26 degrees this morning, and gonna be 19 tomorrow. Yet that bike doesn't seem to mind. My gel battery is now almost four years old and has never seen a charger. It cranks just like it does in summer. But last winter it seemed to struggle more, but that was with different oil in it. This spring I changed to Rotella T6 5W-20 and seems in cold temperatures it makes a difference. That stuff is simply amazing. Should have switched years ago.

I am also very pleased with the inexpensive kevlar brake pads. Last way way longer than others and have a better feel to it. OEM pads were more like on/off, thus easier to lock the front on loose ground or dirty tarmac. They do require a tad more force on the lever, but I like it that way. It feels more safe like that.
They are on the bike since a couple thousand miles and show hardly any wear. Rotor doesn't seem to mind either. Highly recommended!

Got them on eBay about a year ago. Gotta see if the link is still there.
Now they DID take some time to "bed" in. Require force was a bit higher the first few days, but no biggie.
They are also a bit more aggressive with increasing Rotor temps. Kinda like F1 carbon brakes. LOL

I really like the pads offered by this guy.  It looks like he's got a couple of brands he gets  I got a set of these I haven't used yet, cause the 1st set I got from him (X brand) have lasted since last year.  That's around 10k miles and I got a lot more to go.  Really wish I logged when I started.  Kevlar is the way to go.  feels like stock with no squeal.  The EBC's I got were soft and took a lot of squeeze to stop.  Keep you eye on this vendor, he has sales around this time of the year and those pads will drop to about $12
ralfyguy wrote on 12/06/11 at 20:46:11: