[KawiGrnNmyVeins]

Who else here rides in below 35* weather ?

Last Season I bought a pair of Tour Master Polar Tex gloves for winter riding.
They work well down to 40* but any colder than that and your fingers go numb. I even tried using thin wool gloves as liners but my fingertips still get frosty at highway speeds. I travel 40 miles one way to work usually running 75 to 90 mph. I recently added Power Madd hand guards hoping to deflect the wind and keep from spending $150 on heated gloves. I would like to hear what you all wear and what works. I would like to find A long leather Gauntlet
style glove with no textile in the upper...a cinch string at the rear...and good insulation that's not too bulky. If you know of anything that you or friends have used; I'm ready for suggestions. Something under $75 would be awesome!

 

[jrick56]

heated grips or gloves. it doesn't get real cold here but i ride in 35 to 40 degree weather. my hands are always cold i wear 2 pair of gloves but that doesn't help much. most of my winter trips are 25 miles or less one way so i just grin and bear it. those hand guards must help some.

 

[KawiGrnNmyVeins]

Yeah...they take some of the sting out of it...but it's like a wind chill of -5 at speeds over 70 when it's 30* at 6:30 in the morning and it takes usually 30 min to get to work

 

[jrick56]

it's 3 steps door to door for me. i use my bike to visit shut-ins and nursing home. i know i've seen electric heated gloves somewhere. surely they would keep your hands warm. also have you tried mittens? i'm going to this year.

 

[ridingswitch]

You need some heated gear but ya better bust out the $!

 

[BeastIncarnate]

Heated gear is the answer. No amount of insulation makes a huge difference at those temperatures. Also, keeping your speed down is a good idea.

 

[KawiGrnNmyVeins]

I'm trying to keep from using heated gear if possible though.
I already have enough stuff pulling current from my battery and don't want to have to
mess with wires. Surely someone here has used something that works without spending
alot of cash. I usually make alot of my own gear or adapt it to work on the bike.
Hell...I even made 2-way radios for bike to bike communication that use earbuds and you can use your MP3 player at the same time....When the other rider keys up the mic it mutes your music to hear them. I was able to make both of those for about $100 versus $350 each for Chatterbox and mine sound better LOL.....So I guess I'll just have to figure this one out on my own if no one else has a solution

 

[jrick56]

when you figure it out. share with us.

 

[moellermania]

Tour Master Polar Fleece Glove Liner - Street Bike - Motorcycle Superstore

Maybe some glove liners like these?

 

[BeastIncarnate]

There is heated gear that runs on battery packs.

I have gloves made for winter - thick insulation, goretex, the works. But cold is cold and gloves can only do so much, particularly before you're unable to actually feel the handlebars. Windchill is a beast, so here's some perspective:

NWS Wind Chill Index

If it's 35 out and you're going 90mph with zero wind, it feels like it's 15 degrees out. At 30 degrees out and 90mph, it feels like 7.

The only other thing I've heard of that's non-electric is Hippo Hands, found here: Motorcycle Hippo Hands, Handlebar Muffs

 

[RobG]

Handwarmers and heated gear. I've survived riding at 34 deg for a while... was wearing my Tourmaster Epic jacket, with a fleece shirt under it, jeans and my Tourmaster pants with liner installed, and my THICK Balstaff gloves, handwarmers on full blast, and a pullover-head-thingy under my helmet. but that was on my DR650 which has a modest windscreen.

The ends of my fingers were getting pretty cold, but the rest of my hands were good thanks to the handwarmers. I've decided to get a heated liner for my jacket and heated gloves.

Rob

 

[rugrat]

i've tried everything, including hunting gear, and for me if it's colder than 40 degrees i don't ride to work. it's to far of a trip one way for that temp. it is different though if it's just a short ride, then latex gloves under my frank thomas racing gloves work for me. i applaude those of you who continue to ride. did i spell that right?

 

[RobG]

I rode in today with the least amount of cold-weather protection in quite a while. Temp was 48, but a projected high of 68 meant leave some stuff behind. I wanted to ride the Z today, and since I took the big Gears tailbag off (it looked really stupid), I had no real storage capacity other than my backpack, which had my laptop and other computer-related goodies in it.

So today it was jeans only (instead of my Tourmaster pants over my jeans), medium-weight gloves, and no head-pull-over-thing. The handwarmers were on high for the whole trip, and were darn nice. My legs were cold, my head was a little cold. I shoulda worn the head pull over thing, since it stuffs down small, but oh well. It's only seven miles each way, and one of those is in-town, 30 mph. The six prior I did at 75+.

In my package I stuffed my sunglasses and a lighter-weight pair of gloves. One really nice thing about handwarmers is that you can wear lighter gloves than you might otherwise need. So I will get away with summer-weight gloves for the ride home today.

But it was REALLY nice not having SO much stuff on for the ride in. I felt much better, and enjoyed the ride a lot more (hence the 75+).

I'm working on landing a new contract down in Southern California. I hope it works out. All this cold and rain in Oregon is starting to get to me.

Rob

 

[KawiGrnNmyVeins]

Have Ultra thin glove liners ordered From a company called Ibex....Stretch Merino Glove Liner....Made from a dense wool and spandex....all the reviews give it good feedback for wicking away sweat and keeping your hands warm.....will post my results soon

 

[Vic3.14]

I few years ago, after doing a lot of research on different gloves, I settled on a pair of Held gloves. My commute is about 8 miles at 45-60 mph, and the gloves get me there without too much discomfort on frosty mornings.

Freezer

 

[rkrayton2000]

heated gear

Is there anyone running heated gear on the z1000? I've already have mine on order and did not check if the bike can power all the gear (jacket liner,pants liner, gloves and socks) have not found any info on the net. Thanks

 

[RobG]

I have handwarmers on mine, and I need to take the few minutes to wire up the pigtail to power my heated liner (which I have yet to use on either bike, d'oh). I'm pretty darn sure the Z can power at least grips and a liner. My DR650 only has a tiny 200 watt output, and people successfully run those two items on it, but then it's at the limit.

I would expect the Z1000 to have at least a 300 watt output.

Rob

 

[zephyrboy738]

I have handwarmers on mine, and I need to take the few minutes to wire up the pigtail to power my heated liner (which I have yet to use on either bike, d'oh). I'm pretty darn sure the Z can power at least grips and a liner. My DR650 only has a tiny 200 watt output, and people successfully run those two items on it, but then it's at the limit.

I would expect the Z1000 to have at least a 300 watt output.

Rob

All z1000 watt output is [email protected]'S

 

[rkrayton2000]

Thanks guys

 

[GundamNitPete]

So, my 2003 Z1000 is at a friends garage in Michigan, and I am in Chicago. I really want to get it back to chicago, but I don't want to rent a truck.

It's 26 degrees in Michigan, and roughly the same in Chicago. It's about 250 miles, 4 hours in a car. Do you guys think it's rideable?

I was going to pickup some of those 9v powered heated gloves that hunters use. Where my summer gloves under them, and some big winter ones over them. I've got a pair of jeans with a fleece liner, and I'll prolly wear some sweats under those. A hoodie and my winter coat for my body (more than enough on the body I think). Then a face mask for under the helmet. Would any of you do this?