I love my fairing.

[ajensen]

I have a 2006 GS500f. Today it was 42 degrees (5.5 Celcius), and I rode my bike to work. On my old motorcycle, naked Yamaha SR500, I would have been freezing, but I was actually fairly warm behind my fairing and Laminar Lip. The combination will be extending my riding season a lot. How many of you are cold-weather riders, and how do you prepare you prepare for winter riding?

[ShowBizWolf]

I am most certainly a cold weather rider! Here is a thread I wrote back at the beginning of the year about a couple of my experiences: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=71244.0

I absolutely love the Freeze-Out stuff from Cycle Gear... long-johns and base layer jacket thing to be specific.

In that thread I mention wanting to get some heated gloves. I did get them, they are Joe Rocket leather armored heated gloves which have rechargeable batteries right in the cuffs (no need to wire into the bike or into a jacket).

I also have some fleece-lined jeans which help a lot! Sometimes I even put those little 5 hour toe warmer things in my shoes

[ajensen]

Thanks for turning me on to your thread--lots of great info. In addition to the cold-weather riding gear, I appreciate the cold battery info.

[qcbaker]

I usually ride through the winter, but ShowBiz is much more hardcore than I am. I'll usually ride to/from work if its above like 35 and sunny. But you're absolutely right about the fairings helping. Every week or so, I usually will ride over to my dad's house and start up my girlfriend's bike (Buell Blast, stored in my dad's garage) and ride it for a bit to keep the carb from getting funky and to keep the battery from dying. When its properly cold, I can definitely feel it on that bike. But, when I hop back on my bike to ride home, the cold is much less of an issue. The fairings really do help!

[ShowBizWolf]

Some day maybe I'll get to see the difference full fairings make. I'd love to!!

This morning around 2am when I was leaving work, it was pretty chilly... frost on the bike even, which surprised me because it was only supposed to be around 40F.

I got several strong good cranks but my GS just wouldn't start. Got out my jump pack I recently bought and with it, I got several more good cranks... but it just was being stubborn. The pack was getting low on power so I stopped for a minute and thought. I remembered the tip about switching to Prime for a little bit. I did that and it started right up. +10000 for always lurking around the forum and reading stuff, for sure!

[Big Rich]

I was all ready for PA's sudden cold blast last night (winter gloves, wool buff on my neck, and dug my universal windscreen out of the garage). Had the screen mounted up nice and high........ and had fogging problems in my helmet. I was dressed too warm and blocked off too much wind!

[Watcher]

Layers is key.  I'd even say it may be worth while to you, if you're commuting, to bring a change of clothes so you can layer more specifically and not crumple/sweat up your work clothes and otherwise be uncomfortable on the bike.

Hands and feet are often overlooked for layers, a cheap way to add some insulation are latex/nitrile gloves and plastic bags.  Those keep the wind from pulling moisture off your hands/feet, but inevitably make your hands/feet sweat which can be dangerous if you aren't headed someplace you can fully dry and warm up, so this is a last minute/emergency option.
Instead, go to your local CycleGear (or military surplus) for some glove and boot liners.


Other than gear, I'll advise some behavior.  STOP if you feel numbness or pain in your extremities.  Getting to work on time isn't worth the cost of frostbite, and if you look up a wind chill chart you can easily see how quickly that can become a real danger.

Having been there and done that "I can make it one more gas station before I stop" turns into 5 more gas stations and you are just putting yourself at further unnecessary risk.

[HerpityDerp]

how do you prepare you prepare for winter riding?

https://i.imgur.com/7KoCcPU.gif

[Watcher]

how do you prepare you prepare for winter riding?

https://i.imgur.com/7KoCcPU.gif

Well, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) most of us aren't Dr. Rockso the Rock 'n' Roll Clown, so that method may not be effective.

[HerpityDerp]

how do you prepare you prepare for winter riding?

https://i.imgur.com/7KoCcPU.gif

Well, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) most of us aren't Dr. Rockso the Rock 'n' Roll Clown, so that method may not be effective.

Definitely not, but it was the first (and most hilarious) response I thought of.  In all seriousness though, the last time I had to prepare for cold weather was winter rain on the Hayabusa - but our winters in Australia don't hold a candle to other places of the world.  The cold was more due to wet + high speed rather than straight low temperatures.  Thermal undergarments, thick pants/socks and a consistent loop through my earphones of "Harden the f***up" is all I do.

[gsJack]

I rode year around here in NE Ohio in temps down to 20F on my 97 and 02 GSs and the 4 Hondas before them.  Had a small Spitfire shield on them summers and a bigger NC Plexi 2 or 3 on for winters.  The colder the day, the shorter the ride. 

[Kookas]

My F is my only practical way to work. Heated grips are the best. They also saved my ass when I got back from Spain only to find I'd left my gloves over there! Could hardly tell I wasn't wearing gloves thanks to the grips, although the battery definitely didn't like the extra demand - the bike had been sat in the cold airport motorbike parking for 5 days! It was a little reluctant to start up again after I shut it down. So I do recommend you avoid using heated grips for anything shorter than 10-mile journeys, although these Oxford Hot Grips I'm using flash when the battery's draining and eventually turn themselves off so the battery doesn't go flat, which is about what you need really!

[Big Rich]

Good point Kookas- but that reminds me:

Some "winter" riding gloves are made for heated grips, and some are not. Usually you can find out in the description (aka, insulation in the palms aren't as good for heated grips). I don't have heated grips, but in the colder months I add some Moose Racing foam hand guards. They look like Mickey Mouse ears on my bars, but I haven't found a low temperature that I can't ride in between the hand guards and winter gloves.

Anything you can do to keep wind from robbing your body heat will help immensely.

[J_Walker]

+1 for keeping the wind from hitting you in the first place.

wearing rubber medical gloves over leather gloves actually friggin work's. living in Florida there's no reason to own winter gloves. but it can get chilly at nights during January. those chemical hand warmers are pretty good too, they are like 6 bucks for 10.

[barry905]

Most of the posts here are dealing with keeping warm in winter, which is the obvious thing. However, we should not forget that that is not the onlyu consideration. At low temperatures teh tires do not work as well as normal: that is they do not provide the same grip s in the summer. So if you are going to ride in cooler temperatures (less than 5 Centigrade), you should adjust your riding style accordingly, or see if you can find winter tires (good luck to that one). In colder weather the rubber in the tires will not warm up sufficiently so that when you lean into a turn the grip on the road will be decreased and the danger of slipping increased.

So please ride carefully.

[J_Walker]

*snip*
So please ride carefully.

if we're getting into that, battery's matter too... and oil.

[Bluesmudge]

My #1 winter riding tip is installing hippo hands on your bike. I don't like riding with thick winter gloves. With hippo hands and heated grips I can comfortably ride with thin summer gloves down to freezing temperatures or in the rain.

The other great thing is one of the bibs that attaches to the bottom of your helmet so you don't have freezing air flowing in. I like this better than a bulky neck gator.

[J_Walker]

My #1 winter riding tip is installing hippo hands on your bike. I don't like riding with thick winter gloves. With hippo hands and heated grips I can comfortably ride with thin summer gloves down to freezing temperatures or in the rain.

The other great thing is one of the bibs that attaches to the bottom of your helmet so you don't have freezing air flowing in. I like this better than a bulky neck gator.

fashionable scarf is my go-to for South eastern winters... lol if you wear a riding jacket stuff the tag ends into the front zipper area.