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Glad to be in Deep South Texas .... only direction to ride is North .... Ain't crossin the river, ...,
Cold weather sucks!!!
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I wear my (office) work clothes, and just bear it, but my commute is only 5.6 miles each way. ~20 minutes of suffering isn't so bad, especially when half of that is spent at traffic lights.
My "least cold riding" two wheeler is this Indian made Vespa PX150:
The combination of the solid fore-shield and under-deck, plus the windshield means every thing but my hands and head are out of the breeze. The one thing a Shadow has, that this lacks, is a big hand warmer between my knees for use at the traffic lights. I wouldn't recommend this scooter for the highway, as it tops out around 60 mph, but the 92.6 mpg is very pleasant. That's a $4.00 fill up every 10 days or so.
For hard core winter scooterists, (more common in europe than the USA), the folks at Tucano long ago created the Termoscud, which adds an insulated flexible skirt around the rider, like a kayak.
I've seen pictures of similar rigs for the asian market that add a bubble overhead. At that point, you got 85% of a car. I think you would also be very vulnerable to side gusts.
I live in a Southern California. So when it gets to 70 degrees and below, I'm freezing! Last year a friend and I went on a last minute trip to Oregon and back. Once we left Southern California the temp ranges were between 20 - 50 degrees. I was able to cobble enough riding gear to keep "comfortable" but I didn't bring any type of "winter" gloves. Since then I've bought a used heated jacket liner and glove liner. Not super bulky and I can wear them under my regular leather jacket and gloves.
Now that it's getting into the low 60's I don't have to tough it out like before (I work mids and I usually ride home between 7:00 and 8:00pm). The heated jacket liner and gloves feels like a warm blanket surrounding me and at times I get kinda sleepy while riding my riding my motorcycle. During this winter months I keep the heated jacket liner and gloves in my saddle bag.
Now that it's getting into the low 60's I don't have to tough it out like before (I work mids and I usually ride home between 7:00 and 8:00pm). The heated jacket liner and gloves feels like a warm blanket surrounding me and at times I get kinda sleepy while riding my riding my motorcycle. During this winter months I keep the heated jacket liner and gloves in my saddle bag.
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I ride all year round here in Maryland.....As long as the roads are clear, will ride. Even looking at new bikes.....Grew up in Northern Saskatchewan......Can recall a very cold and wintery January, and there was this fellow out on a harley......no clue how he managed to not be slippin/sliddin!!
A few years attending University in Ottawa, Canada a friend and I rode year-round. The only days we missed were days it got warmer and then cold again so ice. We used ski gear for clothing. No way I can do that anymore. Somehow heat does not bother me but anything under 50F and I am done. My usual minimal spring temp is 15C (60F)
I've got heavy carhartt coat, bibs ,and gloves don't get cold really except my thumbs like to go numb been looking at heated grips and handle bar muffs
Got them both and I ride most all year up here in pa.
Been going solid up here in Portland everyday! First light snow of the season today, but hopefully melting before work tomorrow. I'm perfectly fine with the cold being fat and hairy, the biggest issue is the condensation/rain in my visor/glasses. Pinlock stands no chance thus far 😅
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I also rode this morning, but is was a balmy 29 degress when I left the house. Going to rain the rest of the week so the bike will remain parked. I stopped riding in the rain as the cagers just don't know how to drive in the rain. BjornNelson: you mentioned the pinlock not doing it's job? Mine works perfectly! I will get condensation all the way around the pinlock, but its clear in the center where it needs to be.
Maybe your pinlock seal has gone bad or gotten dirty?
I find that the best thing to do is to keep the visor and pinlock spotlessly clean inside and out to minimize the chance of condensation. I have had cateract surgery so I no longer need to wear glasses for riding which REALLY helps!
Maybe your pinlock seal has gone bad or gotten dirty?
I find that the best thing to do is to keep the visor and pinlock spotlessly clean inside and out to minimize the chance of condensation. I have had cateract surgery so I no longer need to wear glasses for riding which REALLY helps!
Those hand warmer packet things are your friend. I’ll stick about 20 all over in every pocket and inside my gloves when I go on a cod ride,
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OK I have a funny story regarding motorcycles, riding in the cold, and those old style hand warners that use burning charcoal sticks to produce heat.
My older brother had joined the Air Force when I was 16. While in basic training, he had saved up his money to buy a motorcycle. He flew home and my mom drove him down to Knoxville, TN about 150 miles from our home in eastern, KY to a Triumph dealer where he purchased a Triumph 750 Triple Trident. That was a beautiful machine! Black and chrome and fast!
Being it was November, and only in the low thirties, he had borrowed my dads big red hunting suit and shooters mitts to keep warm on the way home. Now this was the mid 1970's, neither the suit nor the gloves was made from nylon so were not wind proof. We had not gone 20 miles when he pulled onto the shoulder near about frozen. He gets off the bike and climbs into the Jeep CJ5 we had at the time to try to warm up. When mom asked him what part of his body was the coldest he replied his hands. So she reaches in the glove box and pulls out these two small red cases that looked like the case you would put a large set of glasses in. She opened one of them up and inside was just thick insulation and a silver looking stick of charcoal. She explained that you light the charcoal, place it inside and close it up. The charcoal would very slowly burn and produce a lot of heat. Each stick was good for about 30 minutes. She lit them both and told him to stick them in the outer pockets of the hunting suit and when his hands got cold he could stick them in the pockets to warm them.
After a few minutes he was warm enough, put the cases into the front pockets of the suit, and got back on the bike.
Now this bike had no windshield so he was riding sort of hunched over to present as low a profile to the wind as possible. Every couple of miles he would sit up and put one of his hands in his pockets to warm them up. After about 10 miles, everything seemed to be going well when all the sudden, he veers off the highway, slides to a stop on the side of the road, jumps off the bike and starts beating himself with his hands! At that moment we noticed the suit was SMOKING!!! He finally gets his gloves off, reaches in the front pockets of the suit, pulls out the two red cases and hurls them to the ground! Each one was seeping smoke from it.
Mom ran up to him and he expained that the hand warmers kept getting warmer and warmer to the point they were too hot to touch.
Turn out the cases themselves were not wind proof and the wind had gotten to the charcaol causing it to flare up and over heat! After a good laugh and a few jokes about ole smoky, mom came up with the idea to wrap each case in a couple of layers of newspaper to keep the wind from penetrating them, and to provide a bit more insulation between the case and the suit. The idea worked perfectly and he was able to get the bike on home without further incident stopping to install new charcoal sticks every 30 minutes or so. He also had to add oil to the Triumph twice as it was not only burning it as the bike was breaking in, but leaking it from several case seals. (That latter turned out to be a "feature" of this bike! It leaked oil till the day he sold it!)
Though I do not have those two original charcoal hand warmers, I later bought another set of those things for hiking at altitude in winter in Colorado and they still work great!
My older brother had joined the Air Force when I was 16. While in basic training, he had saved up his money to buy a motorcycle. He flew home and my mom drove him down to Knoxville, TN about 150 miles from our home in eastern, KY to a Triumph dealer where he purchased a Triumph 750 Triple Trident. That was a beautiful machine! Black and chrome and fast!
Being it was November, and only in the low thirties, he had borrowed my dads big red hunting suit and shooters mitts to keep warm on the way home. Now this was the mid 1970's, neither the suit nor the gloves was made from nylon so were not wind proof. We had not gone 20 miles when he pulled onto the shoulder near about frozen. He gets off the bike and climbs into the Jeep CJ5 we had at the time to try to warm up. When mom asked him what part of his body was the coldest he replied his hands. So she reaches in the glove box and pulls out these two small red cases that looked like the case you would put a large set of glasses in. She opened one of them up and inside was just thick insulation and a silver looking stick of charcoal. She explained that you light the charcoal, place it inside and close it up. The charcoal would very slowly burn and produce a lot of heat. Each stick was good for about 30 minutes. She lit them both and told him to stick them in the outer pockets of the hunting suit and when his hands got cold he could stick them in the pockets to warm them.
After a few minutes he was warm enough, put the cases into the front pockets of the suit, and got back on the bike.
Now this bike had no windshield so he was riding sort of hunched over to present as low a profile to the wind as possible. Every couple of miles he would sit up and put one of his hands in his pockets to warm them up. After about 10 miles, everything seemed to be going well when all the sudden, he veers off the highway, slides to a stop on the side of the road, jumps off the bike and starts beating himself with his hands! At that moment we noticed the suit was SMOKING!!! He finally gets his gloves off, reaches in the front pockets of the suit, pulls out the two red cases and hurls them to the ground! Each one was seeping smoke from it.
Mom ran up to him and he expained that the hand warmers kept getting warmer and warmer to the point they were too hot to touch.
Turn out the cases themselves were not wind proof and the wind had gotten to the charcaol causing it to flare up and over heat! After a good laugh and a few jokes about ole smoky, mom came up with the idea to wrap each case in a couple of layers of newspaper to keep the wind from penetrating them, and to provide a bit more insulation between the case and the suit. The idea worked perfectly and he was able to get the bike on home without further incident stopping to install new charcoal sticks every 30 minutes or so. He also had to add oil to the Triumph twice as it was not only burning it as the bike was breaking in, but leaking it from several case seals. (That latter turned out to be a "feature" of this bike! It leaked oil till the day he sold it!)
Though I do not have those two original charcoal hand warmers, I later bought another set of those things for hiking at altitude in winter in Colorado and they still work great!
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Well and truly, cold weather sucks.
(I realize that what constitutes "cold" can very wildly with location and personal tolerance.)
My situation: While for me, it hasn't always been too cold to ride, lately I always seem to have something I have to do that prevents me from riding on the (relatively
) good days.
Gah!
While having a much higher tolerance for heat than most people I know, it seems counterbalanced by a lower tolerance for cold. Wearing the proper cold weather gear helps.
One of my cheap tricks: While properly warm layered gear is still necessary, I cut a chest-sized square of plastic tarp material that I place under my jacket as a wind break.
Stopping the wind from drawing heat from the body helps a lot. The tarp takes up so little room that I leave it folded in the top case.
(I realize that what constitutes "cold" can very wildly with location and personal tolerance.)
My situation: While for me, it hasn't always been too cold to ride, lately I always seem to have something I have to do that prevents me from riding on the (relatively
) good days.Gah!
While having a much higher tolerance for heat than most people I know, it seems counterbalanced by a lower tolerance for cold. Wearing the proper cold weather gear helps.
One of my cheap tricks: While properly warm layered gear is still necessary, I cut a chest-sized square of plastic tarp material that I place under my jacket as a wind break.
Stopping the wind from drawing heat from the body helps a lot. The tarp takes up so little room that I leave it folded in the top case.
I had never heard of solid fuel hand warmers before.
I'm surprised to see that this is still available, brand new Amazon.com: Celsius Long Lasting Warmth 507/HW Solid Fuel Hand Warmer Safe & Odorless : Sports & Outdoors
When I was in the marching band, back in high school, I had one of the liquid fueled versions of this. These take lighter fluid, ... naptha, and could also light your smokes.
Nowadays, thanks to modern chemistry, we have inexpensive, single use hot pads.
These are small enough to be pushed into one's gloves. Since these are air activated, I wonder if they would overheat if exposed to wind, such as the situation you described with your brother?
Taking the left hand from the bars and shoving it into your pocket while riding seems reasonable, but how did your brother warm his throttle hand while underway?
I use my rear cylinder as a hand warmer at the stop lights. It's quite effective, and in just the right spot.
On my trucks, and even my car, I've use the time honored "piece of cardboard in front of the radiator" during the coldest part of the winter, to preserve more heat for faster engine warmup and better cabin heating. With all the heat that the engine is producing, it's a shame that we can't harvest a bit to keep us warm in the winter. Seems like we are wasting a lot of heat. An air duct from behind the radiator into one's latex biosuit, might be cozy, High visibility too!
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Been riding / commuting every day here in Tampa, FL area. 60's in the early AM and just about 80 when I'm headed home. Sorry, I'm sure some of you didn't want to hear that. Must say that in the middle of the summer it's too hot to ride here so this really is our best riding weather.
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I live in Texas so it isn't all that cold just yet. But I'm a new rider and I don't have gear for these winter temps yet.
My jacket and gloves are for summer weather. I'm currently just wearing plain denim jeans.
When I last went out it was like lower 40s I think but my fingertips and ankles were FREEZING. Like to the point where I had to pull over and warm up my hands for a bit before continuing on to work.
Gonna research some gloves and pants and orders those soon so I can keep riding even on the colder days.
For now I only ride with its 50+degrees.
My jacket and gloves are for summer weather. I'm currently just wearing plain denim jeans.
When I last went out it was like lower 40s I think but my fingertips and ankles were FREEZING. Like to the point where I had to pull over and warm up my hands for a bit before continuing on to work.
Gonna research some gloves and pants and orders those soon so I can keep riding even on the colder days.
For now I only ride with its 50+degrees.
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