Cold Weather Riding

[RossLH]

Rode for an hour today (3 hours if you account for the 2 hours of dead stopped traffic), in 45°F weather, at highway speed. Using a mesh jacket without the liner was not a good choice.

[jestercinti]

Mesh is for summer.  Leather with a liner is for winter.

[bsheppar]

For the neck, i use this body shield from cycle gear. It works great for me. I like that it has enough slack material that i can pull it up over my face and nose under my full-face helmet for complete wind blockage.

http://www.cyclegear.com/eng/product/body_shield/web1008352

I also retrofitted a more solid piece of material to the mesh chin skirt with velcro to keep the wind and cold out of my helmet. I haven't found the perfect pair of gloves yet for anything under 45 degrees. After reading this discussion, I think i'll check out the Hippo hands and tour masters.

[RossLH]

Mesh is for summer.  Leather with a liner is for winter.

Poor planning on my part. I've got a heavier jacket that would have done just fine, but I left that where I was taking the bike and grabbed the mesh jacket instead. I was kind of hoping it would be in the high 60's like it had been for the past few days.

[BassWoW]

I feel you there...been there done that.

I have a tourmaster w/ thinsulate liner cortech jacket and overpants.... 50+ up I have a leather jacket then tourmaster equip- fleece balaclava that goes under your jacket so it fully covers your neck. Think ssg silk glove liners and harley gauntlets.

For 40+ I change out my leather jacket for a ostrich skin jacket.... No wind at all.

[burnchassis]

Here are some DIY UNIVERSAL heated grips CHEAP!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motor-Heated-Grip-Pads-Motorcycle-Handlebars-NEW-/170664829328?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D2651424322513765929%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D170664829328%26
Worth a try!
-CS

[mikeybikey82]

Here are some DIY UNIVERSAL heated grips CHEAP!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motor-Heated-Grip-Pads-Motorcycle-Handlebars-NEW-/170664829328?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D2651424322513765929%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D170664829328%26
Worth a try!
-CS

i bought those exact heaters, probably from that seller.  they are crap, i burned through 2 sets, and only the throttle side ever got hot enough to feel through the grip and the gloves.  im thinking ill upgrade to big boy heated grips for this winter.
anyways, right now i wear my gerber heated vest below 50F, and once 40F and below i wear my snowboarding gloves, ski liners under my jeans, and my thinsulate ski mask under my helmet.  comfortable enough, but id love some more wind protection on my hands.  and maybe some real riding pants...
mikey

[pliskin]

38F this morning on my ride to work. Not bad at all. Just some cold fingers after my 40 minute ride. this jacket, http://castlesales.com/Products/?id=3814703216692581470369258147036925814703692&a=showproduct
with a thin windbreaker under it, and khakis pants with thermal underwear for the legs.

[jestercinti]

Hand guards work well at keeping the wind off your fingers.

Had a big batwing fairing once on a gs450. Kept wind away from me and my fingers.


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[Shaddow]

I bought this style and this brand http://www.ebay.com/itm/OXFORD-Heaterz-Heated-Grips-Suzuki-Scooters-fits-Most-/190739044705?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c68eed961&vxp=mtr

Never had an issue with them.

[pliskin]

I gotta wonder how heated grips would work in sub 40f temps. With thick gloves on how will the heat ever reach your skin. With 30-40 deg a wind hitting the back of your hand and fingers how would a heated grip work?

[NortwestRider]

I have been riding in freezing temps for 30+ years and the only thing I have found that keeps my hands warm are hippohands.For me it's all about keeping all the wind and rain off my hands.I put on warm gloves and my hands stay warm for hours,but I do use good winter gloves also !!.


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[kbankovi]

I wear a thin Nike balaclava that I think is made for runners.  You can choose to put it over your mouth or just up to your chin and over your head.  I also wear a pair of Tourmaster winter Elite 2 gloves.  Their is a waterproof liner that tucks in above the wrist when it's not raining.  I use the liner even when it's not raining as an added windguard.  38'F is my physical limit.  I rode that for work for about 50 mins one way.  Your toes are the first thing to get cold and my work boots are big enough to put an extra sock layer but small enough where I can't wear Thermal socks and it cuts off circulation. 

[BassWoW]

I wear a thin Nike balaclava that I think is made for runners.  You can choose to put it over your mouth or just up to your chin and over your head.  I also wear a pair of Tourmaster winter Elite 2 gloves.  Their is a waterproof liner that tucks in above the wrist when it's not raining.  I use the liner even when it's not raining as an added windguard.  38'F is my physical limit.  I rode that for work for about 50 mins one way.  Your toes are the first thing to get cold and my work boots are big enough to put an extra sock layer but small enough where I can't wear Thermal socks and it cuts off circulation.

Its been between 32 and 45 degrees when I get out of work these last two weeks...The only thing that never gets cold are my feet and legs..

The wierd thing is there is space between my pants and my boots and one layer of sock...

They are the well known Wally world 40$ boots. how wierd is that.

[kbankovi]

That's wierd. I lied and said I bought tourmaster gloves. I bought Fieldsheer but I'm not sure what model they are.  They basically look the same as the Tourmaster.  They have 100g of thinsulite, rainguard that tucks away in a zippable wrist compartment & they have a rubber wiper on the thumb to use on your visor (I've only used it sparingly as I think this would lead to scratching your visor. 

[NortwestRider]

So yesterday I rode my sidecar rig to work,it was 38 degrees and dry.I have NO bar mitts on that bike but the fairing does a ok job of keeping the wind off my hands.When I got to work ( 30 minute ride at about 70mph for 75% of the ride ) my fingers were cold,not frozen but very cold.Today I rode the V,it was the same degree but it was raining.I have HippoHands on the V and when I got to work not only were my gloves completely dry,my hands were just as warm as they were at home before I put my gloves on !!.







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[TonyKZ1]

I've also had a pair of these on my Ninja 250, they help quite a bit. I'm currently using the ones from Oxford. By using these and my heated grips on low I can wear a thin pair of summer gloves and my hands stay nice and warm.
Tony

[NortwestRider]

Do the Oxford ones have a place for the mirrors to come thru??.
I need a pair for the GS and the Oxfords are 50% of the price of the Hippos!!.


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[TonyKZ1]

nah, but a sharp knife cutting a small hole can fix that problem. Here's where I bought mine, link.
Tony

[NortwestRider]

Twisted Throttle has them also.


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