Cold Ride

[Jared]

Well I doubt the stel toes would do much to save the rest of a foot ...but that's just my opinion....Heavy shoes/boots are much more likely to come off  your feet  in a violent  spill ( centrifugal forces and all...).

Anyone here actually use motorcycle specific boots ??

Stay warm out there man.

[Flash]

Kerry,

I have a National F-15 Touring Windshield. It does not cover the hands like yours, but it does flair out slightly at the sides to cut some of the wind away from my hands.

Here is a pick:
http://shop.nationalcycle.com/perl/cycle/large_photo?mv_session_id=3NGaXS8r&mv_arg=N2522&search_model=su%2d022

I only mentioned hand shields because I knew they were an option. I searched the web and it seems alot of people like the heated grips / grip heaters option. Do these come with quick connect battery terminal connections (i.e. Battery Tender) or do you have to have a cigarette lighter? If its the latter I guess I will have to check your homepage on how to install one.

By the way, does anyone offer gloves or liners that you can microwave in the oven to stay toasty for hours? Just a thought.

[JohNLA]

Most heat loss is from the head.
I am so happy I bought my neoprene(sp?)ski mask. It was $13 at a local MC shop.

[Turkina]

There are ANSI rated plastic/composite/whatever non-steel toe boxes for boots that will protect your feet just as well in a crash.  Although the steel toed boots do conduct heat, as long as you are wearing a layer or 2 of socks, it won't be so bad.  I'll swear by my steel toed boots.  I might lose a little feel in the shifter, but I kept all my toes because of them!  I wish boot manufacturers would give me steel toe protection in a motorcycle boot my size damn those little europeans! hehe

I recently got a pair of glove liners and a baclava made of the same thin material from EMS (saw it and bought it, I know it is overpriced!) Only wore the glove liners so far, but it did make a difference!  What else... Along with a scarf or neck tube, put a turtleneck on, so you won't have air leakage between layers to your skin.  For leg protection, my JR Ballistic pants are waterproof (and therefore windproof) and work pretty well.  Just need to find some way to keep air from sneaking up your ankle!

Right now it's so cold, my friend with his faired sportbike and a heated vest won't dare go out.  Maybe the weather will improve for a ride on sunday

[Turkina]

I'm just reading a couple of assorted things on the web, and there's people putting on the winter gear when the temp gets below 50 degrees?  I suppose if you're doing highway riding for an hour or more, you might think about it, but that's a little much.  Below 60 I'd always wear my leather jacket instead of the mesh with liner, and just layer more clothing beneath as it gets chillier. 45 and below I'd consider wearing my textile pants instead of mesh.  With a couple of small items and layering, most cold weather discomforts can be solved.  I am thinking of the electic vest and some way to seal the vents in my jacket that'll be sweet!

[richard]

Well, to add to the insanity of my previous ride to work, I rode this evening from Salt Lake to Logain.  According to the trip meter, about 150 miles.  About half of that visibility was about 500 feet, which certainly made things interesting, and the further I went, I did actually now that I was looking for it start to notice the heat getting pulled out of the toes of my shoes.

Never really noticed before

18 degrees for this trip, btw.  I remembered the lining of my jacket this time, though.

I was a little chilly at the end, but mostly just my feet.  my toes were freezing, but my hands still had plenty of feeling.  Probably because they were shielded from the wind (educated guess?)

Anyway, thought I'd mention the observations from the latest trip.  Oh, and if anyone gets a Fog City shield cover (FogCity Pro-shield), make sure you A. give it the full 24 hours to dry after applying, B. carefully don't press the middle, just the edges when applying, and C. when washing later, don't push in the middle.

The seal has gotten broken on mine, and it doesn't help nearly as much anymore. the first while I had it it was amazing, but after the first time I cleaned it, I pressed too hard and I think I broke the seal around the edge of the fogcity shield.  it fogs up again now.  =[  not as bad as before, but still... might have to see if I can find a way to remove it, get a new one.  drat... another $20.

chills

[Rema1000]

Joe Rocket jacket wihtout liner and pants worked fine.

Srinath, please save the world some pain and suffering next time, and wear some pants!

[Rema1000]

I have a large-ish windshield which is wide enough that it covers the hands.  You can see pictures of it on my website.

For anyone else contemplating a Kerry-like windshield , there's a Slipstreamer for sale on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2452173972&category=35613

...looks like it may go for $25+s/h. or so.  I think it may be even a tad bigger than the Plex2, which might be really good for ColdCold riding.
Check out their catalog pick (looks like it's mounted on a Bandit) at
http://www.slipstreamer.com/Product/Touring/touring.html

I'm not bidding on it; I'm looking for the Slipstreamer Turbo.

[Afterburner]

I tried heated grips -- they kept my palms warm but my fingers and the outside of my hands still froze.  Heated gloves (with a heated vest) keep my top half warm and toasty.  Still, my toes get really cold and my legs chill, despite wearing thermals and jeans and leather, and thick socks in my steel-toed boots.  I can ride like that, but I need a hot shower when I get home.

[Turkina]

I just came back from a little ride to the town beaches (20 miles total).  The temperature outside is around 22 F with a 15 mph wind.  Wind protection was my Givi A755 fairing.  Clothing... Turtleneck, sweatshirt, jeans, heavy socks, leather jacket, textile riding pants, steel toed boots, glove liners under my riding gloves, and a bacalava (sp?) made of same material as glove liners.

It is too cold for:
a) man
b) beast
c) motorcycles
d) all of the above

The shoreline is encased in ice, there's little ice floes floating out on the bay, and I could have sworn I saw a penguin waddling around on the sand :mrgreen:

Actually, my cold spots were the tips of my fingers cause they were sticking out in the wind, the zippers where my arm vents are, my eyebrows, and the sides of my thighs where my riding pants zip (supposedly waterproof sealed).  Okay, so I'm not frostbitten but that was way too cold to be comfortable after about 8 miles in!  The cold made riding the motorcycle dangerous until it was properly warmed up... until then, I had a lot of trouble revving above 4k rpm.  Oh well, I did need to get some riding in this week it's going to get really cold again!