Riding in the cold - Balls of steel or just plain stupid?

[Kopfjaeger]

DAMN FAT FINGERS!!!! yes riding down from QLD to nsw in the night in the rain.... had on....singlet ,shirt ,wallabies jersey, jumper then a dri rider, thermals, tracksuit pants and jeans and still got absolutly soaked... can sympathise with the shivering... aint it hard to hold a hot coffee? only good thing was i had my inflatable mattress and my hand knitted pink blanky...( gift from my mates wife.... its gold!!!!)... found out if you park up the old Gpz 1000 you can snuggle with your back to the collector box/headers.... slept for 4 hours next to the highway!!!!   whinged at the time.... great fun eh?

[ian.z9]

Bit nippy this morning, -4c but the roads were not slippy.I have an hours ride to work and sometimes I think its bloody stupid but if my fingers are not numb its bareable.I fitted MX hand shields to my FJ (they JUST touch the screen on full lock).One year I'll get that electric vest I've been promising myself.I think I'd better get engine bars first.The FJ runs great in the cold, better than me. Roll on the warmer weather
                                                      cheers
                                                           ian.z9

     Only one other brave soul at work rides in the winter.He is a 60years young (smaller than Pedrosa) grandad with a 2007 R1 (nice loud yoshi pipes too!)

[Arnie]

Back when I was much younger and dumber I only had my Bultaco Metralla 250 for transportation.
I was working an afternoon (3:30 - 12 midnight) shift at the Utica, MI Ford trim plant and living in Oak Park, MI.  One night it was -17F.  After about 5min it didn't hurt anymore, everything was numb.  Back then, 45yrs ago, the gear we now have just was not available.
I hope to never see or have to deal with temps like that ever again.

Arnie

[RichBaker]

It's supposed to hit 19F tomorrow & Fri. mornings here in Tucson..... that's way TOO DAMN COLD for me!  I ordered a Synergy vest Monday, last one in the country for a normal-size human.... only ones left are XXXS and 4-5XL!

Where's the freezing, blue smiley when you need it?? 

[Pominoz]

What happened? try again

That looks like a cb250rs, I remember riding mine to work for a week in -15C wind chill when i was a teenager in the UK with little more than jeans, an unlined leather jacket and an old Bell star helmet with no visor. Was only about 10 miles but had to chip off the icicles from around my mouth, nose and eyelashes where the breath had frozen. There were two places where black ice was always a problem in the winter, one was on a straight stretch of road and the back wheel spun up a couple of times on that journey before I figured out what the hell was going on, the other was a very slow 5mph junction, where I eventually had my undoing, it must have taken me about 4 attempts and five minutes to get myself and the bike upright again on the ice, much to the amusement of the car drivers queueing up behind me. The result of that little off was a smashed gearchange lever. The following day I'd borrowed a mates XL185, it had snowed overnight, the journey to work was relatively uneventful until I pulled into the factory car park. The snow had covered the concrete bollards that marked the carpark entrance, and well, result of that little off was a smashed gearchange lever!
Gave up for a couple of days after that until the weather cleared and stocks of Honda gearchange levers returned to normal.
These days (in Adelaide) the worst I have to put up with is a few days of below 5C but mostly round about 8-10C, for the half hour commute to work in the winter, now though I can afford the warm gear and don't mind looking like a dick for the sake of comfort.

[carsick]

That was before water based paints.

HaHA! I've known a few painters, seen similar behavior.

All this and only 1 vote?  I guess the real answer is "stupid" then.   

None of the above choices, Bob. Obsession plus stubborn.

One night it was -17F.  After about 5min it didn't hurt anymore, everything was numb.

I'm thinking that's our winner right there. Congrats Arnie, your suffering finally paid off!

[racerman_27410]

 
i have ridden my RZ350 in a snowstorm back in 1985 .. 2 strokes and snow are great fun! (not) 

Had on a one piece ski suit but wasnt really that cold.... i might have even been sweating after all the times i had to pick the bike back up.


i think the poll is limiting on the voting.....

what about heated gear?
weather along with the cold ?

just too many variables to try and gain anything from the voting results..... how about..........

I Kookaloo anytime i can and am prepared for it!     


KOokaloo! 

[mz_rider]

Martin,

Well spotted – yes it's a CB250RS. This was originally my girlfriend's bike that carried us both to work for many years. For those who didn't get this bike it was a 250cc 4 valve single (XL250 engine?) popular in the UK at the time due to the 250cc learner law. It was a great little bike and fun to ride.

Stuart

[ddlewis]

A few weeks ago, early January, took off when the temp was 17F to meet a buddy for breakfast after which we headed out to the mountains.  Highest temp for the day was about 41.  The cold never bothered me but the sandy salty roads were not that fun either.

Got enough heavy heated gear, heated grips and seat, big windshield, etc that I don't actually get cold but it takes 20 min to suit up and get plugged in..  Feel like the michelin man gearing up for a moon walk.  It's way too much trouble for a commute to work.  Then there's the matter of stowing all this gear when you get where you're going.  Basically.. I'm too lazy to ride in the cold. 

[Dan Filetti]

Rode the FJ in the snow, during a surprise snow storm in June in the high country in CO.  Scared the hell out of me.  but I did not wreck.  Temp was not that bad though, maybe 20F, but I was not dessed warm enough and the threat of hypothermia was real enough for us to get off our bikes and sprint up and down the side of the rode to get/ keep our core temps up.  Bet it looked funny, two dudes sprinting up the side of I-70 with their helmets on, in 2" of snow -but I was beyond caring at that point.

When we finally made our way down out of the high country to a coffee shop in Golden, it took at least 30 mins to stop shivering, and a couple of hours huddled around a hot cup of coffee just to get to the point where I felt warm again.

I marvel at the fact that many of the stupid things I did in my younger years did not kill me as they should have, by all rights.

Dan
 

[Arnie]

I marvel at the fact that many of the stupid things I did in my younger years did not kill me as they should have, by all rights.

Dan
 

Yes.  Amazing how much smarter you become with age :-)  (or not)
Arnie

[Kopfjaeger]

on the opposite end of the spectrum it hit 43 deg C today. definatly too hot too ride....

[fjmods]

Anyone remember this guy ?

By the looks of those outriggers, he rode in the snow regularly !

[Mark Olson]

I used to ride a 75 honda XL-250 elsinore back and forth to work about 26 years ago when I was young and crazy 

rain and hail and ice didn't matter to that 2-stroke enduro that just kept on going.

of course the short cut to work was jumping the railroad tracks through the farmers field over hill and dell.

I was using amszoil 100-1 mix back in 83 and the honda loved it.

[rktmanfj]

I used to ride a 75 honda XL-250 elsinore back and forth to work about 26 years ago when I was young and crazy 

rain and hail and ice didn't matter to that 2-stroke enduro that just kept on going.

of course the short cut to work was jumping the railroad tracks through the farmers field over hill and dell.

I was using amszoil 100-1 mix back in 83 and the honda loved it.

MT 250?   

Randy T
Indy