>I rode my motorcycle to work Saturday night, December 27th. Yes, you read that right. Of course, the temperature was in the mid-60’s Saturday evening, so it was no big deal. My co-workers didn’t even blink when they found out I rode in instead of driving the car. The big deal came Sunday morning when I got off work.
You see, the temperature dropped over thirty degrees overnight, and it had rained heavily. It was now hovering around 32 degrees, and parts of the road were still wet. There were wind gusts of 30mph. I needed to ride to church Sunday morning directly from work. So I got dressed: white socks and wool hunting socks, boots, long underwear, jeans, t-shirt, sweatshirt, ski overalls, coat, gloves, balaclava, and helmet.
What did I learn from this ride? Riding in the wind was not a big problem. My clothing worked great, except that I need gloves that are windproof/waterproof, and a new, better helmet. Also, some anti-fogging stuff for my faceshield. Once I get those things in place, Winter riding should be no problem, as long as the roads aren’t icy. I read about some anti-fog stuff I can use called “Cat Crap” (forgive the name, but supposedly it really works, and it has never been inside a cat).
People kept asking me, “Weren’t you cold?” “I don’t know why people assume that you must be cold on a bike, when people do all kinds of winter sports outside without getting dangerously cold. Dress appropriately, that’s the ticket.
I read on one website about getting “electric clothing” like gloves, long underwear, etc. The day I put on electric underwear you can put me in the psych ward, because you will know I have lost my mind. I might do the “gloves”, but that’s as far as it goes.
So, other than snow and ice, my motorcycle is now a 4 season vehicle. Vroom, vroom.