Ok,  I searched but may have missed something.

I keep my bike at work in an open air garage.  I generally keep all my gear in the trunk of my car so I can ride whenever I want.  

I lost my helmet literature, so I was wondering if it was a bad idea to leave my helmet in my trunk as the temperature starts to drop.  Should I just leave it locked up at my desk and deal with the hassle of coming in on the weekends to get it?

Thoughts?

It won't hurt it, but if the weather is cold I try not to let my helmet get cold no matter what. It's what keeps my head warm.  I can never seem to get my head warm once the inside of the helmet is cold. By cold I'm talking about ambient temps below 40 F.  And I'm assuming we're talking about a full helmet here. Otherwise what I said does not apply.

Dave Geyer

Quote from: dhgeyerIt won't hurt it, but if the weather is cold I try not to let my helmet get cold no matter what. It's what keeps my head warm.  I can never seem to get my head warm once the inside of the helmet is cold. By cold I'm talking about ambient temps below 40 F.  And I'm assuming we're talking about a full helmet here. Otherwise what I said does not apply.

Dave Geyer

Full face Shoei.   I wasn't really thinking about it from a "it will be cold when you put it on" perspective.  Something to keep in mind though.

Mildew is the only threat...

Keep it DRY!!

Dry is the key, get the inside damp and it aint good. Keep it dry and invest in a balaclava if you want to ride in  cold conditions, and / or a neck tube if its real cold.

I'm assuming my trunk is dry but I'll take a look.  And I have a silk skull cap that keeps me warm.  Thanks for the input

if it starts to get real cold you are going to want somethign around your neck. One of my frineds made me a homemade neck tube that goes down into my jacket and i tuck it up under my helmet when ridign in nov or dec.

Jake

I have a fleeze zip up pull over jacket thingy that zips all the way up my neck.  I wore it under my riding jacket last night in the ~57 degree weather at highway speeds.

Result?  I couldn't feel any wind or tell what the ambient temperature was anywhere on my upper-body.  The one main drawback is that its noticeably more difficult to keep my chin raised to see where I am going because of the fleece on the back of my neck (the helmet squeezes it a bit).... but its going to be a good solution if I ever have to ride in cool temperatures.  All I have to do now is find a way to keep my legs and ankles warm too

QuoteAll I have to do now is find a way to keep my legs and ankles warm too

wear pants when you ride?    

Quote from: MrDanI'm assuming my trunk is dry but I'll take a look.  And I have a silk skull cap that keeps me warm.  Thanks for the input

If it gets cold enough the air will condense and the water in the air will perhaps hit dew point and embed itself into your fibers. When you put the helmet on it will warm up and there will be water there thus becoming damp and icky.

Leaving your helmet outside is a bad idea.  Respiration and skin moisture will accumulate in the shell.  Condensation will never evaporate during the winter months.

Better take your gear inside as the temperature drops into the frost range (i.e. less than 34F).  Inside the moisture will evaporate, but outside it'll take a forever when snow sticks around.

Ok - I'm convinced.  I'll keep it locked up at work when it's not on my head  

I've never given a thought to keeping my helmets inside.  The're usually in the garage all winter.  I've ridden all winter here in NE OH since I srarted riding 21 years ago.  I ride when the streets are not slippery, they are mostly wet with salt water around here in winter so can ride down into the upper teens F. A light weight cotton balaclava that covers the mouth but not the nose takes care of helmet fogging around town, doesn't fog at road speeds.  Can always flip up visor and then flip face of helmet if eye glasses fog badly.

Got a pair of Wrangler jeans that are lined with bright red thinsulate that are good down into the 30Fs and add some lightweight longjohns under those when it's colder.  A pair of heavy outdoor type socks that go up to the knees and tall boots to take care of the cold air that blows up the pant legs.

Use to layer up the top of my body till I looked like the Michilen Man before I discovered fleece,  now a fleece vest with a heavy full sleeved fleece over it is all I need with a JR Meteor jacket with lining.  A pair of heavy insulated gloves with gauntlets that go up over the jacket sleeves keeps the hands OK except in coldest weather when I wear a pair of very heavy long gauntlet snowmobile type gloves.

A few additional thoughts on winter riding.  A NC Plexi 2 type windshield with wings that extend out to shield the hands from the wind makes a very big difference.  Always, and I mean always carry one more layer of clothes than you think you need for when you start to shiver and need more clothes.  Hypothermia sets in sooner as you get older.  I carry some heavy waterproof 600 denier mc overpants and a heavy down vest in my tail bag for when needed to get home.     If you keep your upper body warm enough you don't need as much on the arms and hands and legs and feet to keep feeling warm.

And best of all, you won't be bothered by all those 40s and 50s year old yuppie kids on their hugh chrome plated cruisers till spring and warm weather arrives again.

Quote from: NiceGuysFinishLast

QuoteAll I have to do now is find a way to keep my legs and ankles warm too

wear pants when you ride?    

Wear boots that cover the bottoms of your pants.  Alternately, have pants that blouse tightly around your boots.

I always feel a little chill when I see a guy riding around on a cruiser with the cuffs of his dockers blowing around in the wind when it's like 40 degrees out.  Or the guys with their legs up on the highway pegs, pants fully inflated.  I s'pose that'll wake you up in the morning though.  Brisk!

I bow before GS Jack's formidable wisdom.

I'll take those suggestions under advisement for sure.

Where can I get some of those clip-on/handlebar wind guards?  I'll probably want some for the winter

Quote from: gsJackUse to layer up the top of my body till I looked like the Michilen Man before I discovered fleece,  now a fleece vest with a heavy full sleeved fleece over it is all I need with a JR Meteor jacket with lining.

Polartec is magic...and comfy.

Quote from: gsJackAnd best of all, you won't be bothered by all those 40s and 50s year old yuppie kids on their hugh chrome plated cruisers till spring and warm weather arrives again.

:lol:  :lol:  :lol:  

Quote from: gsJackAnd best of all, you won't be bothered by all those 40s and 50s year old yuppie kids on their hugh chrome plated cruisers till spring and warm weather arrives again.

Just all those crazy "kids" like you buzzing around on those gal'durn sportbikes...dag nabbit.  

Leather is great for keeping wind out. If you've got a leather jacket with a liner you should be good down to the 40s or 50s. Add a thermal shirt (or something like Under Armour's cold weather shirts) and you should be good for even more.