First I abandoned my BMW Airflow summer riding jacket for the Corazzo 5.0. The Corazzo doesn't have a liner but it works as a cold weather jacket as I add layers.
Then I occasionally resorted to the heated grips.
Eventually I exchanged my gloves for gauntlets.
Now it's late October and the transition is complete. The tall and wide windscreen...
Then I occasionally resorted to the heated grips.
Eventually I exchanged my gloves for gauntlets.
Now it's late October and the transition is complete. The tall and wide windscreen...
... has replaced the summer mid-height screen...
... and the Tucano Urbano Termoscud has made its appearance.
Eventually it took on a less rumpled look after a couple of commutes.
I bought a super lightweight down jacket, and that has replaced my Corazzo Underhoody as the layer beneath the riding jacket.
The final hedge against the cold's penetrating knife edge is a motorcycle buff I purchased in Italy this summer.
I pull it down over the down jacket collar and it seals off any possible gap between the helmet and my collar.
All of the cold weather gear adds quite a bit to the preparation time each time I ride, but once underway, I can honestly say I am toasty warm everywhere. It's almost amazing.
In fact, so warm, that at any temperature over nine degrees Celsius I find myself looking to shed some heat.
It's a far cry from my first season. I remember my first ride in March to get my Vespa LX150 inspected and plated. I wore a plain leather jacket, street shoes, jeans and leather gloves, with the open-face helmet that came with the bike. I rode surface streets in all likelihood never exceeding fifty kilometers an hour.
I freaking froze. I still remember the cold penetrating all along the jacket zipper like a knife. I sat in a coffee shop nursing a scalding hot coffee trying to banish the chill.
I am light years removed from that experience now.
16 comments:
Of course, there is an obvious solution to the snow and ice.
I broke down about two years ago and went to heated gloves and jacket liner. This year, I added heated grips. The Beemer had heated grips but half the time they were turned on, they didn't work.
I suppose that the obvious solution is to move to where the snow and ice don't happen. I can think of some really nice places like that.
My heated grips are not heating equally. The left grip runs hotter than the right. That might be because of the throttle tube, but I didn't experience that much of a difference on the LX150. On that bike I had US made Hot Grips, whereas on this bike I have Oxford grips that are made in the far east somewhere. In both cases I'm using a US Heat Troller. I'm going to take a fresh look at the connections when the season ends just to rule that out. It's not a consistent occurrence. Occasionally the right grip is more balanced. I doubt very much that the controller is to blame, so I'm hoping it's a less than optimal connection.
The heated grips on the Ural are the other way around probably also due to the throttle tube. Much better heat transfer without the plastic throttle tube. And the heat elements are in the grips as opposed to the Beemer where they're in the handlebars.
... and that's what I would have expected, since the metal bar on the left should be expected to act as a heat sink whereas the throttle tube should insulate the grip from the bar.
It's not a big deal, but in a perfect world I'd like more balance.
David ... I have to agree with Richard, heated clothes ... but what the heck am I talking about. Mine is parked! But I did enjoy the heat at the end.
Ahhh fall and winter riding. I've been lazy and haven't been out since sour trip to Tillamook.
It's been quite rainy and I refuse to put a windscreen on Max. Don't mind if it rains when out on a ride, but I hate setting out in the rain.
Got to watch out for those "sour" trips...
Ah, about this transition thing... could you give me some advice on how to convince my hubby that I need a dual sports bike for the transitional phase called winter?
So far, I've stubbornly avoided being plugged in but will this weekend. Conditioning they might call it....
David, your transition seems much more orderly than mine which just seems to slowly fade from one to the other.
And once again another season closes without having acquired any decent cold weather gear. I used to get away with a good leather jacket and a pair of lined gloves, but that just doesn't cut it any more. So I park it a little earlier each year and get it out a little later each spring. I must do something about that in 2015. (As he's said for the past 5 years!)
Anyway David, enjoy your toasty warm commute.
Karen, the nice thing about storing your bike away from home is that it's got to be easier to put riding out of scope, as opposed to having the bike taunting you every you get in the car.
I don't mind setting out in the morning with a 40% chance of rain, as long as the evening commute shows promise of no precipitation. Otherwise it's the car for me.
Hmmm if winter riding were the excuse, wouldn't the correct answer be a Ural?
Richard give the girl a break :)
Typos in comments are a true thankless pain. Plus Brandy is 99.99% grammatically (and politically) correct!
Doug I've only got one steed in the barn. If I had your herd there's no way any of the bikes would be suitably 'winterized'.
Dave if I had your Harley I wouldn't attempt to winterize it either. Any step in that direction would be ruining the look. Toe to neck heated liners on the other hand, now that would be cozy indeed.
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