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

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

Slaanesh

madrab wrote:

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

I still haven't braved it. Sitting at home watching the thermometer. At 8:00 it said 2 degrees, now it says 0. I'll never get into work god damnit.

madrab

yeah, luckily the majority of my journey is on the m50 which has soo much traffic on it that it never really freezes over (the only thing i am glad about the m50) it was the getting to & coming off the m50 that was the dodgy part

Tree

i got hunted out of bed twenty mins early today because the father insisted on driving me in the car, then half way to college he decided that the roads werent that bad and he'd have gone out himself. :rolleyes:

on the plus side my knees are functioning, on the not so plus side i cant go home for lunch damn i love my bike

Kinetic^

madrab wrote:

bit slidey this morning as well, had 2 close moments, so ended up crawling to work

I was the same, back end sliding out if I tried to accelerate.

tk123

Will I void my warranty if I put heated grips on my new bike? I had them on my old bike and they were brilliant - I miss them!

Tree

how much are heated grips??


bright spark here melted her work pants while warming her ankles on the exhaust manifold at the lights last night

ifah

I got a set of Oxford heated grips from ebay that worked out about €45 including delivery - they have them in the shops for about €85.

madrab

dont think you will void your warranty but im no expert, your best bet would be to ring up the main dealer of yamaha(?) & find out

if it does you can get heated gloves or wraparound heated grips

Harley Man

Hey folks!

Being from the US and moving to Ireland, I'd be curious as to how cold the temps get during your winter riding? New England is having a mild winter and we've been having temps in mid to high 30's F, but this is not the norm. If it wasn't for all the salt and sand they spread on the roads, I'd be riding...

madrab

arghhh farhenheit!!!!!