Monday morning dawned clear with the temperature at a balmy 29 degrees Fahrenheit. Driving my son to an early shift at work, I passed a lone motorcyclist heading presumably to work. Where else does one go at that hour? As I drove the back roads home in my heated car with the heated seats on high, I wondered just how cold that person was.
Despite the promise of warmer temperatures for most of this week, the riding season is all but in the bag, unless we get something more in the line of Indian Summer for the area. Though I know the diehards will be riding till the snow flies — and sticks.
Doing some online shopping, I found a few items that may make it warmer for you if you still just can’t seem to get your bike ready for winter storage. A sad day, I know, but one that’s coming along quickly.
Last time I was out with my friend Dennis McCartney, he recommended that I add some heated handle grips to the bike to keep my hands warm. They are always cold. He has them at CBX Man, but I thought I’d research these items before I decided. Searching online I found this nice review of heated grips at www.webbikeworld.com/r3/heated-motorcycle-grips. This article provides a very nice technical description of the installation process with pictures. This article will be helpful if you are a do-it-yourself kind of person. Me, no way!
It seems that ( www.hotgrips.com). These look very similar to the ones at CBX Man. I’m still liking the heated seats in my Ford.
If you’re not keen on installing all the gewgaws involved in the heated handgrips or having someone do it for you, then you might be interested in heated gloves. These are a bit more popular and easier to assemble. Gloves come with batteries that you can plug into your bike or ATV and will keep your hands toasty warm. There were a lot of sites that featured heated gloves of every kind. This seems like an easy alternative to hand grips especially if you’re only planning on riding for a few cold days and not all winter long.
I found a very cool site called cozywinters.com/battery-heated-clothing.html. Here they have battery warmed clothes to suit any rider. The list went from battery-heated white quilt vests for women to battery-powered jackets, heated foot pads and even some battery-powered cargo pants with fleece lining. Now those are some hot pants. This site had a lot of fashionable warm wear. This site also had some heated accessories for pets like Scooter, who rides with his owner.
Yes, there are even accessories for your battery-powered heat gear. These included a belt pouch to hold your dual portable temperature controller, a tri-level temp-controller and even a remote-control controller. There was also a heated pant liner, in case you didn’t have fleece-lined pants, and heated socks.
OK, so what else might get cold as you fly through the brisk autumn wind? Ah, yes, the face. How do you keep your face warm? One thing to think about is that some helmets do already come with a full face shield. This is a warmer option than an open face or no helmet. The next best thing is a neoprene face mask. These come in a variety of colors and decorations. Since the advent of “Ghost Rider” the movie, skeleton masks are most popular. I’ve also seen flames and neon green. Neon green? Don’t ask. They do keep your face warm and protected, however, and come highly recommended by the old man (yes, he had the skeleton face). They are, however, prone to dryrot if not kept well. But they do provide great wind protection and keep the wind off your face.
Keeping warm in wild wind is not easy, but there are plenty of battery-operated clothes and accessories to keep you warm. The important thing is that warmth is not only an option but also a safety feature as well. Numb hands and feet can’t maintain solid control on your bike. With the leaves and rain making the roads very slick, maintaining ultimate control is key.
In the immortal words of my friend Julie Ferry-Pacelli, “We live on a mountain. It snows.” Or rather words to that effect every time I venture to Hazleton! As my father always told his patients as they left his office, “Stay warm and stay dry,” or as Bro Jim would say “Watch the ice.” If you’re going to ride in the cold, dress warm and be as safe as you can.
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