Riding Temperature

[Iron Maiden]

Ok, so many places are starting to see the temperature change. I am just curious what is your limit both highs and lows for riding? I know we have all been in a situation were we had no choice but to ride no matter the weather, but my question is: you wake up and want /need to go out you walk outside and say I will be taking the car today. I would say my preferred riding is 65-95 degrees with very little chance of rain.

[Carl La Fong]

65-95 is ideal, for me. I am spoiled, living in SoCal all my life. We have, probably, nine good months of riding. Summers can be brutal and I did get heat exhaustion a few years ago while riding in 115 degree temps. I have also become a bit of a pussy. I didn't own a car until I was, almost 21. I don't do cold, I don't do rain. Let the bad asses suffer for their values, I'll turn on the heat or A/C, throw some blues in the stereo and drive my truck

[V8Bikers]

Carl,
I'm with you. My friends would call me a pussy for not wanting to ride in the cold and my response was "ya but I'll be a warm pussy" Here in FL we can basically ride year round but there are some cold spells in the 30's on occasion. Also, during the summer months it rains on a regular basis with some serious torrential downpours, the ones where you ride for a mile and you're drenched through your underwear - sucks.

[petitemoose]

Don't really care about the rain unless it is below 70 degrees. Then it gets uncomfortable. I won't ride in weather over 95. having had heat sickness twice, It is actually dangerous for me to do so. At 95 degrees, the faster you ride, the hotter it gets.

On the lower end of the scale, I am happy with anything over 40. Under that and the gloves get too thick to "feel" the bike.

[Puff]

I hate riding in the hot summer temps here in Tennessee.
I would rather have to put on my leather pants, jacket, and winter riding gloves than to ride in this awful 95-degree(F) weather.
Give me 40 to 65(F), and I would be riding a whole lot more than I do.
I don't mind having to put on my snowmobile suit to ride !

[Swiss V8]

As I'm the trigger for this thread I 'have' to answer...

You all know I live in Switzerland and I ride a lot.
Therfore I start with temperatures around freezing (0°C / 30°F) or sometimes even below.
At these temperatures it's just to ride into town and back. Usually a 15min ride in good Goretex clothing with extra insulation inside.
No electrical heatings!
At 5°C / 40°F it's good enough to go for longer trips like half a day riding. Good Goretex with insulation is necessary.
At 15°C / 60°F I ride all day long and I skip the extra insulation in the Goretex clothing.
At 20°C / 68°F I change to leather chaps and jacket. Sometimes I use them down to 15°C for short rides.
In summertime we usually have between 20°C and 30°C.
You can have 28°C in town but when you're up in the mountains it's only 15°C or less...
At 30°C / 85°F it's getting warm. I keep riding, allways with leather chaps and jacket.
Temperatures above 30°C are uncommon here. But I had a chance to go for a ride on a Boss Hoss in Dubai, as it was a little cool there. We started in the morning with about 42°C / 105°F and rode into the desert. It was great and did not get much warmer in the desert as there was some wind blowing all the time. But when we returned back into town the temperature rose to 48 or 50°C / 120°F. When we were back at the hotel I needed a lot to drink and a shower...
I rode in short sleeves without jacket and chaps.
'Normal' summer temperatures there are between 50 and 60°C / 120 and 130°F. That means no chance to go for a ride...

[Iron Maiden]

I was hoping to get some of the "extreme" riders comments on this thread. You have ridden in both the freezing and hot extremes. WOW!!! I guess if that is the temperature that you are use to it isn't so bad especially with the right clothing.

I once rode in the mountains of North Carolina in October and didn't make it back to the hotel till after dark. I have no idea how cold it got, all I remember is that I had no feeling in my arms or legs and had to sit in a hot tub for quite awhile till I thawed out.

I am sure there are a lot more stories out there - let's here them!!

[petitemoose]

a few years ago I went to Biketoberfest for a day and took a young lady with me. Soaking wet she weighs about 95 pounds. On the ride over it was a nice 65 - 7o degree day. About 3:30 I felt a cold front coming in so I bought her some chaps ( Size 1XS ) and a long sleeve shirt and a jacket to go with the jeans and sweatshirt she already had. She thought I was being ridiculous.
At 11pm when we were ready to leave, the temp had dropped to 45 degrees. It took us 3.5 hours to get home. Half of the time she was literally curled up on the rear seat almost inside the jacket I was wearing. I took the back roads home and averaged about 45 mph to try and get home but not freeze her to death. We also stopped at a few places for her to warm up a little.
I was cold but not shivering ... this young lady was literally shivering and almost un warmable. Took her 2 hours in a hot bathtub to warm up enough to go to sleep. Next time we will just get a room and not worry about it.
Some people just can't take the cold.
Sunday Morning I woke up to 50 degrees, threw on my Boss Hoss felt jacket and some chaps and rode to Melbourne, Great morning ride. I can take the cold but , I don't ride on days over 95. Martin, I do not know how you survived the ride in Dubai, My hat is off to you!!

[Swiss V8]

- great story of a freezing young lady -
Some people just can't take the cold.
Sunday Morning I woke up to 50 degrees, threw on my Boss Hoss felt jacket and some chaps and rode to Melbourne, Great morning ride. I can take the cold but , I don't ride on days over 95.
Martin, I do not know how you survived the ride in Dubai, My hat is off to you!!

That Dubai experience was a one off.
I was there in September when teperatures start to drop, so you can see some lonly motorcycles on the road. In summertime there are none, but in wintertime you ought to see quite a few, as the temperatures drop to about 25°C / 75°F; shivering cold for the locals

As for cold weather I have a story to tell:
When I had my SB new I rode to work one weekend in early October. Temperatures were unusual high 20°C / 70°F. All was fine for the whole week. One week later, Saturday I returned home. In the morning it only had about 10°C / 30°F but the sun did warm you up wonderfull. I made a nice detour through the Swiss Siberia - bad idea. Temperatures dropped below zero although I did not have a temp gauche at that time I can tell for shure: The mist was chipping of my gloves in flakes when I braked or just moved my fingers
Luckily I came into warmer climate (10°C / 30°F) after 2h. But on the way home in the afternoon I rode 45min highway (75mph), stopped 15min to thaw my fingers under some water, rode again for 45min and so forth for 3h to 4h. Finally I was sooo happy to be back home! But I had to warm up quite a bit...
The best thing for that is a sauna!

[Puff]

I tried riding in -12 (F) one time......
My mustache melted when I would exhale.
It would freeze solid when I would inhale.
Not interested in THAT anymore !

[Buck]

I rode at a -10 wind chill factor once, full face helmet and cold and wind proof clothing made it possible, along w/ triple layered gloves.
Buck

[V8Bikers]

In my younger days, I would be semi - fine in a snowmobile suit, full face and gloves in the mid 20's (living in CT). Still had to thaw out when arriving at my destination. After living in FL for 23 years my tolerance to cold weather is very low.

[SRF]

When I was in High school they canceled school due to cold temperatures. Best I can remember it was single digits and wind chills -20 to -30. So i put the dirtbike in the back of my truck went to a friends house and rode all day. I remember warming our hands in front of the wood furnace in his basement at the end of the day but I don't remember being miserable before that. I am thinking we had a great time

Shane

[V-MAN]

Temps are not what keeps me off the bike, the salt they throw on the roads is what does it for me. The lowest air temps I've ridden would be between 5-10 degrees, the hottest 120+ in south west deserts.

The toughest weather conditions on one trip would have been my trip to Alaska, I had temps as low as 19 degrees, 8 inches snow on road and 6+ feet of snow along side of road! On my way home once I hit west central States I had temps of 116 degree ...

Being limited on space to carry gear for different temps and weather conditions I picked KLIM ... very expensive but it kept me dry in snow, rain and ice and it kept me cool at 116 and warm at 19 degrees. Best gear I've ever owned and also the most expensive but worth it!