Here in Michigan I find the mornings in the spring and fall somewhat chilly therefore I do not ride my bike to work. Then when the afternoon sun worms things up I regret not riding. To cure this I just purchased the Gerbing’s heated jacket liner and the G3 heated gloves. I never thought I would ever buy heated clothing but it was well worth it.
How warm does it need to be outside for you to ride your motorcycle with or without heated gear?
I've only got 2 years on this SG. The coldest I've ridden in was about 30F. Covered in leather, no problem. I plan on doing it from now on. I'm sure that's not the record, but much colder than that, and I would reconsider.
I picked up a pair of gloves from REI, a camping store. Looking for cold weather gloves that are water proof, every bike shop wanted a lot of cash. Found a good pair from REI for about 40 bucks.
I agree with Farmstead. Ill ride until there is snow or ice. I can ride comfortabally until about zero then it gets a bit chilly. I use an electric vest, gloves, and good layering to keep warm.
Raynaud's syndrome will cut into the cold weather riding too.
One way to mitigate Raynaud's is to avoid cold and vibration - yeah, that'll work on a HD in Maine in November
I used to ride when it was below freezing, but don't anymore. About 40F is my limit. Don't like the cold. I've heard it said you shouldn't ride when the temp is below your age. If I did that I'd only be riding from mid April thru mid October. . . As it is I ride generally from mid March through mid November with a stray day here and there the other months, rarely in Jan or Feb.
40ish layered. Below that, I put on the heated stuff and happy to ride well below freezing. I agree, it's all in the gear. Snow/ice is the only real no-go.
I rode the Night Train to work this morning. 38 degrees, and I wore deerskin lined gloves, a fleece jacket under my FXRG (no liner), a half helmet, and a scarf around my face & ears. 43 miles on the DC Beltway and I-95, and I was seriously cold when I got to work. It'll be worth it for the ride home.
I have a full set of textile Gerbings for seriously cold weather. I've ridden into the teens with them on.
Below 50 degrees and I'll use the heated gloves, at my age the dgits just don't thaw as quickly if I don't. One trick I do is to heat the gloves prior to the ride. I got a 110v to 12v converter and an adapter from Gerbings that basically allows me to plug the gloves into a wall socket and get them nice and warm before I put them on. This way the gloves only have to stay warm in the cold air rather than heat up during the ride. My gloves are the older style not the new micro wire ones. I will be buying a new pair for next winter, tried them at the Cycle World show and they are much better. BTW, 12 degrees this past winter. Coworkers called me crazy that day, next day was 8 degress, didn't ride so they called me a wimp!:redrolf:
25 degrees was the coldest i have ridden on my 30 mile commute. no heating gloves or heating vest. just good quality warm riding gears. it wasn't that bad.
I bought Gerbing gear when I lived in Seattle and loved it, I would ride down to about 37 degrees before I worried about black Ice.
Here is a really BIG hint...register your gear with Gerbing..I bought mine direct form them in Brinnon, Wa. They have now record of my purchase and so now I have a useless vest and controller because I can't prove my original purchase. Course now that I'm in Texas I guess I really don't need it much but it is just the principle of the whole thing.
28 degrees. in spring i wait for the first good rain to wash the salt off the roads and ride till the 1st salt of winter. i know guys that ride in the snow,to me its not worth it.
I ride to work every day when there is no ice or snow that sticks. The coldest I ever rode was 17 degrees. Nice leather jacket,skid lid, fleece face mask, insulated pants, good gloves, and of course boots. 40 miles one way. Last week I left early morning for work, it was a little cold but on my way home the snow was coming down faster than I was. In spring it needs to snow pretty good to stick and I knew time was not on my side. Evidently my pride would not accept that ride from a fellow a-hole coworker. I chose to ride and paid the piper, I got wet fast, the worst part was the fact my goggles were attracting snow almost as fast as I could wipe them off. And my body was collecting a slushy ice tomb. Not a smart thing to do considering I was going through a canyon pretty much one handed with rush hour traffic. I guess what I am saying is I ate a huge bowl of stupid in the morning when I should have watched the am news. Anyway doesn't your bike like to run in cold weather too?
My dont ride temp is anything below 30 because of culverts that will have black ice on them in the carolinas at around 28 and 29 degrees, but i have been caught at work (i work nights) when the weather man lied and have ridden down to 20 degrees. The gear i have is not heated but made for the temps and i was comfortable except where i knew i was crossing a culvert.
38 is the magic number for me. I used to ride down to the teens (about as frigid as it ever gets in AL), but a patch of black ice on one of the three bridges I cross on my commute changed my mind.
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