Winter Gear

[Signal 50]

I know it is still very early but leaving for work the past few mornings it has been down in the low 50's which is pretty dam cold with a pair of work trousers on.

I know a lot of you Northerner's are pretty hard core about riding in the cold so I couild use your expertise. I'm looking for suggestions on gloves and some winter pants. Right now on my commute I wear a textile armored jacket, leather gloves, my lid and work boots. This stuff keeps me "comfortable". Not warm but I can deal with it for my 15 mile commute.

For pants I'm just looking for something to keep me warm. Warmth is the biggest thing I'm looking for but if they have protection and other features like easy on easy off, all the better.

Gloves I really need the advice on. I've heard that the Gerbing heated gloves are the cats ass. Are they worth the time and money for a 15 mile commute? Or would a nice pair, say 50-80$ of insulated cold weather gloves do the trick?

 

[ChevyFazer]

Yes those heated gloves are sweet I used to have those and a jacket liner hooked up to a two way controler but if you dont plan on doing much winter riding id say get yourself a good pair of deerskin insulated gloves they should do the trick for just a short commute

Sent from my R800x using Tapatalk

 

[callmegandhi]

Ski jacket, ski pants, gloves, poles, ski boots, skis, and a hat! Let's hit the slopes! :BLAA:

 

[CBRF3RIDER]

You might want to give Carhartt/Shmidt workwear insulated bibs a shot. I have a pair that I wear for riding horses in the winter and decided to try them on my motorcycle last winter on a warmer day (about 42F) and they worked really well. I know its a pretty hotly debated subject but I think the canvas Carhartt is made out of would hold up OK in a crash, deffinetly better than a pair of jeans. Also because they are bibs they come up to your chest and keep your core insulated. Another plus is you can wear your work pants underneath them, depending on what size you get. I was able to wear jeans and boots underneath mine without any issue, as this is how I always wear them. The only problem you might have is with your jacket fitting over the extra material. I would bring your jacket to Tractor Supply and try it all on together to see.

PS I used to commute on my motorcycle March-December (depending on amount of snow and ice), and used to wear Castle X snowmobile bibs. They were made out of something in between regular snow pants and texile jacket material. They werent bad, but I think the Carhartt bibs would hold up better in a crash. If I still had to commute in the winter I would take the Carhartts any day.

 

[CBRF3RIDER]

Ski jacket, ski pants, gloves, poles, ski boots, skis, and a hat! Let's hit the slopes! :BLAA:

Haha my snowboarding gear is warm as hell I dont even have to wear under armour under it 90% of the time. It would melt like crazy on the asphalt belt sander thought

 

[Signal 50]

You might want to give Carhartt/Shmidt workwear insulated bibs a shot. I have a pair that I wear for riding horses in the winter and decided to try them on my motorcycle last winter on a warmer day (about 42F) and they worked really well. I know its a pretty hotly debated subject but I think the canvas Carhartt is made out of would hold up OK in a crash, deffinetly better than a pair of jeans. Also because they are bibs they come up to your chest and keep your core insulated. Another plus is you can wear your work pants underneath them, depending on what size you get. I was able to wear jeans and boots underneath mine without any issue, as this is how I always wear them. The only problem you might have is with your jacket fitting over the extra material. I would bring your jacket to Tractor Supply and try it all on together to see.

PS I used to commute on my motorcycle March-December (depending on amount of snow and ice), and used to wear Castle X snowmobile bibs. They were made out of something in between regular snow pants and texile jacket material. They werent bad, but I think the Carhartt bibs would hold up better in a crash. If I still had to commute in the winter I would take the Carhartts any day.

Thanks for the suggestions. I might give a look at the snowmobile stuff.

I have tried heavy winter gear in the past and I don't like the loss of control feeling. When I really need to bundle up I put long johns on underneath my carhart winter pants. Those keep me toasty warm.

I'd like to find something that has motorcyle riding in mind though. Something that will have nice features that make for a comfortable and safe ride. When I wore my carhartt gear it was difficult to operate the controls and I wouldn't want to do it every day.

 

[Signal 50]

Well, I had a few guys at work recommend these. Reviews look oustanding, I think I'm going to spring for these sometime before it gets real cold.

Customer Product Reviews for Tour Master Caliber Pants

 

[grouzer]

I have the Caliber pant and would highly recommend them.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

My recommendation: Get heated jacket or vest, and you won't need anything else except your winter riding jacket. You may not have enough wattage to run both gloves and jacket, so go with the jacket.

Gloves should be Gortex, waterproof.

Riding pants usually comes with some sort of liner, or you can ride with thermals.

The only issue I will have riding in 30 degree temps will be my feet if I'm riding for a long period of time.

Don't forget to wear something underneath the helmet to keep the cold out from the neck area.

 

[Signal 50]

My recommendation: Get heated jacket or vest, and you won't need anything else except your winter riding jacket. You may not have enough wattage to run both gloves and jacket, so go with the jacket.

Gloves should be Gortex, waterproof.

Riding pants usually comes with some sort of liner, or you can ride with thermals.

The only issue I will have riding in 30 degree temps will be my feet if I'm riding for a long period of time.

Don't forget to wear something underneath the helmet to keep the cold out from the neck area.

I'm trying to avoid thermals. Not to sound lazy but theres no way I'm going to put them on every morning just to ride 15 miles to work. Thats why those calibre pants are perfect. I can shove my leg in, zip them down the side and I'm good to go.

I have a neoprene sock for my neck that keeps me warm :thumbup:

 

[Wildcat_drvr]

It's a shame you didn't look into this about a month or two ago,,,I picked up a pair of Scorpion Awe pants, they have leather knees and a$$ but no vents, for $152.95 US delivered to my door. They are 3 layer pants that were advertised as 4 season pants, but only if you live above the Arctic Circle!! They have armor in the knees and hips, rather high waisted but when zipped to my Commander 3/4 length jacket (also 3 layer!) they are very comfortable. Tried to wear them in July, (the pants,I always wear my jacket, gloves,jeans and boots) with high 90s F. and 90+humidity and nearly had heat exhaustion after about a 90 minute ride at speed!!( "Genuine Crotch Pot Cookin',!!") And yes, I took out the thermal and waterproof layers! :Flip: Must be why the jacket has a place to put a hydration pack! I'm starting to really like them now that it's getting cooler at night, don't think I'll need the thermal layer until the lower 40sF. They aren't made for wearing pants underneath but without the liners I wear cargo shorts and they would probably be fine with light slacks. Holy Mother of whomever you believe in, I just realized that I wrote a review of a product only available in XXX-L or for full price! Very hard to find on sale now! :spank: Sorry! Good luck in your search and ride safely! Rich

 

[Pseudo-Fed]

I ride down to the 20s and sometimes teens here in the DFW area. On both the FZ and my ST1300 I run Gerbings gloves and jacket liner. I have the dual controller so I control each separately. Heated grips are nice but I find the gloves work much better for whole hand warmness. I've tried various "winter" gloves with Goretex, etc., but I find them to thick and they diminish hand sensitivity too much. The Gerbing (G3?) gloves are soft, flexible, and really are a great glove by themselves. And the Gerbing gear will get TOO hot if you don't have the controller for them!

 

[tommykaw]

GERBING- ENOUGH SAID!!!!!!:cheer::rockon::cheer:

 

[DirtySouth]

This is my first post here on the board so take it with a grain of salt, but I have commuted on a bike year round for 7 years up until Jan of this year when I sold my Scrambler. I'm picking up a FZ6 tomorrow, which is why I joined up here. I thought with my experience I could offer my advice.

First of all, get some proper riding gear, I will assume you have a jacket and gloves but it doesn't sound like you have a pair of riding pants. I like the Aerostich Darien pants because they are cut like jeans and are the easiest to put on over your normal day to day pants, IMHO. That being said, although they are waterproof and will cut the wind, they are not lined and won't offer a whole lot of "warmth". Even though I prefer the Aerostich pants, I would suggest for someone just starting out or wanting something more or less for the winter, something from Tourmaster like the Caliber pants. They will be warm, offer protection, fairly easy to put on, waterproof, and did I mention cheaper than Aerostich.

Now, as far as the heated gloves versus the heated grips discussion, I would go with heated gloves. I have always had heated grips on all my bikes, ranging from a DRZ up to the Ulysses, DL, Tiger, or GS, but after freezing my hands off in low temps, I bit the bullet and went with the gloves. I will never look back. The grips work for cool mornings, not cold mornings because for one they only warm the palm of your hand, and two the bars sucks most of the heat away from the grips because it is metal/aluminum and conducts it more easily than your hand will. The gloves warm your whole hand, from your fingertips to your palms and backside of your hands. They also have more of a range, that you can control with different settings versus the grips with their low/high setting. Granted the gloves are a lot more expensive than the grips are but if you plan on doing cold weather riding or commuting, you will appreciate them and not even think of the money.

My last trip before selling my bike was from Cartersville, GA to Mission, TX the day after Christmas this past year. We had 4-5" of snow on the ground when I left out and it never got above 40* all the way to my first stop in Galveston. I was on a Triumph Scrambler and as you all know, it has no weather protection whatsoever. I don't think I would've made it out of the county, much less 800+ miles that first day. Coming back home a week later was cold as well, dipping down into the 30's that morning and night, but I made it 1184 miles in 21 hours. I won't lie, I was cold but the heated jacket liner and gloves made it possible.