• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

When is it too cold for you to ride?

dieselyoda

Active member
I have a self-imposed limit for when it's too cold for me to ride, 5C or 41F.

There are a couple reasons, arthritis in my bashed hands from 35+ years as an HD Mechanic, and it isn't fun. I got all the gear and my RT has great protection. It's more than the hands and the body, it's also about the tires. The bike runs awesome when it's cooler, a different machine.

I've seen pictures of GS people in the snow. Scary for me. Road conditions alone would be enough to keep me in a box.

I figure that barring something like a God that love's bikers, I got three, maybe four weeks left in my season. It was 10C or 50F today and it took almost 5 miles to warm up to two bars on my RID. Bike ran good, I really noticed the tires weren't very happy. They are PR3's.

When is it too cold for you to ride and why?
 
I got three, maybe four weeks left in my season.

We had snow to the south, and west of us, yesterday.

I ride to have fun, and if it's too cold, I'm not having fun. But I've been out in 0 C, in drizzle, in leathers.
 
Last edited:
I quit riding streets/roads in east central Wisconsin when the air gets cold enough, long enough to freeze any moisture on the roads, especially on over-passes. Otherwise, I'll ride in low 30's temperatures. Just turn on my heated jacket liner, plug any gaps that let in cold air and away I go!

But then, I also race an ice-bike in the winter and ride snowmobiles, so maybe I'm tempered for it, or just frozen between the ears?
 
I don't ride at 5 C or lower, mostly because if it is 5 C, somewhere around here it will have likely dipped to 0 C, and I don't like the thought of two wheels on ice.
 
I'm inclined to stick to the car below about 35F for the same reason as nelliot - not keen on the idea of ice. Here in the high desert in northern Los Angeles County, those temps are more common than you might think. Most days in December/January my ride to work starts around 40F or below. Heated jacket liner takes care of that for the first 8 miles or so; then I'm into warmer territory and fine.

The '87 K75 ran just fine into the 30s; sometimes just a few more cranks to start. This will be my first winter with the R1100RT, so I don't know what to expect from it.
 
I have ridden in single-digits F. I do watch the weather and dress for the occasion. Just because the temps are low doesn't necessarily mean the roads are slick. Someplace around here I've got a photo I took when I got to work, Jan 21, 2010, with my '02 R1150RT-P, a neighbor's Wing, and parked between the bikes was a snowmobile.
 
I'll ride in the cold as long as I have my heated gear. It's not as fun riding when dressed like the Michellan Man tho.

As long as there is no snow, ice, or extreme salt on the road, I can be talked in to it.
 
Well when I was younger it was as another poster stated....not so much the cold as the black-ice, threat. Cold never seemed to bother me. .......But alas as I have aged ?...40ish, even..50ish seems pretty darn chilly!:D
 
It depends. Most things are relative. If I have a really good reason to be on the bike it can be cold-cold. I once rode 70 miles to the start of a Toys for Tots ride in 8 degrees F. Then rode the ride, and rode home. Now up to 10F. Then I bought new "winter" riding boots, Thinsulite lined, one full size too big for layering inside the boots.

But if I were to think, "Aw, today would be a good day to go for a ride", it is unlikely to be colder than the low to mid 40s F. Since we moved to far southwest Texas it is seldom I have to worry about cold - heat may be another matter however. I still have such considerations if we go to, for example, Hyder, Alaska in May. Parts of the Yukon seem to resist the onset of summer, or spring for that matter.

If there is the liklihood or even possibility of ice or snow, I'm parked. I grew up in North Dakota riding a moped and later a mini-bike in the snow. Great fun then! But not on a big road bike today. Nope, not going to do it. The last time I hit ice and snow and slush riding a street bike, I rode just about exactly 300 yards to the nearest motel at the nearest exit, parked, spent the night, and waited for the morning thaw.
 
While I don't necessarily enjoy it, I can tolerate riding in temperatures near to freezing and sometimes even below. I will still consider riding for my commute on a chilly morning if there is at least the promise of a warmer ride home. I draw the line at snow and ice, too risky on two wheels when there is a possibility of slick roads. That said, I have been caught out in and ridden through snow when there was no other option available aside from cowering on the shoulder and hoping it would melt.
 
If I don't ride in cold, I have a short riding season. I live in the mountains and made a decision to ride in the cold as long as the roads are dry and no precip in the forecast. I also decided that I would not go the heated everything route. So, hand guards, long johns, jeans, leather chaps, insulated boots, Cycleport jacket with both liners, light shirt with heavy shirt over and a pair of cheap winter gloves. I have started many trips with temps in the 15 -19 F range. The only problem I have had is my fingers get quite cold. Fortunately I have a boxer, quick stop with gloves on the cylinders and hands in the pockets and I'm good to go. I'm going to order a pair of better gloves prior to this winter. And yes.....the bike loves it!
 
I ride to have fun, and if it's too cold, I'm not having fun. .

My sentiments exactly. When I was a kid, they had an event every January in Germany at the Nuerburgring (old Northern loop) called "Elefantentreffen" - Meeting of the Elephants - referring to large displacement (600, 750cc:D) motorcycles.
It was a cult event. Almost like the "Iron Butt" ride over here. You were not a real motorcyclist, if you never done it.
 

Attachments

  • Elefantentreffen.Jpg
    Elefantentreffen.Jpg
    51.4 KB · Views: 415
From late October to March I switch from motorcycling to bicycling.

It just takes too long to get bundled up for the motorcycle in the pacific northwest cold months.

Five months of bicycling gets me in decent enough physical shape to assure I won't need to buy new riding gear the following spring too.
 
Elefantruffen (if I have spelled it correctly) is still an annual event. There is also an annual event in Wales under nasty conditions. I ride all winter in Virginia Beach, because I can, and because I don't live in Michigan, anymore. That's a 70 mile round-trip commute, each day, to work and back. I do lose a couple of days a year when the roads get icy.
 
Elefantruffen (if I have spelled it correctly) is still an annual event. There is also an annual event in Wales under nasty conditions. I ride all winter in Virginia Beach, because I can, and because I don't live in Michigan, anymore. That's a 70 mile round-trip commute, each day, to work and back. I do lose a couple of days a year when the roads get icy.


So, can I ask a question without being a thread hyjacker?

What is it like living in Virginia Beach ? I'm considering a warmer location myself.
 
Sorry for the highjack, as well...though these things do happen. VA Beach? I like it - compared to Seattle, it's flat, but the ocean is great. Compared to Michigan? My first year (2000) the coldest it got was 23F. It's only got close to zero once. Heated gear is a luxury, not a neccessity. It snows maybe once or twice a year, but is gone after a couple of days. I have my reporting time adjusted such that I come in later after the occasional black ice melts and go home later, after the heat of traffic has died down. Compared to Michigan - well, up there, I would give the car keys to my wife (single income then) along about April and ask for the keys back along about Thanksgiving. All my miles have always been commuting with very little weekend or rally riding. Great roads in North Carolina immediately south of here, and, if you go west to the Appalachians, there are quite a few roads that are emptly and put the Tail of the Dragon to shame. Around Norfolk and Virginia Beach, though, you have to stay on your toes - the drivers do not know what a turn signal is. However, there are HOV lanes that bikers can access. Some of these HOV's are separate from the rest of the lanes (nice) and others are just marked HOV and are part of the rest of the lanes. So, once you get out of the metro area, there are plenty of fine roads and places to go. There is real BBQ down here, BTW. There is a local rally coming up in rural VA Beach (less than a mile from the NC border) in October that's nice. Google Hampton Roads BMW Riders. I'm a member of that group, but don't do much except that it's my last camp out for the year, usually.
 
Back
Top