Wuss Makes sense -- Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3 Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply) Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7 75 TS 156 TS S2 Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk
You really need them if you don't want to wear winter gloves and carry multiple pairs. Even on the BMW K series (which has a fantastic fairing whatever Lozzo says; ignore him anyway his mind's been rotted by sniffing silkolene 2T fumes) your gloves will get wet. Bar muffs, once you're used to them are a fantastic piece of kit, they keep your hands dry and out of the wind. Admittedly they aren't the most stylish of things but one of my sets (er... I have three...) says "Oxford Sports" so that's added 10mph to the bike. However if you're looking at stuff for commuting in shitty weather you'll need bar muffs, with a 50+ mile commute I'd also suggest heated grips- it's the setup I've been using for about four years and it really helps a lot. Privillege of leadership and all that. Someone commented that my default answer recently to any question has been "tell them to go **** themselves"... I think this proves that watching TV is bad for immature minds- I've been catching up on The Sopranos.
This I don't do. With the weather as unpredictable as it is at the moment I need to have the thermal liners in my trousers. This causes a problem 'cos whilst I'm (naturally) svelte enough to fit my suit underneath it'll get all crumpled and sweaty, not the way to treat decent piece of tailoring. I'd not recommend wearing anything apart from jeans under bike gear. I don't even do that tbh. Past commuting over the winter was horrible (CB250RS, GPZ600, ZXR750, GT750, naked K100) until I discovered bikes with good fairings (K100RT). The amount of difference it makes is really unbelievable.
Seconded. Keep the core warm and your extremities look after themselves, more or less. Mind you, it's a complete bastard when you break the wires from the bike so it stops working in subzero conditions with 30 miles to go.... Trust me. :-7 EXO2 heated waistcoat. Also think about what you wear under your gear. Usual outdoor rules apply - lots of thin, wicking layers are better than a few thick layers. Merino wool is top notch (eg 'Smartwool' products) and IME outperforms any articial fibre I've tried. Put it this way, wearing two Smartwool baselayers, an EXO2, an EDZ windproof layer to keep the draughts out and leathers over the top I was only frozen off a 50 mile commute when the air temperature dropped below -3 degC. Heated gloves/grips/bar muffs would have probably let me carry on in more extreme conditions but I couldn't be arsed for the sake of a few days. HTH
Wuss. Decent fairing and a half decent jacket. When it's really cold I'll wear thermal socks and thermal 'long johns' under my riding gear. Electrically heated stuff (beyond grips) I've never bothered with. T-Shirt, Shirt. That's it. Long Johns and Thermal socks in Jan/Feb maybe. Hmm, balaclava and 'tube' over neck. "Couldn't be arsed"? You're advising exotic undergarments, multiple layers, heated gear blah-blah-blah and you can't be arsed spending about 100 quid and a couple of hours fitting heated grips and bar muffs? There's nowt as odd as (other) folk.
Trouble is that putting all that lot on and taking it off again more often than not negates any advantage in taking the bike.
(SteveH) wrote in message For me, it's about making the journey reliable. If I drive on a good day it'll take me 50 minutes, on a bad 2 hours. If I ride you need to shut the motorway to vary my time by more than about 15 minutes more than the 50 minute mark.
Yeah Burnt is wrong about this. My leathers are pretty warm with the winter liner zipped in. With the HG pvc jacket over the top it's great, warmer than the Halvarsson was, and it will be more waterproof than any Gortex job. I actually find it less bulky. I have better crash protection. Leave the pvc over the leather when you take it off and it's no hassle putting it on. You put the leather inside the glove and pull the pvc over which stops any possible water ingress. Have Gerbing heated gloves and I'm thinking about replacing the jacket liner with a heated waistcoat. It wouldn't be necessary for your commute, I'm thinking 6 hour mid winter rides. I don't sweat inside them, but admittedly I'm not the sweaty type. Dainese Assuan gloves are THE warmest dryest 4 finger gloves you will find. Very comfortable too. www.londongatwickdainese.co.uk/motorcycle_fra.html I've been through more bike clothing than god to arrive at these deep and meaningful conclusions. Has anyone else bought and discarded a Halversson in the quest for perfection?
Bugger. I've been rumbled 'course, you had it easy. I used to commute wearing just a pair of shorts and T-shirt in -10 degrees from John O'Groats to Lands End every day, leaving an hour before I went to bed having eaten a handful of hot gravel. And when I got to work each day I had to throw myself into a vat of boiling water just to warm up enough to be able to type. Just try telling that to the kids today.
"In either case, the death would be blamed on the enemy, and, due to the dead man's unpopularity, no one would contradict the cover story" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frag_(military) Haha. A Franco-German conspiracy?
Fair enough - I tend to wear jeans-like garments in this case so they don't tend to crumple that badly. Indeed. Commuting on the Pan was a lot better than on the GS and I believe the K100RT/K1100RT fairing is even better.
After 4 years sterling service I've decided to replace my Voyager jacket and was very dismayed to find it's been replaced. I phoned them up and the replacements for the Voyager are the rather gay sounding "Cruise" for GORE-TEX and "Journey" for Sheltex liner. http://www.hein-gericke.com/uk/product_info.php/cPath/1_15_7/products_id/2078 http://www.hein-gericke.com/uk/product_info.php/cPath/1_15_7/products_id/2054 I will be visiting the shop this afternoon to check them out. I just use the one set of textile jacket and pants. I've found them to be fine until recently when the outer gets waterlogged. The gore-tex inner still keeps me dry but it's just not as good as the water just slewing off. For boots I use a set with a Sheltex inner, again after four years I'm starting to get a leak at the toe of one of them. So a replacement goretex or Sheltex is due now that the wet weather is becoming more regular.
Well, my experience is different from yours. I'm firmly of the opinion that Cordura/Goretex (or one of the copies) is far supperior to leathers with a waterproof layer. It's not just warmth and 'sweat containing', it's also the fact that having a nylon oversuit flapping around in the wind is fucking irritating plus it's a pita to get into. Still, YM obviously varies; note I've the good manners not to say you're "wrong" even though I clearly don't think you're right (in oh, so, many ways.)
Nothing new, then -- Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3 Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply) Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7 75 TS 156 TS S2 Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk
