Winter riding and warm hands, what works?

Well,
2000 miles in two week!   
Not bad! ...I saw you have both the GRiSO, so I think you appreciate it...  
I normally ride my bike at least 600km a month (I use it every day to reach work...except during winter time) + 200km more just for fun....considering that I 've 2 kids (that means in the week-end we need to move all together with car..)

But recently my wife has bought her own motorbike, so we can travel all together with motorbikes, on short trip...of course....and from next summer my older sun will have it's own first motorbike...we will see

@Grisonut : the wind shield visible in the picture is the GIVI 770, it works fine?
Actually I have a very small wind-shiel, I like it very much but I would like to purchase a secon ones, to install in case of long trip...
.

Yeah it's the 770 and it does make a difference.
It's the best one for those bikes in my opinion but it's discontinued.  
The one on the V11 are still available from Guzzi I believe and they look great also...

Hey Grisonut; does your screen blow the windblast out and away from your hands?????????

No Sir, it's not wide enough.
It just keeps the air flow above your chest and it's a plus on long trips...

ugh. I need to keep my hands from freezing

Use hand guards for the winter or heated gloves.  
I'm looking at them at the moment. The battery kind that last 8 hrs or so...

Are there also heated grips   , if I'm not wrong also from Guzzi itself...
Personally during winter the best I ever use to avoid cold on my hands was to put above the handlebar\grips a couple of covers

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Never tried heated grips, but I think is great solution (also BMW use it)

Heated grips are a waste for me as they don't heat the outside of your hands.
I know that eventually the heat would transfer around but in the case of a real cold day or a bad windchill, it ain't happening.
My best luck was hand guards with the best gloves available on the market...

The guy from Florida gets cold hands???    

Here in chilly, wet Seattle, I find that a quality pair of waterproof gloves coupled with a good set of heated grips and a heated jacket liner makes even sub freezing temps tolerable.

The best winter gloves I have come across have been the Kelvin H₂O from Rev'It!  These are waterproof, have warm (non-bulky) insulation, and sturdy knuckle armor.  All leather construction gives superb feel for a winter glove.  About $160

I'm currently running KOSO heated grips on my GRiSO.  They have five heat settings from tepid to really hot, good tactile feeling, and simple installation.  About $75

I don't like the way brush guards look on the GRiSO or anything other than a dirt bike or dual sport for that matter.  Likewise, I've not had great experience with heated gloves.  I've found them to be stiff, bulky, leaky, and linings not compatible with wet/moist skin.

I ride in cold weather regularly and have found this to be the best solution for both comfort and retained tactile feel.

Duly noted on the gloves Steak.
And brush guards look like shit on a GRiSO indeed, they belong on a dirt bike or a GS (can't make that bike uglier).
But they'd be a good temporary set up on a trip in cold weather still.

As far as cold hands in FL, not a chance, lol.
I put 36K miles on my G12 and a lot of those were in the Mountains in the Winter and early Spring (I'm nuts I know...)
I'll be in the Carolinas and TN next weekend breaking in my new Black Devil.      
Then ride back to Orlando.
It's prepped and ready at the Dahlonega dealer...   

I've got the Koso's on the GRiSO as well and had them on the 1200 Sport before that - I think they do the trick. Winter gloves for me are rukka raptors - waterproof and not bulky at all. I actually wear them year round, the only time I wear summer gloves is when the weather hits 20 C or more. I think they are pretty expensive, but I managed to find them online for $70. After 3 years of wearing them I would be willing to pay full price.

That sounds like some great riding plans Pascal. When heading up into the Carolinas and Tennessee from Florida, how many days do you usually commit for such a loop?

- SD

(I'm going to split this discussion off as a separate topic on winter touring.)

I apologize for the hi-jack guys.

Steak, I don't ride from Florida, it's too painful until you reach North GA where the roads finally start to curve.
I put the bike in my pick up and drive to Roswell GA (North of Atlanta) to a friend of mine's house.
I use his place as a satellite basically as I can go to the Blue Ridge Parkway and back in one day. Same with the Tellico Plains in TN.
It takes about 8 hours to drive to his place from Orlando so when I do those trips, I make at least a 3 day weekend out of it but it's best to get in a 4th day.
This coming Friday, I'll just fly to Atlanta where my friend will pick me up and take me to the Guzzi place first thing on Saturday. I'll ride the new GRiSO until dark then spend the night at his house and leave to Orlando early on Sunday.
I'll be past the 600 miles first service by the time I'm home but I don't think it will hurt anything.

I bought a st of heated gloves for riding in Canberra. They heat the back and front of your hands and work a treat. I also have a set of Barkbusters which not only cut the wind but deflect a lot of the insects that come at you.

Just bought a pair of Held Freezer gloves. Pricey, even at closeout, but they are waterproof, built to last and comfy down to just above freezing with no heated liners or guards.

Buy em HERE

Revew HERE

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I ride in the cold - pretty much anything from 20* F up - almost every day on my commute, and the Stelvio handguards I picked up from Moto Int'l have been working great.  Don't look to bad, and they allow me to keep wearing my summer-style Held Steve gloves.

I showed my wife a bike with the add-on hand guards and I told her that they should keep the cold air off the hands but they look a bit ugly.
She said "just take them back off in the summer."
Which made a lot of sense.
From my wife?? wow.

DM

I use Oxford Heated Grips and Acerbis Dual Road Handguards. I'm comfy down to mid 40's with Summer gloves. Below that, I wear some medium weight Winter gloves and that works down into the 30's. But probably what keeps me the warmest in conjunction with the above is the Warm & Safe heated jacket liner I recently acquired. Head and shoulders above my old Widder vest. Can ride with T-shirt, liner and my suit down to the low 40's, Below that, just need one more layer on top. For that I use Cycle Gear's Freeze out long sleeve shirt. Light weight and not bulky and CHEAP! And works.

It's tough to complain about the weather in SoCal. This whole week is 24c. However, we do need rain.

I have to agree with Steak on the Rev'it gloves. Actually all their products are great (but pricey)

On my other bike (Bandit 1250) I have hand guards and heated grips and stay pretty warm down to the low 30's here in chilly So Ca. On my GRiSO I didn't want to add a bunch of stuff to the bike to fight the cold so I bought a heated vest from cycle gear and am very surprised how warm even my hands stay with my tourmaster winter gloves. I guess if you keep your core warm the rest will stay warm. I rode up to the local mountains where there was snow and stayed warm the whole time. I just wish I had known sooner how well these work, I could have avoided many freezing my ass off rides.

Cage Free wrote:

On my other bike (Bandit 1250) I have hand guards and heated grips and stay pretty warm down to the low 30's here in chilly So Ca. On my GRiSO I didn't want to add a bunch of stuff to the bike to fight the cold so I bought a heated vest from cycle gear and am very surprised how warm even my hands stay with my  tourmaster winter gloves. I guess if you keep your core warm the rest will stay warm. I rode up to the local mountains where there was snow and stayed warm the whole time. I just wish I had known sooner how well these work, I could have avoided many freezing my ass off rides.

Keeping the core and your head warm is key.

we used to cut the sleeves off an old anarack and tape them on the bars (I rode to school in Rochester ny all year round) I had an old knobby with 1/4-20 stove bolts installed for winter commuting worked well. on the old gs450.

Any more I just wear heated gloves (I have had the pair of gerbings for years) the best set up is grip heaters hand gaurds and heated gloves. the grips heat the palms, the gloves heat the backs and thumb and the gaurds help them both out. My arthritic hands quit working when they get too cold...heated grips really make the difference on even 70 degree days when it is raining. I generally cover 300-700 mi on a riding day and heated grips can feel good even on the way home on a warm evening. well worth the investment

Oca wrote:

It's tough to complain about the weather in SoCal.  This whole week is 24c.  However, we do need rain.

I have to agree with Steak on the Rev'it gloves.  Actually all their products are great (but pricey)

Harumph.
I'm in SoCal. But I'm up in the Desert - in Victorville. it's been dropping down to 29F riding to work lately.

DM