How cold have you rode?

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In a test of Man vs Nature I ventured out onto the interstate Saturday night at 23 deg F. The TC is so good at protecting from wind that it is doable. Had white thermal long johns, then sweat pants over that, then snow ski pants over that.
On top I wore two hoodies under a heavy leather jacket. Modular helmet and driving gloves from the Harley Dealer completed my outfit. This was a personal record at 23 F and highway speeds.
Luv the TC.
 
Well done! I usually try to wait for temps to approach 40*(f) in hopes our very common hoar frost and black ice that lurks in the more shaded areas have had a chance to melt, but I have often ridden well below that with a "best" of 16*(f) on an annual New Year's Day run that never saw more than low 40s. I was on my S1000XR and even in top shelf winter gear I was COLD all day and wishing my RT was coddling my old hide 😉


Here’s another Winter ride photo up to the Blue Ridge Parkway on a much warmer morning!
 

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took my new R18 out today for a 22 mile jaunt, sunny and 30 degrees.
uniform BDU pants with long johns underneath. thermal long sleeve shirt with work out t shirt underneath. hoodie and 3/4 length winter coat. Alpinestars moderate cold weather gloves, Aerostitch combat boots with wool socks. klim neck warmer and Shoei full face. all worked for that distance at highway speeds.
had to check out my heated grips and cruise control. didn't get a chance on the short ride home after delivery from Gateway.
 
This morning’s Bikes & Breakfast gathering, it was 29F when I arrived at 8:30AM after an hour ride. I’ve ridden my R18 Classic as low as 20F last winter, but in truth at that temp, my GSA is the better bike with more wind protection & heated gear options. I use a Warm & Safe heated shirt & socks plugged into the Powerlet outlet. Klim battery powered heated gloves augment the heated grips. Warm base layer pants & jacket round it out. Definitely good to 25F without feeling cold at all having the windshield on (It’s off all summer).
 
Coldest I have ridden my R18 Classic (with windshield on) was 20F last winter as I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Coldest on any bike was an R1200R riding from NYC to southern VT for Oktoberfest. When I arrived in Vermont it was 8F. 6 hours on a fully naked bike in those temps was tough.

I have done teens on my GSA nearly every winter (I do an annual New Years Day dirt road ride).

The key is it must be dry conditions. Under 40F and wet, I don’t ride.
 
Around 30, and only when streets are clean and dry. Around here they use liquid salt, which makes the streets greasy, so once that gets laid down I prefer to wait for a good rain to rinse it off. That means that most years either December or January, or sometimes both, shut me out. There may be a day nice enough to ride, but either the roads are wet, snowy or have salt slime. Only takes one slick corner to make for a bad day.
 
PistolPeteSTL said:
Around 30, and only when streets are clean and dry. Around here they use liquid salt, which makes the streets greasy, so once that gets laid down I prefer to wait for a good rain to rinse it off. That means that most years either December or January, or sometimes both, shut me out. There may be a day nice enough to ride, but either the roads are wet, snowy or have salt slime. Only takes one slick corner to make for a bad day.
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Where is around here?
 
im the same way. once the snow hits, and the salt trucks come out, party over. here in the St Louis area and surrounding counties they use liquid salt, rock salt, and beet juice. need a good solid rain after everything melts with temperature warming up. i will go out then. do fear the conditions just fear what corrosion can happen on my new bike.
 
On the R18, down to about 30F. Previously, sub 20F, but only for a max of 20 minutes. Luckily no salt or whatever used here, so "could" ride year round... will be -7F here in a couple of days though, which I would not ride in unless it was because the zombie apocalypse happened and my truck exploded lol.
 
How cold? I was borderline hypothermic but since I enjoy not being in control of my senses I had a blast, so to speak!
I try to accomplish that feat every year between Christmas and New Year, and since I'm living a solitary life I'm always by myself, feeling small in this natural world of ours.
I am working on a very difficult task, and preparing myself every day. It's mental 100% since I'm gonna try to reach hypothermia in the middle of the summer being in Death Valley.
I'll report to you guys as soon as I go through it. Next step will be to replicate the experience but this time I will be running rather than riding.
But it wont happen before the summer of 2024, since it requires discipline and sacrifice and I need the time to prepare.
 
Michigan Tim said:
To me, my riding threshold and golf threshold are the same. Roughly 50 degrees. While I can brave lower temperatures, I just don’t enjoy the experience, so I don’t bother.
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Michigan Tim,
When I first started riding on the pavement I would ride every chance I got. Then over time like you I realized how much I disliked being wet and cold. For me I have to be moderately comfortable to have the necessary level of focus. When I get cold to the point of my fingers and toes getting numb it just isn’t safe for me to ride anymore. Its for that reason I’ve become a “fair weather” rider. I want to be able to ride all of the “fair weather” I’m physically able to for at least another 40 years and to do so I need to be alive!
 
aicpjim said:
Coldest so far is 52. Didn't even turn on the grips or the seat. But I was dressed warmly so no need
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aicpjim,

That is terrific! Born and raised here in the Northwest. Have lived within a 30 mile radius of where I was born for 40 years. It’s a beautiful place to live but not enough days with weather good enough for me to want to ride. As SOON as I am eligible for retirement my wife and I are loading up a few of our most prized possessions and heading south east in search of more riding days per year.
 
Like aicpjim, I have been 35 years in the same house. 40 in the same town. The riding weather in southern Kansas is much favorable to my roots in Nebraska.
 
The problem I have with riding in the cold is dressing like the Michelin Man. It’s so restrictive it takes away from the freedom of the ride.
 
R2K said:
The problem I have with riding in the cold is dressing like the Michelin Man. It’s so restrictive it takes away from the freedom of the ride.
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There is truth to that statement.
 
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