Frozen Hands – How About Heated Gloves?

When it started getting a tad chilly outside my other half bought me some heated grips for my bike to keep my hands warmer over the winter.. I’m now officially in love with whoever invented them 😉

I totally love my heated grips 🙂

Apart from heated grips though you can also get heated gloves, as well as a full range of heated clothing.. I had a timely email from M&P Direct the other day telling me about it all 🙂

First off, heated gloves, here are a few details about them.  Just click on the photos to be taken to M&P Directs website for further information.

Gerbing Hybrid Gloves

NEW! The new line of 12 V Hybrid Products utilize Gerbings Hybrid Heating System™. This system allows you the option of powering from your vehicles 12 V electrical system, or from Gerbings 12 volt lithium-ion battery pack with its built-in microprocessor temp controller.

Made with premium, supple, drum-dyed leather

Soft tricot fleece lining with 100g of Thinsulate® lining

Incorporates Gerbings Microwire® heating technology that uses micro-sized heating fibers to surround the hand with warmth

Internal Aquatex waterproof/breathable membrane

Includes vehicle battery harness and Y-harness

They retail at about the £150 mark, but when you consider you could pay that amount for a decent pair of bike gloves anyway, it’s not too bad and you get the added bonus of warm hands 🙂

They also do these,

Gerbing T5 Gloves

The T5 gloves from Gerbing’s were first introduced last year in Europe but now are available in the USA. Designed for the rider who rides out of necessity and not just for recreation. The T5 gloves were made for the type of rider who demands performance in a wide variety of riding conditions. Whether it is long distance riding where comfort and warmth are essential or intercity high traffic commuting where safety is a must, the T5 gloves from Gerbing’s deliver exceptional performance.

Gerbings heated gloves are made with high quality full-analine leather for an exceptionally light, strong and flexible glove

The glove heats the entire length of each finger including the thumb as well as the back of your hand

Gauntlet style glove

Adjustable wrist fastener

Hypora® waterproof, breathable membrane

Thinsulate® insulation for great warmth and dexterity

Brushed tricot liner for added warmth and durability

Incorporates Gerbings Microwire® heating technology that uses micro-sized heating fibers to surround the hand with warmth

Lifetime warranty on the Microwire™ heating elements

Other heated kit M&P Direct sells includes

Heated Inner Soles for your boots – I do hate getting cold feet!!

Heated Jacket Liners – For a toasty body

Heated Trouser Liners – For warm legs

What I need now is for someone to invent some kind of device which projects a bubble of warmth round me and my bike, which will also melt the ice and snow, so that I can go out and ride!!

Brrrr.. It’s Getting Colder Out There!

It’s definately getting colder out there now and some mornings my poor fingers are so cold after the 20 mile run into work that they ache.

So my sweetie of a boyfriend bought me a set of the Oxford Sport Heated Grips for my bike, and they arrived in the post yesterday.

Woohoo! I can’t wait for the weekend so I can get them fitted.

I’ll let you know how I get on with both fitting and using them.

No Going Out On My Motorbike Today!

 After all the weather warnings of the last few days, and England shutting down all because of a butterfly farting somewhere and causing an inch of snow here.

It all cleared enough yesterday for me to be able to go out on my bike. WOOHOO 🙂

There weren’t any real weather warnings last night but I reckon the butterfly must have had beans for dinner last night, as we woke up to this little lot this morning 😦

I Don't Think I Will Be Taking The Bike Out Today!

We had more snow overnight that the last few days put together, so my motorbike will be staying tucked up in the garage!

Be careful out there if you do have to go out.

Motorcycle Tests To Be Cancelled On Cold Days

Now, this news is going to make it interesting next winter if you are going to be taking your motorcycle test.  Apparently the DSA has decided that tests will not take place on days when there is cold enough to put down a preventative layer of road salt at the new test centres.

At the moment it is at the examiners discretion as to whether tests take place or not, depending on the weather.  But examiners will lose the right to choose whether tests will go ahead or not.  Apparently there is to be no gritting what so ever at the new test centres and candidates will be turned away and told to rebook their tests for another day.  And it has started already, one instructor in Leicester had the training sessions he had booked at one of the new test sites cancelled due to pockets of ice on the site.  He was told by the examiner that it was unsafe to use and that they were not allowed to put any grit on the surface to make it safe to ride on. 

Now considering the British weather this could cause enormous problems for anyone wanting to take their motorcycle test in the winter.  According to grit manufacturers roads can need gritting between 40 and 120 times a year, depending on where in the country you are, and frost can occur between 35 and 80 times during a normal winter.

Considering that riding lessons are supposed to prepare us for a safe riding career and the motorcycle test is supposed to show the examiner that as future motorcyclists we can ride in a safe manner, no matter what may occur during the test, I cannot see that closing the test centres when conditions require road salt will make us better riders.  Now don’t get me wrong, I do not have a problem with tests being cancelled if the weather conditions are bad, but if a layer of salt means the roads are safe enough to ride on then what is the problem?  After all car tests still take place if the road has been gritted and the examiner considers it safe to drive.

My motorcycle test took place in the pouring rain, it absolutely hammered it down but by passing in conditions like that I was able to show the examiner that I could cope perfectly well when the conditions were definitely less than ideal. Typically it stopped raining about ten minutes after my test had finished!

I’m sitting here wondering if will it mean that riding schools will cut back on classes during the winter as they run the risk of having test after test postponed.  If they are talking of cancelling tests through out the winter will it mean that people will be less likely to take their motorcycle test?  If that is the case and they have no experience of riding a smaller bike in dodgy weather, how on earth will they cope the following winter on a bigger, faster bike once they have passed their tests? 

Unfortunately, the simple answer is that they won’t!

Either that or you will only see the new riders out on their motorbikes in the summer!

As I have said in previous posts on here, I only learned to ride in 2007 and I rode all through the winter to 2008 on my 125cc motorbike until I passed my test in February 2008.  The winters riding did me no end of good.  I learned how to control a controllable sized bike in sub-zero temperatures on the country roads I used to get to work.  It has given me something which will definitely benefit me in years to come.. Experience! How to ride safely in very cold conditions.

Its possible that while this will be a complete pain for the learner riders, the riding schools may benefit from this though.  Imagine you have your riding lessons, you are trained to the required standard and on the morning of your test it is cancelled.  Now chances are that it will be a few weeks by the time that a slot is available for a re-test and by then you will ‘have gone off the boil’ as it were, and you may need a refresher to make sure you are still at test standard! And that will cost more money! Who is going to be the loser then, certainly not the DSA and I really don’t think the riding schools will lose out either.  After all we pay for their time, and refresher sessions take time. 

The loser will be the learner rider, in more ways than one.

Road Salt.. And It’s Effects..

Now we all know that road salt is bad for our bikes, and our riding gear but there is another effect it has of which many of you, especially anybody new to riding a motorbike, may not be aware. The salt gets into the road surface and acts as a lubricant between the road surface and your tyre. Unfortunately you will probably only realise this when you are negotiating a bend, a roundabout or some other hazard!

So, just to be on the safe side its probably best to keep your speed down for a while after the roads have been salted and the temperatures have gone up enough for the road surface not to be frozen anymore.

It will take quite a considerable amount of rain to completely wash the salt from the roads and until then they may be slippery from the salt residue.

Just be careful, okay J

 

Check Your Tyre Pressures!

When we woke up this morning there was a light covering of snow on the ground L and it’s tried to snow again a couple of other times during the day as well! Thankfully it didn’t come to anything! But this got me to thinking about my motorbike tyres.

In perfect weather the condition of your tyres are crucial to the way your bike handles, and in the winter when the roads are wet, or worse slippery in really cold conditions it is vital that you check your tyres, both the tyre pressure and their condition, on a regular basis. Remember, during the wintertime the pressure in your tyres will be affected more by the cold weather than they would be during a warmer period during the summer.

If you are finding that your bike is ‘wandering’ slightly when you are riding over road markings in the wet, or that it feels slightly less sure footed or that it is starting to track the slight furrows in the road surface then you definitely need to take a look at your tyres.

It may be something as simple as the tyre pressures need looking at. Don’t trust the pressure gauges at your petrol station, 9 times out of 10 they are wrong! Invest in a digital tyre pressure gauge. I picked one up for a fiver, back in the summer, at Halfords and its small enough to keep in the bikes tool roll in the under seat compartment.

Under-inflated tyres will dramatically affect the handling of your bike, in all weathers, quite dramatically and be very unpleasant to ride on.

Over-inflated tyres while not really causing any real problems with the handling, will actually result in a smaller contact patch between the tyre and the road surface and means your bike will have less grip. Not really something you want, especially with the roads being like they are at the moment.

Either way, having your tyres inflated incorrectly is dangerous and could result in an accident. Checking your tyres on a regular basis is so vitally important and takes literally seconds to do, but that few seconds may just save your life.

So the next time you go to ride your bike, check them. And make sure you remember to check them on a regular basis, especially while the weather is cold.

 

Devon County Council Says Don’t Hibernate Your Bike Over The Winter!

Devon County Council is saying don’t hibernate your bike over the winter!

They are encouraging riders to carry on riding through the winter when the weather is suitable so that in the spring when the weather picks up a bit your riding skills aren’t diminished by not riding, thereby putting you at more risk of an accident.

In an effort to encourage more riders out on the road over the winter they are offering discounts on winter riding gear, discounts on advanced riding membership with Devon Advanced Motorcyclists (DAM) and winter Bikesafe events costing just £25.00.

Check the links out for more details if you live in the Devon area.

Winter Riding – Protecting Your Motorbike

In spite of the British doing its best to keep motorcyclists off the road it is possible, with a few preparations and simple steps, to have your bike coming out of the winter looking as good as it went into the nasty season of the year.

Here some simple tips to help protect your bike from potential salt and water damage throughout the winter;

1. Make sure you protect your bike against potential salt damage by spraying your motorbike with something like ACF-50 or Scottoiler FS 365. Applying these will disperse water and act as a barrier and will protect engine casings, frames and all metal parts, as well as wiring, from unwanted salt and water corrosion, and also help prevent muck sticking to your bike quite so much.

2. If the weather has been really bad and there is lots of salt down on the roads give your bike a quick wash down with cold water every time you ride it. This will help prevent any salt building up on your bike and help prevent any damage.

3. Make sure you wash your bike regularly throughout the winter and give it a good coating of wax. Wax again will help prevent muck sticking to you bike and help the fairings stay cleaner and much nicer looking. Once you have washed it give your motorcycle another good coating of the anti-corrosion sprays to help protect your baby.

There, simple!

Top Tip – Staying Warmer Out On The Road

Change the screen on your bike!

Adjustable, raised or double-bubble screens will help deflect more of the cold air away from the rider and help you stay that little bit warmer when out on your motorbike.

And you won’t have to contort yourself like a gymnast! Simple!

Top Tip – Keeping Warm In Winter

If you ride all year round and are starting to feel a little cold riding now in your leather jacket, here is a top tip for keeping warm..

Buy yourself a second leather jacket one size larger so that you can easily fit a few extra layers under it.  The jacket doesn’t have to cost a fortune, Ebay is a good place to look, but an extra layer or two will definately help you stay warmer.

I got a second jacket from Ebay for £12 + p&p, and while it isn’t new it does the job for which it was intended as I can easily fit a fleecy top under it which keeps me lovely and warm.