To ride or not to ride.... Thats the question I ask myself every morning I get up. Since purchasing my 09 in July i've used it to commute to work (50 miles) except for rainy days. For us less fortunate to live in the notheast the reality of "winter just around the corner" is setting in as temps begin to drop. But i'm stubborn and i'm not ready to give it up! Its been in the hi 30s/low 40s when I leave for work at 6am. I layer-up enough to have a comfortable ride except for chillin fingertips after about 20 miles. The only problem i've encountered has been with the bike's battery. I've had to give it a quick charge a few mornings cause it didn't have enough juice to crank it for more than 5 seconds- this has only happened when temp is around 40. Has anyone else had this problem? I ride everyday so it doesn't sit and drain over time. I seem to be the last one at work still ridin and as I peel off the layers of clothes I often get the comments- "are you nuts" and "your crazy" from my fellow riders. Tommorow its forecasted to be about 34 deg. at 6am- will I ride? probably- am I crazy? maybe--but I didn't buy it to sit in the garage either. Anyone else out there ridin in the cold? if so- how cold?

 

For a commute -- 50* is my cut-off. I can wear shorts, tennis shoes, and a Columbia Sports down pull-over and do my 7 mile commute, get to where I'm going, ditch the jacket, and be comfortable for my day of work.

For a real ride? I'd say a low of 45 w/ a high of 55 is about my lowest. I like to be comfortable. I don't care to "suffer". I like to ride, but I don't *have* to do it. I've got a nice Chevy with a good heater. Don't much care for freezing myself.

 

I hear ya USMCsilver and i miss those days. Going to work is bad enough but if I can ride my bike at least i'm doing something a really enjoy. I too have a nice Chevy with a really good heater and I'll need it here pretty soon for about 3 months straight.

 

I work 10-7 tomorrow, so you bet I'll be ridin'!

Should be about 50* both ways; highs tomorrow are around 67*.

 

Any time it's under 40 it stays in the garage. But a nice trick that works well is wear latex rubber gloves under your regular ones.

 

Interesting idea. Never heard that one before.

 

Thanks OMalley912 I'll have to try that.

 

I ride mine no matter how cold it is to school in the morning. so far the coldest ive ridden mine is in the upper 30's to my friends house about 15 miles away. i have not had that problem with the battery dieng when its cold.

 

Yep, thought my friend was kidding untill it was 50 out in the am and got to work about 20 minutes later and my hands were sweating. You figure most of us have them laying around for cleaning filters and such anyway, give it a try tomarrow.

 

My wife's in the medical profession, so gloves are easy to come by.

Granted, I've got handguards now, so it'll be interesting to see how they fare to cold weather.