winter riding

[un1261]

:dunno:
How many of you ride in the winter...no not the desert. Places where it snows and freezes.
I just moved to the east coast from Arizona...never riden in the COLD before. What do I have to look forward to? What do I need to do to prepare myself and my bike for the winter? I plan on riding when I can. Snow tires?

[scratch]

1st - be really, really gentle with the steering inputs; be gradual and smooth. Same thing for throttle and braking. Slowly work your way up to see how fast you can input your inputs without upsetting the bike. Then you get fast riding in the rain and cold.
2nd - Gear. You can't ride well if you're shivering, tense and can't see. Probably the most important is to be able to see, and a well ventilated helmet will help keep the visor from fogging up, if not, a FogCity anti-fog sheild may be desired (do a search).
Keeping warm - layering undeneath your current jacket may work, and combined with a rain suit over the jacket can make for a toasty rider. But, you may still want to purchase a good winter jacket. If you get a leather one, you'll probably be warmer, but you'll need a rainsuit to put over that. If you get a textile you don't have to worry too much (I still wear my rainsuit over to help keep me warm).
Gloves - VERY IMPORTANT because you need your digits to be able to feel for the controls, steering inputs, feedback (like slipping tires). So you need something warm, but not so thick that it interferes with your ability to feel the bars and flick the switches. I always look for something pre-curled. I suggest TourMaster or Olympia (search).
Pants - Now you really have an excuse to buy pants, and not just wear jeans.
Boots - You need to keep your toesies warm and dry; protection is desirable too. I wear Rain Totes over my work boots; get the biggest size they have, as you have to pull these over your boots (XL works for me, and I wear a size 7 1/2 shoe, er, boot!).

[Phaedrus]

I put my bike away last year for the season just after Thanksgiving, and didn't get it out again until April 1st. SOME riders will ride all year long, but good luck with that. NJ is probably not quite as harsh as NY is winter-wise, but I don't think riding in the winter is a good idea in this climate because of the snow. If you hit a snow patch on our bikes, we would be sliding through a ravine. Not to mention the extreme wind chill; if you don't have the proper gear the cold will hurt you big time.

For instance, last year it was a chilly October morning and I was riding to work. It was 29 degrees, and I ride 10 miles to work. I had gloves on, but they weren't leather. My hands were SO COLD that they basically "froze up" so bad I had a hard time flexing the fingers. They were in pain and the skin was inflamed. But with the right gear, the cold weather can probably be skirted. It is the snow and ice you gotta worry about.

If you live in the city and ride in the city, the roads will probably be kept up really well. A lot of people in NYC for example are able to ride their bikes year round. But I live more out in the country, and sometimes the roads are too bad for most cars to even drive on

So if you ride in the winter, get REALLY GOOD winter gear and be REALLY careful for snow and ice, especially on the bike, and especially if you've never even driven a car on real snow before. Don't be surprised to see a couple of inches on the roads.

[gsJack]

I ride year around here in NE Ohio and always have.  Our streets are heavily salted in the winter so I keep an older "winter" bike to take the rust.  I've ridden locally with temps down to 20F or so but I don't ride when there is snow or ice covering the streets.

Have accumulated plenty of warm clothes for cold weather riding and the temp usually dictates how far I go now.  The colder it is. the shorter the trip.   :lol:  Never have tried the electrically heated clothes.

[mastrind]

ha!!...I grew up in S Jersey/Philadelphia......my dad used to ride year round....

......gear is all important....if you've never heard of Widder electrics, it's about time you did.....he also had a 1 piece over suit that he would wear over his business suit.....

.....also, pay attention to the weather forecasts, if it's not going to be nice out, don't ride.....

[Roadstergal]

We don't get the kind of cold and snow here that NJ gets, but this winter was below freezing frequently with plenty of ice.  Be aware that ice forms before the ambient temperature is below 0C; black ice on the roads is not fun to hit if you're not expecting it.  Summer-compound tires will lose a lot of traction when the temp gets that cold; even in the absence of ice and snow, tires designed for summer will turn to Teflon in the cold.  Heated gear, as mentioned, is a good way to go; thermal gear in general will be necessary.  A balaclava is good for keeping warmth in your head, which loses it easily.  I have a Joe Rocket Metor thermal waterproof jacket and waterproof boots; freezing rain will suck the warmth right out of you if you don't have waterproof gear.

[John Bates]

I have found that good gloves alone are not enough for me.  I installed a "bat wing" style windshield which blocks the wind from my hands.  The combination does a good job of keeping my hands warm.

Also, don't forget the neck.  A scarf or one of those turtle neck pullovers works well for me.

Fogging of the visor is a problem I haven't solved yet.

[Roadstergal]

Fogging of the visor is a problem I haven't solved yet.

Have you tried Fog City?  Nothing worked for my RF1000 until I got one of those...

[John Bates]

Have you tried Fog City?  Nothing worked for my RF1000 until I got one of those...

Fog City, that's San Francisco right?

What is it, a liquid application?

[John Bates]

Have you tried Fog City?  Nothing worked for my RF1000 until I got one of those...

I found their website.  Did you get the Hyper Optiks or the Proshield?

[scratch]

I found the website: http://www.modernworld.com/

It's a film that you attach to the inside of your faceshield. I thought there was instructions on the website.

Edit: Ah, I see you found it. I used the ProShield for my Shoei TZ-1, most Shoei's will use the ProShield. I think almost all other helmets, but the ones they list seperately (i.e.: Arai; because of the vents in the top of the facehield), will use the ProShield.

[Roadstergal]

Have you tried Fog City?  Nothing worked for my RF1000 until I got one of those...

I found their website.  Did you get the Hyper Optiks or the Proshield?

Proshield.  Easy to apply, works like a charm.

My Scorpion hasn't needed it yet, though.

[Daniely]

Here in cali we get a few 30's during the winter days. I rode all year round last year. I just layered up.

Upper body:

Thermals, 2 t-shirts, sweater, and my leather jacket.
2 pairs of gloves (little cheap black nylon thingy's and my leathers)
Thermal Pants and jeans...yea my legs were cold, but its not that cold in cali  :dunno:

Good times, I managed to catch a break in the weather and always managed to ride to work when it wasnt raining, but I ALWAYS got stuck riding HOME In the rain, grr.

[ukchickenlover]

I ride all year. The roads I ride are salted so it is not a problem. Only drive on the main roads when it is very cold. The cold weather is not too bad you just have to dress right. Wear layers e.g tshirt 2 jumpers,jacket, jeans, bike trousers, waterproof trousers, boots, helmet. Two finger gloves work very well. Also a cotton neck tube is very useful for keeping the wind out. Make sure your clothes are not too tight as it restricts blood flow and also limits how much air you can trap between the layers. Air is a very good insulater this is why you wear layers so you can trap air. If the street you live on is not very busy it may not have been salted so you may have ice on the road so be very careful if you see ice then drive very slow and take turnings very slow.

[Eklipse]

I ride here in coastal Texas during the winter. Sometimes it even hits freezing! And last year, for the first time in like 20 years, it snowed! It was like a blizzard, for real.

Heh, but really 34 or 32 feels like 14 or 12 when you're on a bike. I got one of those balaclavas from cyclegear. It's fleece with a comfort top that fits under your full faced helmet. It's really warm. I tried using my summer gloves, but my hands went numb. I got some liners and it helped a little, but they're bulky so it's like trying to grab things with fingers the size of bananas.

Just layer up with thermal underwear. One layer beneath the jeans works okay for me at like 32 degrees during the night. And a balaclava. Much colder than that and you'd probably have to wear overpants and some kind of overcoat, or a really warm jacket, not just a regular riding jacket with a liner.

If you ride when it's really cold you'll probably want to get some kind of goggles for your eyes, even under your full faced helmet. I thought about it on a few of the colder days.

Honestly I'd rather ride when it's cold and layer up, than ride when it's 100 degrees feels like 115 outside with 98% humidity and have to layer down.

[ukchickenlover]

Same as me I prefer very cold to very hot when on the bike.

[Roadstergal]

Oh, a UK jumper is a US sweater.

[RVertigo]

Oh and... Don't forget to keep your neck warm.

I wear a hoodie under my jacket with the liner in it...  It's pretty snug, but it's pretty warm too.

You can do the "Ghetto" winter riding clothes like me, but if you have the money you should just invest in some nice gear.

[davipu]

you all need to try poly-pro
http://www.fatiguesarmynavy.com/store/subcat/323
works wet or dry, and is really thin.

[mp183]

Can't wait for the cold weather.  This hot weather stinks.
Went into the Catskills this morning and it was on the cool side early in the morning.  What a pleasure.