Cold weather riding gear
#1
Cold weather riding gear
Hello everyone,
I need some input for you folks. Need to buy some cold weather riding gear. Contemplating the HD FXRG nylon pants and jacket as well as the heated pant and jacket liners from HD. All very expensive. I am looking for recommendations on "aftermarket" cold weather gear. Is the FXRG gear really waterproof? That would be a nice bonus. I have never had to have it before, but I expect to be making several 1200 mile trips ths winter and am a little concerned about hypothermia. Since my truck gets about 11 mpg and my Road King gets about 44 mpg, you won't have to guess which vehicle I will be taking. LOL. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike
I need some input for you folks. Need to buy some cold weather riding gear. Contemplating the HD FXRG nylon pants and jacket as well as the heated pant and jacket liners from HD. All very expensive. I am looking for recommendations on "aftermarket" cold weather gear. Is the FXRG gear really waterproof? That would be a nice bonus. I have never had to have it before, but I expect to be making several 1200 mile trips ths winter and am a little concerned about hypothermia. Since my truck gets about 11 mpg and my Road King gets about 44 mpg, you won't have to guess which vehicle I will be taking. LOL. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike
#2
I have the Gerbings vest liner and heated gloves. The vest liner keeps me comfortable down into the teens, and although I wear the heated gloves I've not had to heat them up yet. I've found that if you keep your core warm, the rest of you will remain relatively warm. I'd suggest that you don't buy everything at once, try a piece or two at a time. For instance, start with a vest or jacket liner, then add gloves, pants or socks if you need them. You may be surprised at how few pieces you need to stay on the road in cold weather.
#3
I have gerbings jacket liner and gloves for when I lived in Va. Kept me very warm with a long sleeve t-shirt and a jacket without a liner. Gerbing makes the stuff for HD. The FXRG stuff is really good, but like with most everything else with the HD stamp it is overpriced. I like the stuff from Tourmaster http://www.tourmaster.com/. I buy from www.helmetharbor.com. Their are is a lot of good gear out there.
#5
Thank you for the input. I now have some things to compare before making a purchase. Too bad the dealer doesn't carry any of the Gerbings or Tourmaster brands. LOL. As far as the fairing and lowers, a fairing would be a consideration, but I have the moustache bar on my RK. Do they make lowers for it? Hmmm. More research I suppose.
Thanks again,
Mike
Thanks again,
Mike
#6
OK if you are riding the RK the first thing is to get the wind off! Remember that thing about wind chill. It’s not how cold it actually is but a measure of the ability to remove heat. So if you are hauling down the road at 70 mph and the temperature is 35 degrees then wind chill is 16 (from NWS). That means you are loosing the same amount of heat (bare skin) as if you were standing still in 16 degree temperatures.
Now this works for me. I sit behind my full fairing (upper and lower) with leather gauntlet gloves with liners, FXRG jacket, liner and electric vest, boots, warm socks, jeans, and sometimes long johns. I also wear a scarf and a leather face piece with a felt like liner. There is enough heat coming from the vest to keep me warm. I either wear a ¾ helmet, a wool watch cap, or my old time leather pilots' hat.
Riding in cold weather you want to stop any air infiltration. Keep the heat in and the cold air out. If you don’t have to heat the outside air you’ll get warmer sooner and stay warmer longer.
Everyone has good advice here.
Now this works for me. I sit behind my full fairing (upper and lower) with leather gauntlet gloves with liners, FXRG jacket, liner and electric vest, boots, warm socks, jeans, and sometimes long johns. I also wear a scarf and a leather face piece with a felt like liner. There is enough heat coming from the vest to keep me warm. I either wear a ¾ helmet, a wool watch cap, or my old time leather pilots' hat.
Riding in cold weather you want to stop any air infiltration. Keep the heat in and the cold air out. If you don’t have to heat the outside air you’ll get warmer sooner and stay warmer longer.
Everyone has good advice here.
Last edited by GT_RoadGlide; 09-22-2008 at 12:48 AM.
#7
Spending money
ok so on fri and sat this week i left my camp in bethlehem nh to go to concord nh for police rodeo (very nice show if you get the chance to see one in your area), anyway left camp it was 26 degrees and warmed to 40 2.5 hours later,that made for a cold ride. got to heritage harley davidson in concord nh and they had a sale for their open house. bought a pair of harley leather heated gloves (165.00) and a pair of the pants i believe you were talking about in your post (nylon water proof with kelvar pads 245.00) for the sale i got 20 percent off making total of 330.00 for both items. of course by the time i left the temps were in the upper 60's so can't tell you how good they work but i am ready for my trip to york pa on thursday this week.
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#8
Gerbing makes the HD heated clothing. And the warranty is better, and I've found them to be cheaper. And their customer support is fantastic.
Yep, get the wind off of you. I have fairing lowers. HD sells a quick snap-on lower shield that crosses the engine guard bars, and it helps, but I got the hard ones because they seem to bother the bike less aerodynamically. I wear jeans and chaps when it's cold. I don't wear heated socks, but I do wear boots. My legs don't get cold.
I have a Road Glide, which tends to direct the wind onto my hands more than the other bikes, I think. I've always had heated gloves, but last year I bought the heated vest. I used the heat in the vest ONCE, and I was too warm. Now it's just a wiring harness for my heated gloves. I wear a T-shirt, the vest, and a leather jacket, and I've gotten home when the thermometer was 22 degrees, and I was not cold. Occasionally, I wear a head sock, but I find it makes my visor on my helmet fog up ( I wear a full-face helmet ).
Keep the body core warm, and keep your hands warm. You'll be comfortable.
Yep, get the wind off of you. I have fairing lowers. HD sells a quick snap-on lower shield that crosses the engine guard bars, and it helps, but I got the hard ones because they seem to bother the bike less aerodynamically. I wear jeans and chaps when it's cold. I don't wear heated socks, but I do wear boots. My legs don't get cold.
I have a Road Glide, which tends to direct the wind onto my hands more than the other bikes, I think. I've always had heated gloves, but last year I bought the heated vest. I used the heat in the vest ONCE, and I was too warm. Now it's just a wiring harness for my heated gloves. I wear a T-shirt, the vest, and a leather jacket, and I've gotten home when the thermometer was 22 degrees, and I was not cold. Occasionally, I wear a head sock, but I find it makes my visor on my helmet fog up ( I wear a full-face helmet ).
Keep the body core warm, and keep your hands warm. You'll be comfortable.
#9
http://heatedclothingoutlet.com/index.shtml
Gerbings factory outlet...... if they have your size in stock.... if not.....
You can get heated jackets, for the price of the HD liner.....I gor MY gear there, as well as the wife's.... even if you buy half your gear there, and the other half at your dealer, you'll come out ahead
Gerbings factory outlet...... if they have your size in stock.... if not.....
You can get heated jackets, for the price of the HD liner.....I gor MY gear there, as well as the wife's.... even if you buy half your gear there, and the other half at your dealer, you'll come out ahead
#10
[QUOTE=edilgdaor;3899066]Gerbing makes the HD heated clothing. And the warranty is better, and I've found them to be cheaper. And their customer support is fantastic.
QUOTE]
The warranty is the same after the first year. With HD stuff if it screws up in the first year, HD will warranty the fix. After the first year, Gerbing warranties the HD stuff.
QUOTE]
The warranty is the same after the first year. With HD stuff if it screws up in the first year, HD will warranty the fix. After the first year, Gerbing warranties the HD stuff.