Riding in Winter: There Ain’t No Endless Summer – It’s Cold!
Nov 12 '07 (Updated Nov 20 '08)
The Bottom Line Stretch your riding season well past Election Day. There is something about a frosty midnight ride in January that the folks at work will never know or understand.
Face it, the Endless Summer was only a 1960’s movie. I do not care where you live; it is going to get cold sometime while you are riding. I have found myself bundling up in Hawaii, the Australian Outback, and the deserts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. And when you get cold it is not fun, and things get dangerous while you are shivering.
Now before we start any of those “I used to walk 15 miles to school every day, up hill both ways over ice, snow, and broken glass, barefooted,” I had better start out by saying there are two kinds of being cold. First, with highs still in the 80’s, for months the lows have been in the 70’s, then one morning after the leaves have started to change colors it is in the 50’s. Three miles down the road and your teeth chatter. It happens anytime the difference in temperature is more than about 30 degrees. 80 degrees can be cold if it was 120 earlier in the day. That is the first one — your body is used to a warmer climate, so it is cold.
The second kind is when even the Weather Channel says it is cold. That is when water pipes, engine blocks, birdbaths and the well digger’s lower back freeze. This is the difference in temperature that causes you to pour stabilizer in the gas tank. When you start to hear words like “wind chill”, we are talking cold that will hurt you. I did not study medicine in school, but I have watched fingers and faces turn some of the most interesting colors during those times. So my guess would be, if flesh is not a color you are used to, then there is something wrong.
One thing you can do is to change the oil in your bike’s engine, stabilize the gas, hook up a battery charger and just leave it in the garage until spring. The other thing to do is gather up the proper equipment to enjoy that magic carpet ride all year round.
To do this, you first need to decide how serious you are about riding through the winter. Sorry to break this to you, but serious is going to equate to investment. Investment means money, as there really is not any free lunch in life. A priority checklist might consist of:
Location
OK, deciding I did not want to end up “old and cold” I moved to Alabama. The temperatures usually do not stay below freezing for too long in the winter, and snow is something we watch on television. But, I have lived in the Midwest and Northeast, so I have had to deal with it in the past and do enjoy riding on runs and to rallies above the snow line. My investment consisted of a new mortgage and lesser motorcycle gear. As long as you are planning on staying in the neighborhood, Key West might be a good choice, so look at where you will be riding. If the winter temperatures where you will be riding are going to be fairly mild, you only need to look at the easy stuff. If they are colder, you have got more to address. Get out your calendar and see if you want to ride to a rally in Maine this fall, or if you are only planning to stay in Florida.
Motorcycle
Here is where your dealer comes into play. There are some models that come right out of the box with cold weather survival equipment. Dressers and touring models have windshields or fairings to reduce wind chill. There are even some with heated grips and seats to make those frosty rides enjoyable (there is a lot to be said for being able to warm your favorite passenger’s lower regions with a flick of a switch during a midnight ride in January). But there are plenty of after market accessories that can make your dream bike a year-rounder. The main thing is to keep the force of the cold wind off your skin. Wind can cut through denim and leather to freeze body parts that you had forgotten you had. A windshield goes a long way on a Road Star, some even come with lowers. Check with your dealer about adding those heated grips sold for snowmobiles, he might be able to adapt them to your Shadow. If not, see if you can install a cigarette lighter or accessory plug if your bike did not come with one. More about that later.
Clothing
Now here is where the big choices come to play. The first two are usually controlled by whoever you work for. If you are not independently wealthy, your job will dictate where you live and which biked you are able to buy. While most of us can not always afford to just up and move to Hawaii or buy a $24,000.00 BMW K1200LT with heated grips and seat for winter use, we can afford to track down the specialized gear for survival. And we still can do something about handling those first two after all.
Stage I
The first thing to deal with is stopping the cold wind that slips past the windshield from cutting into your exposed skin. Make sure there is nothing exposed to the elements. That will include a ski mask or wind scarf, gauntlet gloves, face shield and high top boots (you do not really think your thin socks will protect your ankles do you?). This is also a very good time to put away the perforated leathers or mesh gear you bought last summer, and to make sure your real leathers fit well enough to not let any air through. If you do not have leathers or a high tech riding suit, this is a good time to go ahead and wear your rain suit. Any suit that keeps out rain will also keep out wind. As the temperatures drop they also get closer to the dew point (that means it is more likely to rain), so you will already be protected there too. I like to think of that as “Stage I” for cold weather, the temperature difference kind.
Stage II
Stage II involves keeping your body’s heat where it belongs, inside your body. The only way to do that is to insulate it from the cold, outside air. If you are planning to wear leathers or a riding suit, make sure they have real insulation and not just a light lining. Should they not have insulation, you will want to add some. Now here is the trick: if your leathers fit too tightly adding insulation will not do any good since your body’s heat will transfer out into the surrounding air. So make sure there is space to add a fleece pullover, a sweatshirt, long johns and a long sleeved tee shirt – layering - just like your mother told you to do.
If you cannot afford to replace your riding suit or leathers with ones that really do give you the insulation space you need, there is another trick: put on your rain suit UNDER your leathers or riding suit. It will hold in your body’s heat while keeping out any stray breezes, without taking up any more space than a pair of long johns. In an emergency, stop at the nearest 7-11 store and buy a newspaper. Wrapping it around your legs and chest under your leathers or denims might just hold in enough heat for you to survive the remainder of the ride home.
This is also a good time to be sure you have a ski mask that is long enough to insulate your neck while not being too thick to ruin it’s insulating effects. My recommendation is for the silk ones as they do not take up too much storage space, and still do the job.
Another thing some folks forget is their boots. If they fit just right with a thin pair of socks your feet are going to get cold. I always try to buy a size that allows me to use real thick sweat socks or even Seal Skinz ®. Seal Skinz were originally designed for the Army Special Forces so the “snake eaters” could dine with dry toes. They wick moisture away from the skin, insulate the feet and keep us mortals comfortable. Living near a military installation, the retail stock of those things gets mighty thin — a lot of them are snapped up by soldiers heading for places like Eastern Europe. I think that is a good recommendation. So I would keep an eye out.
Now is also the time to bring out the thick gloves. Unless you have heated grips, those thin fingers of yours will get mighty cold out in the breeze. Frostbite can nip the tips off even during the shortest of rides. You even get to carry the thick studded kind around to show just how macho you are. Remember you cannot operate the controls if you cannot feel your hands!
Stage III
Stage III is where it really gets interesting. You know they are Stage Ill temperatures when you start hearing, “You rode your motorcycle today?” This is serious cold. It could be 20 degrees in my home state of Alabama or -10 degrees Maine. It is going to be different for different people so remember; you are the one to make the judgment. At this point it is a good idea to start out with all the Stage II stuff and pull out the heavy artillery.
At these temperatures unprotected skin can be permanently damaged in a very few spirited miles. Insulation’s even more important, so now is the time for the snowmobile suit and mittens. But even your normal body heat furnace might not be enough, so you should consider ways to augment that heat. That is when your body starts trying to protect the brain all your non-riding friends believe you have lost. Heat which normally would go to the extremities will be stockpiled in the head and torso, leaving the fingers and toes to fend for themselves. And that can spell trouble. The poor man’s heat augmentation starts with another trip to either the sporting goods store where you bought your Seal Skinz, or Kmart. There you will find the warmers like Hot Hands and mittens, to keep your digits from falling off.
If you have decided that it is not a one-time thing, then electrically heated clothing is in line. If you have ever ridden in a warm electric vest you know the difference. An electric vest will keep the blood in your torso warm so it can be passed to priority body parts. Yes, they can be expensive, but so is frostbite. Just one time and you will be a believer! There are also heated socks available. While you also might have to install an accessory plug, it is worth the effort. The alternators and electrical systems on most modern motorcycles can easily handle the load of GPS receivers and CD changer, so they should be able to handle that electric vest, but it is a good idea to check the specifications of your mount. If it becomes a question of listening to your CD’s or staying warm, I hope you already know the right answer.
Now I know this all might sound complicated, but once you start it is pretty easy to do. The bottom lie is you can stretch your riding season well past Election Day, and still enjoy that feeling only a motorcyclist knows. There is something about a frosty midnight ride in January that the folks at work will never know or understand. Maybe the Endless Summer really does exist!
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