I personally don't mind the cold but I don't think extreme cold is good for the bike. I have 10w-40 oil in it and I think it would flow about like molasses at sub freezing temps. That, plus the various rubber seals probably don't like real cold weather, either.
Also, there's the fact that tires do not grip very well at colder temps. I've seen several threads on another forum recently where riders have gone down this winter, probably due to a combination of cold, hard rubber tires, salt or sand on the road and maybe a bit of rider inexperience who thought he/she could ride the same way they do in warmer weather.
In my crazier days many years ago my then next-door-neighbor and I challenged each other to go out riding one Sunday morning in the winter on I-70 in St. Charles, just to have a few laughs from the reactions of all the cagers who saw us. We did and it was cold. The actual temp (not wind chill) was 7F below zero.
Anyhow, you might see me pedaling around when it's 15 or 20F degrees but never on my motorcycle. The cold weather bicycle riding is actually fun as long as you layer properly where you would be cold just standing there but warm once you get moving and start burning calories.
I'm hoping for warmer weather soon. I bought a brand new bike last month and I've only managed to squeeze in about 250 miles on it thus far when the temps got over 40F.
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