Cold weather riding?

[PrairieParson]

Texas T's thread about his trip in 100+ degree heat got me thinking about my own adventrues with heat. Therefore, I decided, in the middle of another horrible Texas summer, to reorganize all my riding toward primarily cold weather riding. My body simply cannot get overheated for very long. If I'm on the bike for several hours for even 95, I'm very likely to get overcome by the heat. So, I'm pretty much got my bikes parked except for early morning rides, and I'm gearing up for riding the other 9 months of the year. I bought a Killamajaro jacket. I've got a down vest and some other stuff. I'm going to get some good cold weather boots and gloves. Anyone else tried this? I know its not that bad in the south half of Texas, but Lubbock has some pretty cold weather in winter. Since now have a true dualsport bike, I'm hoping to even give it a try in winter. I just hate not being able to ride in winter.

[achesley]

electric gear is your friend in da Winter.

[YoDoc]

As another rider who loves cold weather riding, I will tell you that wind proofing is everything. Layers, windproofing, and a solemn resignation that no matter what you do, your finger tips will occasionally come out if your gloves as ice pops.

[Hoodcounty]

Gerbing is your friend.
Global warming battery gear is a close second. the wife and I have both.
She freezes at 60 and I get a tad chilly at +15 or so. It keeps us both cozy.

Really cold riding weather does not exist anywhere in Texas! I am ready for it!



I brought my heated gear to Colorado this summer but never used it. I went up to 14,000 feet and it only got down to 42 degrees.



I prefer the heated gear when it goes below 40 degrees. Above that, dressing in layers, including a plastic outer shell (rain gear), works pretty well. The weakest link is the gloves. I use silk liners under my padded gloves. I have heated grips.

RB

[Texas T]

We froze on our rally the other morning because we had not properly dressed for it. We cured that at the first stop though...

Undergear: LD comfort
Gerbing heated jacket liner - not just the vest
I put a long sleeve t-shirt on over the heated jacket to give me a tighter fit on my jacket sleeves
Textile (Kilimanjaro) jacket
And if I still need more protection I have a Stearns rain jacket that does a GREAT job of cutting the wind.

If I know I'm going into really cold temps I have the Gerbing gloves and the socks too.

With the above LDC, Gerbing liner, t-shirt, and Kili jacket I was just fine at 37 degree temps.

[YoDoc]

I used to ride with the HOG chapter in Fayetteville, NC. Rides every Sunday. If the temp was below 40, you got a polar bear patch for your vest. It had some white edging. Unless you wore heated gear, in which case it was pink, lol!

[dfwscotty]

It's easy to gear up for the cold since there are so many options to insulate and it doesn't have to be motorcycle-related gear.

I started out riding in the cold 40 and above with a long sleeve UnderArmor shirt, a size smaller fleece half-zip pullover, jacket windliner and the jacket. Go wtih bigger ride gloves and then find you some thin glove liners to go under them. I have been able to tolerate the cold from the waist down with HTII ride pants with the liners in. I ride behind a small BMW GS screen. Normal socks and boots.

When it got below 40 I added long underwear but then I got to the point of feeling like the little brother in Xmas Story!

One last thing, go to a good equipped outdoor store and find a balaclava. UnderArmor makes a nice thin one that is somewhat convertible from nose down and then chin down. The thinner the better. It will make your helmet tight on your skull while the miles click by. I wear 2 of them, one as a neck gaiter and then over my head. I can ride all day in the cold but if there is one little spot of cold wind hitting me i cant get my mind off it.

Tourmaster replaced my heated jacket liner last year and I got some heated glove liners but by the time they came in it was spring! Heated grips or gloves are your friends. My winter ride gloves and non heated liners are a pain for good feeling on the grips and numb fingertips are not nice.

Just some things to consider.

[YoDoc]

I used to ride in sub 40, down to 30 or so with:

Two pair normal socks, leather boots. Under armor type long undies, thick jeans. Under armor type thermal shirt, sweatshirt, leather jacket. Winter motorcycle gloves, windproof fleece neck gaited pulled up to my nose, goggles, and a half helmet. No screen, sportster with forward controls.

I was active duty at the time. I came in the gate one day and the guards were shivering in their shack, and one said "man, you've got to be some kind of hardcore to ride in this weather!"

I chuckled and told him "yeah... it's weather like this that separates posers from morons like me who don't own a car."

[DFW_Warrior]

I have tried everything to try and keep my hands warm in the winter. Everything from heated grips, the best winter gloves money could buy, glove liners, surgical gloves under the liners as an extra layer, hot hands, and the list goes on. Now, for the past two years I haven't had cold hands at all, even down below freezing. All thanks to some really nice Gerbings that the Wife got me for Christmas. Just think of all the money I would have saved if I just had gotten them in the first place.

[EdSidders]

If you can use them on your bike look up a set of Vetter Hippo Hands Mine finally died...My hands and feet are always cold anyhow...

http://craigvetter.com/pages/Motorcy...Main-page.html

[Kit_McConnico]

It's already been said, but Gerbings are amazing. I pair mine with a 1 piece 'stich and a balaclava if it's really cold.

[Downs]

Some simple wind deflectors for the grips can make a world of difference for the hands. You can wear much lighter gloves that way and still keep your hands warm.

For local trips semi-close by I just wear layers. Usually my typical undershirt followed by a fleese pullover then my rain liner then my jacket. The rain liner and jacket keep out all the wind and the Fleece keeps me warm for local stuff. I also use a polypro neck gaiter which keeps the neck warm even though it's pretty thin. you loose a lot of body heat though your neck where your arteries run close to the necks surface.

On longer range rides I bust out the heated gear. I don't use it for local rides because it simply takes too long to get geared up and ready to go when you have to plug yourself in.

Gloves are usually just the mechanix gloves if I have hand guards and heated grips. If it gets really cold I've got Alpinestars thinsulate gloves in the bag.

Foot wear is usually the same thing I wear during the summer, and pants are Scorpion XDR pants with a liner in them if it's really cold.

[Maintainer]

Winter?? All of two weeks a year. Oh wait, you live in Lubbock you do get some cold winterish weather. Carry on.

[bigjnsa]

The only problem I have in cold weather is ice on the inside of my visor. I wear plenty of layers and have ridden when it was 17 outside. However, I had to stop and turn back because my breath was turning to ice on my visor. If I can ever solve that problem, I can truly ride year round.

[YoDoc]

Originally Posted by bigjnsa

The only problem I have in cold weather is ice on the inside of my visor. I wear plenty of layers and have ridden when it was 17 outside. However, I had to stop and turn back because my breath was turning to ice on my visor. If I can ever solve that problem, I can truly ride year round.

http://motorcycle.motorcycle-superst...e/Breath%20Box

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[bigjnsa]

Thanks!

[YoDoc]

No problemo, amigo.

[Kat013]

After trying out a couple different pairs of poofy synthetic insulation ski gloves from REI and being disappointed, I found a pair of midweight windproof Manzellas that are incredible if I wear them with polypro liners (the thin stretch gloves that look like mickey mouse hands when no one's hands are in them). They don't make that specific style anymore, but the Wind Pro or Chinook Windstopper look about right:
http://www.manzella.com/index.php/men

I am skinny, and have somewhat poor circulation to my extremities, but that combo will work just fine down to about 32*F even on the highway - I don't ride more than about 30-45 minutes at that temp, though. Below 32, the air actually steals so much heat from the 250 that I have to leave the choke open a bit to keep it running! Either that or stop and idle a bit every 10 minutes or so. I had one experience with that around 27*F, and I probably won't do it again willingly, unless I have to drive the 5 minutes to the grocery store or someplace very close.

One of the important things I figured out is to have some kind of poofy insulation in a windproof shell - down or synth - under my jacket. Its poofiness fills out all the extra space in the jacket, preventing wind from getting inside at all. I had to remove my windproof jacket liner to do this. The jacket liner didn't fit tight with the inside of the jacket - there was some space between it and the jacket, and no matter how much I crammed on under the liner, there was always wind getting into that space and stealing heat.

In the 30's, I've got on:
Bottom - baselayer, 100wt fleece, and insulated ski pants under textile mc pants.
Top - 2 baselayer tank tops (one tight one loose), 1 baselayer long-sleeved shirt, 200wt fleece vest, 100wt fleece jacket, and windproof poofy synth insulated jacket under textile mc jacket.
I may or may not wear half or all of my rain suit over that for additional wind protection.
Midweight wool socks and leather boots, and the aforementioned gloves and liners.
A neck gaiter type thing that is windproof - got it at Cycle Gear. Goes from chin height / tucked up under bottom edge of helmet down to my sternum in the front. Kind of nice because if I tried to zip my mc jacket up all the way over all those layers, I think I'd strangle myself.

[DFW_Warrior]

In the 30's I am wearing my middle eastern dessert under my helmet. For my upper body when I commute I am wearing a polo shirt with my BMG jacket and jacket liner. Lower body I am wearing some cargo pants with my HT Overpants w/liners. If I am going long distance I add underarmor cold gear as a base layer. With that and my Gerbings I am comfy down into to about 30. Any colder than that and I just take the truck.