Coldest Temperature you've ridden you motorcycle in?

[08_r1200r]

As of this morning's commute to work here in Charlotte, NC the coldest I've ridden in is 12.2 degrees. Down from 14 that I've hit the past 2 years commuting to work in winter. I'm excited but for some my coworkers aren't as excited about my accomplishment as I am. :-)

[mogu83]

13 degrees, and that before electric stuff, windshield or the Weather Channel. Rode my bike to work and it was in the low 40's it had rained the night before and I parked rear wheel to the curb in a puddle. The temps took a nose dive and at quitting time I had to use a screwdriver to chip the rear tire out of the ice. Temp sign on bank across streeet said 13. Not a pleasant ride, but I was young and building experience.

BTW: It was a kick start BSA and it fired right up.

[ka5ysy]

I ride into the 20's a lot when we have cold weather in Louisiana !. Electric jacket, gloves and longjohns are the best invention since sliced bread !

[tobes]

This is the coldest I've ridden in. Rode through a nice snow shower while in King's Canyon. I was comfortable with an electric vest and grips running. Only problem was my thumbs. I had to keep stopping to warm them up. I need to get GS hand guards installed.


Bike Display by mikeburawski, on Flickr

[rockbottom]

18

[TAG-Caver]

9 degrees Fahrenheit. Brr. Hopefully I won't see those temps again. I wasn't on my R1200R, but the DR650. She fired and quit several times before she kept running. These temps exist so you better appreciate springtime.

[creamora]

Wow! This takes me back…Man, was I stupid. I couldn’t afford a car so I spend a couple years on a Honda V30 commuting to work – sun or snow. The V30 was a great snow bike, easy on the power and a low seat to get those feet down in slides. There had to be many single digit days, many layers. I remember it was soooo cold on my overnight shifts I used to take out the battery and bring it inside so I could be sure of a restart in the morning.

A guy I used to ride by in the snow used to say “Look at that A-Hole!” as he passed with the family in the car. There was an intersection in front of his house that I rolled through on the way to work. One day the next year, in my new used car, I pulled into his driveway for a date with his daughter and I met him for the first time face to face. My date says “Dad, this is the A-Hole that rides a motorcycle in the snow” What’s a father to do!?

Well, I married that girl and became the A-Hole son-in-law, bought a used GS1100 Wing and moved us to the country. 20 years of happy marriage and three good kids later I have taken a Mistress - my R1200R.

I don’t plan on riding in the snow or below freezing for that matter anytime soon – I’m in for the long haul. Give me good roads and 40F come Spring and I’ll be happy to start the commuting season.

[curmudgeon]

I regularly ride into the 20's as long as there's no ice on the roads. In SE Virginia it's no problem to ride all year since we rarely get weather extremes.

About the coldest I've ever been on a motorcycle was back in the late 70's doing someone a favor. One of the guys that used to hang out with us on weekends was a sailor and a bit of a heavy drinker. He ended up getting totally trashed to the point of being non-functional but had duty early the next morning. His only source of transportation was his UJM style Honda that was not equipped with a windshield or fairing. A couple of guys tossed him into their car to take him home and I ended up riding that motorcycle 35 miles to his house with the weather snowing and in the teens. This included a butt-freezing jaunt across the bay via bridge-tunnel. I had none of my own gear so I was stuck wearing his loose-fitting 3/4 helmet with a cheesy shield and had to stuff newspapers inside my non-motorcycle jacket for insulation. And as most of you know, Levi's aren't worth diddly at 60 mph when it's 15-20 degrees out. Once we got there I put a cover over the bike and the other guys unceremoniously dumped him on his couch. That was one cold ride, but at least I didn't have the hangover and 6:00 am duty to deal with like that guy did the next day.

[LumpyCam]

It doesn't look so bad but not long after this photo was taken the snow started and it dropped to about 23ºƒ. This was early in my adventurous touring days and it freaked me out a bit. Keep a straight course and no doddling and all was good.


Klamath Falls, OR, USA

[deilenberger]

That photo gives the heebie-jeebies.. think black-ice. It's taken down a number of my local club member friends (3 of them at once on one ride..) and it can be around on days when the ambient is > freezing.. (think about cold settling into a valley or gully.. the temp there can easily be below the "average" ambient.) There is no difference in how the surface looks between wet like in the photo and black-ice. There is a huge difference between compromised traction and NO traction though..

Good thread over on the MOA website about cold-weather riding, and tire pressures: http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49805

[angellr]

That photo gives the heebie-jeebies.. think black-ice. It's taken down a number of my local club member friends (3 of them at once on one ride..) and it can be around on days when the ambient is > freezing.. (think about cold settling into a valley or gully.. the temp there can easily be below the "average" ambient.) There is no difference in how the surface looks between wet like in the photo and black-ice. There is a huge difference between compromised traction and NO traction though..

Good thread over on the MOA website about cold-weather riding, and tire pressures: http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49805

AMEN!! Black ice around here is something that still keeps folks guessing. Reason most of the time during Dec/Jan and parts of Feb the bike stays in the garage. If the days have been 40+ for a couple of days, then you can be reasonably safe. BTW, black ice can be a real bummer even in a car [trust me, I know about this one].

[Rolando33]

18 degrees F, wet road, and snow on the sides of it. Wasn't planning on it, but weather flipped on me.

The bike did fine, but I had to go to the next stop and change my pants.

[spoonyfork]

32° F is my lower limit. Ice and hypothermia are real dangers where I live. I don't want to ride if I can't feel the wind on my skin.

[NakedRider]

I hit below 14 degrees on an F800S. Below 14 the temp gauge stopped working and just displayed straight dashes.

[gezerbike]

About 8 years ago, I started a ride that left the western 'burbs of Chicago the Friday after Thanksgiving and headed south to Tellico Plains and North Georgia. One year, we left Elburn Il and it was 9 degrees outside. One of the guys had his heated gear fail about 20 miles out, continued on for another 80 miles. We stopped for coffee and he was in bad shape. He turned around and headed home, stopping every 1/2 hour to warm up. We continued on...snow from Bloomington In to Lexington Ky. One year we left Tellico and temps were in the low teen's. One of the guys on an Oilhead RT had his speedo unit go out due to the low temps. Everything about riding changes when you hit temps like those. A four hundred mile day takes on new meaning when it never gets above 20.

[Josh]

I retired this past summer. So far this year, the coldest I have ridden is 16. Just has not been colder yet this winter (at least here). Coldest on the R1200R is 26.

Prior to that I commuted year round for 32 years in upstate NY. 16 miles to work. My coldest was -17 on my R69S (kick started!). This was before heated clothing (six volt system anyway). For snow and ice, I had a sidecar rig. My best accessory for foul weather riding is a lap apron. Keeps you clean and dry. That white stuff you see all over the cars in winter, gets all over me. I have an old Belstaff Nylon suit that is pretty effective. Have to take a shower with the Belstaff on to clean it off periodically. My wife is not happy with that. I have a dipstick oil temperature thermometer; sometimes it would not go higher than 150-160.

Josh

[parkec]

36 here in Fla - Tampa Bay area.

btw that's on my nek'd R1200R. When I left my home it was in the mid 50's - who would have thunk. We are in land and abou1000 ft from the water/river.

[redwing]

Low forties... been driving (car) in the Gulf Coast Area for 40 years and have seen ice on the roads maybe 4 times.
Flannel jeans (knees two layers thick) , two sets of long underwear, leather jacket, and I'm comfortable...could go colder but no hurry for lower temperatures. My finger tips get cold and my Bell Apex $200.00 helmet leaks around the visor so my face is crisp.
Gotta go ridin'...

Robert

[THE DOGS]

Minus 29 Centigrade(-29C)........I was stationed about 90kms north of Hanover, Germany in 1979/80 Brrrrrrr!!

THE DOGS

[Caroanbill]

Can't resist chipping in, since no-one expects this of Australian riding!*

I used to commute ~20km (~12mi) in Canberra all year. Regular winter mornings of -5 to -3 C (23 to 26F) and the occasional -8C on a K100RT (no heated grips) and a K1100LT (heated grips) ... very good fairing so not much wind chill. Open, dry roads so black ice was only occasionally a problem, and the commute never took more than 25 minutes (usually about 15min). Beklow -3C I wore my rainsuit over everthing, other wise it was just wool slacks, wool jumper and leather jacket .. but I did have these lovely AlpineStar LaStrada boots - high on the calf, with neoprene sandwiched between kid leather inner and tough leather outer .. great in snow!!

Distance riding is another story!! I've ridden in light snow below freezing and slushy snow above ice temps .. without heated clothing, sub zero is bearable on the fully -faired bikes for about an hour ... my 2 hour, zero to 3C (32-37F) after-dark run on the R1200R last winter was cccccold even with a merino wool layer all over plus polar fleece ... for my last winter mountain run (4 hours at ~4C / 38F) I dug out some thin polar fleece leggings from snow-camping* days, 2 fleece layers on top and a fleece neck warmer ... toasty!!

* have snow camped at -23C / -9F on Aussie snow, so it's all relative ...