I would agree with a lot of the posts here. I try to ride all year and watch for leaves and ice. The nasty thing about ice and leaves as well is that the drop time is so instantaneous. You are up and boom, down. Never did it on my Duke thank god, but on everything else. ALmost went over a cliff, a bridge, an embankment in the woods. You never know what is around the corner and when that back tire will go south. One thing that saved me other times though was a certain amount of experience on dirt bikes. In your situatio, I would suggest going out on dry winter days and watching the road surface real carefully. Not too often though. Then go out and do some dirt riding as someone mentioned above. Does wonders for automaitic body movement. But, as so many have noted, winter riding is exhilirating! Enjoy
