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Posted: 12/13/2013 1:06:54 PM EDT
[#1]
I ride until the first snow storm when the roads get covered with sand and salt. The cold doesn't bother me, but sand and salt does. I rode to work quite a few times this fall with temps in the mid-20's.
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Posted: 12/13/2013 1:07:04 PM EDT
[#2]
I've commuted 40 miles to work in those temps. If you have the right gear (heated, preferably), it's not a big deal at all - can be downright fun in fact.
But, with the wrong gear it's the major suck and dangerous...and if there's ice or the possibility of it it's a deal killer for me. Not that ice can't be fun too.  |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 1:15:06 PM EDT
[#3]
When I worked locally I was commuting in my pickup. When winter arrived I had a guy on a sportbike who would draft very close behind me on days when we were on the road a the same time. We both worked in the same industrial park and got off the interstate at the same exit. I guess my Ford made a big enough hole in the air that he didn't have a wind chill issue when he pulled up close to my rear bumper.
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:02:44 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I've commuted 40 miles to work in those temps. If you have the right gear (heated, preferably), it's not a big deal at all - can be downright fun in fact. But, with the wrong gear it's the major suck and dangerous...and if there's ice or the possibility of it it's a deal killer for me. Not that ice can't be fun too. http://img.eatsleepride.com/content/list/13141.jpg they race motorcycles and jeeps on the frozen lake near Georgetown, CO every winter I was going to try and find some chains for my K1200LT 
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:08:35 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I used to ride when it was down in the 20s in the beginning. It's not that bad if you dress for it. You can go about 45 minutes to an our before the cold reached your bones. Then your legs would still be cold to the touch hours after you got home. Electric vest & chaps under your cold weather gear.. Add some heated grips.... People ride snow mobiles in cold weather, the right gear and it's fine...... |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:09:44 PM EDT
[#6]
Damn. I'm a bitch. I hate riding under 55 degrees unless I have to. I could dress warmer but I just don't find it enjoyable
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:10:43 PM EDT
[#7]
He wont be happy with what the salt will do to his aluminum parts!!!!..................He must be from Laconia..!!!
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:10:53 PM EDT
[#8]
In my younger years, I've ridden down to about 20F.
Wore a ski bib/pants, sort of have to improvise when you've got a beater car that just wasn't running at the moment. |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:17:25 PM EDT
[#9]
Heated leathers., I wish I had them, when I rode in sub-30's, i just put on like 4-5 layers of clothes.
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:17:25 PM EDT
[#10]
Got to wear good windproof clothes. At that temp and below, the wind BURNS! I've ridden down to 5 degrees. Of course the bike had snow tires (XR-200).
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:25:30 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I ride as long as the roads are clear. Ridden down to 14 degrees. |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:29:06 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
recently divorced dude. just trying to make it in a hard world. that is my guess Well, he should be wearing a Viking helmet then. |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:30:32 PM EDT
[#13]
I was riding down to 32°, but need better gloves. Rest of the body was well layered.
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:31:13 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: He wont be happy with what the salt will do to his aluminum parts!!!!..................He must be from Laconia..!!! People say that a lot, but I rode an aluminum framed Vstrom all winter and it still looked great after 5 years of that. When it's below freezing the salt doesn't really seem to affect it, and when it starts to get warm I just hosed it off. No issues, no rust, everything still looked good. |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:34:35 PM EDT
[#15]
I have ridden a motorcycle over 200 miles in one day with temps never getting out of the teens, in very good comfort, the coldest I have ever ridden was 5 degrees, I rode about 10 miles that morning, but that was just a little too cold for my gear. BTW, when I did this, I didn't have any heated gear, at that time it wasn't commonly available.
Its all in the gear, if you have the right gear, its not really that big a deal. These days there is all kinds of heated gear available, and the bikes electrical systems have been improved tremendously the last 20 years, better able to stand up to the electrical loads. |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:38:44 PM EDT
[#16]
Three coworkers rode their bikes to work today, of course the high tomorrow is forecast at 81 degrees
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:40:03 PM EDT
[#17]
Now that I have my heated seat, heated jacket liner and heated gloves I can ride when the temp gets down to 60
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:56:18 PM EDT
[#18]
The guy I bought my bike from rode it for 3 years, every day, only transportation. He lived in Pittsburgh. No heated anything.
Being a Floridian, I don't have any heated gear. I do know how to layer clothes though. I have ridden in 20 degrees a couple of times. I even rode today. Helmet and gloves were my only protective equipment. I was sweating a bit at the red lights though 
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Posted: 12/13/2013 3:58:20 PM EDT
[#19]
Umm no...but that reminds me I need to go start it up
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Posted: 12/13/2013 4:03:44 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: People say that a lot, but I rode an aluminum framed Vstrom all winter and it still looked great after 5 years of that. When it's below freezing the salt doesn't really seem to affect it, and when it starts to get warm I just hosed it off. No issues, no rust, everything still looked good. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: He wont be happy with what the salt will do to his aluminum parts!!!!..................He must be from Laconia..!!! People say that a lot, but I rode an aluminum framed Vstrom all winter and it still looked great after 5 years of that. When it's below freezing the salt doesn't really seem to affect it, and when it starts to get warm I just hosed it off. No issues, no rust, everything still looked good. I got some salt on the bare aluminum on my Vulcan. Left some small white discolored areas at first, but they have been buffed out since. |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 4:04:37 PM EDT
[#21]
Y'all are a bunch of pussies. I rode in 3 parades this past weekend. Put a couple hundred miles on my bike in apx. 20 deg. weather.
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Posted: 12/13/2013 4:12:09 PM EDT
[#22]
My biggest issue riding below 20 was that the wind would make my eyes tear up and my eyelashes would freeze together because of riding with my shield cracked open. If I rode with it closed, it would immediately ice up. That was with a Shoei w/o a pinlock shield. If I would have had an adventure touring type of helmet and goggles, it might have worked better.
I also had trouble getting batteries to turn over the engine when it got really cold. I'd put away the sv650 and get out the old kz650. You couldn't push start the sv either because the high compression would make the cold Metzler z6 tires just skid across the pavement. I don't ride when it is cold anymore, I like the coldest part of my morning being the walk from the parking lot into work. I must be getting old... Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 4:13:23 PM EDT
[#23]
I did -17 once. At stop lights I would grab the exhaust to warm up my hands.
It was only a couple of miles and it was 20 out when I left earlier in the day. (and I was much younger and stupid). |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 4:16:24 PM EDT
[#24]
all alone.....
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Posted: 12/13/2013 4:17:27 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Y'all are a bunch of pussies. I rode in 3 parades this past weekend. Put a couple hundred miles on my bike in apx. 20 deg. weather. BS.........doesn't get that cold in Somalia!!!  |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 4:17:50 PM EDT
[#26]
my personal permissible weather requirements are 45 deg at the time to leave the house and forecast of 65+ degrees with 25% chance or less of rain
I've left the house when it was a little bit cooler, but higher temps during the day would make up for it. I do have a windscreen and heated grips/seats. |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 4:23:02 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
My biggest issue riding below 20 was that the wind would make my eyes tear up and my eyelashes would freeze together because of riding with my shield cracked open. If I rode with it closed, it would immediately ice up. That was with a Shoei w/o a pinlock shield. If I would have had an adventure touring type of helmet and goggles, it might have worked better. [/span] Quote HistoryQuoted:
My biggest issue riding below 20 was that the wind would make my eyes tear up and my eyelashes would freeze together because of riding with my shield cracked open. If I rode with it closed, it would immediately ice up. That was with a Shoei w/o a pinlock shield. If I would have had an adventure touring type of helmet and goggles, it might have worked better. [/span] I have one of those cheap "Fog City" inserts on my RF. Works pretty damn well for something that was less than $15. The only time I have to keep it cracked is fog; which does really suck when it is cold out. I'd like to try out a Pinlock, but that's an ~$80 investment, and I don't particularly want to spend that without being able to see what it's really like first. Quoted:
I also had trouble getting batteries to turn over the engine when it got really cold. I'd put away the sv650 and get out the old kz650. You couldn't push start the sv either because the high compression would make the cold Metzler z6 tires just skid across the pavement. [/span] I had to stop riding early this year (pre-Thanksgiving... I'll normally ride up until it starts snowing consistently, which is about now) because the battery is dying on my SV. With the Duc still down (after the transmission exploded), it was my only ride left. Rather than pony up for a new battery now, for what would have been a month or less of riding, I just put it away. I'll go buy a new battery in Feb/Mar when the bikes come back out. |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 4:32:34 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
There's a couple of guys up here that ride year round... one of them is my customer and he doesn't even own a car, just 2 Harleys... - Clint There's a few that ride trikes with studded tires around ANC.
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Posted: 12/13/2013 4:45:04 PM EDT
[#29]
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Posted: 12/13/2013 5:37:51 PM EDT
[#30]
Riding a bike isn't so bad in the winter, helmet keeps your face warm, leather over warm clothes keeps the rest of you OK, basically dress up like snowmobiling.
Problem isn't so much the ice, but the damn corners where the sand accumulates from where they put it on ice. Ice you can sort of see and dodge after it's melted/sublimed a bit. The ball-bearing sand is just everywhere, which really sucks. I won't ride a snowmobile down a ditch/right of way anymore. Only inside fences where I know the terrain. Too many people killed every year from unseen culverts and fences.
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Posted: 12/13/2013 7:09:36 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
There's a few that ride trikes with studded tires around ANC. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
There's a couple of guys up here that ride year round... one of them is my customer and he doesn't even own a car, just 2 Harleys... - Clint There's a few that ride trikes with studded tires around ANC. The guy on the trike with the wolverine hat and gloves is my customer "Frank"... not only does he ride a trike in -30 below cold, he also regularly eats puppys and kittens for breakfast (alive), and drinks gasoline when they run out of Everclear at Fantasies On 5th Avenue... - Clint |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 7:21:46 PM EDT
[#32]
BTDT... of course, I was 20 and had missed the train to school the 2nd to last day of finals.
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Posted: 12/13/2013 7:23:23 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Damn. I'm a bitch. I hate riding under 55 degrees unless I have to. I could dress warmer but I just don't find it enjoyable |
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Posted: 12/13/2013 7:35:39 PM EDT
[#34]
Good for him.
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