Just because it's January....

doesn't mean you can't ride your motorcycle.

It is cold, and riding takes a bit of extra precaution. I have lots of clothes that I wear to keep warm. I wish I could tell you all the best new age ridding apparel to buy and what is the best for cold, wet, or hot, I cannot. I can tell you what I wear and how little I paid and where you may pick something up so you can ride and not freeze too.

The most indispensable winter item I wear when I ride is my overalls. Nothing ruins a ride faster than frozen knees. It also make it hard to walk. The "bibs" I wear are about $50 at K-mart. They probably sell them at Wally world. (Don't know, don't care) Army navy surplus has many options for under $100. They have simple ski pants for $20 all the way up to snow mobile suits for around $70, on sale. I believe they do have some more expensive stuff as well, it is worth a look.

The next most important Item that can help you enjoy the winter riding is gloves. You may think they should be #1, but this is my blog, so eat worms. I have different gloves for different levels of chilly. The most protective I have are some mittens. They are very warm. It is not as easy to get cheap gloves. $20 is about what I paid for mine on-sale. That is much better than $100 that say "motorcycle". The mittens do take some getting used to. Army navy has some sweet leather mittens with wool liners for about $15 that I have been eyeballing. They look very good. I also have a pair of snowboarding gloves that are very rugged and warm, again in spring all things winter are on-sale. Grip warmers are great, not cheap, and grip guards help keep direct chill from fingers, they are more than good gloves.

Upper body protection is usually the easiest to provide. Any good coat will help you be warm. I don't like my leather jacket when it is very cold, on long rides. It seems to conduct the cold to my body after a while. I usually layer up with some warm fleece or hoody sweatshirts. The most helpful item is a good water resistant and wind proof shell. This will keep the wind out and is remarkably good at not transferring the chill.

Some sort of neck protection will make the difference between a painful experience and just being a bit chilled. A scarf works, bot can be cumbersome. I just bought a new fleece neck tube thing from IFA for under $10. It works very well on even the coldest ride.

Boots are expensive. Something water prof will save agony. I rode with some cheap-o timberlands in the snow and got really cold but they kept the wet out so I warmed up much faster than I could have dried. I have some Wolverine snow/hunting/work boots that do well. I think I paid $69 or so. I would just make sure they are not too big, you still have to shift you know.

I assume you will use a full face helmet. If you don't there are many ski accessories that can help keep your face warm and your wallet full.

I know nobody reads this. I just figured that if I could help someone ride more, be more comfortable, or at least, want to ride more, then my work is done.

One last thing... winter means ice. Be careful out there when the mercury is below freezing!

JP