freezing

[John Hopkins]

A lot of folks would call you crazy, John. Those folks don't own bikes or have them for garage ornaments. You inspired me to brave the frigid 50 degree weather and ride mine today... 

Reminds me of a line in a film..Paraphrased here..

"Some people think I'm crazy."

"is it because you ride in bad weather"..

"No...It's because I eat spiders..

John.

[chief]

A lot of folks would call you crazy, John. Those folks don't own bikes or have them for garage ornaments. You inspired me to brave the frigid 50 degree weather and ride mine today... 

[jmbo]

Spring is late for most of the northern US and here in Wisconsin we have been 15 to 20 degrees under normal.  In other words it sucks for riding.  I've sat on the bike and made putt putt sounds in the garage all winter long. Now is the time to ride.  So come hell or high water my insurance kicks in April 1 (Monday) and even though they only predict the high 30's, I'm going to ride.  They say rain for tomorrow (Sunday) which will be fine to wash the salt off the roads.  So if it clear up by Monday we bundle up, put on my snuggies and head out. 

[CDNRatMan]

  kind of sounds like a normal spring or fall ride in Northern Canada or in your area.........lol....

[pcarrell]

I know an Iron Butt ride is supposed to be 1000 miles in 24 hours, but it sounds to me like you had one!

[John Hopkins]

Well I did my trip across from Wales to the other side of England, I cleared about four inches of snow from in front of the garage, chipped most of the ice off the road outside and with clear skies, a 35 mph cross wind and below freezing temperatures I pushed the Drifter out of the garage, Like always she started first push of the button, I waited the two minutes for the revs to drop and rode towards England, about thirty miles saw me to the border, the speedometer reads mph, but the odometer reads kilometers, Ten miles across the border and the snow started, this lasted for the next 50 miles..I had bought battery heated gloves to keep the frost at bay but they were as much use as a chocolate coffee pot, so I found myself taking my hand off the bar and slipping it out of the fingers and into the palm so I could rub my fingers together, I got about 100 miles (165 Km) before I filled up for the first time, It gave me a chance to warm my hands and buy more batteries, The bike performed perfectly, in spite of the 35mph cross wind she gave me 90mph without complaint, the seat was not backbreaking and the trip took 5 hours which included three stops for fuel and one for coffee..The return journey took seven hours because of road works, accidents, and detours..The bike is sitting in my garage and as soon as the ice clears and the weather warms up I will have to give her a good clean as a thank you, I think I will also have to do a well deserved oil change..

John.

[CDNRatMan]

  Well Troll that sucks, I know when they told me I was diabetic that winter my hands seemed to get cold really fast, and those gloves worked really wonders out o nthe ice, at -25 to -40 out fishing my hand stayed decently warm.....so now that I found them again I plan on trying them for riding.....

[Troll]

Couple of years ago I was diagnosed with reynaud's syndrome...basically when exposed to cold, the veins in your hands spasm and stop return blood flow. the arteries continue to supply blood and your hands swell up, turn purple and get COLD.....I've had my hand surface temp measured at 65 deg. I take a drug that helps, but the heated gloves were the only real effective way to deal with it. Gloves only work to keep heat in, if there isn't any, they do nothing to help.

[John Hopkins]

It was 21.5 degrees while I was out and as it was only a few miles and I was wearing the two pair of gloves I was a bit suprised to have such cold hands..I looked up heated grips but the majority of them are for 7/8" bars and my bike has 1" bars..on a whim I decided to look up heated gloves and found a pair of lined waterproof battery heated sports gloves which I am going to order tomorrow for my 5 hour trip in two weeks time, the weather forecast for the next two weeks doesn't promise much improvement.

John.

[CDNRatMan]

   on wet cold days I have used neoprene gloves with a lot of success, figure if they are good for fishing in the fall and in the cold water they have to be OK for riding too.....and for $7.50 at Canadian Tire really worth the try.

[49Reo]

How about heated grips? A lot of them require replacement of the grips, but a friend of mine bought a set of grip heaters that go inside the grips; take the end caps off and slide them inside. I looked them up on the J&P Cycle site. (see below)I expect there are lower priced sets out there as well.

49Reo

Symtec-INC H-D Heat Demon Grip Warmer Kit
J&P Part: 504-155
Everyday Low Price: $149.99
Gold Club Price:What's This? $134.99

[John Hopkins]

I took a little ride into the next town this morning, the bike performed the way it should and of course attracted the usual rubber necks, the temperature is just a bit below freezing and although it was only a few miles my fingers nearly dropped off with the cold..I wear leather bike gloves with a pair of thin leather gloves inside but still the cold gets in, I have a 300 mile trip coming up in two weeks so I am going to have to do something about this..

John.