Riding to work today

[lowlife]

One of the last nice days this season I suspect when low and behold moab calls amazingly I feel my phone and scream into the phone can't talk right now i'm riding. Thats it... just wanted to rub it in a little bit Andrew, i was riding and you weren't....Geee guess you really know how to pick your friends. With friends like me who needs enemys!!!

Oh BTW I was riding today what were you doing? Oh thats right calling me!!!! :rotf:

[zl900_moab]

Or enema's for that matter...
moab...

[beeZLbub]

One of the last nice days this season I suspect

Just curious as to what your temp threshold is when you stop riding.
I looked on weather.com and saw some 38º lows! Wowzers.

I'm one of those "year-round" fools, so I'm curious to know when "too cold" is for everyone else.

:thumbright:

If you're interested in riding a little longer, a set of Helly Hansen waterproof pants over your jeans/cargo pants make it comfortable right up to freezing temps. Toss on a leather jacket & some leather gloves and you can ride for another month ;). Of course, I respect folks choice to store the bike for the winter too. :)

[KawTipper]

One of the last nice days this season I suspect

Just curious as to what your temp threshold is when you stop riding.
I looked on weather.com and saw some 38º lows! Wowzers.

I'm one of those "year-round" fools, so I'm curious to know when "too cold" is for everyone else.

I cheat, I have some 12v heated clothing, but my bike takes forever to start when it gets below 30.

[lowlife]

Dear Satan,
I will usually ride into the mid 40's but my ride to my first job is only 7 miles. By the afternoon it is nicer when I go to my second job. I figure it ain't much different than riding snowmobile,so there have been times when I've ridden into the 30's but I prefer not. Usually when I ride that cold its payday and I have no money for the tank.

[wuputt]

I ride till daytime temps get below 40. Just gets too hard on the starter trying to get er to fire up when it gets colder. Besides that it takes me longer to get dressed up than it takes to get to work!

[beeZLbub]

Satan's the boss, Beelzbub's an underling ;)
But 'beeZLbub' is my bike because she's a DEVIL to ride and she's red to boot!
:evil2:

I've got a 30-minute commute to work - going over the Ben Franklin Bridge from Jersey to Philly is the coldest part of my ride. I can't stand the train and I can't afford to park my car/truck in the city, so the bikes are my main mode of transportation 365 days. I rolled a week or two of sub-zero temps last year - weatherfolks claimed -14º with the windchill... but what does that equate to with a 60mph headwind? LOL

I try to keep the gear to a minimum, but still try to maximize warmth:
-Full Face Helmet
-Neck "Turtle" << essential -http://www.rei.com/product/663041
-Icon Burner jacket
-Isotoner leather gloves
-Black Dot snowboard pants - http://www.the-house.com/bd4ca02bzzblackdotpants.html
-$30 Waterproof boots from Kohls

Slipping on the pants over my "work pants" (kakhi's) is really the only "extra" article of clothing.

[Jarney]

I'm the same as most. I stop riding when temps start to stay consistently below 40 degrees. My ride to work isn't too bad but it's about half highway speeds which equals big windchills. I might ride into colder temps but as some have stated, the Eli just doesn't want to start very well after sitting in those temps for 8 or 12 hours. If you have some decent gear or clothing, you really don't notice the coldness much - I sort of work in the elements anyway. I have a jacket with a liner that I put in and it's supposed to be water and windproof to something like 20 below zero, some tourmaster winter type gauntlet gloves, helmet with the attached neck warmer thingy and that's usually all I'll wear for extra warmth for the ride into work. I have a chart I keep on my fridge that has windchills - it only goes up to 40 mph winds - anything above that has little additional effect - so at 40mph, if the temp is 40 degrees, the windchill would be 10 degrees. If the temp was 30 degrees, the windchill would be 6 degrees below zero. Man I hate winter. Hahahahaha. Later.

[lowlife]

Satan's the boss, Beelzbub's an underling ;)

Hey room for advancement, gotta love a job with that.

Similar to why I call mine the "Red Whore". She takes all your money, gives you a rough ride, and when you get off your smiling looking forward to more.

[CHRIS]

i have been known to ride at any temp. during the winter.
in my younger years, back in 1991, i bought a new zx-7, & rode it to & from work that whole winter, except for days there were snow & ice on the roads. if the roads were dry, i was riding ! my boss at the time, thought i was crazy, coz the first day i brought my zx-7 to work it was 17 degrees outside.

i dont ride that much in winter months anymore, & my zl will never be outside in the winter weather, but i'll always have a bike that i can take for a short ride to the store, or around the block a few times. it helps me keep my sanity ! as long as the roads are dry, riding is a possibility ! as far as the temps. i just pretend i'm out snowmobiling, & the chill is just part of the excitement ! CHRIS :cool10:

[beeZLbub]

Hrm... I was unaware of the hard starting problem with the ZL :(
I rode a '94 Magna & a Kawi '85 ZN700 all last winter with no starting problems. Are liter-bikes harder on starters?

I do know that a good battery is mandatory for subzero starts. I got a little lazy last year and didn't replace my 3-year old battery in the ZN so I had a great time running up and down the sidewalk pop starting the bike! LOL

I don't ride for pleasure during the deep winter months - my bikes all stay in the garage on the weekends! Oh, except that nice 70* day in the middle of January last year - THAT was nice!

[furchin]

I'll ride 'till I have to put the bikes away because of bad roads. The coldest I have ridden was 16 but that was on my Voyager with my heated jacket liner and heated gloves. I agree somewhat with the cold weather running of the ZL. While I have no problem starting any of my ZL's in the cold they do perform different with regard to lowering temps. The totally stock bike runs a hell of a lot better (compared to modified bikes) in temps below 35 but the one with a jet kit won't run fer ****, and my little 600 with pods and jets is terrible also at cold temps.

[Blagadán]

I dont mind the cold, its the rain I hate. Maybe I'm weird but theres something I like about rolling the zl out of the workshop on a cold dewy morning, crisp fresh air, fire her up and get out on the road. Its been 5-6degC (40f) in the mornings here the last few weeks, I dont mind it. Maybe when things start to freeze I'll choose not to ride for safety reasons (ice on the road mainly).
I just plain hate rain when I'm out on my bike. Down yer neck, up yer sleeves..... nope, will avoid riding in rain at all costs. Just dont enjoy it and it makes me miserable... (guess i'm living in the wrong country for biking then...lol) I just associate the ZL with feeling good (my "happy place" as it were) and rain spoils it.