Nice! I learned that for me and my '95 GSF600, the lower limit is 45F dry and 50F rainy. Below 45 the carburetor just shows me the finger even at full choke and rainy below 50 is just too much for me and my gear to stay warm enough the whole 85 min commute to work.
Season is relative, glad to see someone like minded!
For cold and/or wet, I’ve made some discoveries the hard way over the years, and solved these problems with cheap dumb purchases.
Buy a pair of waterproof socks. “Waterproof” boots are, at best, only so temporarily. Even my good TCX boots let water in by the first hour mark, usually, so when I’m on a long adventure ride or similar I wind up with my feet in fishbowls by the time I get there. A pair of dinkum waterproof socks keeps my feet dry, which goes a long way towards also keeping my feet warm. Sure, your boots still end up full of water in this case. But who cares; just leave them upside down for a while. If you have to wear them again before they dry out you can just put your socks back on. Plastic bags work for this purpose as well, but the socks have held up better for me.
Related: “Waterproof” gloves typically aren’t. I keep a pair of thick nitrile gloves in my tank bag (straight from Harbor Freight!) which fit under my regular gloves. These will keep your hands dry, and also block a lot of wind which might otherwise make your fingers frigid. You wouldn’t think a poxy couple of mils of rubber would accomplish anything against a cold wind, but it does. These also serve double duty if you have to work on your bike in the field and don’t want to get grease and road dust and other crap all over your hands.
If your jacket has a rain liner you put in the inside, ditch it. Or if you can, wear it over the jacket – not inside it. You want a rain jacket that goes overtop, one way or the other. I know I just said to do the opposite with the gloves and boots, but I find that this keeps water out much better. Plus, your jacket won’t weigh nine tons after absorbing its own volume in water. Ditto with pants. I’ve never seen a motorcycle pant “rain” liner that didn’t let water through right through the fly. If you don’t want your balls to swim, get a pair of waterproof overpants too. Me, I just use the same Gore Tex ones I also use for hiking. Frog Toggs makes a couple of motorcycle specific throw-over rain sets which are pretty cheap, too.
I went on Wish and got a cheap heated vest. I fully expected this to be garbage, but it works wonders and I have not managed to destroy it or cause it to cease functioning after 5 years of use. It was like $20. I think it’s just about the best thing ever once the temperature outside gets below the 40’s (F).
This might be the best advice I have received on this platform, thank you!
I ordered most of your suggestions now and will test them; the part with the rain liner over the jacket is sth I already figured out. Only thing I cannot get before winter are froggtoggs, seems like you can get all models here in central europe except for the road toad so I will try some local brand for now. You might have just extended my season until right before it starts to snow!
Nice! I learned that for me and my '95 GSF600, the lower limit is 45F dry and 50F rainy. Below 45 the carburetor just shows me the finger even at full choke and rainy below 50 is just too much for me and my gear to stay warm enough the whole 85 min commute to work.
Season is relative, glad to see someone like minded!
For cold and/or wet, I’ve made some discoveries the hard way over the years, and solved these problems with cheap dumb purchases.
Buy a pair of waterproof socks. “Waterproof” boots are, at best, only so temporarily. Even my good TCX boots let water in by the first hour mark, usually, so when I’m on a long adventure ride or similar I wind up with my feet in fishbowls by the time I get there. A pair of dinkum waterproof socks keeps my feet dry, which goes a long way towards also keeping my feet warm. Sure, your boots still end up full of water in this case. But who cares; just leave them upside down for a while. If you have to wear them again before they dry out you can just put your socks back on. Plastic bags work for this purpose as well, but the socks have held up better for me.
Related: “Waterproof” gloves typically aren’t. I keep a pair of thick nitrile gloves in my tank bag (straight from Harbor Freight!) which fit under my regular gloves. These will keep your hands dry, and also block a lot of wind which might otherwise make your fingers frigid. You wouldn’t think a poxy couple of mils of rubber would accomplish anything against a cold wind, but it does. These also serve double duty if you have to work on your bike in the field and don’t want to get grease and road dust and other crap all over your hands.
If your jacket has a rain liner you put in the inside, ditch it. Or if you can, wear it over the jacket – not inside it. You want a rain jacket that goes overtop, one way or the other. I know I just said to do the opposite with the gloves and boots, but I find that this keeps water out much better. Plus, your jacket won’t weigh nine tons after absorbing its own volume in water. Ditto with pants. I’ve never seen a motorcycle pant “rain” liner that didn’t let water through right through the fly. If you don’t want your balls to swim, get a pair of waterproof overpants too. Me, I just use the same Gore Tex ones I also use for hiking. Frog Toggs makes a couple of motorcycle specific throw-over rain sets which are pretty cheap, too.
I went on Wish and got a cheap heated vest. I fully expected this to be garbage, but it works wonders and I have not managed to destroy it or cause it to cease functioning after 5 years of use. It was like $20. I think it’s just about the best thing ever once the temperature outside gets below the 40’s (F).
This might be the best advice I have received on this platform, thank you! I ordered most of your suggestions now and will test them; the part with the rain liner over the jacket is sth I already figured out. Only thing I cannot get before winter are froggtoggs, seems like you can get all models here in central europe except for the road toad so I will try some local brand for now. You might have just extended my season until right before it starts to snow!