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For most motorcyclists in the US, Canada and Europe, winter is bringing cold weather with it. This means danger for many riders; whether or not you’re dealing with ice and snow, your reaction time slows down in the cold, leaving you more likely to crash. Other problems like hypothermia and frostbite can also arise, but most riders will park long before they’re susceptible to those dangers. Most riders will also stay parked when the roads are slippery, leaving the temperature as the main enemy they’ll face when they’re actually out on the street.
Being truly cold on a motorcycle is most unpleasant, but if you prepare yourself and your bike, you can defend against it.
Check out the full frontal coverage on this Kawasaki Concours. That will help keep you warm, and the Concours is a cheap winter beater bike these days. Nobody wants them, and they run forever. Their electric system might be a bit underpowered if you want to add a lot of heated gear, though. Photo: Kawasaki
Bike modifications
Cold air is what chills you, and quickly-moving cold air chills you even faster. The obvious answer is to keep that cold air off your body, and you can start by adding a windscreen to your bike. Who cares if it’s ugly? You can always take it off in the spring. A motorcycle with a fairing that offers good wind protection for your legs and upper body is ideal (think Gold Wing, or maybe a cruiser with touring windscreen and lowers. An old-school sport tourer like a Kawasaki Concours would work well too). But even if you don’t ride a massive machine like that, you can pick up something like a Spitfire windshield for not-crazy money, and it will make a very noticeable difference.
Along with keeping the wind off your chest and helmet area, you should also protect your hands. At a minimum, install a set of large dual sport-style handguards; the plastics will keep your hands warmer than you realize. But ideally, you want something like Hippo Hands’ wraparound handlebar covers. Hippo Hands has new products out for 2022; see Paolo’s review of previous-gen equipment here. If you don’t have the cash for that sort of upgrade, I’ve heard of riders making make-shift substitutes, even cutting milk jugs in half and zip-tying them on for wind protection. Again, if you don’t like the look, you can remove those in the spring… And this trick for warming your hands really does work. I had a knock-off product installed on my DR650 years ago and couldn’t believe the difference it made.
But wait! Before you install those handlebar muffs, you should add heated grips first. Really, this is one of the first modifications any motorcycle owner should do, as you can enjoy the benefits year-round; I have run my heated grips in every month of the year. They can take the edge off a rainy day even in mid-summer. But you really notice their efficacy when winter rolls around. There are several brands on the market; I’ve had good luck with Oxford in the past, and ADVwriter Kate Murphy prefers Koso Apollo grips. Or maybe your bike came with heated grips pre-installed? Lucky you!
If you’re really ambitious, you can also add a heated seat. I once rode around New England in the first week of April on a BMW C650GT with a heated seat, and while I was still cold, that seat sure took the edge off.
Finally, you should wire your bike to accept other heated accessories. This might mean simply adding sockets or leads that let you plug into the bike. If you’re riding a dual sport 650cc or smaller, you might even have to upgrade your charging system to handle the extra load of a heated vest. Speaking of which…
Check your bike’s charging output before wiring in too many accessories. You might have to spend a few hundred bucks on an upgraded stator first (DR650 owners, represent!). Photo: Amazon
Heated riding gear
Along with heated grips, a windscreen and handlebar muffs, I consider a heated vest the other essential piece of equipment for winter riding. You can certainly go without it, but a heated vest is a game-changer, keeping your core temperatures up. This in turn means more bloodflow to your hands and feet; not only are you warmer all over, but your reaction time is better. A heated jacket, with coverage along the arms, is even better than a vest, but the jackets are more money and more taxing on your bike’s charging system. Unless you’re planning on doing long days in the cold, most of y’all can get away with the vest.
The other great thing about heated vests is, it’s not hard to find a battery-powered vest; battery-powered jackets are more rare. Don’t get me wrong; plug-in power is superior to battery power, but the battery vest is usable for other off-the-bike applications. Ideally, you would buy a vest that both accepts a wired connection as well as a battery that lasts at least two hours. Realistically, most riders aren’t doing more than two hours in the cold anyway.
Another option is Aerostich’s WarmBib. This is well-made, like everything else from Aerostich, and it’s a bit more packable than a heated vest, and a bit more affordable. However, it is plug-in only, and it only warms your chest. It does block a lot of wind and even a bit of rain, as well.
Harley-Davidson has some heated clothes in its catalog, and you might be able to find a deal here if you’re a keen bargain hunter. However, I will recommend you ensure that whatever liners you buy will fit under your riding gloves. I’ve had liners that didn’t, and I ended up giving them away as a result, after waiting weeks for them to show up. Photo: Harley-Davidson
If you want the ultimate comfort, get yourself a set of heated gloves or heated glove liners. They will warm your hands much better than heated grips; I consider this unnecessary, but the comfort level is noticeably superior, and if you have both heated grips and heated gloves? And maybe handlebar muffs too? You shouldn’t notice the cold at all.
Some riders go for heated pants. I don’t, but maybe you need them. Same for heated boot liners. Just remember that this all adds up on your bike’s charging system.
Non-heated riding gear
Some riders go without any heated gear at all, because they don’t want the expense or the hassle. There are various viewpoints on the best way to stay warm without a heated vest; some riders say you need lots of layers of clothes, preferably wool or synthetic materials. Other riders go for fewer layers of big, puffy clothes. I know riders who’ve done serious miles in the cold in each of these fashions, so I think it comes down to what works best for you. I will say that a good set of base layers is key in either case, and I’ve never found a base layer as warm as Helly Hansen’s pile underwear. It might be too warm, if you’re going to be moving around much.
Match a one-piece riding suite (Klim Hardanger on the left) with some extra-warm base layers (Helly Hansen pile underwear on the right), and you can ride in comfort without heated gear, at least for a while.
I will say this: You’ll be warmest with a one-piece suit over everything. If you can’t swing that, then at least try to wear bib-style riding pants under your jacket. You want minimal draft running up the back of your jacket and through your gear. Another tip: No matter what you’re wearing, a second windproof layer over or under will help keep breezes at bay.
Before I had heated grips, I would sometimes use snowmobile mitts, but frankly, I wouldn’t trust them in a crash. I’ve also heard of guys who wear thin medical-style gloves under their normal riding gloves; they claim it makes a big difference in warmth. Unless I’m wearing a riding suit with a tall collar, I usually wear a thick neckwarmer; under a tall collar, I’ll wear something thinner, like a Buff. Any protection you can get to keep wind off your skin is a good idea.
A note on helmets: I actually used to ride with a snowmobile helmet in winter, to avoid my visor fogging up and frosting over. I have no idea if that’s safe, but I doubt it (seeing a theme here?). Out of all the motorcycle helmets I’ve had over the years, I think the Schuberth C3 Pro was probably the warmest in winter. A dual-pane Pinlock shield kept my visibility clear. I will wear my Schuberth C5 on the roads this winter.
The bottom line
Unless you’re on a touring bike, you’re going to get cold if you’re sitting still on the motorcycle for an extended time. If you deck yourself in heated gear from head to toe, that will help a lot, though. It costs money, but you can add weeks or even months of riding time this way.
If your bike can’t handle the added power load, or you can’t handle the added expense, then concentrate on keeping your hands and core warm, and try to insulate the rest of your body as well as possible.
Of course, if you’re off-roading in the winter, you can ignore most of the info in this article. You can’t bundle yourself up on the bike as well, you can’t hide behind a big windscreen, and you can’t power a lot of heated equipment. Best to stick with a battery vest, and maybe heated grips; most dirt riders move around enough to stay pretty warm anyway.
The post Winter Riding Tactics Part 1: How To Stay Warm appeared first on Adventure Rider.
