What's new
Honda Trail 125 Forum

Welcome to the Honda Trail 125 Forum! We are an enthusiast forum for the Trail 125, Hunter Cub, CT125 or whatever it's called in your country. Feel free to join up and help us build an information resources for this motorcycle. Register a free account today to become a member. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

First snow

Tchap

Active member
Joined
Nov 20, 2022
Messages
83
The donkey carried me home from work this evening, 3-4” of fresh snow and still some flakes in the air. Small town Vermont. Sunday night, 10:15-10:45pm. Three miles asphalt, lightly plowed no sand. I didn’t see much pavement. Following that stretch was 2 miles on unplowed dirt roads. Second gear the entire way, modal speed about 16mph. This was my very first run in these conditions. I was…tense. Things went quite smooth except uphill runs on the unplowed parts. The tail of the donk wanted to wash out left and right. Feet down several times, but never dropped her. Adventure!
 

Attachments

  • B9398174-08C6-4B44-9B8C-9BBD0F1CF6E5.jpeg
    B9398174-08C6-4B44-9B8C-9BBD0F1CF6E5.jpeg
    47.8 KB · Views: 18

Tchap

Active member
Joined
Nov 20, 2022
Messages
83
Yes! That was an adventure I’m sure. Glad all went well.
Thanks much, friend. Slow and steady seems to be the ticket. Hitting a brick wall at 16mph is about the same as falling from a height of 8.5 feet. Serious, but manageable. More likely for me in these circumstances would probably be a low side horizontal slide, and I think that a collarbone or shoulder injury might be the most likely. I hope that I can have the discipline to keep it slow, and to keep my hands on the grips if I do go down. I think it’s hard to overcome the instinct to try to break the fall with my hand. How do you develop muscle memory for that? I’ll try visualization rather than direct experience. 😀
 

Tchap

Active member
Joined
Nov 20, 2022
Messages
83
I would try a ride in the snow, but never on a road with other veh. Way too dangerous for me.
Yeah, that’s a good point. Other drivers are a factor beyond our control. My commute later at night is pretty desolate. I didn’t see another vehicle during my ride. The issue cuts both ways, though. At night, in the cold, I may need to rely on myself if I get jammed up. I think of it as a way to introduce true adventure into my life on a daily basis. I try to adopt a conservative approach that’s heavy on risk-mitigation so that I don’t feel irresponsible or reckless.
 

Mick In VT

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2021
Messages
47
Hey Tchap, you’re a braver man than me. I’m also in Vermont, and have put my CT away for the winter. While we here in VT have a long stretch of cold and inclement weather, when it is nice out we have so many miles of scenic, quiet, perfect roads for this motorcycle.
 

Tchap

Active member
Joined
Nov 20, 2022
Messages
83
Hey Tchap, you’re a braver man than me. I’m also in Vermont, and have put my CT away for the winter. While we here in VT have a long stretch of cold and inclement weather, when it is nice out we have so many miles of scenic, quiet, perfect roads for this motorcycle.
Hi Mick, it’s nice to meet you! You’re right about these beautiful Vermont roads, and you probably have the more prudent approach. Me brave? Probably not as much as I’d like to be, but I think that I have just enough courage to pull it off.😀
 

eastema

Active member
Joined
May 17, 2022
Messages
138
Location
Southern NH
I get it, I love adventure, I have ridden all winter a couple of times. In 83 on a 74 cb450, crashed once, just a long slide on ice. And several years ago rode every dry day through winter on a 84 flhtc. No crashes, did stuff it into a snowbank at bottom of my driveway on way to work bc I couldn't stop on my snow covered drive way. It stuck so good, I just got off, and it stayed standing until I got home and dug it out.
 

SneakyDingo

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 6, 2021
Messages
1,560
We've had a bit of snow in Seattle, and while that did stop me for a bit pretty much as soon as I could get to clear roadway I was out riding. Of course, I did fall once, but not how I was expecting it: rode through slush and mud to get to the roadway. Rode to the store and back. Rode up some stairs to park the bike next to the siding of the house. Up on the center stand it goes, turn, take one step, and fall flat on my arse because there was a bunch of ice there and I couldn't see it in the dark. Wrist is still messed up.

It's a great bike. Even when it slipped and slid in the slush it was easy to keep it upright. But boy do those stock tires suck for grip in mud/snow.
 

Tchap

Active member
Joined
Nov 20, 2022
Messages
83
We've had a bit of snow in Seattle, and while that did stop me for a bit pretty much as soon as I could get to clear roadway I was out riding. Of course, I did fall once, but not how I was expecting it: rode through slush and mud to get to the roadway. Rode to the store and back. Rode up some stairs to park the bike next to the siding of the house. Up on the center stand it goes, turn, take one step, and fall flat on my arse because there was a bunch of ice there and I couldn't see it in the dark. Wrist is still messed up.

It's a great bike. Even when it slipped and slid in the slush it was easy to keep it upright. But boy do those stock tires suck for grip in mud/snow.
Sorry to hear about your wrist, Dingo. I guess sometimes it does hit when you least expect it.
 
Top