Burrr... it was cold riding into work today! Time to buy some winter gear. This is my first cold season on a bike so I have no idea what I should get?!

So far, I have one of those neck warmer things and a face mask (one of those that look like you're about to go rub a supermarket. :lol: ) ... and that's about it.

What does your winter/cold weather gear consist of? All links and reviews are appreciated!

i use the same gear year round, but then again my commute is only 20-25 min. i hear alot of people talking about aerostitch. i've never tried one on, but riders swear by them. i haven't heard one bad comment about aerostitch. if it gets really cold, i'm going to try and buy some of that "underarmour" stuff.

i use the same gear year round, but then again my commute is only 20-25 min. i hear alot of people talking about aerostitch. i've never tried one on, but riders swear by them. i haven't heard one bad comment about aerostitch. if it gets really cold, i'm going to try and buy some of that "underarmour" stuff.

There's one bad comment: price! :D 'stich ain't cheap, that's for sure. Nice stuff though.

If you go to their shop you get 10%-15% off. Though, that's a more viable option for me in WI than you in CA.

The key to keeping warm in the cold is layering. Yeah, we've all heard it, but it works. Start with some good moisture wicking stuff, like underarmour if you want to pay for the name, but any polypropol stuff will do.

Then real long johns, then clothes, then a good insulated windproof suit, or jacket/pants.

Or, you can just go with all heated stuff. Gerbing and Widder both make nice heated gear (vests, gloves, etc.). I'd think you'd quickly overwhelm the stator output on this little bike though.

If you're taking a long trip in the cold make sure you pack plenty of socks, or be preparied to wash and dry them often. If you're feet get wet, they're going to get cold. That's the key there. Wool is great stuff here. It still provides insulating even when it's wet.

Punch in the air temp and riding speed, and this will tell you windchill you'll feel on the road:

http://www.ridemyown.com/windchill.shtml

Or, you can just go with all heated stuff. Gerbing and Widder both make nice heated gear (vests, gloves, etc.). I'd think you'd quickly overwhelm the stator output on this little bike though.

I've been using a Gerbing heated vest and gloves for a couple of years now, and the battery/alternator seem to handle it just fine. I turn the switch off whenever I get to a red light and turn it on when it turns green to avoid draining the battery.

I just wanted to add that Underarmor sucks for motorcycles. I bought some super cool green tights. They are good for dancing around in my room doing the Axl Rose snake dance while singing welcome to the jungle, as I do frequently, but they don't block any wind on a bike.

What they are good for is jogging or working outside. Something where you are moving and not getting hit with wind blasts.

When I go shopping for stuff I'll put my hand on one side of the fabric and my mouth on the other side, then I'll breathe through it and see if I can feel my breath on the other side of my hand. If I can, I know it's not windproof and therefore sucks on a motorcycle.

I bought some super cool green tights. They are good for dancing around in my room doing the Axl Rose snake dance while singing welcome to the jungle
You teasing bastard...I may need to go home early to deal with such visions running around in my head. :evil:

Steve it's like hiking, the "tights" are to keep moisture off your skin. Use them with a pair of leather pants (oddly, just like Axl does - but make sure yours are riding pants with armor) I've ridden in cold weather, you just need a winter riding jacket that blocks wind with a insulating vest and high collar (or get a neck thingie to cover your neck and chin - I hate cold wind on my neck or chin) my Joe Rocket Ballistic was cheap and worked great, good pair of leather gloves with those thinsulate skiing glove liners and the non perforated leather pants with the wicking long underwear, sorry, "tights", good set of water proof boots with nice knee high thick warm socks. You'll be toasty.

super cool green tights. .

there's your problem. that's an oxymoron my friend. LOL j/k

your too funny man. :lol:

I have just bought the Icon Mil Spec vest from a guy in Texas. They were developed for the military who have to wear something Hi Viz when they are riding. I must say, I am not a big fan of Hi Viz clothing but as its getting darker earlier and car drivers windscreens get mistier (!) I decided anything that makes me stand out is worth while. The vest fits really well, looks cooler than normal vests and is really practical (pockets and a pass holder). Its also good quality. I recommend it if you don't mind getting mistaken for the police or a road worker...

Tyler, post pics :idea:

And oddly, you will find that thay STILL DON'T SEE YOU! :evil:

Believe it or not, CycleGear is cheaper than NewEnough!!!???!!! :shock:

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=3&L2=&L3=&L4=&item=PAR_30700236_G

http://www.cyclegear.com/images/milspec_org_310x380.jpghttp://www.cyclegear.com/images/milspec_yel_310x385.jpg

Believe it or not, CycleGear is cheaper than NewEnough!!!???!!! :shock:

Yeah, I actually found a nice leather jacket that's cheaper at the local stealership! I was so shocked I went back twice to check if it was the same model and it wasn't defective.

Hey folks,
I'm new to the forum, but have a little something to contribute.

For winter, I geared up with Olympia jacket and pants combo, and a neck tube of that wind-blocking fleece. So far, the outfit has been good down to 15 degrees on an already windy day. The thermal liners Olympia uses are really nice and the gear fits over almost anything I can wear.

Only problem is my hands still get cold, even with heavy gloves. I'm thinking about heated hand grips.

TRY DOING 140 WHEN IT IS 15 DEGREES THATS -20 DEGREES WIND CHILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, I HAVE DONE IT, HAVE YOU?

OK, you're a little crazier than I am.

I didn't get over 50mph. Just riding around town that day. But take that 50 and ride into a 20-25mph head wind. That gets you 12 below zero and still only my hands got cold. A pretty good suit, IMHO.

I wonder if anyone from more northerly climes has anything to say. Used to see a lot of 20 below (without wind chill) when I lived in Maine and Vermont. They keep the roads in good shape in the winter, though.

the coldest it gets around here is 15 or so ....

last winter: naked bike, full widder suit, tourmaster cortech jacket, tourmaster jeans ... froze myself silly on a 30 minute ride.

this winder: plexifairing windshield, oxford heated grips, fieldsheer highlander suit, handlebar gauntlets, widder gear, quiet rider for the helmet ... my feet were a little cold after an hour.

nice stuff. i'm digging it. there's something i absolutely loathe about the pain in my hands as they're warming up from a particularly cold ride. only time i've felt that this winter was after chipping ice off the driveway after 3 inches of sleet.

today ... 6 inches of snow. <sigh>.

blech.
.cyb
________
NO2 VAPORIZER (http://no2vaporizer.net)

Hey, lets see some pic's of how you wired your grips.

I went for a ride in 22F weather and my hands have never been in so much pain. If the wiring doesn't look too bad heated grips might be the answer.

After much research I think heated gloves are the way to go. I'm going to order some of these soon.
http://www.gerbing.com/heat/glovesprod.html

I'm told these work better because they heat the top of your hand too. This way I don't have to butcher any of my wires or make a mount for a swtich.

Plus, I may get the lithium battery so that I don't even have to touch a power source on the bike.

Okay...this proves I am not hardcore...but my cold weather gear has 4 doors and a cd player!!!

I just pulled the trigger on it today. Here's what I got.

G3 gloves (http://www.gerbing.com/heat/glovesg3.html)

On/Off Switch (http://www.gerbing.com/tc/onoff.html)

Nickel 4.0 ah Battery, Charger and Belt (http://www.gerbing.com/acc/batteries.html)

And a harness for both my motorcycle battery and my portable battery which was free with my gloves.

My total cost shipped to my door is $259.50

I almost got the Lithium battery but that only gave me an extra hour and a half and it cost a lot more.

It's pretty expensive but should be well worth it , if it works as good as I'm told.

Right now I have some top quality tourmaster poofy gloves and some handguards. It's still not enough, so this is the next step. I'll give my review in 6-8 days when I get it.

Steve,
I look forward to your review. I was thinking the glove system was a little rich for me, right now. Heated grips are going for $36 to $110 in most sources that I can find. At least one brand looks reasonably like the stock grips (as opposed to bright red ATV grips).

As to wiring, I'd probably just cable-tie everything to the handle bar neatly. The switch with some sets comes with a mount, though not the cheap sets, and the most expensive ones are 4-position rather than 3.

Haven't done it yet, as temps are supposed to get into the 50's starting tomorrow (well, later today). If the forecast holds, I'm riding Wednesday!!

I originally set out to get a pair of those Dual Star heated grips, but after a lot of research most people where unhappy with them in very cold weather. They said that although the bottom of their hand was darn hot, the top of their hand still froze.

After thinking about my last cold ride I can confirm that the bottom of my hand was the least cold part while the top was pure pain.

The plus side to the grips is that you can use any pair of gloves, so even if you arn't expecting it to be cold you can still flip the switch.

If you do go with the grips, do some reading. Others have found power from either the plate light or the ignition switch, rahter than the headlight which comes in the instructions. Those who wire to the main headlight say that if there's a short it will blow your headlight too and if you forget to flip the switch it will kill your battery. Wiring it to the ignition will turn off the grips even if you forget to hit the switch.

Just something to think about.

Thanks for the info on the wiring. Don't want to create any problems for my brand new bike! Sounds like the ignition hookup is the best way to go.

Anyway, I did a little mini-test about a week ago when it was still only about 20 degrees outside and windy. I walked around the hilltop on campus holding a travel mug of hot coffee in my bare hand for 15 minutes. Admittedly, this ain't much like riding, but only having heat from one side wasn't too bad.

Oh well, maybe I'll just ask for pieces of the glove set as birthday and Christmas presents this year. :wink:

Did you get a thermostat with your set? I've heard some folks in a local club say they love that option while others say they want full heat all the time. Probably depends on how your hands feel, I guess.

I didn't get the thermostat yet simply because it's an extra $69. The on off switch was $12 so I'm going to try that first.

Hey, lets see some pic's of how you wired your grips.

I went for a ride in 22F weather and my hands have never been in so much pain. If the wiring doesn't look too bad heated grips might be the answer.

it's way too simply for pictures:

pigtails to the battery.
wire alongside the wiring harness on the rhside of the tank, by the frame.
behind the flyscreen, out along the handlebars.
on/off switch mounted in the middle of the handlebars.

i've often heard people say <doom> if you wire them to your battery, you'll eventually leave them on and be stuck!</doom>, but i've never done this. there's a little light on the switch that comes on when the grips are on, and if it's cold enough that i've got the grips on constantly, i'm usually thinking about how nice it is to have the grips, so i don't leave them on.

cheers!
.cyb

ps. but, i see you've got the gerbing gloves, which is cool. or hot. or whatever. i'll look forward to seeing how you like them.
________
Body Science (http://bodyscience.ws/)

I tested out my Gerbings today and I'm very pleased. It was 21F outside and I went for maybe a 20mile run. My hands weren't cold at all, but what else was surprising is that they weren't hot either. It was like it was a normal 70F day.

It only took me a few minutes to get the harness on the battery and a few minutes more to route it under the tank and in a location that I liked. When i'm off the bike there is only a little nub showing and even that can be tucked under the seat when not in use.

So, here are the pro's and con's as of now.

Pros
1. No messy wires on the bike controls and no ugly grips.

2. They work well, my hands aren't cold at all.

3. You can't forget to turn them off because you can't leave the bike without unhooking them.

Cons
1. Getting hooked up before a ride is more of a hastle. (routing the wires inside my jacket)

2. Takes more time to get ready to ride. (although if you just need to hop off to fill up your tank or something it's a quick snap off, snap on)


At this point I don't recommend shelling out bucks for the temp controler, but I would recommend getting the coil adapter.
http://www.gerbing.com/acc/accprod.html#ccharness
I don't like the excess wire hanging out, so this should fix the problem.
I just ordered it today so I'll report back when I get it.

Hey folks,
I'm new to the forum, but have a little something to contribute.

For winter, I geared up with Olympia jacket and pants combo, and a neck tube of that wind-blocking fleece. So far, the outfit has been good down to 15 degrees on an already windy day. The thermal liners Olympia uses are really nice and the gear fits over almost anything I can wear.

Only problem is my hands still get cold, even with heavy gloves. I'm thinking about heated hand grips.

I have the same problem in cold weather riding conditions. My body stays warm but my hands always seem to get cold. I think I have solved the problem without resorting to heated gloves.

After reading many online reviews of insulated motorcycle gloves almost all eventually complained about getting cold hands. So I decided to look at mountaineer and ski based companies with extreme cold conditions and durability in mind when designing gloves. The list was narrowed down to one company Black Diamond. http://www.bdel.com/gear/gloves_gaiters_overview.php
Their gloves are well insulated and armoured. There were 3 gloves which I thought would be suitable for cold weather riding. They are the Mad Max, Guide, and Legend. I ended up chosing the Legend basically because it was the least expensive but still offered great warmth and protection. I will follow up with a review of these gloves.

I wound up buying Gerbing's battery-powered gloves. Pros are that I can wear them on any bike (I have three), they come with four levels of heat control, in a light to moderate rain they are waterproof, and all you do is just pull them on. Cons are that they aren't cheap (though multiple wiring harnesses would cost the same or more), you do have to charge them, and it's two controls instead of just one.

So far, I like them pretty well. They are less bulky than the heavy insulated gloves I started with and work noticeably down to single digit temperatures (F). For me, I find I have to keep them at full heat if it's much below 30 and the batteries are only good for a few hours at that level. But then, I'm mostly just commuting at that point. No long blasts on a weekend, typically.

I just rode from sonoma county to hayward on 880 in about 30 degrees that is about 75 miles I wear a icon motorhead leather jacket with a inner liner alpine gloves for cold weather a pair of teknic wind and water proof pants that pull over my jeans. I was pretty warm this is at 4:30 in the morning. Oh weah and heated hand grips the tops of your fingers get cold but not that bad plus I use my engine as a heater just put your hand down buy the side. One bad the heated grips has a ugly on off switch mounted to the handlebars.

I wound up buying Gerbing's battery-powered gloves. Pros are that I can wear them on any bike (I have three), they come with four levels of heat control, in a light to moderate rain they are waterproof, and all you do is just pull them on. Cons are that they aren't cheap (though multiple wiring harnesses would cost the same or more), you do have to charge them, and it's two controls instead of just one.

So far, I like them pretty well. They are less bulky than the heavy insulated gloves I started with and work noticeably down to single digit temperatures (F). For me, I find I have to keep them at full heat if it's much below 30 and the batteries are only good for a few hours at that level. But then, I'm mostly just commuting at that point. No long blasts on a weekend, typically.

The battery harness should be pretty cheap. If you ride a lot I'd buy one for each bike so you never run out of juice. Even if you just tuck it away and don't use the outlet it would be nice to know it's there in case your battery pack runs out.

The battery harness should be pretty cheap. If you ride a lot I'd buy one for each bike so you never run out of juice. Even if you just tuck it away and don't use the outlet it would be nice to know it's there in case your battery pack runs out.

Well, I'm comparing the gloves to Gerbing's other offerings on the basis that you'd need the battery connection, a fuse somewhere in there maybe, and a control. I prefer to have multiple levels, too, not just on/off. The prices I found for a pair of gloves with three setups was within a couple of bucks of the battery-powered gloves. So for me it was worth it. YMMV 8)

That said, I came across a post describing how to make your own heated clothing on the Rounders forum recently. It didn't sound difficult, but for the time investment, I'd rather pay somebody else to make the stuff for me.

Though now that I think about it a little more, you could maybe wire it up so that the outlet off the battery could be used for a trickle charger or other gadget as well. But that would require changing up the connectors. Hmmmmmm...

I was going to go with a gebrings set up but then it got warm enough where I didn't have to bother. But I have a battery tender and you can buy connectors, whether SAE to Coax or vice versa so you can use one lead off your battery for both your tender and your heated clothing. I'll be sure to get electrics by October, that's fer sure.