| Author | Message | ||
     Stevedplumber |
been riding in to work all this week so far. on average i would say it has been about 32 degrees when i leave @ 4:30 am. i need some input for cold weather gear to wear under my helmet. i have been wearing something to try and protect my head, face and neck. but it is not quite cutting it. please help before my chin freezes up and cracks off | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Use a hoodie. Don't put it on your head but instead move the extra material from the hood to the front of your neck and cinch it up with your jacket's collar. It might be worthwhile to go through a snowmobile shop and see what they do. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
http://www.aerostich.com/aerosearch.php?restrict=S tatic&q=balaclava | ||
| Glitch |
+10 Jerry | ||
| Tm74 |
You could try a balaclava. There are many to choose from that are made for using on a motorcycle. They usually include a windproof section in the front. You also get bonus points for looking like a ninja. You could try a chin curtain if they have one for your helmet. There's also a heated jacket liner. When zipped up the collar protrudes into the helmet a little bit(at least mine does). The collar is heated so you get a little heat into the helmet. Very nice. | ||
| Ceejay |
I wear a hooded sweatshirt under my leather jacket. I'm fine everywhere but my hands. Seems like those cityx guys are onto something. This time of yr is funny. Like winters in NM, 25-35 at night 60 in the day... | ||
| Mxer83 |
C.J., I put the city-x handguards on in the cooler months, it helps some, A really thin bacalava helps under the helmet too! ,later, Greg | ||
| Ceejay |
Mxer-was it hard to put those handguards on? I have a bolt but I imagine they are all the same(although I might have to check for clearance issues) I went to the harley shop to check them out, looked pretty simple and they are probably cheaper than the 90 dollar gloves that HD was trying to sell me  | ||
| Akbuell |
I,ve had good luck with a plain old ordinary scarf. Wrapped around the neck, bunched up to cover the area between the bottom of the full-face helmet and my collar, and tuck the ends into the jacket. Works OK in city-type stop and go commuting. | ||
| Jayvee |
Ha ha, when I rode my bike to high school, I once had ice freeze up on my face before. I didn't know about hypothermia then... Anything will work, a think balaclava is good, a simple scarf is good, put the hooded sweatshirt on BACKWARDS and pull the hood up your chin. Even a knit wool shawl will work if you wrap it outside the helmet. Grow a beard...? | ||
| No_rice |
well, i said heck with it. i bought a heated jacket liner and its awesome. i figure i ride most days anyway might as well enjoy it a bit more. i still have to figure out some better winter gloves. i got the heated ones that plug into my liner but they sucked. barely get luke warm and felt like i had ball bearings between my hands and my grip. if i didnt have four bikes to switch between soon i would just put polly heaters on. i have basically a face mask, it is nylon on top, and gets very thick right under the nose till down past your shoulders. keeps the wind out great. i may have to break it out soon. it was low 20's when i left for work this morning. the girlfriend even rode her blast to school today. i was so proud | ||
| Tm74 |
No_rice What gloves do you have? What kind of jacket liner do you have and is it dual wired? | ||
| No_rice |
it is the harley stuff, made by gerbing. and what do you mean by dual wired. it is ment to be able to plug the gloves right into the sleeves of the coat, or just run the coat by itself. | ||
| Mbsween |
Steve, The heated liner is the way to go. You'll find yourself sweating at stop lights. The aerostitch one is nice as it plugs into the battery tender type connector (SAE). The gerbrings is a full jacket, that will really toast your waffles I live in Rochester NY, some people believe its below 32 half the year up here ! Matt | ||
| New12r |
Jerry had it spot on for Head Wear! I use a turtle fur Balaclava, Gerbing heated jacket liner, and gerbing heated gloves for when it gets really cold. | ||
| No_rice |
new12r do you happen to have a link to the style glove you have? how warm do they get. the harley gerbing gloves i tried barely were luke warm. even plugged directly into the bike and not moving. plus they had heating wires all the way around including the palm. it seems to make for alot of movement between my hand and the grip. | ||
| New12r |
I have the Harley ones. The wires do suck but mine get too warm for me, I usually dont even plug them in unless the temps drop below freezing. | ||
| T9r |
Get your bike wired up with some Polly Heater, heated handlebars($40). Next get an Aerostich electric vest/jacket. Had an aerostich unubtainium and recently bought a Kanetsu (windproof/electric). Top all that off with mid season motorcycle gloves and a 2 piece Aerostich riding suit and your ready for year round riding. 40 is as cold as it has gotten over here in Cecil Co. | ||
| Gowindward |
I like this because of the "Wind Stopper" material. http://www.motorcyclecloseouts.com/sport/motorcycl e+rain+gear/bikers+comfort_st+wind+balaclava+-+no+ returns Add Gerbing heated gear and you are set to ride as long as there is no ice on the roads. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I have one of these:  Where the top is thin spandex type material to easily fit under a helmet, and the bottom is a thick fleece for warmth. (BTW, that's me in my previous modeling career) I was going to start a new post, but figured I'd just post it here: When I ride in the low temps, I'm usually fine with the exception of my hands and toes. I want to get either a heated vest, or heated grips, and can't decide which to get. If you were to only get one or the other, which would you all recommend? I have a textile riding suit with quilted liners, and the X wind/hand guards. | ||
| Tm74 |
No_rice A "single wired" jacket liner runs the gloves off of the jacket liners power/controller. You've got one power input into the jacket and the gloves are on this circuit. This reduces the effectiveness/heat output of both the liner and gloves since they are on the same channel. You also can't adjust the heat independently of each other. To give more flexibility, more manufacturers have been dual wiring their jacket liners. Dual wiring still lets you plug the gloves into the jacket liner but also has extra wiring inside it to let you power/control them seperately. You'll have 3 connections at the bottom of the jacket liner instead of 2. One for Accessories(pants), one for the jacket liner, and the other for the gloves. I have a dual heat controller and I've got 2 wires that plug into my jacket(one for the gloves the other for the jacket). I can control the heat for each independently. I've got an older Gerbing's liner and had to send it to them to dual wire for me. You said you tried them directly plugged into the bike. The Harley/Gerbings gloves should get HOT. I would think there is something wrong. If you haven't had them long(or even if you have) I would see about getting another pair. I don't know the deal with the Harley/Gerbings gloves but the Gerbings have a lifetime warranty on the wiring. I'm guessing that would apply to the Harley/Gerbing gloves. | ||
| Tm74 |
I want to get either a heated vest, or heated grips, and can't decide which to get. As far as warmth there's really no question. Go with a heated vest/jacket. Keeping your core temperature warm is what's most important. The heat will filter down to your hands. It's more expensive though. I wouldn't go with a vest, I'd go straight to the jacket liner. The sleeves and collar will make a lot of difference. As I said above, the collar goes right up(in my case into) the bottom of my helmet and it's heated, as are the sleeves. I bought a Gerbing jacket liner from heatedclothingoutlet.com(Gerbings outlet site) for $90. They state they aren't "first quality" liners but mine works great and it still has a lifetime warranty on the wiring. I think they are discounted because they are the older model(single wired). I had them dual wire it for $15. I'm not sure which way I would have went if I hadn't have found that site. I'm cheap and electrics are expensive. Hope this helps. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Jerry had it spot on for Head Wear! I use a turtle fur Balaclava... New12r, that's the same brand balaclava i use, and i'm very happy with it. I want to get either a heated vest, or heated grips, and can't decide which to get. If you were to only get one or the other, which would you all recommend? Mikef5000, i had heated grips on my FJR, and while the heat was indeed a blessing at times, when it got REALLY cold it wasn't enough. i've got a Widder vest/arm chaps, Widder gloves, Widder leg chaps, and Gerbing socks. i'm unhappy with nearly every aspect of my Widder gear, and if i had it to do over again i'd go full Gerbing. to answer your question, for REALLY cold riding i think i'd start with a Gerbing heated jacket first, their gloves second, their socks third, and their pants fourth. i'd go with two of their dual-controllers, so that each item's temperature could be controlled individually (the importance of this should not be underestimated). the socks SUCK to walk in - you can feel every wire - but when you're riding and your feet are gloriously warm, you won't care about what your feet feel like off the bike. (Gerbing makes "comfort" wired socks, in which the heating wires don't go under your feet, but this seems like it defeats the purpose.) it's a pain to ride "hooked up," but pretty quick you develop a routine for getting in and out of the stuff efficiently. the first time i ever rode wired was just a few years ago, and being so comfortably warm at just the turn of a knob made me wonder why i'd waited so long. FB | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
ps: The sleeves and collar will make a lot of difference...the collar goes right up (in my case into) the bottom of my helmet and it's heated... i concur with Tm74 - a heated collar is a really, really nice feature. FB | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Have you guys ever heard of a company that will install the heating element in any jacket/liner? I have two jackets that I wear depending on type of riding (textile and leather), and they both share the same quilted liner. I'd love to just send that liner out to have the heating element installed in it. As you may have noticed by my posts here, I'm both trying to be cheap, and trying to not over use my poor Cyclone's 8 year old alternator. (Keep in mind I'm almost always burning my 55 watt fog lights.) EDIT: I finally found it! I've looked for days! http://www.cruzanengineering.net/heated.shtml $89.99 for my own quilted jacket liner to have 48 watts heating throughout. (Message edited by mikef5000 on November 01, 2007) | ||
| Iamike |
J.C. Whitney has a dickey that is just a collar with a lined piece that hangs down your chest. Then I either wear a balaclava or use and handkerchief tied around my neck with the tab over my chin using the helmet strap to hold it in place. | ||
| Metalstorm |
I swear by the Aerostich heated vest (with the non heated zip off sleeves). I also recommend wearing a snug fitting leather vest over the heated vest on the really cold days (teens F). It keeps the heated vest tight against the body thus increasing warmth a lot. Heated grips are to me just as important because I have perpetually cold hands. Tourmaster Winter Elite gloves are also very nice. They're a little bulky but not as bad as some. The are very warm and very flexible. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Mike... While I can't argue about the wisdom of which is better (heated vest), I might argue a little about which gives more bang for the buck with the least headache. Andy can have you a set of polly cartridge heaters to your doorstep for like $35, and you can have them forever permanently and invisibly installed on your bike in 45 minutes. I doubt they will ever wear out, and when you want heat, you reach down and flip a switch. So I would do that first. I use that setup with the windguards and a First Gear insulated jacket and insulated pants (great stuff). Frost on the cars this morning, and I had a 50+ mile commute at freeway speeds. My toes were chilly but not numb, the palms of my hand were toasty warm, the backs of my fingertips were chilly but not to the point of being at all painful. In terms of "bang for the buck" and "bang for the pain in the butt" factor, I think the polly heater cartridges should be the first thing. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
The winter gloves issues is beginning to suck. It was 28 degrees yesterday on the way to work. My gloves suck for that cold. I have a pair of Olympia "Mid" golves, I also have on a pair silk liners. Last spring I ordered a pair of Tour Master winter gloves. I ordered the normal large size. They were way too small. I gave them to my son. Last week I ordered a pair of First Gear winter gloves from New Enough I ordered the XL. Holy crap! Do they make these things for midgets now? The XL's barely fit. I have big palms, but not THAT big. I'm calling them in a few minutes to return them. On top of that, even though they are waterproof, the insulation is even less than my Olympia's. This is a bit frustrating. Brad | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
If you can find them in your size you can get one of these for a song and a dance. http://tinyurl.com/3bmlvh It'll either run on 8D batteries, or a cigarette lighter. I spliced an SAE connector and now run it off my battery tender connector. It has polymer heating panels (no wire elements) so no hot spots. Best 70 bucks I ever spent. |
