Winterizing ME

bobhamlin · 10-13-2009, 11:23 AM

Went on a PGR mission early yesterday morning near York, PA. Layered up with T-shirt, denim shirt, vest, jacket liner, leather jacket, mittens, mitten liners, & chaps.

At the end of an hour's riding, I could feel the chill starting to penetrate.

When I returned home, my order of Gerbing cold weather gear had arrived: jacket liner, glove liners and cables, controls and more cables.

This morning, it was only about 50 degrees, so I decided to KISS and just try the jacket liner. I leave for work in the dark and, from that special insight that age increasingly brings into decision-making, figured that using motorcycle gloves to fumble with new controls that have the potential to broil me while commuting down I-270 could conjure a distraction or two. With only the liner, there was only one control.

It worked nicely. Toasty. Now that I have the control's LED feedback figured out, I'll try the glove liners next. I WILL have to develop an SOP for the most effective strategy of plugging, donning. zipping, buckling, starting the bike and closing the garage door.

Last winter, I rode down to 11 degrees. That came to be my limit when I had to wear my helmet into the building because my fingers were too cold to unbuckle the straps.

Luckily, I was the first one in. A leathered-up, face-shield-obscured humannoid walking stiffly down the corridor would cause ME alarm - even before coffee.

macmac · 10-13-2009, 11:54 AM

Forget cotton and find wool......

I could tell you all sorts of things I make to make due, but it would be a waste of time.

An example so you can see it would be a waste of time is i wear really long wool socks that would come just over my knee if I didn't cut the toes out so it comes well over my knee.

I wear these over my longies, and under my pants.

Maybe one you will try is a cotton ball in each finger tip for added air space, in not so very tight fitting gloves... You want that air space.

A real silk neckercheif, squares cut like pirate movies show, and where the doo rag came from...

I wear a silk rag that will wrap around my waist one and a half times if I want it too.

A silver ring I made in a turkshead knott acts as a slider. It keeps wind out pretty well and creates an air pocket to my belt where it tucks in.

I use that all winter anytime I am out. This rag is black and came from a silk dress I found in a used clothing store for 50 cents...

In real cold a silk set of longies under a wool set is great, and is very thin. maybe you will do that.

So much for wasted time eh?

fakebikerdude59 · 10-13-2009, 01:59 PM

You will love the Gerbing gear. Rode with just the gloves last year and added a battery powered vest for this year. I've used both twice and was nice and comfortable. I rode Sunday in 25 degrees with a t-shirt, heated vest, Fieldsheer jacket and liner and heated gloves. Felt like I was in my living room. I usually put everything on except the gloves which I put on the tank. I get on, plug in the battery lead pigtail, start the bike and then put on the gloves. I found that on really cold days I put on cotton glove liners and then just crank the heat all the way up. It's perfect and I don't have to worry about burning myself on the gloves. (My left one gets really hot at full temp and burned me to blisters the first time I used it.) I'm waiting for my heated boot insoles to arrive this week. That should extend the season even more.

AlabamaNomadRider · 10-13-2009, 07:41 PM

Dressing like that you should be able to ride in almost any weather except rain, ice and snow. Hope you guys will be able to ride through most of the winter.

**jestephens** · 10-13-2009, 08:01 PM

Like my grandpa used to say: "Weather shouldn't stop you, just slow you down."
But I do like to remind myself and others that COLD tires and COLD pavement have less cohesion than normal.

fakebikerdude59 · 10-13-2009, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlabamaNomadRider

Dressing like that you should be able to ride in almost any weather except rain, ice and snow. Hope you guys will be able to ride through most of the winter.

What's rain!

skeeter · 10-14-2009, 12:26 AM

ask zoom

skeeter · 10-14-2009, 12:31 AM

ok I got it

Tacoma. Just sent my baby back to Seattle.
She brought us some rain. It was actually nicer there than it was here. That will change.

superduty · 10-14-2009, 10:45 AM

Best advice I got years ago when hunting was "don't have anything cotton against your skin." Since I started following that, I've been much warmer.

10-13-2009, 11:23 AM	#1
bobhamlin Advanced Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Thurmont MD Posts: 760	Winterizing ME Went on a PGR mission early yesterday morning near York, PA. Layered up with T-shirt, denim shirt, vest, jacket liner, leather jacket, mittens, mitten liners, & chaps. At the end of an hour's riding, I could feel the chill starting to penetrate. When I returned home, my order of Gerbing cold weather gear had arrived: jacket liner, glove liners and cables, controls and more cables. This morning, it was only about 50 degrees, so I decided to KISS and just try the jacket liner. I leave for work in the dark and, from that special insight that age increasingly brings into decision-making, figured that using motorcycle gloves to fumble with new controls that have the potential to broil me while commuting down I-270 could conjure a distraction or two. With only the liner, there was only one control. It worked nicely. Toasty. Now that I have the control's LED feedback figured out, I'll try the glove liners next. I WILL have to develop an SOP for the most effective strategy of plugging, donning. zipping, buckling, starting the bike and closing the garage door. Last winter, I rode down to 11 degrees. That came to be my limit when I had to wear my helmet into the building because my fingers were too cold to unbuckle the straps. Luckily, I was the first one in. A leathered-up, face-shield-obscured humannoid walking stiffly down the corridor would cause ME alarm - even before coffee. __________________ Bob Hamlin RC PGR '06 VN1600D6F Login or Register to Remove Ads
	0

10-13-2009, 11:54 AM	#2
macmac Sr. Contributor Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Tamworth New Hampster 06 1600 Posts: 12,484	Winterizing ME Forget cotton and find wool...... I could tell you all sorts of things I make to make due, but it would be a waste of time. An example so you can see it would be a waste of time is i wear really long wool socks that would come just over my knee if I didn't cut the toes out so it comes well over my knee. I wear these over my longies, and under my pants. Maybe one you will try is a cotton ball in each finger tip for added air space, in not so very tight fitting gloves... You want that air space. A real silk neckercheif, squares cut like pirate movies show, and where the doo rag came from... I wear a silk rag that will wrap around my waist one and a half times if I want it too. A silver ring I made in a turkshead knott acts as a slider. It keeps wind out pretty well and creates an air pocket to my belt where it tucks in. I use that all winter anytime I am out. This rag is black and came from a silk dress I found in a used clothing store for 50 cents... In real cold a silk set of longies under a wool set is great, and is very thin. maybe you will do that. So much for wasted time eh? __________________ 06 1600 Nomad Just call me Mac molon labe come and get it
	0

10-13-2009, 01:59 PM	#3
fakebikerdude59 Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Tacoma, WA Posts: 108	Winterizing ME You will love the Gerbing gear. Rode with just the gloves last year and added a battery powered vest for this year. I've used both twice and was nice and comfortable. I rode Sunday in 25 degrees with a t-shirt, heated vest, Fieldsheer jacket and liner and heated gloves. Felt like I was in my living room. I usually put everything on except the gloves which I put on the tank. I get on, plug in the battery lead pigtail, start the bike and then put on the gloves. I found that on really cold days I put on cotton glove liners and then just crank the heat all the way up. It's perfect and I don't have to worry about burning myself on the gloves. (My left one gets really hot at full temp and burned me to blisters the first time I used it.) I'm waiting for my heated boot insoles to arrive this week. That should extend the season even more.
	0

10-13-2009, 07:41 PM	#4
AlabamaNomadRider Sr. Contributor Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Boaz, Alabama Posts: 13,742	Winterizing ME Dressing like that you should be able to ride in almost any weather except rain, ice and snow. Hope you guys will be able to ride through most of the winter. __________________ Gene Cross, Jr. Boaz, Alabama KawaNOW/VBA #1181
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10-13-2009, 08:01 PM	#5
jestephens Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Fairview Heights, IL (StLouis) Posts: 1,601	Winterizing ME Like my grandpa used to say: "Weather shouldn't stop you, just slow you down." But I do like to remind myself and others that COLD tires and COLD pavement have less cohesion than normal. __________________ Jay Stephens, Former National Vice President (2013-2015) 2006 Yamaha FJR1300 formerly 2011 Vaquero- Black formerly 2005 Nomad - black/silver Login or Register to Remove Ads
	0

10-14-2009, 12:26 AM	#7
skeeter Sr. Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Kerrville Tx Posts: 1,713	Winterizing ME ask zoom __________________ Robert(skeeter)Dozier 07 Red&Titanium Nomad 81 Suzuki 850GL KawaNow pre#
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10-14-2009, 12:31 AM	#8
skeeter Sr. Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Kerrville Tx Posts: 1,713	Winterizing ME ok I got it Tacoma. Just sent my baby back to Seattle. She brought us some rain. It was actually nicer there than it was here. That will change. __________________ Robert(skeeter)Dozier 07 Red&Titanium Nomad 81 Suzuki 850GL KawaNow pre#
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10-14-2009, 10:45 AM	#9
superduty Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Independence, MO Posts: 259	Winterizing ME Best advice I got years ago when hunting was "don't have anything cotton against your skin." Since I started following that, I've been much warmer.
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