New England B.S. Thread

Me too! Too cold to ride the bike in the morning, and nice weather to ride it home after work. It's depressing

 

We are doing the NH Overland Challenge

 

Layers

 

Freakin tropical storm coming. Don't need that right now.

 

That works for me

 

Wuss. I typically ride into November.
Lined motorcycle jacket with a sweatshirt underneath and you're good to go.

 

VVV

^^This, buck up buttercup. Leather jacket and gloves with either a lining or a sweatshirt and you're good to around 40. Below that, heated gear is the way to go because the layers just make it uncomfortable on the bike in my opinion.

 

i finally got a heated jacket last season and it was awesome for cold days

 

You guys should go out snowmobiling. It's regularly at 0* or less and we don't wear heated gear

EDIT; except for my heated helmet shield and that is only to keep it clear

 

this sounds like a terrible idea

 

For me heated handgrips would be a better investment. My torso and arms are never cold, but if it's below freezing my hands get cold.

Lol. You're also probably wearing a well-insulated snowsuit and winter gloves and boots. Plus you're sitting behind a full fairing and there's an air-cooled engine blowing heat back onto you. I've been sledding in -20/-30 weather around Rangeley, and it's warmer than riding the bike at +25

 

i'm a woman, so i'm always cold all over haha. i have alpinestars winter gloves and they have worked well for me so far. sometimes i wish they were a tiny bit warmer, but it's not bad enough that my hands are going numb or anything

 

got a hot coffee today, it's the beginning of the end...

 

Yeah, part of my problem is that I use a fairly basic set of 3-season gloves. They're windproof, but no insulation. I didn't like the way the insulated gloves felt on the controls. My hands never go numb, but they do get cold.

But, this year it's less of a problem. On really cold mornings I've just been taking the '69 instead of the bike.

 

Has anybody used the Mobil 1 Extended Protection motor oil? Supposedly it's good for 15k before you change it. The Tacoma is due for an oil change before winter, and it'd certainly be convenient not to have to change it again until next September. I'm toying with the idea of the Extended Protection, but I'm curious if it'll actually last as long as they claim.

 

Been snowmobiling several times, sleds don't have a hand clutch and there is no shifting so you can wear warmer and bulkier clothing and not hinder your ability to drive.

Not worth it in my opinion. I went to Mobil 1 with the Tacoma and stretched to 7 - 7500 miles but that was it. Oil is cheap, engines are not. The claim is great but you're still going to have to change your filter every 5k miles or so anyways, might as well do it all.

 

So, I do about 10k miles a year on my street bike and probably 3k miles on my sleds, and they are nothing alike. If you get cold on a sled you are doing it wrong. I can ride all day and all night at 20 below and never be one bit cold on the sled. But the bike? If it's less than 60F I am wearing my heated vest. It's just not even near the same. When I first got heated gear for the bike I bought chaps, gloves and a vest. What I learned is I really only need the vest. Get a good one with heat in the collar and make sure it fits snug. Your caryatid arteries are the place where the largest amount of blood passes the closest to the surface of your skin. When I wear the vest, my feet and hands stay amazingly warmer. I can wear summer gloves and boots down to about 50F. I wear all the same gear that I do (with the vest of course) when I go out and it's 90F.

Sorry to get nerdy and drop science on you guys, but it was amazing to learn and not common sense. I haven't used the heated gloves or chaps since I got them 10 years ago. Your hands and feet will be much, much warmer when your core and neck are heated. Plus, it feels like hot sunshine is beating down on you all the time!! Even when it's cloudy!

 

Hahaha. Riding a sled is a workout (at least the way I ride it is). I always ride with my back vent on my jacket open and if it's around 20* I usually have my arm pit vents open as well. Helmet is always full vent unless it's snowing out

 

Truth!

 

i've never ridden a sled, but i've heard it's similar to the can am's but with more give obviously. that was definitely more of a work out just for regular riding than the bikes. you have to muscle it to keep it turning otherwise it wants to snap back straight

the chaps probably don't work as well when you aren't wearing anything underneath