Safe Riding Temp

[fin_676]

In my country when the temp gets close to freezing salt and grit get scatterd on the road this should help lower the freezing temp of any moisture on the road however this stuff can turn into a coating of slime on the road that is just as slippy as ice
the tyres will pick it up and coat your bike with it and it will eat through the paint and coatings and start to corrode the metals
It can also clog up the brakes jamming or sticking the pads
This can turn a nice bike into a bucket in only 1 winter

Brian

 

[Jack Klarich]

Have ridden lots of miles in Minnesota winters, dress in layers if you dont have heated gear, and watch out for Black Ice, Capital Jack, one more thing if you do ride in below 32 degrees make sure it is not short rides as the oil may not get hot enough to burn off the condensation and you dont want that in your oil tank pump or crank case:s

 

[glimmerman]

i ride all year and dress for the weather. been out in 10*F for several hours and usually do a "chillie willie" ride in january. i don't use heated gear. polar fleece, flannel lined carhartt pants and leathers. trigger finger mittens w/ hot pack for hands and hot packs under the toes. GEAR UP and GO FOR IT!
won't go out until at least 1 heavy rain after roads are salted/graveled. to much chance of going down and trash on the bike.

 

[sprinklerfitter669]

Goes like this left Milwaukee this morning about 40 stayed cool until I reached Chicago warmed up to about 60 for a bit. Jacket and soft lowers came off.
When I leave motel in the morning it will be about 35.
softlowers on light protect long johns chaps vest jacket middle weight gloves.
Peel some of it off as day wears on.
I will ride easy until sun is up and I am darn sure all frost it burnt off.
As so still this time of year watch out for wet leaves on the road.

Smitty, are you using a full face helmet? or any kind of face protection?
I have a 1/2 shell, and use a fleece neck gaitor that i pull up on to my nose

 

[dcfatboy]

I ride year round too. The coldest I have ridden in is 20 F. I have Gerbing liner, gloves, socks and now pants. I wear a balaclava under my full face helmet. I typically wear an Under Armor Cold gear shirt and leggings under my pants (with chaps). If I am comfortable, the temp does not bother me.

I prefer not to ride at night if ice is a possibility

 

[karlsbike]

I agree that low temps are not the problem - ice is.
I live by the sea, and the humid air can results in a thin layer of ice in the morning if temps are below 0C (32F). This is often not black ice, but more like a near invicible frost layer.
I had a very scary morning on my way to work last autumn:
Passing a car on a straight downhill section of a single lane road. Speed limit 70 KPH (44 MPH), I was doing about 90KPH (55 MPH) passing the car. Suddenly both wheels lost traction and the bike went into a wobble type movement - like a soft slapper on both ends of the bike, very strange, and very scary as I had ZERO control whatsoever. Probably because my bike is prone to wobbling when accellerating throguh fast turns, I did the right thing:
I DID NOT TOUCH the brake but pulled the clutch lever and managed to soften my grip to let the handlebars do their thing. This went on for several seconds, and I remember I had time to worry about where/what I would hit as I was sliding towards the curb. Suddenly, it was over and got I got back into my lane. This was last years last riding day...