37 degrees.... new record!

[Offroad]

If you asked me a year ago if I would ride in 37-degree weather I would say you were crazy... But here I am!

As typical with men if one says do it then we all do it so my group of riding Buddies heading out and I'm going with them... Wish me luck!

 

[Rocky_imp]

If you asked me a year ago if I would ride in 37-degree weather I would say you were crazy... But here I am!

As typical with men if one says do it then we all do it so my group of riding Buddies heading out and I'm going with them... Wish me luck!

Wow, that's even too cold for us up here in the Great White North!

 

[the Ferret]

If you dress for it, you'll be fine. Tell your wife you'd like a First Gear Warm-n-Safe electric jacket liner and controller for Christmas.

You also told me once (in Arkansas) you couldn't ride 200 miles in a day, yet look what you've done this year.

These personal impediments are just waiting to be proven wrong.

have fun , ride safe

 

[RockHop_imp]

I've ridden in 37 degree weather, just not on purpose. Back when I was riding in the mountains of Northern New Mexico in the summer, I would occasionally get caught in a thunderstorm. It could be 90 degrees when I headed up the mountain highway and plunge into the 30's and 40's as the rain/lightning/hail started near the summit.

I usually had my winter gear with me for those rides. Sometimes donned it when I didn't need to, sometimes as I was getting drenched and occasionally just before I needed it. Needless to say, riding on a road covered in hail and no place to pull over was, shall we say, interesting?

Ferret :biker:: I seem to recall you had a similar experience riding with LongRanger in Colorado.

Full disclosure: These higher elevation rides were usually on my Triumph Tiger because I had the hard cases to store the extra gear and the extra range was comforting in areas where gas stations were as common as unicorns. Also why I can verify the temperature because air temp can be displayed on the gauges.

 

[the Ferret]

Yea Rockhop riding in mountains throws up obstacles one doesnt encounter in lowlands for the most part. LIke sun, rain and snow/hail all within a couple hours. That's why LR springs for goretex gear and us low landers carry rainsuits lol.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

Rock, Offroad was on that trip too. If it wasn't 37 degrees that day, it certainly felt like it. Wet, slushy, nasty. But there were several differences. It was July, not November, and we had been in 80+ degree temps in the Vail Valley about thirty minutes earlier, so we weren't mentally or physically prepared for it. And Ferret and Offroad were riding their CB's, so they had minimal protection from the elements. Offroad today can bask behind his K1600's fairing, raise the windscreen, crank up the heated grips and seat, and not suffer. Well, perhaps suffer a bit less.

 

[SportsterDoc]

When I was stationed at McGuire AFB in 1967, I bought a new CB160.
Wrightstown Average Temperature
Month Temp. (min) Temp. (max)
February 25°F 44°F
March 32°F 54°F
April 42°F 66°F

4,000 miles in 3 months.
At that time I worked rotating shifts in Air Police and had a part time job at base watch repair to make the M/C payments.

No windshield
No heated grips
No heated gloves
No heated vest or jacket

It is doable, but helped that I was dumber when I was barely 20 years old!

 

[the Ferret]

LOl yea I remember open face helmet with a flat shield, wool scarf, hooded sweatshirt, army pea coat, blue jeans, work gloves, wool socks and work boots. Made riding in the cold barley tolerable

with today's bikes and heated gear you can comfortably ride in much colder temperatures

 

[Labrador12_imp]

I remember riding my waterbuffallo from Edmonton to Syracuse NY in mid Oct in 1975. A rubberized raincoat as a windbreaker, snow onh the sides of the road. I was 24 just finishing a summer of surveying peregrine falcons in the Northwest Territories in Canada. It was cold riding, but a hell of a ride!!

 

[redbirds_imp]

Our Faith Riders group had our "Polar Ride" last January on the coldest weekend in years in south Georgia. It had snowed just days before and ice was still on the roads in areas shaded by trees. In the low 20's the morning of the ride but made it to a "balmy" 40 by afternoon. Ride was about 120 miles round trip and all us southern flat-landers survived, LOL.

 

[mdharne_imp]

Our Faith Riders group had our "Polar Ride" last January on the coldest weekend in years in south Georgia. It had snowed just days before and ice was still on the roads in areas shaded by trees. In the low 20's the morning of the ride but made it to a "balmy" 40 by afternoon. Ride was about 120 miles round trip and all us southern flat-landers survived, LOL.

I ride all year long in North Ga, with the right gear you be just fine. I dont have heated grips or heated jacket.

 

[Offroad]

Never got above 60 all day but it was a good day!

You're right longranger, I was cheating a little bit, but I just dressed like I was going to ride a snowmobile it worked out pretty well

You're also right ferret, check the miles out for today's ride

 

[the Ferret]

wow almost double your "can't do" and under extreme conditions too. Way to go offroad!

 

[flynrider]

Nice one, Offroad! I don't usually voluntarily ride when it's in the 30s, but if everyone else is in, what can you do?

Back when I was young and stupid (and without a car) I used to ride year round, including a 30 mile commute over a 5,700 ft pass in the winter. It was often in the 20s and I wore a snowmobile suit. I think I still have that snowmobile suit in a closet somewhere, but nowadays I also have a truck with a heater.

Coldest involuntary ride recently was last Oct in Utah (on my way home to warm, sunny Phoenix). It was 24F when I headed out in the morning. I had 3 layers up top and two layers on the bottom, but if it wasn't for my big Plexistar windshield, I don't think I would have made it very far.

 

[decarmine_imp]

Many, many, many years ago, when I lived on Long Island, NY, I decided I wanted to ride to Daytona Beach, Florida. It was Thanksgiving week when I left, and 36 degrees. I was on my '69 CB750K0, no windshield, and just a borrowed leather jacket for protection -- probably had gloves, also. I had a sleeping bag with me, figured I'd sleep on the side of the road. Well, by the time I got to Richmond, Virginia, I was SO COLD that I decided to splurge on a motel room.

When I got the room, I turned the heat up to 90*, and jumped in the shower for an HOUR before I stopped shivering.

The next day the weather was much more pleasant and I made it to Daytona that evening. Stayed there for a day or two, then drove to Miami -- just to do it.

Unfortunately, on the return trip to Daytona -- where I still had my motel room -- on a wet Florida highway, my rear tire blew and I went down. Bike was not driveable.

Did you ever try hitch-hiking with a broken-down motorcycle?

Eventually a gentleman pulling a CB350 in a trailer stopped. We put my bike in his trailer and I drove his bike 65 miles back to Daytona. He lived a couple miles from the motel, so I left the bike at his house and he drove me to my motel room to retrieve my belongings and then to the airport, and I flew home.

Took me six weeks before I was able to get back to Florida with my own trailer to retrieve the bike...

 

[Cormanus]

That's a very sad story decarmine. Good you escaped unharmed though.

 

[decarmine_imp]

That's a very sad story decarmine. Good you escaped unharmed though.

I was *much* younger, then. And much more resilient!