Winter is a-coming

[tastroman]

If you are not running electrics a large windsceen helps immensely. I primarily ride a scooter in the winter for this reason, full body wind protection. It's night and day when compared to my motorcycle which has a small windscreen.

[Snapper]

Originally Posted by woolsocks

Thanks!!! I suppose it varies by tire choice too, but what temps would you start to pay more attention to cold tires? 40s, 30s?

As long as you're not running pure sport/DOT race tires, which are designed to run best with a lot of heat, I don't think you have worry about it... just run your tire about 3-4 psi lower in winter, and start out gradually for a couple of miles. The greater worry will be morning frost, sanded roads, shadowed moisture, melt and freeze cycles from snowbanks, etc. Best temp range for me is 35-40 degrees since ice will melt on road surfaces but its still too cold for the snowbanks to leave the nasty salty cocktail all over the place.

I actually do my hardest riding during winter months - with the foliage down, I feel much safer without the blind corners and I have half a chance at seeing the dumb forest rats charging. Here's one of my winter tires, on in Nov - off in March.... I can't wear a tire like this during the summer.

CLICKY

[rgoers]

Originally Posted by Stegerman

I have heated grips.. when it gets in the 20's and teens grips aren't enough.

Hmmmm... something wrong there... I've ridden my snowmobiles in -15 F (yes, minus 15) for hours at a time and never had a problem with the heated grips not being enough.

[DAKEZ]

Tomorrow morning will be my last rain-free commute in the forseeable future for the wet-side of Oregon. I am ready with a good selection of gear to keep me warm, dry and comfortable.

I am starting a new group called PA (Poseurs Anonymous)

Bill: "Hi, I'm Bill and I didn't ride today because it was too cold"

Corus: "HI BILL"

Spokesperson: "Bill, have you seen these new ALL-season Jackets with matching pants?"

Bill: "Do you mean I can ride all year?... What's the first step?"

[rivercreep]

Originally Posted by DAKEZ

Tomorrow morning will be my last rain-free commute in the forseeable future for the wet-side of Oregon. I am ready with a good selection of gear to keep me warm, dry and comfortable.

I am starting a new group called PA (Poseurs Anonymous)

Bill: "Hi, I'm Bill and I didn't ride today because it was too cold"

Corus: "HI BILL"

Spokesperson: "Bill, have you seen these new ALL-season Jackets with matching pants?"

Bill: "Do you mean I can ride all year?... What's the first step?"

I hope I find myself in your part of the States one day so I can buy you a Beer. It'd be a THANK YOU! for all the times you've made me laugh my ass off!

[Mr. B]

Originally Posted by rgoers

Hmmmm... something wrong there... I've ridden my snowmobiles in -15 F (yes, minus 15) for hours at a time and never had a problem with the heated grips not being enough.

Some of us wussies get cold hands no matter how well the heated grips work. I have riding buddies who ride in the 40s and don't even need heated grips--just heavy gloves. I'm not so fortunate.

[woolsocks]

It's been raining the last couple days here in Minneapolis. The rain started turning to snow mid morning and I rode my bike in today. Luckily the snow isn't sticking, but this afternoon commute with all the snow falling will be interesting....I love getting the crazy looks from the cagers when I'm out in inclement weather. Looks like it might be time to winterize the bike and put it away soon though, so I better enjoy it while it lasts!

[Yossarian™]

Looks like youse bastids on the east coast are in for one heckuva storm right soon.

[Aussijussi]

On the last few ride's, the temperature has been 2 celsius- 35 fahr. or there abouts, my hands just get frozen, the leather mits i was testing, were just too cumbersome, gore-tex cloves feel cold afer 1/2 hour, other than my hands, no worrie's. Ice is starting to appear regularly, especially bad on the minor roads that i use, and they dont use salt on them like they do on major routes. So it was time to store the orange beast for the next five month's, i usually start riding again end of march, depending on the snow situation.

[woolsocks]

Originally Posted by Aussijussi

On the last few ride's, the temperature has been 2 celsius- 35 fahr. or there abouts, my hands just get frozen, the leather mits i was testing, were just too cumbersome, gore-tex cloves feel cold afer 1/2 hour, other than my hands, no worrie's. Ice is starting to appear regularly, especially bad on the minor roads that i use, and they dont use salt on them like they do on major routes. So it was time to store the orange beast for the next five month's, i usually start riding again end of march, depending on the snow situation.

Sadly I might be storing mine this weekend. I must admit it's becoming a pain in the ass putting on all my gear, layer after layer after layer, but I love riding, so I suppose it's worth it, but my commute to work is only about 30 minutes but it takes me 10 minutes to put all my gear on and load up the bike and then I have to unload when I get to work.

I'll see what the forecast is for the next 2 weeks. It's supposed to be 20 degrees F to 40 degrees F (-6 degrees C to 4 degrees C) during the upcoming couple weeks. I don't mind the cold but with freezing rain or snow at those temps it's a different story.

[Mr. B]

Originally Posted by woolsocks

Sadly I might be storing mine this weekend. I must admit it's becoming a pain in the ass putting on all my gear, layer after layer after layer, but I love riding, so I suppose it's worth it, but my commute to work is only about 30 minutes but it takes me 10 minutes to put all my gear on and load up the bike and then I have to unload when I get to work.

I'll see what the forecast is for the next 2 weeks. It's supposed to be 20 degrees F to 40 degrees F (-6 degrees C to 4 degrees C) during the upcoming couple weeks. I don't mind the cold but with freezing rain or snow at those temps it's a different story.

My wife laughs at how long it takes me to get all bundled- and wired-up with heated gear to go for a ride.

As I get older I'm less inclined to ride around in the cold. I'll wait for it to get above 40 before I ride again. We may get a couple more riding days before our first real snow

[rivercreep]

Originally Posted by Yossarian™

Looks like youse bastids on the east coast are in for one heckuva storm right soon.

...makes no difference to anyone but the wannabes.

[BanjoBoy]

Originally Posted by rgoers

Hmmmm... something wrong there... I've ridden my snowmobiles in -15 F (yes, minus 15) for hours at a time and never had a problem with the heated grips not being enough.

Yeah, butt it's a dry cold!

[woolsocks]

Looks like I've met the limit to my current gear for this season, so the bike will be put away...I'll be buying better gear for next season but don't have funds right now to invest in proper gear. Does anyone use lobster-style gloves on a motorcycle? Any downsides to using the controls?

[bighairless]

Originally Posted by woolsocks

Looks like I've met the limit to my current gear for this season, so the bike will be put away...I'll be buying better gear for next season but don't have funds right now to invest in proper gear. Does anyone use lobster-style gloves on a motorcycle? Any downsides to using the controls?

You probably have been here before but in case you havn't...Dr Mudspringer's, right across the street from the Harley dealer on Central (hwy 65 a few miles north of 694) carries a good supply of Winter riding gloves. Last I checked they had more Winter options than Bob's cycle off hwy 36.

I don't like bulky gloves and I haven't tried the lobster gloves but I did find a winner with Olympia Windtex. They are really quite thin...at first I thought they wouldn't have enough insulation but the sales guy is a Winter rider and he said that's what he uses. They work well for me. I'm still riding/cummute every day and my ride home from work is at midnight. These gloves can keep me on the bike for about an hour with temps in the 20's and I don't have heated grips...and I don't 'push it' with cold hands to anywhere near the point there would be a reduction in reaction time.

Good luck finding the gear you need.