Tires for cold weather? (not ice, just winter rubber compound)

[Paniller]

I like to ride in the winter as well, I'm fine with it down to 35 degrees or so. However, I just thought of something...my tires are probably summer only tires?

Should I invest in a second set of rims/tires for the colder months, as I did for my car? If so, what tires are best for this, as they're not rated by season like car tires?

I'm not talking riding in the freezing cold or snow. I'd never do that. I just mean cold weather. I'm not so much interested in tread pattern, as I am rubber compound. For example, my Blizzaks on my car stay soft at cold temperatures, but wouldn't last long in the summer because they'd melt away. My summer tires are terrible in the winter, because the rubber gets hard and doesn't grip. This is what I'm concerned with, only for my bike this time.

 

[xxspudxx]

Bump for more info.

My KDW2's were worthless when it iced over. AWD FTW!

 

[BuddhaBuell]

great question [up]
I like to ride as much as the weather will let me and I will be moving from a temperal rainforest on Vancouver Island up north on the mainland (not as far north as our Alaskan friends) and will be giving up an easy three months of rain riding (pacific NW Buellers know what I mean) BUT after thinking aboot it I remember a post from a while back that had vid of Craig Jones ripping it up on ice and stunting like the mad demon he is.....
So my thought is to get a second set of rims and outfit them with tires that are spiked!!!

heres a refresher...

 

[Paniller]

lol. I can't even ride properly on perfect pavement, ice is a bit much for me. I just want some rubber compound that has traction in the cold.

I should get a dual sport with studded tires though!

 

[dave_xb12r]

Maybe you could convince Bridgestone to make some Blizzak tires for bikes.

 

[oisterska]

[re-reading OP, this might not actually apply. i.e. not really dealing with tire compound, and more for snow/ice. Good info for someone though!]

I believe that the best bet would be to take the TKC80 knobbies, and add this to them:

ADVrider.com: DIY motorcycle tire chains

For serious ice/snow riding, presumeably. There was another thread (from the guy that originally thought of these) that I cannot find right now that had much more detailed info.

As I recall, these were some of the resulting tidbits:

Helps to have knobbies to hold them in place, i think. ALso, the straight-bar chain seemed to hold better than the v-bar chain. As well as hardened steel being much sturdier.

 

[kalifornia]

the good news is at those temps you'll be so bundled up, you'll hardly beable to lean over anyway, so just run what ya brung

 

[simiancity]

the good news is at those temps you'll be so bundled up, you'll hardly beable to lean over anyway, so just run what ya brung

Leaning is only part of what you need traction for. If you want to be able to stop in cold weather, the stock Dunlops on the XB12R, for example, are far from acceptable.

 

[RT Performance]

Maybe have them sipped?
I know discount tire stores around here do car tires.The problem with soft compounds like my pure powers is they have little water/traction lines