Advice for cold weather

[JRF]

With fall almost here I want to prep the bike for colder weather riding. I plan to ride until it snows. I have an olympia gt air transition jacket & airglide 3 pants, nexo sport gloves & waterproof touring boots. The bike has a calsci tall windshield.

With temps getting down to 10 degrees at night theres no issue with the suit currently, but my hands are getting cold. Vstrom handguards are the next planned mod. Considering heated grips as well but will pass on them this year if the handguards are enough.

Will the suit suffice at near freezing temps or should I be considering heated gear? Im going to get a rain suit & was hoping that wearing that over the olympia suit would keep the cold out. Any advice appreciated.

 

[bluesdog]

My hands get cold easily, so I really appreciate the heated grips when the temps drop. I also have a heated vest, which I find more comfortable than my bulky bear and wolfskins...

By the time it gets sufficiently cold to don my winter boots and lined pants, there's too much ice on my driveway to navigate the big beast to the highway, so for me the riding season is effectively over at that stage.

 

[PhilJet09]

I wear over pants, heated vest, winter riding jacket, snowmobile mittens and have heated grips with enlarged Vstrom hand guards. When it gets into the teens, I also wear a balaclava under my helmet. The snowmobile mittens aren't strictly legal in every state, but nobody's ever challenged me about them. They have thin palms to let the warmth from the grips in and are really puffy covering the back of the hand to keep the cold out.

 

[Tiger_993]

Heated gear has completely changed my cold weather riding experience. Prior to purchasing heated gloves, I could not find a solution that kept my hands warm in anything below 35F. The heated grips are nice for taking the chill out of the bars in lower temps, but even with the grips at full "hot" my fingers would freeze within minutes if I rode in anything at 35F or below. And there is nothing like powering up a heated jacket in cold weather - it's like riding around wrapped up in an electric blanket. I would suggest putting heated gloves and jacket (or vest?) at the very top of your list for cold weather riding.

As far as using rain gear as a wind barrier, it helps reduce the windchill effect, with a possible disastrous side effect being an inability for perspiration to evaporate through it. If the rain barrier isn't breathable, you'll turn clammy, wet, and cold.

 

[Canadian FJR]

Stop this silly talk about cold weather, it just started to warm up here.

The best advice that I can give on staying warm is search ebay for set of the "original Vetter Hippo Hands". I learned about these from the late great John Ryan.

I scored two sets, one for the KLR and one for the FJR.

They work fantastic.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vetter-Hippo-Hands-Motorcycle-Mitts-Gloves-Snowmobile-BMW-Guzzi-Touring-Bike-/311421644997?hash=item48822d30c5&vxp=mtr

Canadian FJR

 

[Pterodactyl]

Sixteen years of riding in Alaska. Heated gloves are much more effective than heated grips. Hippo Hands or some equivilent really do work; used them all the time on SnoGos. A heated jacket is a must and much better than a vest. Dress like this guy who was leaving our house to ride to Deadhorse in February... he and his lady riding partner had heated everything, up to and including a heated suppositories. Don't expect your heated gear to always work.

 

[SacramentoMike]

IMHO, those V-Strom handguards aren't much use. If' it's cold, your hands will be cold. I think heated grips are indispensable, but I suppose heated gloves (and jacket) would be a much better solution, but with a Gen I I don't know about the power draw. Electrical gurus here can advise about that. I have a vest that I seldom use, but then, I don't live in the Great White North.

+1 on the balaklava, but another very simple helper is a nice wool scarf. If you can seal off your neck area, you'll be a much happier rider. Oh, and the Pinlock anti-fog system is the best solution I've seen--maybe the only one.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

I agree with the collective wisdom here so I am just adding this, not arguing.

The Oxford Premium Heated Grips are about $90 from Revzilla and they draw 4 amps or less. They do not require a relay, they are a plug and play installation only requiring a direct battery connection. (Yes, a fuse block is always better, I know)

A word of caution here, the Touring grips do NOT fit the FJR. There is a pic of a Gen2 FJR on the damned box but the grips are too short. You have to get the Adventure series.

 

[Eric L]

rode with gerbings gloves for a couple of years..... heated grips are the bomb.

 

[AlleyCat]

As a Canadian rider, I can confirm that a warm jacket and pants offer nothing for frozen hands. Your ride becomes so unpleasant. I have the heated grips and some decent gloves, but even then the outside part of my hands froze while the inside was cooking. Not fun. I would highly recommend heated gloves. I use the Conforteck heated gear for my quad in the winter (heated soles for my boots with a controller).... and their equipment has been very reliable. I would think these gloves would be a good way to go : https://conforteck.com/boutique/en/heated-equipments/conforteck/heated-motorcycle-gloves-p66c35/

 

[jblanken64]

I bought some heated glove liners from Cycle Gear that really help. I put them under some TourMaster Polartex gloves and that combo is great. I've ridden into the low teens and my hands stay warm,

 

[NightShine]

The best advice that I can give on staying warm is search ebay for set of the "original Vetter Hippo Hands".

These are a good solution, even without heated gloves IMHO. But you must also install rigid hand guards as well (vstrom hand guards, etc). Otherwise the wind pressure can force the brake handle back enough to engage the brake lights. The guards will also give the hippo hands a better shape.

ymmv

 

[RaYzerman19]

Blocking the wind from wind chill is a big factor. Oxford has a set of "hippo hands" too, and I have some Moose Racing fabric hand guards (they flex and hit my brake lever too). I use my Airglide gear 4 seasons, with heated gear/gloves and heated grips, but again the key is to block wind (rainsuit over it is good too).

 

[Bill Lumberg]

Even the gen III bikes just don't have wind protection as most true sport tourer's do. Hands are the worst. I wear a leather or textile motor jacket for commutes down to 45. Add insulated liners and at least shell pants below that. Below 35 or for any distance riding, insulated pants, insulated jacket, neck gaiter, thin toboggan under helmet. There simply is no hand protection on this bike. The heated grips are nice but don't stand a chance when it's cold. I can't run vstrom guards, so at some point I'll be getting knuckle visors. I'm trying to avoid heated gloves but may have no choice. For commutes, preheating my gloves helps a lot. So does putting them inside my jacket at stops.

 

[Niehart]

 

[Pterodactyl]

When I was running handlebar mitts on my GSPD I fashioned an internal frame out of a coat hanger to keep them erect and open at stops. Always good to be erect. True Hippohands are stiffer than most.

 

[Niehart]

Those are Watershed MotorMitts that the motorcycle cops use. I have Cycra Rebound hand guards underneath the MotorMitts for a internal frame.

https://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/72833/i/cycra-rebound-hand-guard?suggest=1

https://advrider.com/index.php?threads/bestrest-motormitts.530877/

I just use the mitts in extreme conditions but leave the hand guards on most of the time.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

Can you get the guards without the stickers? Do they do a difinitive job of keeping anythjng from pressing the levers except yiur hands?

Those are Watershed MotorMitts that the motorcycle cops use. I have Cycra Rebound hand guards underneath the MotorMitts for a internal frame.
https://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/72833/i/cycra-rebound-hand-guard?suggest=1

https://advrider.com/index.php?threads/bestrest-motormitts.530877/

I just use the mitts in extreme conditions but leave the hand guards on most of the time.

 

[mcatrophy]

... so at some point I'll be getting knuckle visors. ...

If you mean the Yamaha OEM knuckle visors, I find they don't give much protection from cold (or rain). They do help a little, but I wouldn't spend money on them. I got mine free on a Yamaha promotion.

And they make the bike look ugly. I took them off.