Winter Riding Suit

[Rickrod3]

I'm thinking of a set of insulated Carharts for winter riding. Is there a big advantage to a riding specific suit. If I add a vest I'm visable and could also use it for work if some outside work comes along.

I know some of you ride in the cold weather what are some of you guys using?

Rick

[rover]

winter riding suit

Carhardts are very warm, but also very bulky. If you have a windjammer, a good snowmobile suit is good to 25 degrees, along with a winter helmet and heavy gloves and boots.

[CatatonicBug]

Carharts don't have armor in them. Riding gear does. The riding-specific gear will have details designed to make a riding position (seated, arms outstretched) more comfortable than Carharts will. I've also never been in a downpour in my Carharts, but I don't think they are designed to be waterproof, where riding gear usually is.

[CatatonicBug]

I will also add this: I'd suggest a 2-piece set though, rather than a one-piece, coverall-type suit. It will allow you to mix and match as needed as the weather changes. The only riding pants I have are armored mesh (not waterproof, of OFC), but I have ridden in 20ºF weather with gym shorts under them and didn't notice the cold behind my fairing. I also use the same pants for long summer rides, and wear the same gym shorts so I get the ventilation to stay cool.

[crazy steve]

+1 on the snowmobile suit; that's what I've used for years for those 'brisk' days and it nearly always kept me warm, or at the very least, kept me from freezing.

The snow suits do lack armour, but one advantage is if the weather warms up it can be rolled into a pretty small bundle and bungied to the bike; not something you can easily do with a motorcycle suit or a set of bulky Carharts. I always wore my regular riding jacket over the suit, so if it got too warm for the suit I still had the jacket...

If your feet get cold, a pair of boots with felt liners will do the trick there.

[CatatonicBug]

I can't imagine being able to wear my riding jacket over anything but a light sweatshirt! You must have a really loose jacket if you can have a snowsuit under it! Not very safe in the event of a spill... The armor needs to be held close to the body to prevent it from sliding away from the areas it is meant to protect. I can just barely slide my hands out of the cuffs, and there is no way I could put my hands in the sleves if I had even my summer gloves on.

As for boots, I wear thermal wool hiking socks in waterproof boots all year 'round. They keep my feet warm in winter, and don't overheat in the summer. The nicest part about wool is that they stay warm even if they get wet.

[dpotter58]

I'm thinking of a set of insulated Carharts for winter riding. Is there a big advantage to a riding specific suit. If I add a vest I'm visable and could also use it for work if some outside work comes along.

I know some of you ride in the cold weather what are some of you guys using?

Rick

For two years I didn't own a car and rode daily; only once in a while had a lift from a friend. I remember both feet down like skis on a snow covered roads more than once.

After we lost a rider here a couple years ago I stopped riding when there was the posability of ice on the road. He was headed to work on a "clear" road but hit a small bit of ice on a sweeping turn that was in the shade. He slid under an oncoming truck.

Before then I road with a snowmobile suit or jeans and leather jacket depending on the temp and lenght of ride. The hippo hands I used were great for winter riding. With them I was able to wear a thin set of calfskin gloves and maintain good feel of the controls. Yes, I had a full vetter rig with lowers

[cywelchjr]

When I rode in the winter up in the PNW, I wore a snowmobile suit behind a Vetter fairing rig (that was my first fairing up there). Down here in the land of the winter riding weather, I just finally switched from my mesh jacket TODAY, and it's possible that I might have to switch back to it for a while next week. As for the lowers, I know I need some sort of riding pants, but for now I've not been able to afford any, so I have to make do with denim. I may get a pair of a$$less chaps, purely because I know a vendor I can get pretty good quality ones from at a good price (same vendor I got my leather jacket from), and guys my size can't be picky about where you get your gear from, you get it from whoever will carry it. I do want to get some decent armored pants by next summer, but the job situation will determine that.

So, winter riding suit all depends on where you live, in some areas of the country other than abrasion protection it could be shirt sleeves . Around here, it's basically the equivalent of a light to medium jacket, although you need heavier as you get closer to the coast or move up the mountain sides (but up the mountain sides you get snow as well).

[Rickrod3]

thanks

I'm going to get a First gear thermo suit.
http://www.bikebandit.com/firstgear-...otorcycle-suit
Had a gift card so I'll give it a try.

I'll post a revue after a couple of rides with it.

Rick

[crazy steve]

I can't imagine being able to wear my riding jacket over anything but a light sweatshirt! You must have a really loose jacket if you can have a snowsuit under it!

The snowmobile suit isn't that bulky, which is one reason I like it. My jacket has a zip-in liner (which is overkill in all but the coldest conditions) that if I leave that out, the suit just displaces that space.

One thing nice about a one-piece suit, there's no place for the cold to get in except at the ankles, wrists, and neck...

http://www.bikebandit.com/firstgear-...otorcycle-suit Looks like a nice suit.....

[Rickrod3]

One thing nice about a one-piece suit, there's no place for the cold to get in except at the ankles, wrists, and neck...

http://www.bikebandit.com/firstgear-...otorcycle-suit Looks like a nice suit.....

It was just slightly more than the insulated carhatt suit I was thinking about.