Ski suit?

[mkmd555]

I read the 'keeping warm' post and hurriedly bought a Balaclawa from the local Di-k's Sporting.

After donning the newly acquired peice, I rode in cold windy condition on I 95- S for 50 minutes. I liked the warmth it gave my bald head and face. It also fit nicely under the helmet.

The ride was pleasurable because the machine obeyed my commands, but I felt cold in the legs and arms. An idea popped in my head: how about a ski suit? which I can wear under the traditional Armour gear ( Joe R, etc etc.)?

Ebay lists ski suits at a reasonable price.

Am I being just wierd or what.

M Khan

[AndyRR]

I have a pair of Columbia insulated ski pants that work really well when riding. They kept my legs (even mt knees!) dry after about an hour of highway riding in the rain.

[macx]

Anybody ever try a snowmobile suit for cold riding?

I've ridden snomobile countless miles at minus 30 F without getting cold one bit.
(central MN)

[Airman]

Anybody ever try a snowmobile suit for cold riding?

I've ridden snomobile countless miles at minus 30 F without getting cold one bit.
(central MN)

I have a Wall's Snowmobile suit I used to use. My problem with them is the lack of armor. Excellent warmth though. A friend of mine bought the First Gear insuluated suit and found it to work well.

[towerworker]

I rode for several years with a pair of "ski bibs" I bought for less than $20 at a local Army Navy store. (they're no longer in business around here) I rode in temps down below 10 degrees and stayed reasonably comfortable. When I dumped my bike this past January the rescue squad had to cut them off of me so there went my $20 bibs. They were not armored though but pretty durable.

Wayne

[Airman]

I rode for several years with a pair of "ski bibs" I bought for less than $20 at a local Army Navy store. (they're no longer in business around here) I rode in temps down below 10 degrees and stayed reasonably comfortable. When I dumped my bike this past January the rescue squad had to cut them off of me so there went my $20 bibs. They were not armored though but pretty durable.

Wayne

Actually, those snow bib things are made of some pretty thick nylon. I bet you'd get decent abrasion protection from them. At my old airline job the guys used to get these insulated bibs desigened to be worn with the matching uniform parka, and use them for motorcycle pants in cold wet weather. They were reported to work very well and were easy to get in and out of. The problem with the snowmobile suit is that the material is thin. If you fell on pavement I think you'd burn through the shell and insulation pretty fast. Except for the rain resistance, I would expect those Carhartt insulated bibs to be pretty good. They're at least a thick material.

[NAIAD]

For years when I lived in the Sierra's I used a Polaris insulated snowmobile suit to extend my riding season. Behind a somewhat fully-faired machine that made all the difference in the world. Only cold spot was my neck, otherwise very toasty. Never fell down with that on so cannot attest to the abrasion resistance. And of course this was well before the advent of armored motorcycle gear, so I never considered the "excessive" risk factor from wearing that gear!

Airman...did you and your buddy ever get a chance to do that 1000 mile ride? Just curious!

Ciao! BJ

[OU812]

I use my snowmobile jacket and a set of Carhart? bibs. Ride all day down to 10 degrees. Never road in anything colder except snowmobiling.

[bmwr1150rbmw]

Most winter wear will keep most of your body warm as long as you layer up, and the balacalava is essential. Of course you shouls wear armor. The one component missing in generic ski/winter wear as compared to armor is knee pads. The pads offer wind resistance, excuse me, they bock the wind totally and that keeps your legs warm. So, think of adding something plastic on the knees to block that wind.

[Airman]

For years when I lived in the Sierra's I used a Polaris insulated snowmobile suit to extend my riding season. Behind a somewhat fully-faired machine that made all the difference in the world. Only cold spot was my neck, otherwise very toasty. Never fell down with that on so cannot attest to the abrasion resistance. And of course this was well before the advent of armored motorcycle gear, so I never considered the "excessive" risk factor from wearing that gear!

Airman...did you and your buddy ever get a chance to do that 1000 mile ride? Just curious!

Ciao! BJ

No. we kept moving the date up because he was moving around on the job. I was thinking the idea was crashed late in August and that proved to be the case. My partner, besides all kinds of job and family problems ended up having gall bladder surgery with a side order of hernia repair. Then we went on strike of course. I drove that route both ways a couple weeks ago, and I want tell you that's a fair step to do in a day. I drove to Billings MT the first day out and it didn't seem that bad, but coming back it seemed like the run from Missoula took forever. It's not bad if you get out of the mountains before dark, but there's deer and antilope all over the place up there. I need those PIAA 910's, eh?

[NAIAD]

""No. we kept moving the date up because he was moving around on the job. I was thinking the idea was crashed late in August and that proved to be the case. My partner, besides all kinds of job and family problems ended up having gall bladder surgery with a side order of hernia repair. Then we went on strike of course. I drove that route both ways a couple weeks ago, and I want tell you that's a fair step to do in a day. I drove to Billings MT the first day out and it didn't seem that bad, but coming back it seemed like the run from Missoula took forever. It's not bad if you get out of the mountains before dark, but there's deer and antilope all over the place up there. I need those PIAA 910's, eh?""

Too bad the plans fell apart, particularly that your friend had to have surgery...been there, done that, no fun! That run is a really long haul, think especially in the late afternoon riding west into a setting sun. Those long stretches of fairly straight and level roads across most of Washington get really old, and near the end of the day it gets really boring. Definitely adds to the challenge of a long distance ride. I've done one 1000/day trip about 25 years ago, but it didn't involve a round trip over the same roads from home base. I've done several 850 mile day rides to/from my brother's house in Nevada, but even that is a LONG day!

And those PIAA 910's would definitely be the trick for the final couple of hours of a 1K day! I've not put auxilary lamps on my 11S bike yet, sometime over the winter will do that so I can strip down all the body work to get to all the electrical gear. I'm now considering HID lamps...have to get through my normal "consider all alternatives" decision matrix first!

Take care! Bill J

[Airman]

Bill,
HIDs have come down in price. Work the wife a couple of weekends and you'll have the extra money. You can't have too much light.
I think you're right about the turn-a-round on the 1000 day The run to Billings is about 850 and does not seem that bad either way due to the changing scenery. You do lose light quick in the mountains going east though. I felt like I was in this vast black tunnel.

[NAIAD]

Bob,

Maybe I'll just put HID light's on my Santa Claus list! She usually comes through pretty well! And getting my wife to work a few weekends while I'm fully retired? Uh...probably not a suggestion I should make...! I've been hit in the head a few times in my life and would sort of like to avoid that....

Know what you mean about the "black" tunnels of Montana...left Libby one morning about 5AM, only seemed safe to ride at about 35 mph until the sun finally came up behind me. Guess those Big Skys really absorb light!

We need to do coffee one of these days...and on that note, do you usually attend the International Motorcycle show in December?

BJ

PS. Sorry to the original poster here, didn't mean to hijack the thread, it just sorta happened. We'll take it to a PM...thanks.

[challey]

Years ago, I used a snowmobile suit for cold weather riding. It was (actually, is, I still have it) pretty warm but kind of made me look like the Michelin Tire Man's less charming twin. And of course, it would have provided zero protection in the event of a serious traffic mishap. Until recently, I used my snowboard pants with a First Gear Voyager jacket in cold weather. My bottom stayed warm and dry but again had no protection.

I finally found a relatively inexpensive solution in the a Olympia MotoSports Phantom one-piece suite http://www.olympiamotosports.com/. It fits well, is nicely armored and comes standard with a full removable liner. It is also very good value for money - the list is $450, which is a pretty attractive price. The weather only recently turned cool here in SE PA so I haven't had the need to use the liner yet. I was very comfortable on a short (3 hour) ride this weekend with the just the Phantom shell and a fleece pullover in temps that started in the high 30's and finished in the 50's. I suspect that I'd have been too warm with the liner in place.

Charlie