whats the coldest?

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flatlander · #1 Post by **flatlander** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 10:47 pm

You've ever been on a bike... Today wasn't the coldest but it was the coldest I remember my fingers being for a good while in fact they're still not right

any recommendations on gloves welcomed especially if they are free or cheap

Thank goodness Mart and John made me buy those thermal inners and thank goodnes for morrisons disposable gloves

blinkey501 · #2 Post by **blinkey501** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 10:54 pm

Unfortunatly geoff you tend to get what you pay for...
I bought a pair of good quality winter gloves which cost me nearly 100 quid but i have no regrets...
Wear a pair of liner gloves but put some plastic mechanics gloves on first, This will improve things

Have you thought about some hot grips

BikerGran · #3 Post by **BikerGran** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:26 pm

The coldest I've ever been was when I had to ride about 40 miles in a wet leather jacket.

But the coldest my hands have been - was riding round the M25 on my way to a rally in March (long time ago - I have more sense now) and saw the sign for my turnoff - and thought "Help! I've got to change gear and my hands won't move! "

Aladinsaneuk · #4 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:29 pm

lying next to my ex wife

flatlander · #5 Post by **flatlander** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:14 am

I had thermal liners 2 pairs of disposables one under one over and the leathers trust me it was cold mainly because it was wet too that said it was cold this morning as well but what was odd was going north my right hand was colder going south the left

couldn't answer yours pete becaus ea it was funny as it was and
b the response that came to mind may have been in poor taste

randomsquid · #6 Post by **randomsquid** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:43 am

I went camping at Easter in Scotland. It was below freezing and hammered down all weekend. All my kit was drenched. I came home via Wales to drop someone off. The ride back was between 230-250. About 10 miles from home I became mildly hypothermic and dropped off the motorway to find some shelter. I stopped the bike under a canopy but couldn't get off it. So I ended up sitting on the bike with my hands and feets on the controls propped up by a wall. Eventually I got my shit together enough to dismount, warm up, and do the last bit. The bloke I'd dropped off ended up in bed for a week.

All in all it was a fucking stupid idea from start to finish, I wouldn't knock anybody for staying in when the weather is crap.

MartDude · #7 Post by **MartDude** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:10 am

A February night, 1975. Returning to Manchester from Birmingham (having visited then girlfriend) on a '63 BSA A65. Seized main bearings, 2nd. time around, & waiting for 2 - 3 hours for RAC, on the hard shoulder of the M6 near J9.

And a few other mid-70's trips Manchester-Birmingham & back, on Triumph 6TA, A65, & Tiger 750 in winter; all for the sjke of a guaranteed shag. Oh, the folly of youth. But no regrets.

Aladinsaneuk · #8 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:12 am

is said girl friend now the wife or do we have sufficient black mail material for a round of ales?

MartDude · #9 Post by **MartDude** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:15 am

Aladinsaneuk wrote:is said girl friend now the wife or do we have sufficient black mail material for a round of ales?

Both called Gill.

They've never met, nor are likely to, so take your begging bowl elsewhere

Willopotomas · #10 Post by **Willopotomas** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:25 am

Boxing Day 2003.. So cold I fell off on a slippery roundabout because my body didn't react quick enough to correct it. Was the same day I had to stop, take my gloves off and place my hands directly on the engine to warm up.. Still took forever. Was after this that while talking to an old boy in the pub (Jim, RIP mukka

) that he told me about the best way to warm up when freezing cold on the bike.. get off and push.. After about 500 yards you're warm as toast.. Trust me, it works!

MartDude · #11 Post by **MartDude** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:38 am

And I'd point out that biking gear in the 70's was nowhere near as effective as the modern stuff is.

For the benefit of the younger members - don't for a moment believe the dewy-eyed reminiscences of old bikers - riding back then may have been easier in many ways, but the practicalities meant it often wasn't much fun (especially in winter) - crap electrics, crap suspension, crap brakes, crap tyres, crap riding gear. But I didn't know any better, so I thought it was fantastic.

Dusty · #12 Post by **Dusty** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:38 am

I was ruminating on this very subject a few days ago. I can't remember exactly when and what my coldest experience was, but I do recall scooping the snow out from my crotch area before dismounting and promptly falling over because my knees wouldn't straighten up. Back in the 70s ad 80s only lying snow forced me onto the bus or into my Mother's car if it was available. Now, I'm much older and wiser/softer so it's the car without a second thought if the temperature is approaching zero. Admittedly, the thought of salt corroding my bike also puts me off in winter unless it's one of those dry, bright weekends and I can give it a good clean afterwards.

D-Rider · #13 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:07 am

MartDude wrote:And I'd point out that biking gear in the 70's was nowhere near as effective as the modern stuff is.

For the benefit of the younger members - don't for a moment believe the dewy-eyed reminiscences of old bikers - riding back then may have been easier in many ways, but the practicalities meant it often wasn't much fun (especially in winter) - crap electrics, crap suspension, crap brakes, crap tyres, crap riding gear. But I didn't know any better, so I thought it was fantastic.

Etched in my brain too Mart.

I've done a few trips in the snow - even had to abort one return trip from Reading to Cov when I was a student as it was so cold and slippery. Fortunately my sis was at Oxford uni so I dropped the bike off with her and got a lift with my dad who was very kindly driving my belongings up for me. Picked the bike up the following weekend.

The snowy trips pale into insignificance compared to a trip from Leicester to Cov in freezing fog. Joy, my wife. was on the back freezing away too. The coldness of the fog just permeated everything. We had to stop half way back so I could thaw my fingers on the cylinder head to be able to continue (certainly not the only time I've done that). Best done with gloves on as you don't want burns and less cold gloves are an asset. We arrived home frozen - our clothes having turned white with a thick crust of frost.
I think this was in the early 80s just after we moved to Cov - the year it went down to -18C ... and this trip was around that time (though not at it's very coldest as we had deep snow and I couldn't get the bike out of the street).

HisNibbs · #14 Post by **HisNibbs** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:16 pm

Because Leicester trafic is so conjested and the train so expensive I'm still riding all year round through pretty much whatever gets thrown at us. I've good gear and the RS 100 BMW is ideal for purpose though. I only commute just over 20 miles so I don't get too cold.

Going back away I had no other transport and used to travel every week end from B'ham to Harpenden and back. I can remember one particularly icy and literally painful trip where my brother got a bowl of water to soak my hands help them recover. I immersed my hands then lept back and swore at the b'std for filling it with boiling water. He hadn’t added the hot yet and it was cold water strait from the tap. Ouch!

Samray · #15 Post by **Samray** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:25 pm

Not on a bike, but I remember years ago putting up some fencing and field gates on a pig farm in a blizzard. Not much fun but I was ok, then realised the chap with me had turned blue.
He finished up being treated for serious hypothermia.

Told the lazy git he hadn't been working hard enough to keep warm.