Well, the cold season is arriving and I was wondering if anyone here has any tips on good cold weather gear.
I plan on riding as long as I can this season, and although the old fleece and jacket liner have served me well in the past, it's only good to certain temps. This year, I'm gonna try to stretch the season a bit farther...

I was thinking about a heated jacket liner (possibly pants, too) and heated grips.
Anyone have any good experiences with certain brands or companies? Anything you swear by?

Any ideas for cold weather gear would be appreciated. I'm gonna have to look at some better gloves, too..

 

Wear a silk beanie - amazing the diff this makes !
silk/cotton inner gloves. Buy English winter gloves - they make good ones.
Two pairs of thin socks is warmer than one thick pair
Ditto with t'shirts/undergarments
Wear a rain jacket and pants over your gear - windproof= warmer

 

Biker's Choice Windproof Balaclava
http://www.spotmotorcycles.com/comfo...ack-face-mask/

FirstGear Kilimanjaro Jacket
http://www.firstgear-usa.com/fgweb3.nsf/Products/200FD23F892366D2862571E8006BE12A?opendocument

Tourmaster Venture pants (not quite sold on these yet)
http://tourmaster.com/xcart/catalog/...t-p-174_4.html

AND a pair of Suzuki V-Strom hand guards cut and fitted for our bike

 

UA ColdGear head to toe and a neck gaiter. I wear this stuff under my leathers, maybe a fleece top along with my jacket liner and thats it in temps well into the 40's all day long.

Balaclava's are nice too, but if you helmets fits correctly like mines does, there no way in hell a Balaclava will fit under it. Even the UA coldgear hoodie makes my helmet fit to tight.

Heated grips are the bomb!

 

I have a good article/best of test on winter gloves at work, I think it was "Bike" magazine (I will have a look for it tomorow)
I wear a cotton balaclava with a snood pulled down round my neck & silk or cotton glove liners. Oxford make some good ones.
When it gets proper cold I stick on a pair of cheap one piece waterproofs over the top of my leathers,it keeps the wind/cold out and stops all the road chit getting all over the leathers.

 

I have a fleece balaclava. (in fact, I have 2)
I never even thought about wearing one under my helmet. Definitely gonna try that.
I'm gonna look into the UA ColdGear stuff, too.

I never even thought about silk. Interesting. Will the wife want to touch it?

malbojah, Tourmaster makes the heated jacket liner that I wanted to get. It's gotten good reviews, and comes with the wiring and heat controller that many others don't come with. It's like $160. It looks like it's fleece or something...with the carbon fiber elements.
V-Strom handguards sounds like it would be funny looking as hell on a CBR. Effective, though, I'm sure. It gives me an idea. I still have the stock guards off my KLR (replaced them with barkbusters). Maybe I'll give them a go? At least see if I can fit them. They're like elephant ears in the wind, but just didn't have crash support. Might work ok.

The idea to use outside raingear is a good one. I have a coat/pants that work gave me, and I've used them before in the rain and they work great. What's even better is that they're bright yellow with reflective stripes!
They keep you dry and warm and dry!

I'm gonna look at some heated grips.

 

On the cheap:

1. Wear your jacket and liner, a sweatshirt under that, and your raingear top over it.
2. Buy a pair of these:

http://www.gemplers.com/product/1563...d-Bib-Overalls

They are made from thick tough material, the entire front is double-layered, they're fully lined (quilited) and they make awesome over-pants...zip all the way to the thigh for easy on-off. Nothing in the made-for-riding world comes close re: price v. cold weather ability.

3. Heated grips. They're cheap, and they're indispensable. Get the mylar film jobbers that go under the normal rubber grips. If you search, they can be had for $30 or so, and they work great.

 

If you're going the balaclava, only go a real thin silk or thermal number or you can squash the liner a bit in your bone dome so it isn't a tight fit next warm season..bad if you stack it . How cold are we talking Dylan? I rode every day when I had a job about 45km from home. Only really the fingers gave me any trouble so I'd go heated grips for sure. The bit of gear I swear by is the neck sock (not the skin variety in another thread ). I bought one a couple of years ago for ten bucks and it's great. Thermal long johns and long sleeved under shirt are also the go but make sure you don't get the itchy ones! Also they are a great look to walk through the house in..

The trouble is, when I rug up enough to keep me fully warm I just can't move properly on the bike. I don't mean wanna be racer off the side stuff, just looking around properly. I hate winter gloves too although I gather there are some good ones with curved palms that aren't too bad. Added to that the road surface and tyres are cold too.

 

Hippo Hands go over the controls and you put your hands inside. I wear my summer gloves and can really feel the controls. Also a 4-inch taller Zero Gravity windscreen puts the wind over your helmet instead of at your neck.