Here's a linky to the individually strapped chains created by a guy on ADV rider... http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=418653

 

I'd say that is way better than what I posted.
I've ridden through an entire NH winter and the better part of another, it can be done.
I wouldn't have even attempted it, if I had not been riding for the last 25 years and had I not seen a co-worker do it on his giant KLR.
What did I gain?
Well, saved a bunch of $$$(that I spent on a car), continued to improve my skills in less than ideal traction situations(I love mud and sand now, really), confirmed to my entire town(and myself) that indeed I am nuts, and gained a little street cred(too bad I can't spend it anywhere).
BTW, I only crashed a hand full of times. ALL OF THEM, except 2 were on my driveway. The first of the other 2 was on the 1/2mi unplowed road to work...I was trying to catch a guy in a car with AWD(bad idea) and I just lost the rear while accelerating too hard and spun out. No damage to me or the bike.
The 2nd was in the spring when I decided to venture down the closed road beyond work. After slipping and sliding full throttle through deep snow patches just to keep moving forward at 4mph I made it through...and was greeted by a sheet of ice. Normally that would have been fine but I had just removed the studded tires. I gingerly tried to navigate the ice, but with 20' to go I had to try and steer towards the opening between the Jersey barriers they place at the other end. Well I ended up going down hard and fast. Bent the crap out of the brace on my radiator guard, that was it.
BTW, it's a bitch trying to pick up a bike(with no studs) on ice.

 

Glad you posted this as I am seriously thinking going the trials tire route with an alternative chain idea. When you did this, did you use a Pirelli trials front as well, or something else and could you compare to the traction of say the stock DOT knobbies?

 

I live not far from you in Western MA. I'll ride any month of the year, and there is nothing better than a sunny day in December with sun warmed roads to get you out of the darkness and cold. With heated gear it is a joy.

That said, if I had an option NOT to commute by motorcycle all winter I'd take that option and ride when I wanted to.

The OP is from Pennsylvania I think. Not exactly ski mountain county. So, I am not sure how much he'd actually need snow tires. There were actual Civil War battles fought there. It's practically in the South.

 

Yeah, I know he's from PA.
And yes the south officially starts at the southern border of PA. And I have been to more civil war sites than I could ever remember, I grew up there.
As to why I rode all winter?
For me, it wasn't a choice at first to ride all year.
I was flat broke, with a bunch of debt because I had just gone through a break-up(that cost me a lot of $$$)and a break-in at my uninsured cabin where my solar panels, generator, and a bunch of tools were stolen. All of which needed to be replaced in order to live there. So I ran up my credit cards...and then was out of work. Got a great new job but the pay was crap.
I drove a truck that sucked gas and I was commuting 50 miles a day, gas was big $$$, so I googled best mpg dual sport. Ended up with the KLX, turned the truck over to yard duty, and started saving for a car. Just not fast enough to do it before winter.

Stupid little bike re-lit my love of riding after hitting a moose on my Ducati.
Now I don't feel right if I don't ride everyday.
But now I will drive when the weather is crap.

 

I live in the poconos, so I'm in northern pa and this last winter was pretty moderate snow wise, but the one before it we had about a foot or more of snow on the fields almost all winter and snow banks that were taller than my toyota tundra, but in both cases we had at least a few storms that put fresh snow on the roads while I was at work and the stretch between my house and the gun range I work at are not top priority plow routes, so as likely as not I'll be riding "home" in some kind of snow at some point, whether planned or not. My knobbies are still probably 30-40% life left and I'd probably put another summer on them. Technically I am in a ski area and have ski slopes 15 minutes in 2 directions, but I grew up in Jackson Hole Wyoming and I know the profound difference a more suitable tire makes in snow or ice conditions from living in REAL snow country. I'm not trying to force myself to ride everyday, but everyday I do ride, i want the best option I can come up with reasonably.

To put my snow experience in context, my school bus was one of the first 3 in the nation to have the experimental automatic chain systems when they came out, and my bus route was the one that determined if school was in session for the entire county when it was in question

As Maximus mentioned, the gas savings adds up pretty quickly when your alternative is a pick-up truck I probably put less than 1000 miles on my truck this summer because I rode the bike. With the KLX I literally put maybe $4 of gas every 2-3 weeks depending on how many trips into town I take (and it's got a header, pipe, snorkle/smog delete and jetting, so it's FUN!). The more of those trips to town I do, the more I save on gas too! compared to the truck that get's less than 1/3 of the mileage, it's a great choice as long as I can get home reasonably.