how cold do you ride?

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

My DRZ hasn't gotten out in 3 weeks 'cause it's too damn cold. This is my first winter so I have no proper winter gear, and what I have will only get me down to the mid 40's for short trips to work, and I'm highly uncomfortable below the low 50s.

I'm feeling withdrawals. I don't want to spend a bunch of dough on gear to only get another 10° of temperature range. Is there much out there that will keep me comfortable at 60mph and down to say, 20°F?

[D]

In my younger and more committed days personally cut it off at about 38 or after the first snow. To me the possibility of black ice and salt and all the other debris that the winter brings is not worth it.

but at those temperatures, i was wearing jeans and mcycle pants, several layers and a ski mask of some sort (or they have those neck thingies. generally speaking at least with my gear every so often i had to take off my hand and stick it next to the engine to warm up.

I do have a friend who rides all winter long in Chicago - as long as it does not snow. I don’t know how he does it but he packs up very well with what appears to be a snowmobile suit. Never really delved into that because I didn’t have an interest in being on a motorcycle at 20 below.

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

The neck and my hands are really what's killing me now...its actual physical pain with the air blasting me on my bare neck skin, and my gloves are just too thin. My upper body is not really a problem, and my legs get cold but are secondary to my neck and hands. Now that I think about it, my hands may not be as bad this year because I didn't have huge handguards on my bars, so they may provide some additional protection.

I guess on my shopping list I need some cold weather overpants and some decent winter riding gloves, and one of those neck things (I don't remember what they're called).

[Jeremy]

A friend of mine just picked up a set of heated gear that he swears by, I'll see if I can get him to post up / find out what it is.

[Markh2o]

I'm at work so this will be brief. I have First Gear heated gloves and jacket liner. Short of snow and ice nothing can stop you from riding when wearing this stuff. It comes with a small box that is easily hidden under your seat with a control knob to choose your adequate heat level. When riding I wear my Triumph jacket with the jacket liner under it and a t-shirt and I am as warm as can be. I rarely turn it up all the way, especially when not on the expressway, because it becomes to hot and i start pouring sweat. The jacket comes all the way up to your chin, but some sort of face mask is still required to cover the small gap between your helmet and neck.
The gloves plug in to the jacket liner, and get incredibly hot. I rarely plug them in unless it is below 30 or I am on the expressway.
They also make heated chaps, but I just wear snowboarding pants, which work fine for me.
Overall, I am one of 5 people I know currently using this gear and all 5 will tell you that it is the best investment they have ever made. I am the only one that actually owns a car, the rest only own motorcycles and have no problems riding year round in Chicago. (once again, snow and ice permitting) The only 2 complaints I have heard so far is that my set screw became loose on the control knob and I had to tighten it down and one of the connectors in my sister's coat became loose and overpowered one glove, leading to a burn on her finger. (like i said, gloves get HOT) This was an easy fix, as all the connectors are male/female plug-n-play type.

I'll give it a proper write up with part names and numbers eventually, but now i need to get back to making money too afford more motorcycles.

[Jeremy]

Awesome Mark, thanks for the write up! I look forward to reading a full review soon.

[D]

Mark nice write up - we appreciate it.

but they burned their fingers on the gloves???? OUCH!

[Markh2o]

Yeah, only happened to my sister though. The jacket has a series of connectors in it so you can plug in pants, gloves, etc. and one of them came loose. The end result was all the electrical heating power going to just one of the gloves. After about an hour of riding it became overheated and ended up leaving a small burn on the top of her knuckle with a pretty nasty blister. My advice would be to check the connectors at least once a month as they can wiggle loose.
One thing i forgot to mention is that this gear works differently on each bike, due to alternator size. So far I know this gear has been used on a '74 cb750, a 2006 bonnie, an '08 Thruxton, '07 Ducati Sportclassic GT, '06 Scrambler, and a mid-90's Vstar. It is noticeably warmer on the Ducati due to the larger alternator, and even worked well with the cb750's corroded ass wiring (it has since been replaced)