Cold weather riding

[frank5079]

I rode into work yesterday and before I got ready to leave my house at 7am, I noted that the outside temp was 17°F.

I have used my North Face goose down parka, along with my Widder heated vest with temps in the low to mid 20s but my legs get too cold. So I decided to wear my Columbia one piece ski suit. Under it, I wore my sweatpants and my regular work polo shirt. The ride was good, considering the outside temp and my forward velocity of 90mph brought the windchill factor of my ride to a bone chilling -11°F. Also even with glove liners under my Tour Master gauntlets, my finger tips were a little cold.

What was funny was to hear two guys at the gas station say, "Man, that guy is crazy!!!", while I was filling up my bike!!! unk:

 

[marsmax85]

Yep you heard right Your crazy !!

 

[DigitalArts]

Man I wouldn't dream of going that fast in the cold xD I've been riding for the last week on few mile trips to campus under 45mph and stuff but I don't have any heated gear or nice gear haha

 

[Traumahawk]

The coldest it ever got that I rode was 14. I had my helmet, gauntlets with thinsulate, and the trust leather jacket. I basically went from one job to the next one....32 miles away....and running late. I got there 20 mins later......but was VERY cold!!!!!!

 

[frank5079]

The coldest it ever got that I rode was 14. I had my helmet, gauntlets with thinsulate, and the trust leather jacket. I basically went from one job to the next one....32 miles away....and running late. I got there 20 mins later......but was VERY cold!!!!!!

Yup.... but the ride back home wasn't too bad...40°F.

 

[johnblaid]

I just bought a Gerbing EX Jacket, Gloves and Pants. The Jacket was a 3X and fit well, The Gloves were a large and fit well. Both of them work great. I feel I will be able to ride at 0 degrees ambient comfortably as long as there is no ice on the roads.

The pants however were a different story. I actually wear a size 44 Levis on the weekend but during the week I wear a size 48 and suspenders so they won't literally fall off as I am standing there. This is for concealed carry at work.

So I ordered a pair of 3X pants feeling that they should fit relatively well or a bit tightly but usable.

I bought them at Revzilla and when I called for an RMA I did not even get the chance to tell the guy anything other than "Hi, I bought a Gerbing EX Jacket, Gloves, and Pants.....

You can stop right there...you want to return the pants because they are way too small, right?

Uh...Yea.

What size did you order?

3x.

And what size do you wear?

44 privately and 48 at work with suspenders.

Yea...I was the first to try on the 3X Gerbing EX pants. I have a size 44 waist and there was no way I could even get them up to my waist. Our policy on these is to pay for return shipping...Right now I'm gonna email you an RMA number and a shipping label so you can just drop it at any UPS store and walk out. We've had some long discussions with Gerbing and they are going to fix this but not soon." So I sent them back...Be Warned.

So I bought a pair of Joe Rocket Ballistic 7 pants in 5X because so many pants do not offer larger sized unless you are talking about custom leather pants which would be useless in the winter without a very nice lining.

These pants are great. They have zippers in the sides but I don't need them. They have a really solid, thick waterproof lining that zips out if you need it to. Some of the Revzilla reviews say that the owners can ride down into the high 20's without the lining and that the pants would be useless in the summer due to a lack of ventilation. I think that's right but that works in my situation.

If you are using a heated jacket or jacket liner and heated gloves, I think these pants with the liners in them will not let you down even if you are in the single digit ambient temps with an 80 mph wind chill factor.

I just get dressed normally with no under layers (No Under Armor shirt or pants) and I slide right into these pants and button and zip them up at the waist, then I put my boots on with the inner liner inside my boots and the outer pant leg outside my boots and I'm ready to put my jacket, helmet, and gloves on and go. A quick, convenient process.

I commute every day if there is no ice. My entire trip is on the freeway. 40 miles up and 40 miles back. I do have a windshield but my legs are totally at the mercy of the wind.

Joe Rocket Ballistic 7. If you need a bigger size in winter only pants, this is your ticket.

 

[Redbone]

Thanks for the heads up and gear report John! We have no vendors in close proximity to me (couple hundred miles to find a store with decent stock) so gear reports help a lot with fit and quality.

 

[silverado6x6]

Shoot, I live in Alaska and my cutoff temp is 35f, it's too miserable riding any colder. We get way too much black ice on the roads, that and our excessively long winter with the massive grit and calcium chloride on the roads it's just a big mess. My last ride of the year was actually the first ride on my 85 Vmax the running one, not the other with the broken crank, sunny day but barely up to 40f. I had just bought it, usually I trailer my bikes home but I thought well let's just ride this one. No helmet, a medium jacket, bout froze my nose off.

 

[johnblaid]

Yea in Alaska I wouldn't ride either. But here in Texas when there has been no precipitation of any kind for a week and it gets cold, you can be pretty sure there is no black ice.

I rode to work in 27 degrees this morning and was toasty warm. Wearing a Shoei RF-1200 Helmet that keeps my head warm but has bad ventilation. I don't normally wear a helmet but instead, a new replica of a WWII RAF Fighter Pilot's helmet. It's a lot warmer and a lot weirder looking.

 

[jfeagins]

A friend of mine (back in the day) tried proving to me how tough he was by going for a ride on his 85 Amethyst when it was only 18 degrees out. I wouldn't go with him. A couple blocks from the house, his drive shaft let go, untwisted and snapped, when he let off the gas to decelerate w/o pulling in his clutch. I guess the 1st Gen shafts aren't designed for the frigid cold either, or at least the originals in 1985 weren't.

I've seen several shafts broken under acceleration, but only that one time have I ever seen one snapped during decelerating.

 

[woodsman30]

When gas prices was 5.00 a gallon I rode a lot in cold weather here is a suit to consider
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/36/i/firstgear-thermo-one-piece-suit?WT.ac=SLIsearch
I also wore mittens designed for loggers had the index finger and thumb and the rest was mitten.
I also use a helmet that I put leather from old chaps around the base to stop wind I would soak in water so it would be stiff when dry. one way ride was 30 miles and had no problems even in the single digits

 

[MtnMax/Magniac]

I have fun when people ask "Aren't you cold riding that thing?" I say "You know how the space shuttle glows red from air friction when returning from space? The answer is simple, just ride faster." Then I get on and ride away, leaving them scratching their heads.

 

[Tex85]

I have fun when people ask "Aren't you cold riding that thing?" I say "You know how the space shuttle glows red from air friction when returning from space? The answer is simple, just ride faster." Then I get on and ride away, leaving them scratching their heads.

I might have to borrow that one.

On the topic of cold weather gear. Does anyone ever use glove liners? I was thinking of getting a pair of gator skins to go under my regular winter gloves to add a bit of warmth and wind resistance. I am in SC now so I don't need crazy winter gear, but riding in the 40s and 50s causes me to lose feeling in my fingers. My winter gloves are supposedly wind proof (they aren't) but I used them while traveling for work up north. Should I even try the liners or just buy a set of gauntlets and be done with it?

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

 

[frank5079]

I wear Tour Master Polar Tex similar to these.....

along with some knit glove liners, my hands stay fairly warm.....

 

[blaxmax]

Coldest day of 2014-------------------60 degrees!!!!! 4 days of rain this year!!!!