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Freezing temperatures suggestions?

4K views 19 replies 5 participants last post by  earlthepearl 
#1 ·
Winter temperatures are arriving Tuesday night. Will be below freezing at night and early morning (I can hear some of you snickering about what "real" winter temperatures are ;-)).

Any suggestions for what to do at night, while commuting to work in the morning (35 miles, freeway) or anything else?

I park in a garage that is well-ventilated, but thankfully my parking spot is not next to the open air so while it will get cold in the garage it won't be freezing, frost won't form, and when it rains my bike won't get wet (unlike another guy's spot where he put up a tarp to block the elements). Even so I'm getting an all-weather cover for the bike (the really good Dowco one).

For riding I'm getting glove liners, boot liners, and a balaclava. I already have cold-weather gloves and pants with a removable thermal liner that may be getting re-attached. I'll invest in heated grips soon, but not before Tuesday.

Anything else I should consider?

Thanks! :)
 
#4 ·
Heated gloves are supposed to be the best, but heated grips should help. Something like HippoHands or covers over the grips do help also. Too big/thick gloves may cause problems operating the controls.

If you find you are getting cold overall, a heated vest sounds like a good solution.

In cold weather you may need to make adjustments to your mixture to get it to run well. Cold air makes a carbed bike run lean. Gas with Ethanol makes it lean also.

Run a synthetic 5W-40 oil like Rotella T6, and keep your tank as full as possible.
 
#5 ·
hands, feet, and face are your main concern... unless it's below 15 or something, i wouldn't be too concerned about anything else. Just dress in layers.. i'm pretty comfy with just a simple hoodie underneath my jacket (without even the liner in) and PJ's underneath my jeans when the weather is in the 30's

just vacuum seal the places where air can get in and you'll be good to go
 
#15 ·
Yesterday was tolerable enough for everything except the hands. Today it was about 10 degrees colder (sub-freezing without wind chill, even worse at freeway speed!). The thermal liner for my pants was added today and worked, but a couple fingers on each hand went numb (pinky and ring, with the thumbs beginning to by the time I got to work). Heats grips should be arriving tomorrow so I'll put those on this weekend.
 
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