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Pro tips fer winter riding...

SNsMoto said:
Is the "D-System" the items you're using for everything (gloves, jacket, pants etc) ? How do they operate? Plug in to your bikes battery?

Could you guys post up links or names of the items you're using? Interested in expanding my accessory closet for the winter.
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sure thing.

the dainese D-dry jacket & pants i bought from the D-store. it is a great set of gear, i wear it year round. In summers i unzip the liners and the d-gear has a macro-ton of vents. u can even squid it out and unzip the arms off. Revzilla is closing em out, probably to make room for hte next model:

http://www.revzilla.com/product/dainese-d-system-d-dry-jacket

Jacket is 500 denier cordura, with shoulder and elbow pads. bought a back pad seperately. Pants has knee armor and soft hip pads. Both come with a thermal/windproof layer that zips to the jacket. I've had a couple gear like this but by far the Dainese gear has been the warmest and keeps cold air out very well. This with thermals can suffice for all cold weather riding around the bay area.

I also have:

Gerbing heated jacket liner, pants, gloves and insoles. For any weather riding below 50 i shove the jacket and gloves on cuz i'm a puss. For anyhwere belo 35, i got the whole setup on. the insoles tho get too hot, so i have not been using those.

The gear all daisy chains together, and i pigtailed from the battery some connectors to the gear. I have a dual control heat aduster to control jacket seperately from the pants/gloves/insoles.

The gear that i tend to use the most for riding in cold weather around here is: my D gear + heated jacket + heated gloves.

I wear Sidi On-Road gortex boots. they are great for cold/rain. i wear them year round.

i have also a balaclava.
 
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plumber said:
05' or better RT with wind protection and good alternator------check
Heated Grips------------check
Heated Seat------------check
Gerbing jacket with controller-------check
Cleaned and waterproofed 'stich--------check
new PR3s-------------------------check


I'd rather ride in 35 degree weather than 105 degree weather any day.
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i rode down the 5 to LA in 104 degree weather. Every 80 miles or so, i would stop by a gas station, drench my helimot f108 gloves in water, shove a hose in my pants and jacket and just soak 'em.

immediate air conditioning for hte next ... 20 miles... then 60 miles of trying to tolerate shitty heat :)
 
Anytime it's been that hot and I had to ride through the valley, I just slept all day and rode at night. WAY better conditions...except for the bugs. :laughing
 
crick said:
sure thing.

the dainese D-dry jacket & pants i bought from the D-store. it is a great set of gear, i wear it year round. In summers i unzip the liners and the d-gear has a macro-ton of vents. u can even squid it out and unzip the arms off. Revzilla is closing em out, probably to make room for hte next model:

http://www.revzilla.com/product/dainese-d-system-d-dry-jacket

Jacket is 500 denier cordura, with shoulder and elbow pads. bought a back pad seperately. Pants has knee armor and soft hip pads. Both come with a thermal/windproof layer that zips to the jacket. I've had a couple gear like this but by far the Dainese gear has been the warmest and keeps cold air out very well. This with thermals can suffice for all cold weather riding around the bay area.

I also have:

Gerbing heated jacket liner, pants, gloves and insoles. For any weather riding below 50 i shove the jacket and gloves on cuz i'm a puss. For anyhwere belo 35, i got the whole setup on. the insoles tho get too hot, so i have not been using those.

The gear all daisy chains together, and i pigtailed from the battery some connectors to the gear. I have a dual control heat aduster to control jacket seperately from the pants/gloves/insoles.

The gear that i tend to use the most for riding in cold weather around here is: my D gear + heated jacket + heated gloves.

I wear Sidi On-Road gortex boots. they are great for cold/rain. i wear them year round.

i have also a balaclava.
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Kornholio said:
I use the 90-watt Firstgear liner and I have the carbon fiber Firstgear heated gloves.

BothHeatedJacketLiner.png


Carbon.png


I don't use the heated portion of the gloves anymore since the BMW has heated grips...I just really like the gloves in the colder/wetter months.

You'll need a heat-troller to control it all, which Firstgear produces too, and you can either it hook it all to your battery directly with the connection kit that comes with the controller or just go to www.powerletproducts.com and get yourself a Powerlet plug (commonly called the "BWM style" plug) to connect everything with.

Seriously though, peruse the Firstgear website for their heated gear. It's top notch and dead simple to use. :thumbup

http://www.firstgear-usa.com/Heated/CSSHeatedGear.html
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Thanks fellas. :thumbup

The last few years I've just been using thermals under my jacket and pants and they've been working fine, but I think it's time to up my game a little.:teeth
 
The best pro tip fer winter ride'in is to stay home, drink hot cocoa, and watch old mc race videos! :rofl
budman said:
I was expecting a long list from a pro like you BB.

Pro tips fur winter riding was stickie bound. Where is that Gary J winter riding tips thread again?
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Actually, the main reason I started theis thread wuz cuz I was pm'ing one of my favorite little BARFers about the importance of softening up suspension in da winter. That twaz my point, but have'in all these other peeps talk 'bout what gear werkz best is great too. :thumbup
Gary J can't see this thread, I'm on his "ignore" list. :cry (I'm suprised you can see it? :twofinger )

After rip'in some wet, slimy goat trails, & dirt roads with Kurt yesterday, I'm sure glad I had my soft winter set up; makes my big pig much more forgiving. :cool
 
Winter in the Bay Area..? :rofl





:nchantr
 
The key is to cut the wind and have good gloves. I live in Reno and ride below 20 degrees just by layering and wearing rain gear to stop the wind.
 
I don't know what the hell you all are wearing as far as layers that keeps out 20 degree weather (WITHOUT the windchill) and not looking like a stuffed pig. I can't imagine how you can be comfortable like that.
 
might be kinda off topic, but is damp ground something to be "worried" about? slightly damp, no puddles or anything.
 
n8 said:
even if you're leaned over? cuz the edge of the tire doesn't have much treads.
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Yes, even leaned over. If your tires are in good shape it's not going to matter if you're leaned over. Besides, you shouldn't be pushing it hard when it's wet out anyway. Still, that being said, haven't you watched a MotoGP race when it's raining? They're still able to achieve those lean angles when it's wet out. It can be done with the right setups. Now, your bike isn't a GP bike, but you can still ride easily and safely in the rain as long as you just stay smooth and don't push it.
 
Kornholio said:
Yes, even leaned over. If your tires are in good shape it's not going to matter if you're leaned over. Besides, you shouldn't be pushing it hard when it's wet out anyway. Still, that being said, haven't you watched a MotoGP race when it's raining? They're still able to achieve those lean angles when it's wet out. It can be done with the right setups. Now, your bike isn't a GP bike, but you can still ride easily and safely in the rain as long as you just stay smooth and don't push it.
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but they got rain tires on! which is soft like a pencil eraser. I watched a WSBK race where they had rain tires on and it dried out - dry weather wreaks havoc on those tires, but they have superior traction in the wet.

As far as traction goes, pretty much like everyone else said, smooth inputs and not pushing the bike too hard. THe big worries are painted surfaces and metal surfaces.

DONT PUSH THE BIKE HARD... which goes the same for cage driving - you hear of folks on freeways gettin' into accidents cuz they're going 80mph in the rain? well... there u go. slow down some, ride accordingly.

sidequery: i have sport touring tires on. Dunlop advertises its silicon makeup has better traction in the wet. *shrugg* ok? i guess so? I ran into a retired LEO who said that u can still ride in the wet with sport tires, just ride accordingly *i guess it means no knee dragging*?
 
Yo!Joe!!! said:
Winter in the Bay Area..? :rofl

:nchantr
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Hey, it wuz 28 degrees when I went ta work last week! :twofinger

n8 said:
might be kinda off topic, but is damp ground something to be "worried" about? slightly damp, no puddles or anything.
Click to expand...

n8 said:
traction mainly.
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Totally on topic, even damp has less grip than dry, and this is why I started this thread, to emphasize the importance of suspension set up in winter.

Take a bunch of pre-load outta the springs, then less damping to match, (If you have such adjustments) you'll have much more grip in the wet. (Unless yer set up is too soft ta begin with?)
That said, there is less grip no matter what yer set up, no matter how smooth you are, and you wanta stay in the car tire tracks as much as possible.
The center of the lane is slick from oil, paint lines are slick(er), leaves 'n needle are slick, avoid that shit as much as possible.
GP racers get their knees down in the wet, but that's with GP rains (I've ran 'em :teeth ) on a smooth clean race track. (Oh and they soften their suspensions up too.) But their lap times are way off from the dry times cuz they gotz less grip.
 
crick said:
but they got rain tires on! which is soft like a pencil eraser. I watched a WSBK race where they had rain tires on and it dried out - dry weather wreaks havoc on those tires, but they have superior traction in the wet.
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Well yeah, duh. :laughing

Like I was saying to n8, you're never going to have the setup those guys do...not even the tires. Just don't push it and stay smooth. And a serious +1 regarding avoiding painted surfaces and metal! :thumbup
 
I don't have a cold weather bike, gear, mods or anything. I make sure I have something around my neck to seal in heat. I wear a down jacket underneath leathers, maybe some wool or a technical jacket, though down won't wick. I put handwarmer pouches in my gloves. It's ghetto for sure but I've ridden in the mid 30's over Donner and Echo Passes.
 
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