I have a good leather jacket and gloves but the family jewels are in trouble in the cold.

 

I bought a pair of Columbia overpants from Cabela's on sale for $50.........be careful though....nylon + hot pipes is a real freakin mess!!!!!!!!
TWICE NOW !!!!!
I wear a fleece turtle neck under a leather jacket, a polypropelene balaclava and Harley winter gloves.
Lot's of people wear heated gear but I don't ride that far if it's under 40 degrees. I can ride about 75 miles at 40 degrees with my stuff before I get cold.

 

I wear a standard pair of long johns, jeans, chaps, long sleeve t-shirt, sweat shirt, leather coat, nepoprine face mask, leather gloves with latex gloves under,two pairs of socks a standard ski type hat and my goggles and I am fine. The only problem I ever get is with the tips of my fingers, I have not tried yet but I have heard that you can get neproprine diving gloves to wear under your leather gloves that will totally take care of the fingers.

 

I go but *** naked but that is just my style.

 

I imagine there are as many answers to this question as there are riders.

How cold are you talking? I've ridden in below freezing (ambient) frequently. Are you normally a cold or hot person? How much money do you have to spend? I think there is some really neat stuff out there if you are willing to pay for it. I am fairly cheap (a.k.a. poor) and a bit old fashioned so my riding gear was/is somewhat basic. I have no electric or battery-operated, heated gear.

I used to commute from Jacksonville NC to Virginia Beach VA almost every weekend, with additional trips all the way up near Philadelphia - year round and regardless of weather. I must admit riding a motorcycle in the snow is interesting.

For me, I think a windshield makes/made a HUGE difference.

Here's what worked for me:
* Layers. 3 thin items seem to work better than one that is as thick as the three combined.
* Jeans and a good top
* Chaps and good insulated leather jacket
* Good heavy socks
* Good leather riding boots (I had Danners - military)
* Good gloves (I heard of someone using latex gloves under their riding gloves and said that helped - never tried it)
* A headover/baklava - something to insulate and keep the wind off your face and neck
* At the time I was riding a closed, full face helmet. Anything beyond a couple hours (in cold weather) commands a full helmet, even with a windshield. Safety concerns aside, if I am riding distance and its butt-cold, I want a full-face helmet.
* Polypro undies, thermal stuff, any kind of insulating undergarments.
* I had some rain gear but found on long trips I still got wet - especially my boots.

The windshield helps some with the crotch-bite by cutting down on all the wind. Toes and fingers are hard to keep warm without active warming.

Like I mentioned, I never used any of the heated clothing so can't say if that stuff works. I did use several of those little hand warmer packs. I'd put a couple in the front of my boots by my toes and a couple in my gloves. They are cheap and are just enough to take the edge off.

I had "cruise control" so on really long and cold rides I could alternate putting a hand between my legs which helped both my hand and between my legs stay warm.

My opinion is that as long as I'm dry I can go until I need fuel. But going 60+ on two wheels, wet, in 40 degrees or less necessitates stopping periodically to defrost next to the coffee pot.

I did much of my all-weather riding on a metric. Now I've got a Harley, I have even more desire to stay on the road, regardless of weather.

Enjoy the ride, defrost later.

 

sounds like all you need is a good pair of long johns to keep those jewels warm and happy. stay safe and good luck.

 

wear a cup holder! lol

 

Hey Mike,

What kinda Cup Holder ya talking about. Like the ones we wore duing football. Don't want to freeze your nads off.

Actually the best clothing to wear in cold weather is an HD T-shirt while riding in California or go visit Mike in NC


[sm=biker2.gif]

 

Get some of those chemical body warmer things at Wally World in sporting goods. Just stick them in your pockets, shoes, gloves wherever. I put one each in the pockets of my bomber jacket the other day and was good to go. I rode 150 miles in 45 to 55 temps with no shield and was toasty cept my bare face and fingers. I had thin deerskins on my hands though. The things are dirt cheap and last for like 8 hours. You can even put em in an airtight baggy to stop the heat and resume it later.

As for clothes. I use a heavy set of leather chaps to cut the wind and I have a Joe Rocket Bomber jacket with zip-out thinsulate liner and zippered vents that I can wear all year. When it's really cold you can't beat a full-face helmet or one of them snomobile masks. I have a neck warmer thing that stretches around the bottom of a full face helmet then tucks inside your jacket that's really nice. Sometimes I just use it like a turtle neck with an open face helmet.

 

I am so glad I live in FL! Sometimes I really hate it here and want to go back North where I am from but when it comes to riding my bike in the winter...This place rocks. Cold here is 50...I know some guys around here who won't ride when it's 50...They tell me it's too cold....lolThey should read these posts...lol...Stay warm guys...