finally i have given up to the cold....

madrab

...and bought heated grips

this morning was real nasty, felt the chill 2 mins out from my house & thinking "i have another 35 mins to drive...crap"

i got a pair of oxford hot grips, so hopefully i will get them soon (assuming an post dont just kick them into a skip)

Kinetic^

This morning was the coldest so far, freezing.

Gonna have to give myself an extra few minutes to get my thermal gear on.

Garibaldi

One of the lads I work with gets my Classic Comment of the Day award with this: Was it cold on the bike today? I thought the faster you'd go, the warmer it'd get.
I guess he thought I was hitting re-entry speeds.

madrab

Garibaldi wrote:

One of the lads I work with gets my Classic Comment of the Day award with this: Was it cold on the bike today? I thought the faster you'd go, the warmer it'd get.
I guess he thought I was hitting re-entry speeds.

yeah i was happy to be on the m50 today with the slow traffic

ps give that guy a slap

Garibaldi

I tried to, but my hand broke off.

seamus

Garibaldi wrote:

One of the lads I work with gets my Classic Comment of the Day award with this: Was it cold on the bike today? I thought the faster you'd go, the warmer it'd get.
I guess he thought I was hitting re-entry speeds.

I have a theory on this:
Get up to top speed early on, and maintain it for a few mins. Then, you'll feel so bloody cold, that the air around you will actually be warmer then you, ensuring a toasty-warm drive in.

It actually used to happen to me, back when I drove with just jeans on
You'd hit 50mph, be freezing bloody cold, and then when you stop at the lights, you'd actually feel lik you're warming up because you're so damn cold

frodi

seamus wrote:

I have a theory on this:
Get up to top speed early on, and maintain it for a few mins. Then, you'll feel so bloody cold, that the air around you will actually be warmer then you, ensuring a toasty-warm drive in.

It actually used to happen to me, back when I drove with just jeans on
You'd hit 50mph, be freezing bloody cold, and then when you stop at the lights, you'd actually feel lik you're warming up because you're so damn cold

I think that's thinking along the lines of "bash your head repeatedly off a brick wall, then oh the joy when you stop"

Rippy

Strange as it may seem ,as a former long distance courier I often used to feel colder when slowed down by traffic etc. after making good progess on motorways and main roads. Duuno why exactly , but it might have been friction of clothing moving in the wind generating heat, or adrenaline rushes with high speed riding, or it could all hve been in my head!

tk123

I already have heated grips - best €35 i ever spent!! Anyhoos today I invested €2 in gel packs from Lidl - my plan is to stick them in my pockets tomorrow!!

Kazujo

tk123 wrote:

best €35 i ever spent!!

Where did you get them for €35??? I was on the M1 today steady 100KPh all the way and the cold didn't seem to bite as much. Normally at 120 my fingers would be going numb by the time I hit the M50 roundabout.

Atleast this year I have the option of wussing out and driving my car instead :rolleyes:

tk123

Ah crap - = the place I got them off is after closing down!! You can get them on ebay thou - these are the ones I have http://cgi.ebay.ie/heated-handlebar-grips-winter-is-here-stay-warm_W0QQitemZ8014976903QQcategoryZ25626QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

sutty

hmmm anyone know if you can get them for a Dragstar 250? also need to get a new pair of gloves

tk123

It goes but the size of the handle bars but they're all generally the same size - 22mm I think? Actully if they do fit the dragstar let me know cos I'm getting my shiny new one in January!!

madrab

sutty wrote:

hmmm anyone know if you can get them for a Dragstar 250? also need to get a new pair of gloves

yeah, you can even get shiny custom ones, but they tend to cost a bit mor (by bit i mean alot )

it all depends on the size of your handle bars

you can even get Oxford hot hands, which are wrap around heated grips for any bike, dont know how good they are

Cassiel

I got the Oxford Hot hands and they were grand, done the job for about €35 -40. You can do a very bad thing and change the 3 Amp fuse for a 5 Amp, makes things very toasty.

KTRIC

Check out http://www.louis.de/ , they have an offer on the main page (in german) for €49.99

Chunkylover

dont laugh when I say this but its a tip I got from my brother when he was on tour with the UN in Lebanon, they cut the legs off tights (is that the right spelling) and use them as arm warmers, also If you are into that sort of thing you can use them on your legs aswell but I think thats going abit overboard

sutty

Chunkylover wrote:

dont laugh when I say this but its a tip I got from my brother when he was on tour with the UN in Lebanon, they cut the legs off tights (is that the right spelling) and use them as arm warmers, also If you are into that sort of thing you can use them on your legs aswell but I think thats going abit overboard

hehe well luckly the cold doesn't really bother me. Its more of a matter of safety. I would rather have the full use of my hands while on the bike. I do find that when your hands get cold, the become numb. Making cluching and braking (front) a little harder to controle. Seeing as the dragstar 250 has such low traction on the front. I would rather have proper controle over it. (at the moment I heat the gloves up off the pipes I have on the bike. They can melt through anything. Found a hole from them in the back of my Draggin Jeans combats the other day from them. Still though. During longer travils it can get very hard to keep the hands from going numb. (even in winter gloves with under gloves on)

Hotblack Desiato

Someone I know crashed while wearing Draggin Jeans and got basically no protection from them.
I was thinking of buying a pair at the RDS show a couple of years ago, had a good look at them, there's a little bit of abrasion protection but not much, and nothing to protect your hip, knee or shin from impact. The knee is what's going to cripple you even in a moderate fall if you hit it the wrong way, so get good padded leathers is my advice. Even wearing a good pair of Daineses I broke my kneecap in a slow speed accident, would have been far worse with less protection (i.e. involving weight bearing surfaces of the knee joint with probability of permanent injury.)

a_ominous

I had a trip Dublin-Limerick on Thursday. I used the heated grips while on the motorway sections which kept the fingers nimble enough. Toes were a bit cool. Legs were warm enough due to engine. I've seen some extra panels for the FJR which help deflect some warm air down. If I had to do regular long trips, I think I'd be ordering them.

The road surface past Nenagh wasn't the Mae West: very patchy and lots of undulations, so speeds need to be kept <80kmph. And they were worse in the rain on the way back on Friday.

I've always found that I'd get warmer in city traffic because the engine heat would rise as opposed to being blown back when travelling at speed.

madrab

oh good f*ck it was cold this morning, these heated grips better arrive soon, it was soo bad that at one stage i was wiping ice off my visor :eek:

sutty

ninja900 wrote:

Someone I know crashed while wearing Draggin Jeans and got basically no protection from them.
I was thinking of buying a pair at the RDS show a couple of years ago, had a good look at them, there's a little bit of abrasion protection but not much, and nothing to protect your hip, knee or shin from impact. The knee is what's going to cripple you even in a moderate fall if you hit it the wrong way, so get good padded leathers is my advice. Even wearing a good pair of Daineses I broke my kneecap in a slow speed accident, would have been far worse with less protection (i.e. involving weight bearing surfaces of the knee joint with probability of permanent injury.)

Aye true, I know they have no protection agenst impact. But they are very comforable/warm and do provide a small bit of protection for slide damge. Going to get some better bottems soonish. Just got a new Jacket last week. Its so tosty and warm compared to my old one. Half decent armor in it too.

frodi

madrab wrote:

oh good f*ck it was cold this morning, these heated grips better arrive soon, it was soo bad that at one stage i was wiping ice off my visor :eek:

It was bad for me as well, though not as bad as above. At that stage I leave the bike at home and get on the push bike. I'm at the top of an estate with quarter to half mile steep down hill to a back road.

madrab

did anyone take the bike this morning? i was about to drive off when my front brake decided to stick so i wasnt going to risk it & i took the car, eughh i hate traffic

Slaanesh

I was convinced I had my bike test this morning, left my house at 8:20 for Navan. Was going so slow because it was ice city. Visor was icing up from my breath, the fog was landing on me and turning to ice so I looked like a snowman. I was so bloody cold.

Arrived eventually at the test center to be told that my test is actually tomorrow. The other people there were told that they could not do there test today as it was too foggy. They are rescheduled in 5 weeks ! At this stage I was glad mine is tomorrow so I don't have to wait another 5 weeks. Then again it could be foggy again tomorrow. And they won't tell me it's cancelled until I arrive. Bloody daft.

madrab

i love the irish system

seamus

Aye, took the bike this morning. Was begging for lights to turn red so I could stop and warm up my hands. Only one set did.

Are the heated grips any good for heating up fingers? My problem isn't that my hands get cold - they stay toasty warm - just that the top two segments of my fingers get really cold, making braking and clutching quite the painful experience.

frodi

I stayed with the bike today. After yesterday I had a good idea where it was bad etc. It didn't seem too cold and the roads were mostly dry.

madrab

seamus wrote:

Aye, took the bike this morning. Was begging for lights to turn red so I could stop and warm up my hands. Only one set did.

Are the heated grips any good for heating up fingers? My problem isn't that my hands get cold - they stay toasty warm - just that the top two segments of my fingers get really cold, making braking and clutching quite the painful experience.

that just adds to the fun

im still waiting on my grips to arrive, but i will let you know as soon as they get put on

Garibaldi

seamus wrote:

Aye, took the bike this morning. Was begging for lights to turn red so I could stop and warm up my hands. Only one set did.

Are the heated grips any good for heating up fingers? My problem isn't that my hands get cold - they stay toasty warm - just that the top two segments of my fingers get really cold, making braking and clutching quite the painful experience.

The heated grips aren't great for the fingertips. I've had my grips on full heat every day since the cold snap, but my fingertips still get painfully cold. It probably just seems worse because the rest of my hands are so toasty.

With thick gloves, the heat doesn't seem to penetrate far enough, and with thin gloves it can't do much without setting your gloves on fire.

subway

on the glove side of things,
anyone recommend a decent cheap winter set.

i cant find mine at all
took the bike today [wouldnt start yesterday]
and me thumb and index finger on my brake hand were numb for a half hour after getting off...

seamus

"Cheap" and "Winter" are mutually exclusive when you're buying gloves

a_ominous

seamus wrote:

Aye, took the bike this morning. Was begging for lights to turn red so I could stop and warm up my hands. Only one set did.

Are the heated grips any good for heating up fingers? My problem isn't that my hands get cold - they stay toasty warm - just that the top two segments of my fingers get really cold, making braking and clutching quite the painful experience.

I rode into work this morning. Think I'll bus it tomorrow. Not worth it on the FJR. I've picked it up once as I slipped on gravel; don't fancy my chances of getting the bike upright on ice. 250kg sliding around would not be fun.

But I did get to test the heated grips. Right hand was warm enough gripping the throttle, but fingers on left hand got cool as they were covering the clutch for a lot of the journey. Was in 3rd gear for first half of journey, with visor up most of the way as it had iced up on the outside.

I bought muffs a year or two back but they interfered with controls on old bike. Will try them out on this bike. Lots of couriers use them, so they can't be too bad. Cheaper than heated grips, don't draw any lecky and no mucking about with your bike's electrics either. Will let you know how they work out.

madrab

muffs scare me (cue innuendo's)

i always think that if i was in an accident that i wouldnt be able to get my hands out

Slaanesh

Slaanesh wrote:

I was convinced I had my bike test this morning, left my house at 8:20 for Navan. Was going so slow because it was ice city. Visor was icing up from my breath, the fog was landing on me and turning to ice so I looked like a snowman. I was so bloody cold.

Arrived eventually at the test center to be told that my test is actually tomorrow. The other people there were told that they could not do there test today as it was too foggy. They are rescheduled in 5 weeks ! At this stage I was glad mine is tomorrow so I don't have to wait another 5 weeks. Then again it could be foggy again tomorrow. And they won't tell me it's cancelled until I arrive. Bloody daft.

Not to worry lads, had the test this morning and passed with flying colours !

W00t \o/

seamus

Good work Ro!

madrab

nice one, you ring you insurance company yet?

Slaanesh

madrab wrote:

nice one, you ring you insurance company yet?

You bet your ass I did,

205 yoyos being sent next week, woo.

Thanks lads.

madrab

classy, drinks on you then

saobh_ie

Heated grips are beyond my budget but I did dig out the gloves I wore last winter. Grand for the short bike commute, crap for hooring around for hours at a time. Can't afford the fuel for that so no big deal.

I do want to buy bark busters for the Bandit. Typically they're tough pieces of metal that protect the levers on off road bikes when dropped or as the name suggests smashing through vegetation but I'm actually looking for those plastic ones... whatever they're called... probably why I haven't found them. You know what I'm talking about, the plastic things on the handle bars of trailies...

In the mean time I will continue to enjoy engine hugging.

And people say unfaired bikes are horrible in winter… I can put my feet forward on the engine bars too to warm the legs. Class.

madrab

yes, that was an....interesting drive in this morning
3 time i had to stop & put my hands beside the engine (currently using my dads bike as mine is having braking issues, 750 intruders have NO wind protection!!! )

been in 40 mins & had a cup of tea & my hands still feel wierd (mainly my thumb)

Dr Pepper

Yeh good craic this mornin. I was like a pond skater drivin out of the estate this mornin. Left hand was clinically dead when I arrived in

LastIrishMonkey

few drops of whiskey would warn ya up !:o

echomadman

some duct tape on your levers will stop the freezing metal from leaching the heat from your fingertips, but if you keep the brake and clutch covered all the time like i do your fingertips will still get cold.
The frame on the SV gets toasty warm so i warm both hands on it at lights (sometimes warm the left on it as i drive)

Garibaldi

Well, this morning was a first for me. I've never had ice form on my visor that had to be scraped off every 500m or so. I looked like I'd been lightly dusted with icing sugar by the time I got to the Longmile Road.

Slaanesh

My hands were falling off me by the time I got in today. My mate saw a woman do a 360 in a car, she tried to beat the orange light and ended up going too fast around a bend. Managed not to hit the curb or anything, just ended up facing the wrong way on a one way road

madrab

heated grips were good to me today (new bike has them as well ) only me finger tips on my left hand were numb as opposed to both my hand

Garibaldi

There's an even stranger thing. It really didn't seem all that cold this morning. Despite the freezing fog. Any bikers posting on the weather forum? I need an explanation.

CJhaughey

I know they look really crap but Bar Muffs are by far the best way of keeping hands toasty when you don't have heated grips.
Used with heated grips, you think you are holding a lightsabre:)

kincsem

Twenty-five years ago I travelled Dublin-Mayo each weekend on an unfaired Honda 500. My worst memory was returning to Mayo after the Christmas holidays. It was 2 degrees, freezing fog. The lakes at the far side of Mullingar were my tenth stop. 50 miles gone, 100 miles to go. I was stopping when I could no longer feel the pain in my hands. Most of the trip was with my left hand behind my back to keep it out of the wind. I later bought a full Polaris fairing that deflected the air outside the handlebars. Never felt so comfy.

madrab

bit nippy this morning, but my heated grips are doing a fine job, glad i got them

bit slidey this morning as well, had 2 close moments, so ended up crawling to work, only to have my boss try & give out to me for being late, i very politely told him to go jump