SV650.org - SV650 & Gladius 650 Forum

I've had a few inquirers as to how I didn't freeze on my recent run round the country,being diabetic and not having the reserves of energy I once did it takes a degree of care, so although perfectly obvious to me, I thought I'd put down what I do, perhaps it'll allow some of you to enjoy less than perfect riding conditions.

First off mental condition, sounds daft I know, but being prepared for the extra stress and strain of riding in snow/ice sleet or what have you is very important, make sure you're both fed and watered before you start, none of that " I'll just grab something when I'm out".

Second Kit, It's been said before, but I'll say it again, "Layers", here I'll list mine to give you an idea.

Helmet, good venting to stop it getting stuffy, good visor to keep it clear ( I have pinlock on mine, but anything to stop it misting up will do, you need to be able to keep it closed and locked down.

Neck warmer, the thin ones ar fine for summer, but aren't up to the job come the freezing temps, I use a fleece one, and if it's looking really bad a windstopper over the top, it's important to it long enough to, it has to tuck into the neck of your jacket and up to just under your bottom lip.

Top half, start with a T shirt or vest and cover that with a thin long sleeve top, nothing to bulky thought, then a decent winter jacket with a thermal linier fitted, make sure the neck/wrists seals well, ontop of that a thing "shell" type jacket, like you might wear hiking or something (make sure it's loose and not crushing the layers below), finish off with a fleece over the top, the cheap nylon ones work best as outside layers, try to get one that zips all the way up to a high collar to.

Bottom half, on top of your underwear add some thin nylon (or other man made material) trousers ( I have some PJ ones that work well) and make sure your socks aren't cotton, over that track suit bottoms, ( if you can fine a one piece suit (I use a dry suit diving one made of fleece) all the better), then your normal textile trousers.

Hands & Feet, your feet will remain still for a lot of the time, and warmth in hands and feet are vital to maintaining concentration, there are three basic principles at work, one cold wind blast, two the speed you loose heat, three being able to feel the controls.

Firstly the wind blast, the best thing for this is either solid handguards or handlebar muffs, obviously not to everyones taste, but I'd recommend muffs for the winter months.
Secondly heat lost, you will loose heat, decent gloves and under gloves are vital, make sure they aren't to tight (generally poeple just stick linier gloves under their normal ones and this impairs circulation).
Thirdly tactile control, it's pointless to have lovely warm hand s if you can't use the controls, so test you can operate the important ones, for instance, I was unable to operate the start button whilst my hands were inside the muffs, but then generally you don't need to, I just started the bike before putting my hands in them, you boots should be slightly bigger than your summer ones (I go up a size) don't worry about getting expensive ones, as this is just the protective layer, start with manmade socks and over them add windstopper or thermal socks, over that I use knee length ex-army gortex boot liners (about £10 from surplus shops), these are waterproof (try to get ones slightly larger than your normal fit (bigger air gap), and then your boots (see the reason for the size up now?).

Electrics, you can mitigate most of the above with the addition of electrically heated stuff, be it grips, gloves, socks, waistcoats or what have you, don't turn them on full if you can help it, rather than making you all toasty, just keeping a constent heat is better, test they work beforehand and don't need to be messed about with whilst riding.

A couple of other things to consider, make sure everything overlaps well and no gaps are left as the cold wind will find it's way in ( a good trick is to wear a one piece waterproof over everything else), when you stop also make sure you allow your body to breath and don't get to hot.

No matter how well you've prepared you will loose heat, so in my case I stop every couple of hours and either walk about a bit or find somewhere to get out of the cold.

Having just completed 1381 mile all in sub zero temp, I didn't get cold one except on my face, and that was using the lessons above, so I hope that's of some help to you all.

Cheers Mark.