WINTER RIDING....GEAR ADVICE NEEDED

[acf1073]

lets say you need to ride 200-300 miles per day every day during the dead of winter in west tennessee and i need to stay super warm and dry what would you use?....lets say you already have a top quality Nitro 2-piece set of rain gear.....what changes would you make to your 2006 katana and what gear would you use on a daily basis??.....its time for me to start buying stuff for the upcoming winter for my motorcycle courier business and i need your opinions....thanks......oh yeah,absolute lowest temperature will be 20 degrees but average temperature will be 35-40 degrees in this area....so i gotta stay warm and dry for 200-30 miles everyday an about 6 hours tops.......bike mods?....gear?....help!!!!!.......thnaks

[KatanaSoldier]

Heated grips, polypro top, bottom and balaclava (covers neck too). Also I would make sure to have a breath guard in your helmet along with a chin piece that kinds of seals the helmet.

I rode the bike all through the winter here with the longest break being 2 weeks. Usually in the high teens and twenties. I only had one regret, and that was not getting heated grips! The polypro stuff under the leathers was amazing and kept me warm. I also recommend an Icon Mil Spec vest over your gear. During that cold time here , people REALLY don't see you in comparison to the warmer months. Perhaps because there are hardly any bikers on the road and it is usually darker out all day.

[md86]

Heated grips are good down to around 30 . Afetr that , your palms sweat , but the back of your hands freeze .
Balaclavas are GREAT , but get a thin one that'll fit under your helmet . The fat fleece ones ARE warm , but shoving a helmet over them gives you a headache after abotu 20 minutes .
A windbreaking layer over top is the BEST thing you can do . I like this windbreaker ski pant thing . Think lined windbreaker . Those over my leathers and my legs are good down to 30 no problem . Long johns under that if it's colder . Same for the top half .

[acf1073]

what about the bike....will its charging system handle heated vest/gloves/chaps all in one plus a pair of heated grips?

[acf1073]

also what about a touring windscreen and what type and maybe plastic hand guards???....what all can i do to my bike to make it more weather friendly?

[steves]

Snowmobile gear would be my guess.... can't we just get through summer first?

[acf1073]

when you ride for a living and every dollar counts you gotta look 6-8 months ahead....lol.....im loving warm weather right now for sure though

[md86]

Yeah , the charging system is fairly stout . If you can swing heated gear (which I WISH I could ) , go for it !
98+ have a touring screen option , and they seem easy to find . I wish I could find one for less than $120 for mine that ain't in Europe .
Someone else mentioned the brush gaurds from another bike being adapted to fit the grips of the Kat , and I've heard about cutting up milk jugs to do the job , though that IS fairly ghetto . But hell , when it's 25* out and your hands are warm , you can EASILY flip them the bird since your hands still have feeling in them if they say so . But then , if you have heated gloves (which I hear are VERY bulky ) , you wouldn't need the guards . Personally , I'm thinking for next winter I may grab some of them Hippo Hands . They may look retarded , but if they keep the wind of my hands in conjunction with the heated grips ....

[steves]

Vstrom guards I think.

[sven]

I'd put a heated vest on the list, too. If you start shivering on the road, the only way to stop shivering is to add heat. Electrically, or by stopping and flapping your arms--pick one or the other....

I have a 'Stich, but Gerbings gets good reviews, too, and it might be a good time to pick one up cheap.

I've never had a problem with the backs of my hands getting cold while the palms are too hot, but my winter gloves are very well insulated on the back. Cooling the palms/grips if the heat gets too much is as easy as holding your hands in the wind blast for a few seconds; rarely a problem anyway.

The heated grips were a lifesaver more than once when temps went lower than expected and rain got added to the mix. My winter gloves would probably been fine, but without the grips, 40 degrees in rain would have meant an automatic layover.