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Cool to cold clothing

10K views 68 replies 20 participants last post by  BayouSaint 
#1 ·
Living in N Fla we get temps from -10 to 110. I have the heat figured out.. go nekid and ride fast to stay cool.. I want to know some opinions on cool to cold weather riding gear. I am good to about 50f with what I normally wear. I am trying not to look like Nanook of the North while riding. I guess I want the thinnest amount of clothing that should keep me warm. Down to 50 I have my Jacket with a liner, jeans tucked into boots, long sleeve shirt and a multi-function headwear to cover my lower face and ears, although it is very thin it helped this morning. I am not your typical Floridiot when it comes to cold weather. 50 is not cold.. 50 at 50 is getting chilly, just to give you an idea of where I am coming from.
 
#2 ·
Once it gets to cool for a hoodie under my light jacket or vest i have a heavier leather jacket. Maybe under armour under jeans and swap my uninsulated gloves for slightly heavier ones. If it gets too cold to hide behind the windshield i will grab my full face helmet instead of the half. That's about it for me.
 
#3 ·
Like a hiker dress in layers. I have two levels of long sleeve undershirts, the warmer one looks quilted.

For pants I goto the thrift store and buy jeans that are 2" in the waist larger than I wear. On cold days I put on two pairs of jeans. The trick is to decide if you need to stop anywhere on the way, if so put your wallet in the outside pants pocket, you will not get it out of the inside pair.

I think you got the chin and neck covered. something you can pull over your head like the top of a turtle neck sweater to cover from just under your nose to the bottom of your neck. If you cover your nose your helmet shield will fog up, and your glasses.

A good riding jacket with a wind breaker insert and/or thermal layer will keep you snug.

Gloves are the hardest thing. My three season gloves let too much air through below 50F. Snow mobile gloves tend to have poor grip. If you are going to ride below 50F a lot you will need a good pair of winter MC gloves.

Im good with this gear down to about 40º F. Below that its a whole nuther layer of gear required. When its in the 30's and you get up to 55mph, any air leak into your skin gets downright painful amazingly quick.

One thing I discovered, on my 650 at a red light I can put my gloved hand on the rear cylinder fins to warm up my fingers, one at time. Dont touch the spark plug wire!
 
#4 ·
I totally wanted to start a thread on this subject.

I'm with 07midnightcustom. Under Armour Cold Gear is a really good way to add a slim base layer under my favorite jeans. Also, their fabric is anti- microbial, so the shirts stay nice even if you sweat a lot.

Heated grips are a must for me. Last year I was commuting 30 minutes to work at 38 degrees, and that's probably about my tolerance. (Face shield fogs up and freezes much colder.) I wore my snowboard jacket and pants over my work clothes. Haha.

Full gauntlet Cold Tex gloves, (textile, shoulda got the leather cuz I think it would be more windproof. Balaclava or my thin Burton micro fleece neck warmer, pulled up to cover chin.

Yep. But if it's just in the low 50's the Cold Gear can get you far with a thick, quality fleece under a sturdy jacket.
 
#5 ·
I have a trick for the textile gloves.. Put on a pair of nitrile examination gloves first. That will help a lot. As for the face shield fogging/freezing. I live in N Fla so with the 1000000000% humidity 99.99% of the year that is a problem even if I do not cover my nose with something.. lol Under Armor is probably going to be my best bet and a nice pair of chaps. I wear long cargo shorts under my jeans most of the time because I hate wearing pants. I am a shorts and flip flop person.. :)

Thanks for the replies. There are some GREAT ideas in there. Keep them coming.

I did buy some really nice leather gloves at the Harley shop. I can still feel my controls with them on. That was the problem with most of the other gloves I looked at. I could not feel the basic controls or they were so bulky I would hit my horn when trying to use my turn signal.
 
#6 ·
I have an intake 3 jacket that has a wind breaker liner and a quilted liner. The wind liner is thin but does great at blocking the cold air from hitting you. Usually that and a hoodie and I am fine for awhile, then Ill add the quilted liner, and that helps even more.
 
#8 ·
Heated gloves and heated boot liners. Heated gloves come out when the temp drops below 40 deg. F, plugged in when temp gets below 30-35 deg. F. Heated boot liners when the temp hits about 15 deg. F and I'm riding for more than an hour.
 
#9 ·
I have an HJC full face (modular) helmet. I did get the second layer insert that is designed for fogging. It works pretty well, but you are then looking through two layers of plastic and it is noticeable. It also has some kind of silicon seal around the edge that will leave a ring on the outer edge of your visor when you take it off.

I have tourmaster boots and my feet never get cold enough to bother me.

It has occurred to me the problem with the cold hands is the wind blast. If you have a fairing or something covering your hands to block the wind that would be a big help. No fairing on my bike. I have tried the latex gloves and it helps a little. Ive also tried other glove inserts and its still not there. You really cannot beat leather gloves for blocking the wind. I dont ride in the cold often enough to make a big investment worth the cost. The temp in the morning drops from the 40s down to freezing within a month or so, and between the rainy days at that time of the year, its just not worth it to me. If the only thing really cold is my fingers, I can ride it out for the last 15 minutes of my morning commute. The ride home at 5pm is never an issue, and riding home in the fall is worth the discomfort in the morning.
 
#10 ·
#12 ·
They have a hard plastic front and do not hit any controls. I have gone over 80mph and they do not blow in on controls. Some people in reviews complained about being difficult to use controls as they could not see them. My feeling on that is if you need to see brake lever to use it maybe you should not be riding a bike. I have used them for two winters without issues.
 
#13 ·
The reason I asked is a lot of the reviews said that they blew back into the brake control. No I do not need to see my brake lever to use it.. OMG riding at night would SUUUUUUCCCKKKK!!!
 
#14 · (Edited)
Warm hands on the cheap

Been thinking about getting a pair of winter MC gloves.

Was puttering around Walmart today, picked up an Ozark Trail 200 Lumen LED flashlight for $9 to keep in my TourMaster jacket pocket, now that its getting dark in the morning, and it will be dark on the ride home after DST kicks in. I rode for an hour in the morning darkness last week and realized I did not have a flashlight with me.

Found a pair of "work gloves" in the lawn and garden section, suede leather with a fleece lining. $7 a pair (large sizes only). I figured why not, I can wear then in the car if they dont work out on the bike.

Took a 15 mile ride, 45F and 20mph winds and they work great. Only shortcoming is they dont have gauntlets on the wrist, but my jacket sleeves cover over them and have a velcro strap.

Here is the kicker, in the mens section they have similar suede leather "winter" gloves for $20. Get them in the garden section, by the barbecue and lawn care stuff for $7.

Riding to work on Monday, temp will be low 40's F all day, so that will be the real test.

Im up to 100 commutes to work this year so far. If I make it to 110 rides that will be 50% of my work commuting for the year on two wheels.
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Another cold weather suggestion: if you have a wet suit or shorty wet suit for water sports (diving, jet ski, water skiing.... I have mine from sailing my HobieCat) it makes an unbelievable thermal layer under your clothes in the winter.

If you really need to ride your bike when its very cold, or for a long distance, put your wetsuit on under your clothes. For any other reason that you need to be out in the cold for an extended period of time, as long as you are not exherting yourself it works great. Only drawback if you are doing something that works up a sweat, you will be soaked under the wetsuit. You will still be warm, but soaked.
 
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#15 ·
have you actually worn a wetsuit while riding? who would want to do that? and then either be forced to wear it once you get to your destination or worse, take it off and then put it back on when you're ready to leave again? and i can't imagine it's as effective as any decent winter wear in blocking the cold air off of you.

i doubt it's possible to find any decent winter gloves from wal-mart, especially for such low prices, and especially garden and work gloves not designed for cold motorcycle riding. i don't think a 15 minute ride at 45 degrees is a real test. i've got a set of oven mitts that would probably work well enough for that ride.
 
#16 ·
A friend of mine has a set of welding gloves he uses. To me they're too bulky. I remember my first cold weather ride. Mechanics gloves and windbreaker does crap at 40mph at 35 degrees, lol. I stuck it out for the half hour ride to work but to this day still have very little feeling in 2 finger tips on my right hand. Guess i was alot dumber way back then. Had the wife at the time buy every glove at walmart and drop em at work before the ride home, lol.
 
#17 ·
Not suggesting that anyone goes out and buys a surfing or sailing wetsuit instead of buying 4 season riding gear

only that if you already have one, and you need to ride when its cold, that it will provide more insulation than thermal underwear or a second layer of clothing.

I have worn my wetsuit going out on recovery missions on a boat in early spring under my clothing (using sonar to look for people that had drowned). Primary concern was keeping my body core temp up if I ended up in the 35F water, but it kept me warm all day on the open boat, a bit sweaty maybe.

Would not want to wear it to work, but in my case when its that cold I dont need to ride my MC to work.

If someone rides frequently in cold weather, I would definitely get winter riding gear.
 
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#18 ·
Low 40's I suggest flannel lined jeans, boots and over the calf wool socks. In the 30's I would add long johns. This works very well for me. For the upper body I will wear gauntlet gloves, a hoodie under my leather jacket and maybe something around my neck.
 
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#19 ·
Two tips:

With cold weather approaching the Gaiter (LLBean) keeps your neck and chin warm and makes riding more enjoyable.

A great cold weather snap-in accessory that I received with my Fulmer modular helmet was a "Chin Curtain" that blocks the cold air coming up your chest and entering the chin area.
 

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#23 ·
I like where this discussion is heading. How much do you love to ride when you'd do it in unfavorable conditions? Last year my family and coworkers thought I was crazy for putting on my snowboard pants and jacket to get to work. Haha.

I love to ride.

See, its a little tougher being a girl, when I want to look slim. So slim fit snowboarding pants do it for me in extreme cold. Take em off when I get there.
 
#30 ·
... I don't know why I feel so much pressure to look slim....
I think you meant to say "to look aerodynamic".

I let the suet comment go by twice. How much to you have to eat to feel warm at 20F ?

Personally I prefer a cup of coffee with a tablespoon of butter :^O
 
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#31 ·
Loving this thread, keep it going. We bought a couple of MC Jackets that have a quilted lining. Tested them tonight in low 60s.. Oh yea I started sweating so this will be a good jacket for cooler riding.
 
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