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+--- Thread: Winter riding on the fazer (/showthread.php?tid=66364)
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Re: Winter riding on the fazer - jason1 - 21-11-13
I use the M3 most of the year for work , gets bloody cold . Thin layers are good and recently started using baselayers from DIDOO (italian make) you can get from ebay . They are great tops and priced very well . Gloves with extra thin liners .
Just take it easy on the road , there is def no rush in this weather . Not ridden in snow for years , but might have to this year which im def not looking forward too .
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - Arfa - 21-11-13
Yeah rode all through last winter. But TBH, down here in London almost all the roads stayed clear, was only one day when my side street had 3" of snow that I decided not to ride.
The others have covered most of the important stuff - staying warm.
Base layers, thick or two pairs of socks, thick fleece neck tube, lightweight fleece under jacket too.
Heated gloves are what you really need. But muffs, heated grips etc can also see you through.
Other stuff you really need:-
ACF50 your bike, now. Right now! Go order some off ebay, and cover your bike before you stick salt on the roads.
Pinlock visor. It'll solve all your misting up problems (unless you wear glasses) and you'll wonder why you never got one before.
Make sure you battery is decent. The winter is not the time to be riding about with a battery on the way out.
Stick some WD40 under your seat. Came back to my bike once after work, covered in ice and spent 20 mins faffing about freeing up ignition to turn key and start it!
Stick a torch under seat, there's feck all daylight and you never know when you need to check something out on the bike.
Pop some spare bulbs under seat too.
Get a mini bottle of visor cleaner, in this shit weather you'll need it most days. Better still, get some water repellent stuff for your visor too.
Go over all your kit with some conditioner and waterproofing stuff. NikWax do a good Gloveproof to waterproof you gloves.
The juries still out on effectiveness, but a hi-vis is worth considering now the nights are drawing in. Personally, even if it just prevents a smidsy once in a blue moon, it's still worth the money. Plus it's an extra layer from the elements.
As for rider style:
Slow and steady, no jerky movement, speed changes. Drop a gear and use engine braking more. In the wet 50/50 front and back brakes, on the ice, almost entirely back brake.
When cornering, rather than leaning the bike, lean your body off the bike whilst keeping bike more upright. This will still shift centre of gravity, but help prevent you exceeding grip limit of tyres.
Loosen your elbows, get your weight off the bars to lighten up the steering and in turn help maintain better grip on the front.
But ultimately, read the road further ahead and anticipate upcoming stuff and give yourself plenty of time to slow down.
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - msmudge - 21-11-13
Winter riding is all about common sense, good clothing, a good cigarette lighter to heat your key when your ignition freezes and watching the weather forecast.
Enjoy.
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - wickedmonkey - 04-12-13
Interesting thread with good info. Only been riding since August 2013 and am wondering how far into the winter I can ride.
(20-11-13, 12:04 PM)ogri48 link Wrote: ... It's made my mind up to splash ou on some new winter gloves with smaller cuffs, just been reading a visor down post on ten best winter gloves for under a hundred quid...makes interesting reading how absolutely crap some are!
I bought some Weiss Legend gloves (about £60) on the basis of a Visor Down test and I'm not too impressed. It's not been too cold yet down here in Kent but my finger tips and thumb have been freezing on my throttle hand. Maybe my expectations are unrealistic since I'm pretty inexperienced? They don't seem to be totally windproof either. They are, however, waterproof, not too bulky and have nice grippy fingertips.
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - AdieR - 04-12-13
I have a pair of Ixon gloves, paid about £25 for them, and I swear by them in cold weather; go try them.
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - nick crisp - 04-12-13
I have a pair of Ixon winter gloves which certainly are very warm without being too thick and bulky, but the liners have a tendency to want to pull inside out if I don't remove them carefully, so I got myself a pair of Spada Enforcers, which don't have that problem. A bit thicker than the Ixons, but very good gloves. I can't comment on the waterproof-ness of either pair as I tend not to ride much in the rain. Added to the heated grips, no cold-hand problems thus far though.
Interestingly, a lot of heated grip owners seem to complain that the left grip (specifically) does not work as well as the right (same with mine) - anybody know why this is?
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - NorthWestern - 04-12-13
I am currently riding it daily, all weather 90 mile round trip to/from work. Been fine so far, bit cold (I have no bike specific clothing really - Karrimor jacket). Just ordered a Nitro N31 jacket (£32) and Kevlar Jeans with armour. Can't wait for those to arrive as its getting a bit nippy. I have a Hein Gerick waterproof oversuit for the really wet days.
I only have some race gloves, thin and not built for warmth but no problems so far - coated with Aldi waterproof spray they are pretty good and not getting damp certainly helps.
Saying that I will not be using it when it drops to freezing temps.
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - Frosties - 04-12-13
(04-12-13, 11:20 AM)nick crisp link Wrote: I have a pair of Ixon winter gloves which certainly are very warm without being too thick and bulky, but the liners have a tendency to want to pull inside out if I don't remove them carefully, so I got myself a pair of Spada Enforcers, which don't have that problem. A bit thicker than the Ixons, but very good gloves. I can't comment on the waterproof-ness of either pair as I tend not to ride much in the rain. Added to the heated grips, no cold-hand problems thus far though.
Interestingly, a lot of heated grip owners seem to complain that the left grip (specifically) does not work as well as the right (same with mine) - anybody know why this is?
The left grip is straight onto a cold steel tube whilst the throttle side has a plastic inner so the grip can move. When i fitted them to my Tiger I wrapped some insulation tape to the left bar first - worked, equal heat!
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - fazersharp - 04-12-13
And maybe that with constant clutch leaver pulls you are unwraping your fingers off the grip and exposing it to the wind, cooling it down all the time, whereas the otherside has the brake but used less
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - nick crisp - 04-12-13
Left grip straight onto metal bars - yeah, that makes sense.
I tend to ride with 2 fingers covering the brake all the time, so I don't think it's to do with clutch hand open more - plus, my hands aren't actually getting cold, just notice the difference between the two.
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - Dead Eye - 04-12-13
Plus, the same situation is found whilst riding on long A roads and motorways where neither hand is being moved toward the levers
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - Frosties - 04-12-13
(04-12-13, 11:20 AM)nick crisp link Wrote: I got myself a pair of Spada Enforcers, which don't have that problem. A bit thicker than the Ixons, but very good gloves.
Great gloves these enforcers. Picked up another set at the NEC for £50 - normally £60. Totally waterproof.
FAO NorthWestern - if you can find the cash then you won't find better gloves for the money.
Re: Winter riding on the fazer - NorthWestern - 04-12-13
Yeah I was actually looking at those in Ghost Bikes, nice looking glove too.
Winter riding on the fazer - msmudge - 07-12-13
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Re: Winter riding on the fazer - Nosobrut - 07-12-13
I'm riding 9 hours a day plus, my hands dont really get cold .Ive got handle bar muffs,Data tool heated grips and fingerless gloves .Most of the time I'm in and around the M25 but went to Bath thursday evening ,very windy and wet .Also got a heated Gerbling inner jacket keeps you nice and warm got the gloves aswell but dont use them very often .Only problem is if you run around town with the jacket turned on it knocks the battery out .