Riding in the cold

[T. Rush]

Just put my bike up for the winter today. It's 55 and raining hard but yesterday it was 23* and windy. I don't think I have enough cloths for that temp but I ride in the mid 30"s. I layer up and wear my powder pants over my jeans. They break the wind really well. I wear the Olympia gortex gloves with large gauntlets and they are hit or miss. Seems once my hands freeze then thaw I'm ok for the afternoon.

[Takster]

This is my first season riding, but I invested well in gear.  WarmnSafe Jacket and gloves, Scorpion mesh jacket with liner, Hot Chilis, jeans, and leather pants.  I've ridden at highway speeds down to 35 degrees with only cold toes.

Any colder, and I fear black ice.  I feel like I'd be comfortable down to 25 or 30, but I'm trying to keep safety ahead of everything else.

[Blake]

It's been in the upper 30's-40's during my a.m. commute here in the SF bay area the last week or so and some days really foggy.  I just hung up my leather A-stars jacket and put on my Frank Thomas textile jacket w/ a full liner.  What a difference in warmth.  Turtlefur neck liner and my Icon jeans over my work jeans and I'm pretty much ready to ride for a long while.  I do need to do something about my paws.  They are pretty frigid after a quick 20 minute commute.  Christmas is coming.... .   

p.s.   Turtlefur neck warmer has been the best $12.99 I've spent in a long time.  Highly suggest one.

Later

[lagerman72]

I finally broke down after reading many threads on it and bought some Gerbing classic heated gloves.  All I can say is man, what a difference!  It was 22* this AM when I started to ride to work and for the first time, my hands didn't once get cold.  I didn't have them on high either (close though) , as the light was still blinking a little bit on the temp controller.  I have Tourmaster Caliber lined pants, freeze alert balaclava and currently just my Horizon Dainese jacket (which let some cold in) so I'm going to be ordering the heated liner today.  I only have a 10 mile city ride, but with my old gloves and liners, my finger tips were very cold and uncomfortable by the time I got to work.  I can't imagine riding without them now in the cold.  Be safe and enjoy...

[Spike]

I will ride when it is in the mid 30's, anything above freezing. I sport a Widder vest, Rev'it windproof layer on that and a Joe Rocket leather jacket, Rev'it Unix H20 winter gloves (very warm), double thick denim jeans with a Thinsulate layer, lined with flannel. Keeps you toasty.  The thing I bear in mind is that the tires are not as warm as they should be so i try to be smooth on the brake and throttle.

[breakdown]

My problem isn't the cold so much but it's the damn rain.  I live in Vancouver, BC (similar climate to Seattle) and it rains all winter long here.  My morning ride would usually be between 40 and 50F which isn't that cold but it's the rain.

I think I'm going to try riding in my street clothes with a heated vest and a full, one piece rain suit.

[extra330]

  You will want to check the extra wattage your Duc has .  I can't ride my S4Rs w, Gerbings Pant liner, Jacket liner and Gloves on at the same time.

I can get away with Pant liner and Jacket liner but not Gloves also.

I can go w, Gloves and any one of the other liners but not both.

Now my BMW K1200S wii put out enough extra watts to support all 3 on at the same time.    Dolph   

Double Eagle,

What symptoms does your RS exhibit when you have all three items cranked up. I have the jacket liner and the gloves and all seems to be OK. The other day my inner thighs started to get cold after 90 min. or so in the low 30s. It made me think about getting the pant liners.
A couple of times when I had the gloves cranked all the way up and the jacket at about 85% the bike seemed to stumble a bit off idle every once and a while. I wrote this off as a lean condition but maybe the bike was running low on juice.

thanks
Mike

[extra330]

When I commute (26 miles that takesw 35-45 minutes depending on traffic), I wear steel-toed work boots, jeans, a sweatshirt over my shirt, jacket, gauntlet gloves and full-face helmet. On my long-distance trips, I wore the same thing, but when I got tired of the cold, I would put my rain gear on because it works great as a wind-breaker. I actually have not replaced my rain gear since the California ride when the shoulder busted out of the rain jacket.

These days, it is not uncommon for my wife and I to leave the house when it is 30-40 degrees for pleasurable day rides on the weekends. We wear one-piece leathers, though, which are a lot warmed than what I've worn in the past. If I was to do a distance ride in the cold, these days, I'd probably wear my leathers.....these are the same unperforated leathers I wear when it is 105 degrees.   

I would be a pop sickle!!

[extra330]

Living in Alaska I do a lot of cold weather riding, but my lower limit is 32 F.  Ice on the road is to be expected here any time the temp drops below freezing.  My bikes are all equipped with heated grips and plug-ins for heated clothing.  I also have a closet full of cold weather gear.  I have a friend that has studded tires on his KLR and rides in the winter.  Frankly I'd rather ski when it is cold enough to need studs, but heated: clothing, gloves, socks, and face shield makes it possible to ride in negative temps.   

They have such a thing as a heated face shield

[Scottish]

I just remembered, anyone reading tis who isn't used to riding in the cold but is thinking about it... beware of cold tires and the lack of traction, track day, knee down, pour on the throttle corners are not recomendded. 

[MikeZ]

I just remembered, anyone reading tis who isn't used to riding in the cold but is thinking about it... beware of cold tires and the lack of traction, track day, knee down, pour on the throttle corners are not recomendded. 

+11ty billion

[Desmo Demon]

I just remembered, anyone reading tis who isn't used to riding in the cold but is thinking about it... beware of cold tires and the lack of traction, track day, knee down, pour on the throttle corners are not recomendded. 

Let me add that if you do want to ride spirited, take your time and let your tires warm up. My wife and I rode 400 miles between Saturday and Sunday with temps int eh 30's and 40's. The tires slid every once in a while until them warmed up, but I did drag a knee a few times. I thought it was kinda cool that when we stopped, I could actually warm my hands up a little off of the warmth of the tires.

[akmnstr]

They have such a thing as a heated face shield

Yes, they are intended for use with snowmachines but there is no law you can't use then on Motorcycles.  Here is one on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HJC-CL-14-CLMax-HJ-07-Snowmobile-Helmet-Shield-Electric_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem110300960319QQitemZ110300960319

[KnightofNi]

i ride through dam near anything.

the only thing that stops me is freezing rain. i have yet to find a tire that works well on ice and i'm not going to stud up tires when i will only need them once or twice a year. i'll just work from home.

i do enjoy riding through the snow though.

heated gear is a lifesaver. i have found that at temps below 20degrees it's not so much a question of how warm you are, because you will be cold. it's mroe a question of how comfy you feel. i have yet to feel the need to get the pant liners. just get wind/waterproof pants, and good thermals. the heated socks are really nice though.


i have found that on the XR, i can run all the heated gear at full tilt, but the battery does in fact die. i have to put it on the charger each night to make sure it's all good. i have had the same yuasa battery for the past 3 years doing this and havne't had a problem with it yet.

also to help with the start-up on cold days you can get an oil heater that you can put on the outside of your engine and take it off before you head out.

[LA]

Back a long, long time ago even when I had a car I didn't drive a car no matter how cold it got.  I a very hot blooded person and found I could stand anything except for the HANDS.  No gloves, even the best/most expensive don't work. It's a surface area thing.

Then one day I was in the Honda shop and found a pair of Honda-line gauntlet mittens. They were fairly thin and very supple leather and very flexible. Not two finger mittens either - they don't work.  All the fingers have to stay together.  It was phenomenal!  My hands were very comfortable at low 20's at speed even for long periods of time.

What I was surprised at was how dexterity wasn't compromised like I though it would be.  Even two finger braking.

I know this is counter intuitive, but it was the E-ticket. 

Of course the hideous hippo hands do the same, but the only ones I tried tended to actuate the clutch and brake all by themselves at something over 100 mph.  The ones I tried didn't have the internal frame.

LA