Saturday Day Ride in not so sunny San Diego

[tkthompson]

I just got back from a nice Saturday ride. I think winter is hitting San Diego. It's in the 50's!!!! Love the bar risers SunnySideUp!

[Gavin]

A bit colder for my ride last night...




No regen driving is possible with the Empulse...I wonder if Brammo will make a glide mode available?

Will be interesting to see how riding goes in Jan and Feb and we hit single digits for my morning commute.

Gavin

[FrankH]

I'm beginning to suspect that cold is the reason that my Enertia+'s regen sometimes doesn't work. But there's nothing in the display when it fails. It just doesn't feel right when it's not there.

[ttxgpfan]

Gavin, do you keep the bike plugged in over night like Jeff does?

[tkthompson]

Well, I think yesterday was my last day to commute on the bike for a while. It was down to about 45 degrees, but at 80 mph for 20 miles, that's too cold for me! Especially with no heated gear or grips. I'll have to save my riding for the weekends!

[Shinysideup]

Far be it from me to advise anyone when to ride or not. But if you DO want to ride in the cold, I'm someone who's figured out how to ride in 35 to 40F for 12 miles at freeway speeds. Here's what has worked for me:

1) A windshield. A proper screen will be equal to a whole other layer of clothing. I've been pleased with this one and I'm picky: 

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/mra-v-flow-x-creen-sport-screen-style-vfxs-windshield-for-naked-sport-bikes-cruisers-enduro-and-dual-sport-motorcycles

2) Insulation. If you don't want to invest in or mess with heated clothing, I've found the phase-change gear from BMW to be an excellent alternative. Light and effective.

Jacket liner:

http://www.amazon.com/BMW-Phase-Change-Jacket/dp/B006LM02EU

Under pants:

http://www.amazon.com/BMW-Genuine-Motorcycle-functional-underpants/dp/B009I48N8A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386740490&sr=8-1&keywords=phase+change+pants

3) Heated gear. There's a huge leap between keeping your own heat to yourself with insulation and adding heat into your body from outside itself. I deem heated clothing up there with velcro as something that has changed our world! It has certainly changed my entire view about riding in the cold.

If you're worried about affecting your range (100 watts is a tiny percentage of what your bike uses), you can use external batteries. I have a Jett vest from Australia with a rechargeable battery that would be very good at 45F by keeping the blood going through your kidneys warmed. Be sure to wear a heavily insulated outer jacket over it.

http://www.jett.us.com/

I have also used Gerbings gloves with rechargeable 12V batteries that fit into pockets on the  back of the cuffs.

http://gerbing.com/collection/g3-glove.html

Most days now I wear the Jett vest and plug some First Gear heated gloves into a jack tie-wrapped onto the handlebars and hooked up to the Empulse's 12V tap through a fuse block.

On super cold days, I have a Gerbings jacket liner into which I can also plug the gloves. This combo uses about 100W of juice and has never blown the bike's 12V fuse.

I travel about 30 to 40 miles a day, including 25 miles of freeway, 5 days a week on my job and don't have a car. Thankfully it almost never freezes in San Francisco. Unlike Gavin, I'm not an ice rider.

I find the heated gear really good for coming home after dark, when I'm hungry and my blood sugar is dropping and I'm just plain cold inside out. I'll get on the bike just to warm up! No amount of insulation seems to provide that kind of thermal resuscitation.

In San Diego, I'd think for the few times it gets to 45F, a heated vest and a well insulated riding jacket, some thermal underwear under windproof pants, boots with wool socks thick winter gloves would do you just fine. And is there any reason you HAVE to travel at 80 mph? It's way warmer, even with a windshield, at 65!

Finally (at last!), I consider heated gear a genuine safety benefit. I've been so cold and wet on bikes that I could barely operate the brake and clutch levers, barely concentrate on what was going on around me, and shivering so hard, I'm not sure my muscles could react fluently in an emergency maneuver. Not good. I've NEVER been in that state since springing for heated gear. YMMV.

[Jeff]

In the insulation category, I'd throw a good balaclava into the recommendation pile.  I'm generally insulated well enough with the Aerostich and thermals, but when the temperature got down into the low 30s here the windblast on my chin/neck was enough to be uncomfortable and probably distracting.

I'm a huge fan of Icebreaker stuff in general -- I am always wearing one of their (ridiculously expensive) t-shirts under my gear on hot days; they dry quickly and bizarrely never smell, ever.  Magic wool fairies, I guess.  So I sprung for this:

http://www.amazon.com/Icebreaker-Oasis-Balaclava-Black-Size/dp/B00D4KJP4U

It's thin enough to fit under the helmet, super soft, never smells bad, and blocks the wind very well.  In addition, you can run around your house pretending to be a ninja.

[Shinysideup]

Thanks, Jeff. In my post, I totally forgot about covering the neck. Makes a surprising difference. I just use a neck warmer, something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Columbia-Mens-Thermarator-Gaiter-Black/dp/B006QP3956/ref=sr_1_10?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1386781849&sr=1-10&keywords=neck+gaiter

Or, in your Icebreaker Merino wool (I LOVE wool clothing!):

http://www.amazon.com/Icebreaker-Unisex-Adult-Chute-Neckwear/dp/B001GUV1O2/ref=sr_1_3?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1386782273&sr=1-3&keywords=icebreaker+neck+gaiter

But for really cold stuff, I wouldn't mind looking like a Ninja!

[Adan]

1) A windshield. A proper screen will be equal to a whole other layer of clothing. I've been pleased with this one and I'm picky: 

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/mra-v-flow-x-creen-sport-screen-style-vfxs-windshield-for-naked-sport-bikes-cruisers-enduro-and-dual-sport-motorcycles

]

So you've got this screen on your Empulse now, Bill?  If so, could you give us a pic?  While waiting for Brammo to produce their own, I've thought about throwing on the one that Brammo is using for its LE bikes, but it's just so hideously ugly.

[00049 (AKA SopFu)]

I have it on my bike.  I would say the LE version looks better... They are both the same manufacturer. It does make riding much nicer!

[Adan]

yeah, that larger screen just looks out of proportion.  The other one, less so, but still looks like someone stuck a funny hat on the Empulse.  I can understand the bigger screen for serious winter riding, you have no choice really.

I will probably break down and get the LE aftermarket one.  I've got 20 miles of freeway to cover every day, and our rainy season (speaking as a snowboarder . . . hopefully!) approaching.

[flar]

Where can I see the LE version.  I checked the twisted throttle site and didn't see any screens labeled "LE"?

[00049 (AKA SopFu)]

Pretty sure the LE model uses this one:

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/mra-racingscreen-style-rnb-windshield-for-naked-sport-bikes-cruisers-enduro-and-dual-sport-motorcycles

[flar]

Ah, you were referring to the windscreen on the Brammo LE.  I thought you were talking about an "MRA windscreen LE"... D'oh!

I'm not a big fan of either in terms of looks, unfortunately.  Windscreens look out of place to me without some sort of fairing to complete the picture. 

[Shinysideup]

I  bought the same shield as 000409, but in smoke tint.

I finally got around to some pictures as requested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10852133@N02/11374098004/#in/set-72157632567075439/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10852133@N02/11374102024/#in/set-72157632567075439/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10852133@N02/11374184113/#in/set-72157632567075439/

Somehow, the photos make the screen look quite a bit larger than it feels to me in real life, especially sitting on the bike seat. It just doesn't feel like the wide and tall screens I've had in the past. I still get wind on my head and arms, which suits me just fine. The spoiler really does work to stop buffeting.

I'm thinking the issue is that in an effort to show the screen, we get close to it with the camera, but, in real life, we see the whole bike and usually from some distance, so the perspective changes.

But then I've never bought a screen or avoided one because of the looks. My wife says I dress funny too.