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Went on a little ride today. It was in the high 20's when I left. Got up to about 35 and was 32 when I got home. It was sunny all day.

My thighs got cold in the morning. I had long underwear bottoms and my riding pants with liners. I forgot, on days below 35 I normally wear a pair of fleece sweat pants between the long underwear and riding pants. I don't believe I would have been cold if I remembered that extra layer.

My top half never got cold.

FYI=I'm lurking! Not making a commitment yet, can a person come up Friday night and meet up with the group on Saturday?

Rusty Jug wrote:FYI=I'm lurking! Not making a commitment yet, can a person come up Friday night and meet up with the group on Saturday?

I don't know how that would work. We are leaving Friday around noon and heading east. At this time, I'm not sure where we will be Friday or Saturday night.

Went on a ride this Sunday. The temperature was 26 when I left and got to about 40 with the sun out all day. I was comfortable for the entire time. My only problem was fogging. I tried this with my Arai helmet: It did seem to work. However, I did not wear it very long because the nose fold bunched up and make it hard to breath and it was very hot to wear. I'll try it again in the future.

Most likely for the upcoming ride I'll wear an old KBC helmet because for some reason it does not fog as much as the Arai.

From the most part the roads were in good shape. There was still a little snow and ice in the shadows. In one place I topped a hill and the road went from dry to two inches of slick mud on top of frozen ground. It puckered me.

I used to ride in the cold. I guess I got wimpy. Some would say I was always wimpy. Although I do still ride my bicycle year round, and not inside on a trainer. Not sure I ever did a multi-hour ride in the cold. My personal best was 6 F on my 30 minute commute. Personal best (worst?) bicycling is 15 F. Anyway ...

All images stolen from the internet. Try Rocky Mountain for cheap knockoffs (and use the link at the bottom of the page to get Troy some money so he can keep these electrons flowing).

I found the Breathbox for my HJC helmet solved a lot of the fogging issues. Other helmet manufacturers make similar. I believe these are used by snowmobilers. Specific ones are made for specific helmets.


Another item that I wouldn't ride in the winter without were my HippoHands. With these I didn't need heated gloves. I have seen knockoffs that are cheaper. I did see a photo of a guy that cut out 1g milk jugs and used wire ties to hold them to the bars. Concept is to keep the wind off of your hands.


For a helmet liner moto-ing in the cold I used one that was thin on top so as to not make the helmet tight, but fleece below. Turtle brand.

safiri wrote: I found the Breathbox for my HJC helmet solved a lot of the fogging issues. Other helmet manufacturers make similar. I believe these are used by snowmobilers. Specific ones are made for specific helmets.

A few years ago I purchased a breathbox similar to the one above. It did not work on my Arai helmet. The chin area is too far from the face.

There is an update on the first post to answer a few questions I was asked.

Got my new Kenda Big Block rear tire on the F800GS. I think that's all she needs to be ready for the ride.

For whatever reason, even my heated gloves aren't enough to keep my right thumb from getting numb in really cold weather. I'm considering a set of those Hippo Hand things. Safiri and others say they make a huge difference. Some folks suggest the combination of heated grips and these covers allow you to wear your normal, thin gloves. That would be nice....but I imagine I'd still want the heated gloves.

I don't run both my heated gloves and heated grips at the same time. I've never run the numbers but I just assume it's too much for the system. I suppose I should figure out what my jacket and gloves and grips draw and the capacity of my F800GS. Maybe I should do one of those expensive headlight upgrades that save watts.

troy wrote:For whatever reason, even my heated gloves aren't enough to keep my right thumb from getting numb in really cold weather. I'm considering a set of those Hippo Hand things. Safiri and others say they make a huge difference. Some folks suggest the combination of heated grips and these covers allow you to wear your normal, thin gloves. That would be nice....but I imagine I'd still want the heated gloves.

I found the Hippo Hands allowed me to wear my spring/fall gloves down to at least 20oF with the heated grips. Hands were toasty warm. Below that I would wear my winter gloves.

troy wrote:I don't run both my heated gloves and heated grips at the same time. I've never run the numbers but I just assume it's too much for the system. I suppose I should figure out what my jacket and gloves and grips draw and the capacity of my F800GS. Maybe I should do one of those expensive headlight upgrades that save watts.

You will probably notice the headlight dimming if the voltage drops much. The resistance of the heated gear goes up as it heats up, so the initial current draw is quite a bit higher than once warmed up. You could also hook up a voltmeter to the battery in your garage and run the bike with all of your gear hooked up and on. Hold the RPM where you normally cruise. Voltage should be around 14 or so.

Grips are probably around 3A (42W) on high.

From the Gerbing web site I found the following. The numbers are inline with what I measured with my Widder/BMW vest (53W cold, 48W warm). My F650 never had a problem with my vest and grips both running.

Jacket:
Source 12-volts DC
Current 6.4 amps
Watts 77 watts

Gloves:
Source 12V DC
Current 2.2A
Watts 27

ajayhawkfan wrote:If you have been good this year, you could possibly ask for heating gear for Christmas.

I was a very good boy. New heated gloves, heated jacket and riding suit from the fine folks at Olympia.

ajayhawkfan wrote:Friday January, 18th. Start around 12:00, noon. Where we meet will be determined.
The plan is to head east to the Mississippi River, upriver of STL. This is subject to change depending on road conditions.

I know everything is weather dependent and the apogee of said route is up in the air. But, if you had to take a stab at it; how far upriver from STL are you planning to head? Since I live in Tulsa, I need to figure out whether or not to take Monday off from work as well. Maybe even Tuesday.

This works on my Arai's. Fold the d-ring straps into the helmet, velcro to the lining. Adjust as necessary. It comes with a sticky patch of velcro for the chin of the helmet. I don't use that. Best anti-fog gadjet i've found. You to have change how you take off the helmet. Otherwise the edge of the velcro might scratch your face!



http://www.aerostich.com/respro-foggy-breathguard.html

ajayhawkfan wrote:

safiri wrote: I found the Breathbox for my HJC helmet solved a lot of the fogging issues. Other helmet manufacturers make similar. I believe these are used by snowmobilers. Specific ones are made for specific helmets.

A few years ago I purchased a breathbox similar to the one above. It did not work on my Arai helmet. The chin area is too far from the face.

jasoomian wrote:I need to figure out whether or not to take Monday off from work as well. Maybe even Tuesday.

ajayhawkfan wrote:I can't predict when we will be back on Monday however I hope to be back by 4:00.

You definitely need Mon off work. Of course you can split off anytime you want (after letting the group know of course). For the lucky ones, Mon is a holiday off work anyway.

ajayhawkfan wrote:Friday January, 18th. Start around 12:00, noon. Where we meet will be determined.
The plan is to head east to the Mississippi River, upriver of STL. This is subject to change depending on road conditions.

jasoomian wrote: I know everything is weather dependent and the apogee of said route is up in the air. But, if you had to take a stab at it; how far upriver from STL are you planning to head? Since I live in Tulsa, I need to figure out whether or not to take Monday off from work as well. Maybe even Tuesday.

The ride starts Friday and I expect to be back to KC mid afternoon on Monday. The ride might go as far north as Nauvoo http://www.historicnauvoo.net/ if weather cooperates.

Ok, so I'm gonna have to bail on this one. My excuse is I'm gonna have to work that weekend, a new responsibility that I can't shirk, so you guys are gonna have to freeze without me.

I'm thinking of those guys on the Endurance, a couple of years in Antarctica.

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/features/endurance/

I'm ready!

ajayhawkfan wrote:

ajayhawkfan wrote:Friday January, 18th. Start around 12:00, noon. Where we meet will be determined.
The plan is to head east to the Mississippi River, upriver of STL. This is subject to change depending on road conditions.

jasoomian wrote: I know everything is weather dependent and the apogee of said route is up in the air. But, if you had to take a stab at it; how far upriver from STL are you planning to head? Since I live in Tulsa, I need to figure out whether or not to take Monday off from work as well. Maybe even Tuesday.

The ride starts Friday and I expect to be back to KC mid afternoon on Monday. The ride might go as far north as Nauvoo http://www.historicnauvoo.net/ if weather cooperates.

Looks like I'll be taking Tuesday off as well. Not a fan of riding at night (but, I do have that fancy hi-vis suit), so, that probably won't leave me enough time to get back to Tulsa.

Granted, I could bail out early, but, it seems whenever I have to do that - I miss something awesome. So, Tuesday it is. Besides, I can't remember the last time I took more than two days off of work. Been over a year. Possibly more. I plan on heading in to the KC area Thursday afternoon.

Let's go 'decent' weather!

OK ......Tomorrow is the big day. Looks like a it will be record nice Jan. day to start a ride.
Have a good time and Be safe. Take lots of pics and enjoy the ride. Will be waiting for the storys of adventure.

Ride is next week. With today's weather, though, makes me wish we were heading out today.

oops a little over anxious

Right now the 10 forecast looks pretty good.