Do you remember the first time that you drove in snow?

[newbury]

Nope, but I remember one of my extreme but good "driving on icey road" experiences.
About 1967 or 68, Northern Vermont, lived a mile back on a poorly maintained county one lane dirt road. Had a Toyota HiLux, truck sat very high in the rear and skittish as all-get out.
I worked at a small pet store, which mainly sold tropical fish and supplies. Colored gravel for fish tanks was a big seller. We had it in most of our tanks, red, green, yellow etc. If the fish in the tank got diseased we would normally toss the gravel.
We had LOTS of gravel. I carried about 200 lbs in the back of the truck. One very ICY morning I HAD to go to town despite the ice. I virtually crept along the road but kept sliding off into the snow banks. I'd get out and throw some gravel under the tires and creep out. I must have slipped off a t least 7 times in that one mile.
I left multicolored patches that existed throughout the spring, but I got to town.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I think everyone needs to learn how to drive in snow before driving in snow. Like a large parking lot. Took my stepdaughter to learn how to drive, stop, control in snow icing conditions. I remember telling her to jam the brakes so she could learn to steer while braking. She thought she was "drifting".
I learned on my own by pushing the limits, even loosing control. To this day, I still learn the limitations of any new vehicle. Just not with my wife in car...

 

[Jstpssng]

I think everyone needs to learn how to drive in snow before driving in snow. Like a large parking lot. Took my stepdaughter to learn how to drive, stop, control in snow icing conditions. I remember telling her to jam the brakes so she could learn to steer while braking. She thought she was "drifting".
I learned on my own by pushing the limits, even loosing control. To this day, I still learn the limitations of any new vehicle. Just not with my wife in car...

I agree. There used to be ice races on the lake north of here every winter. Minimum age was 13, there's no better way to learn.
I always wanted to go watch but never did.

Last week I was riding down a woods road with my boss. We started sliding on a patch of ice and without thinking put my hand up and countersteered, even though I didn't have a steering wheel to hold on to. A few days ago I just had to test out the posi in my pickup... shut the traction control off and left dual rainbows in the snow while leaving my driveway. I guess that some kids never grow up.

 

[deserteagle71]

^^^^^
That Honda 350 was one of the best engines made back then. If you don't still have the bike I bet that you wish you did.

You got that right! Super wide power band...up to about 7500 rpm it was just a good Honda engine. But between 7500 and 11,500 rpm (if I remember correctly that was redline) the power came on hard and you'd better be holding on tight!

My two favorite munchkins waiting for a ride....

 

[CobyRupert]

Not 1st time specifically, but it would of been with a rear wheel drive, maybe it had a tractor suitcase weight or two in the trunk.

With those rear wheel drives, you’d learn how to steer with the rear wheels and gas pedal.
Also had to sometimes remember to throw the automatics in neutral so the rear wheels don’t just keep pushing the locked up front wheels when trying to stop on ice.

 

[RickB]

I agree. There used to be ice races on the lake north of here every winter. Minimum age was 13, there's no better way to learn.
I always wanted to go watch but never did.

Last week I was riding down a woods road with my boss. We started sliding on a patch of ice and without thinking put my hand up and countersteered, even though I didn't have a steering wheel to hold on to. A few days ago I just had to test out the posi in my pickup... shut the traction control off and left dual rainbows in the snow while leaving my driveway. I guess that some kids never grow up.

They still have ice racing on the West Cove of Moosehead Lake at Greenville Junction.

 

[Jstpssng]

They still have ice racing on the West Cove of Moosehead Lake at Greenville Junction.

I didn't realize that. I thought they'd done away with it when they got rid of their dirt track.
I'll have to take a ride up this winter.

 

[Oaktree]

We had a 1977 Ford Granada, what a piece of crap. My dad put about 200 pounds of salt pellets in the trunk for weight. It helped but it rode low in the back so people were flashing their brights at him all the time.

Well, to be fair most mid-late 70s cars were crap. Can't offhand think of even one I'd want today.

As far as trunk ballast goes, friend of mine thought he'd be clever and put a big bag of sand in the trunk. Took a trash bag, filled it with sand. Worked great...but...he never gave any thought how he'd get it out in the spring. He was scraping/shoveling/vacuuming sand out of his trunk for a week!

^^^^^
That Honda 350 was one of the best engines made back then. If you don't still have the bike I bet that you wish you did.

I had a CB-360 back in the mid 70s, and it was nothing to write home about. Had a high frequency vibration at cruising speeds...not gut-shaking like a Harley, but still very fatiguing. Combined with a somewhat cramped riding position and a seat you'd swear was made out of cement it was not a fun ride for a trip any longer than an hour or so.
Traded it in on a Yamaha a few years later. Much better bike in all ways.

 

[ponytug]

Oh, you mean my driving test? A couple of feet of snow two days earlier, with 2-3" of packed snow/ice instead of pavement. The examiner dinged me for driving on the dry part of the pavement where other cars had worn off the ice rather than one the ice in the "proper" lane position.

The first time I was in a skid, I had reflexively flipped the steering around and was out of the skid before anyone, including me, knew what had happened.

My wife's dad taught her to drift the car around sharp hairpins with the hand brake. (He used to race cars.) She is a much more talented driver. I stick to the slow and steady stuff, like trailering the animals.

All the best,

Peter

 

[RickB]

I didn't realize that. I thought they'd done away with it when they got rid of their dirt track.
I'll have to take a ride up this winter.

West Cove Ice Racing has a Facebook page, if you do that. I didn't see a web page.