesn't care when you ride in the forest, as long as you stay on the prescribed trails.

[fringefan]

Took the KLR out when we had those few days when the weather was in the 50's and wow....that will put a smile on ur face.  I think the one morning it was 30 degrees out when I left for a meeting (which might be the coldest weather I have ridden a DS) and it was well worth the effort

Just wanted to share that becuse it reminds me that spring is just around the corner and all my two wheeled friends will get some use.

[Dr Psyko]

It was 5 below this morning...

[plumber mike]

We just got another 4' and some more 5 below.But the southern hills don't have much at all.

I want a snowmobile.

[Osnabrock]

I've been going nuts.  Last weekend the International Motorcycle Show was in MPLS and I went to check it out.  I ran into fellow DDSR member Dr Psycho and his son who were looking at some of the same bikes I was. It was nice to see them.
If I can't ride, I like to wrench on bikes but I didn't get a project bike before the winter came.  I won't make that mistake again next year. 
Instead, I figured I'd put a pumper carb in my DRZ this Spring to spice things up a little bit.  The only problem is that I took it up to ND for the winter and don't have it here in MPLS.  All I can do is look at the bits and sob quietly.
Anyone else making any improvements to their bike/s this winter?

[Hank]

Well my blackbird is undergoing a long and getting longer list of tweaks, but no work on the DRZ this year.

[Lonesome Dave]

Just wanted to point out that I agree with Yeti, however there are a lot of roads closed to motorized traffic even in the middle of the winter.  These roads are usually nearby housing developments or lower elevations.  Although I DON't agree with it, the sign says "Wildlife Wintering Area," "Closed to ALL Motorized Traffic."  Then in very fine print towards the bottom it says "Between Dec 15th and May 15th."  Gee I wonder why that part is in fine print?  If you don't read it carefully, you will miss that part.  Remember, what is the cheapest and easiest way to manage something...............close it.  Just my opinion. 

Hey, its suppose to be pretty nice this weekend, and the wife is going to be out of town, I'm going somewhere on the KLR.  Thought about going to Black Sheep Mountain south of Scenic, in the Badlands or actually anywhere.  Anyone interested let me know.  Dave 381-7155

[Dr Psyko]

Fun to see you too Osnabrook! I found a 2006 KLX 250 on craigslist with 5k for 2600.00. Going to look at it on Sunday. It's been hard to wait this winter, I agree!

[Bogus Jim]

I don't know if the season has started, but it was over 50 today, so I decided to pull the WRR out of the garage. Checked out a few trails... they were all pretty much a skating rink, ice and snow, but that's what I expected. In the end I settled for some twisty pavement and a quick tour of main street Keystone. Coming back to Rapid it was windy enough to blow the stink off a skunk. But overall, I can't complain - it's the 12th of February, hell in North Dakota and Minnesota they don't even have the Interstates plowed open yet. 

Here's a shot of a typical trail today. Seems to be a lot of jeep/vehicle traffic on this trail so it was packed ice/snow, and tricky on 2 wheels.

[fringefan]

Nice. Hard to beat the weather when you wake up and it is 52 degrees at 7:30 in the morning and I did not have to deal with ice last night when I jumped on the mtb heading to my soccer game. Been the worst winter since I have lived here but I love it more every year.

[plumber mike]

I managed to get down my glare ice road today to ride pavement Improvements you say...I've been itching to try out my WP fork conversion on the Xcountry I was about half way to spearfish when I remembered I had installed a throttle lock around Christmas. 60 miles was all it took to get my fix. I can't wait to get out again.

Onsabrock- Did you sell your old XL? That seems like it would be a great winter bike.

[jacin theis]

I took the GS out this moring. went through Custer State Park from the east, up to Hiil City, back into Rapid. Way too windy, and it was cold at elevation. Every thing i tried to get off the highway was ice, but a couple of days like this and it should be good. Maybe next weekend we can get some kind of a group ride together?

[Hank]

You guys are lucky!  East river we have piles of snow.  I suppose a street bike ride might not be out of the question this week though as the roads should be dried out totally in a day or two and the temp is up there, for now..

I did manage a 70 mile snowmobile ride yesterday, so I at least got some offroading in     It was darn fun too, and in typical snowmobiling fashion the ride ended at a tavern, at which point the fun continued.

[Osnabrock]

You are right PlumberMike, the old XL would be a great winter bike.
I did end up selling my old 1983 XL600 but I still have an '85 that I'm making into a real ugly bike.
I have a mix and match red and black engine cobbled together from an '84 and '86 XL in the Honda orange frame of an '85.  I fitted a 5 gallon tank of of an XR650 but now the tank and seat don't meet as they should. 
As you know, the old Honda air cooled engines are just great.  They rattle terribly if the valves aren't adjusted just right and allows a person to buy them real cheap. Once they are adjusted correctly, they purr like a sewing machine. 
I started making up a set of studded tires but they aren't yet on the bike.
I'm not brave enough to take any bike out on the roads of Minneapolis and unfortunately, my trailer is properly snowed in.
Excuses, excuses.  Life is hard.