Re: Help me spec a SV to a winter commuter
 

+1,000,000 to the contact lenses / insert. When I started commuting I had the unpleasant experience of freezing fog. This caused me to not see out of the visor and also out of my glasses. Also agree with the gloves, didn't bother with heated grips, simply got the clawed Hein gericke Panthans. Warm and toasty even at -3 outside temperature.....last but not least.....as has been said - Layers, layers, layers, layers and more layers!!!!!

Re: Help me spec a SV to a winter commuter
 

last winter, I had to stop in surbiton and wash my bike down with bottled water :lol: same reason, all the salt crap on the roads

If you ride your bike through winter, it helps to rinse it off with cold, clean water every night at least when there is salt and its been raining.

Might be good to strip and clean the brakes before and after winter aswell :) and do an oil change either side of winter, all those cold starts treat the oil badly

Ooooo and get an optimate, just incase you do need to charge the battery because its cooold

anything else?

Ummm if its a curvy, run V-power fuel through the winter, it'll help fight off carb icing until the bike is warmed up enough for the carb heaters to do their job

Re: Help me spec a SV to a winter commuter
 

Make sure the carb heater sensor is sat in the airflow not strapped to the frame or in a pocket of warm air. Of course seeing as you have a 2007 that's pointless but just in case for anyone else reading...

Druid

Re: Help me spec a SV to a winter commuter
 

silk under gloves. few quid but can make the world of difference.
balaclava (pref knitted by your gran)

Re: Help me spec a SV to a winter commuter
 

Surgical spirit; The poor mans FST! :D

Incidently to the OP, I do a 60 mile round trip into London. Half on the A13 and half in traffic and I ride all year round. I've had a few BMWs with their hand burning heated grips and still had numb fingers. Lobster claw gloves work well enough for me. http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/shop/p...oducts_id/3688

Re: Help me spec a SV to a winter commuter
 

Hi Guys.

Thanks for the replies. I have started to look into heated clothing (waistcoat seems like a great idea). Still not sure on heated glove inserts. I have some goretex gloves and they are rather bulky. Are the hand guards like the ones from the DL650 better than muffs?

What makes of heated clothing are good? Gerbing? Hein Gericke own brand?

I have a V-sponge and will put a pinlock in my visor as well as some fog city stuff. I have also got some raincoat for my visor.

I wear glasses so might get some contact lenses but am worried if I get a piece of dirt in them I can instantly lose sight!

Re: Help me spec a SV to a winter commuter
 

IMHO, fit a scottoiler or similar. Chain maintenance is a pain in the cold, wet dark months and a chain oiler will massively reduce the attention you need to give your chain. (Don't ignore it, though.)

A bit more involved to fit, but fork gaiters really are useful for keeping the crud away from fork seals and stanchions.

Something to keep the wind off your hands is really useful, so I would consider muffs or guards before heated grips. If you're really on a budget, hand guards can be fashioned from old plastic milk cartons or oil containers. Just take extra care that they won't foul the controls.

Regular, frequent cleaning is the real key. If you don't have a convenient hose pipe at home, a small (say 5-10 litre) hand pressurised plant/weed sprayer is useful for giving the bike a quick rinse every evening, especially around the brakes, pegs and levers.

Don't be afraid to get some help from nature by leaving the bike standing in the rain if it's tipping it down when you get home. Never a substitute for a full wash but it does help to clean a surprising amount away.

Re: Help me spec a SV to a winter commuter
 

thinking about it halfords do portable car wash thing. i have one and it aint half bad, not the greatest pressure but good enough to rinse something well.

Re: Help me spec a SV to a winter commuter
 

Having read a recent thread about scottoilers, I've bought and fitted one ready for winter. I'll post some pics seperately, as their guide wasn't so good, and I couldn't find a good pictured guide anywhere.

My next two tasks for winter preparation are fitting V-Strom handguards and hopefully, if I can work out which to fit, I'm going to fit something like this to my mirrors, and fit some sort of controller/regulator to my bars. Any help or advice would be good folks. ;)

Re: Help me spec a SV to a winter commuter
 

Surbiton rules !!! :D

I've got a flat in Surbiton, and now living just between Bansted and Sutton .... travel to Hampton Hill everyday, either with the use of the A3 .. or Surbiton :notworthy:!!!

Scottoiler for me .... just fitting heated grips .... and new tyres for the winter ......

As said above.... get bike A1 before the winter, as you won't want to be tinkering, or breaking down in the winter !! ;)