RE: winter has arrived in the UK
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/6/2006 4:33:08 PM
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hmm
Posts: 66
Joined: 6/23/2006
From: Surbiton, Surrey, UK
Status: offline
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Yes winter's here in the UK but some winter days are great.
Like today! Had to go for a meeting in Swindon, 160-mile round-trip. Left at 09:30, blue skies and sunny. A3, M25, M3, Bracknell, M4. traffic pretty light so great CBR mile-munching conditions. West of Reading had big patches of fog, some swirly, some quite thick. Slowed down to about 70mph, but between the fog patches it was beautiful blue skies and sunny again, managed to coast along in excess of 100mph. Return journey had more traffic but was quicker as less fog.
Had to use my heated grips for short periods, and put Rain-X on the visor before I left because of expected fog. That Rain-X is brilliant. Also used my Shoei whisper Strip and earplugs, so all in all the riding was pretty relaxed.
The best thing, though, was that while I was riding to Swindon someone decided tocancel the meeting, so after a quick chat with the boss it was back on the bike again for the return journey. It's better than working!
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/6/2006 5:08:46 PM
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woot
Posts: 715
Joined: 7/24/2006
From: NS, Canada
Status: offline
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I remember having a blast over there... last time I was over was 2002, we went for a spirited ride south east of Nottingham... cat and the fiddle and the lakes that were used for dam buster training... at the halfway pub we could apparently see Wales. Somewhere near Tissington. I know we stayed there a night in an awesome B&B... went through the Peak District part...
Shortly after we scooted back to the east were the rest of my family was... great times and love the weather. Neither hot nor cold... I've got to get back there with the cbr. :D
Woot.
_____________________________
2000 CBR 600 F4
Full M4,
-1,+2 520,
Speedohealer (-11.4%), AutoCom Pro, Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS/MP3, Cobra FRS/GMRS , Vortex sliders, mirrored windscreen, Cortech bags and Aux Fuse box.
Safety wired and ready to go
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/6/2006 5:31:44 PM
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alte22a
Posts: 148
Joined: 8/1/2005
Status: offline
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From the UK but been to Kl a few times for holiday.
quote:
ORIGINAL: madkawa
Yup...from malaysia
you too?
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/7/2006 1:52:39 AM
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davethepom
Posts: 72
Joined: 10/5/2006
From: Dalveen, Australia
Status: offline
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I remember the winter riding in England! We used to come out of the pub and there was ice on the bike seats. I only had leathers in those days and used to stick a newspaper in a plastic bag and put this down the front of my jacket to stop the wind. The Z650 had no fairing, so the CBR would have been a bit better.
I agree, the salt is horrid, but black ice is worse!!
Around Bracknell used to be great for a good ride late at night. Loads of good sized roundabouts with dual carriage way between them. Good for scratching and in the days before hand held speed guns you could go for it on the straights too!
If it's any consolation, the Winter in my part of Oz gets pretty cold. Plenty of -5 to -8 (yes minus) mornings. Just add wind chill and it's like being over there.
Next winter I'm going to fit heated grips and a touring fairing, probably an MRA Vario Touring. What do you guys think? I'm 6'1", will this one do the trick, or is there something better out there that I don't know about?
Stay warm and find a pub with an open fire place and some good real ale......
Dave.
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/7/2006 5:54:17 AM
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woot
Posts: 715
Joined: 7/24/2006
From: NS, Canada
Status: offline
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Best thing for cold weather? Heated vest. As soon as your core body tempature drops you stop pumping warm blood to your hands and feet. Your hands and feet get cold fast. If you elevate your core body tempature your body dumps heat to your hands and feet to get rid of it... this is why a heated vest is a better solution than heated gloves/grips or socks (if you only were to pick one). Other heated gear tries to warm up a symptom of being cold, whereas the heated vest prevents you from getting into heat conservation mode. (Coast Guard person speaking... I've done of work with cold water emersion models.)
So - how to stay warm - Good gloves, proper jacket and pants (textile gear really excels in winter use), a good helmet, proper riding boots and a heated vest... as I said it was 35 F (~2 C) and I was near sweating on the highway because my vest was turned up too high... I turned it down and all was right with the world).
_____________________________
2000 CBR 600 F4
Full M4,
-1,+2 520,
Speedohealer (-11.4%), AutoCom Pro, Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS/MP3, Cobra FRS/GMRS , Vortex sliders, mirrored windscreen, Cortech bags and Aux Fuse box.
Safety wired and ready to go
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/7/2006 6:22:24 AM
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j0el
Posts: 35
Joined: 9/8/2006
From: NSW, Australia Bike/s: CBR1KF, CB250N
Status: offline
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hahahhahahahahhaaaaaa!
a MISERABLE 30C here today, with no wind, lovely roads and and and....well what more is there????
_____________________________
enthusiasm outweighs ability
Connecting Riders in Australia
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/7/2006 8:11:51 AM
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woot
Posts: 715
Joined: 7/24/2006
From: NS, Canada
Status: offline
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LOL - I read that as 30 F the first time... (I use C 99% of the time, but use F here because most people seem to prefer it)
30C... that's too warm for me :p
You don't have a spare bike do you?
_____________________________
2000 CBR 600 F4
Full M4,
-1,+2 520,
Speedohealer (-11.4%), AutoCom Pro, Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS/MP3, Cobra FRS/GMRS , Vortex sliders, mirrored windscreen, Cortech bags and Aux Fuse box.
Safety wired and ready to go
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/7/2006 8:40:51 AM
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Nelson
Posts: 53
Joined: 7/18/2006
From: UK
Status: offline
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am thinking of the heated vest option. Was considering an EXO2 Stormrider (www.exo2.co.uk)
What type do you use Woot? One possible reservation I may have is that I'd worry that feeling so warm while riding in cold conditions would give a false sense of security in terms of grip available, in other words, is there a tendency to ride like you do in the Summer due to feeling so warm?
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/7/2006 9:32:44 AM
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woot
Posts: 715
Joined: 7/24/2006
From: NS, Canada
Status: offline
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Actually -- I made my own. :D
Walmart often sells heated car seat pads for $10 CDN. I just opened it up and made it into a vest... cut off the cigarette lighter adapter and put a 2-prong trailer plug on it.
A friend of mine makes voltage controllers - so I wired the controller straight to the battery and have a 2-prong trailer plug off of it. Plug the vest in, turn the dial and it heats up. Cheap and effective. Anyone could do it... it's very very very easy to do.
Just keep an eye on your battery's voltage and turn the vest off/down when you know you will be a low RPM for a long time. The vest draws about 34 watts at max so it's a bit like riding with high beams on... there should be plenty of overhead to carry it... just don't turn on the highbeams, the socks, the vest and the cb at the same time ;)
I do notice companies like Joe Rocket are selling vests for just under $200 that will zip right into your JR jacket... a nice feature.
Woot.
_____________________________
2000 CBR 600 F4
Full M4,
-1,+2 520,
Speedohealer (-11.4%), AutoCom Pro, Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS/MP3, Cobra FRS/GMRS , Vortex sliders, mirrored windscreen, Cortech bags and Aux Fuse box.
Safety wired and ready to go
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/7/2006 5:09:16 PM
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snotter
Posts: 36
Joined: 10/24/2006
From: Cambridge, UK
Status: offline
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The heated vest idea is a really good one - hadn't thought of it that way before. I'd always thought of heating hands and feet 'cos they're the bits that get cold first! Thanks for the advice. And I love the heated seat element idea. I have heated seats in my car and they are just WONDERFUL on those cold and damp winter mornings.
I use my CBR1000 all year round so I think I'll try to get hold of those heated seat elements here in the UK. Dunno where from though. Anyone any ideas? I suppose I could go to a car dealer and get some, say, Ford ones and use those.
I live near Cambridge and regularly go to Bury St Edmonds market on Saturday mornings to buy fruit. Just an excuse for a ride! A 40 mile round trip is usually enough in freezing conditions, but with a heated vest it would be a breeze. Went down to London and back last year when it was around freezing and thought I would die of hypothermia on the way back - even with my winter textile gear.
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/7/2006 5:14:45 PM
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woot
Posts: 715
Joined: 7/24/2006
From: NS, Canada
Status: offline
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Bury? I was staying not too far from you... relatives. Elmswell and Shenley (Radlet)
Heated seat pad - over hear we can get them in any large box store - Canadian Tire, Walmart, etc... English equivalent... If you REALLY want one I can ship you one... :D
Woot.
_____________________________
2000 CBR 600 F4
Full M4,
-1,+2 520,
Speedohealer (-11.4%), AutoCom Pro, Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS/MP3, Cobra FRS/GMRS , Vortex sliders, mirrored windscreen, Cortech bags and Aux Fuse box.
Safety wired and ready to go
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/8/2006 2:26:58 PM
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collector
Posts: 467
Joined: 9/7/2006
From: Norwich UK
Status: offline
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Need a vest for that A14 truck dodging express. What you are saying sounds like a cheaper and more practical way to get some heat on the body rather than being ripped off at the shops. Will look into it more then let you know if I cant get sorted out here. Are you still out on the bike?
_____________________________
THE LITTLE VOICE IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD IS GONNA GET ME HURT
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/8/2006 3:00:25 PM
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woot
Posts: 715
Joined: 7/24/2006
From: NS, Canada
Status: offline
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I'm out on the bike until the salt hits the road... I don't like getting salt on her.
Lowest tempature this year has been 30F that I've been out for a serious ride... and I was comfortable.
Remember I'm in Canada... we're all a bit nuts ;) I have been out riding when it started to snow. Not flurry, snow. The car tracks were pavement but elsewhere was as much as 3" of snow by the time I got near home. I was thinking what the cagers must be thinking - and how I was probably the only idiot out in the snow. Low and behold - a guy pulls up next to me on his bike. He looked like a snowman... I must have looked the same.
Woot.
_____________________________
2000 CBR 600 F4
Full M4,
-1,+2 520,
Speedohealer (-11.4%), AutoCom Pro, Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS/MP3, Cobra FRS/GMRS , Vortex sliders, mirrored windscreen, Cortech bags and Aux Fuse box.
Safety wired and ready to go
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/8/2006 3:11:28 PM
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collector
Posts: 467
Joined: 9/7/2006
From: Norwich UK
Status: offline
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Great to see enthusiasm for two wheels. Was wondering, did you have your feet up or down. As I live in the country I tend to leave the riding until the weekends when I've got more time to enjoy it.
_____________________________
THE LITTLE VOICE IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD IS GONNA GET ME HURT
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RE: winter has arrived in the UK - 11/8/2006 3:21:12 PM
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woot
Posts: 715
Joined: 7/24/2006
From: NS, Canada
Status: offline
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?I had my feet up on the pegs when I was moving? Moving at city speeds... just had to be REALLY careful to stay off the snow as that would have lead to a really quick lowside.
I get my best miles on the weekend as well... I live in the suburbs of a small city - good roads right on my doorstep.
_____________________________
2000 CBR 600 F4
Full M4,
-1,+2 520,
Speedohealer (-11.4%), AutoCom Pro, Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS/MP3, Cobra FRS/GMRS , Vortex sliders, mirrored windscreen, Cortech bags and Aux Fuse box.
Safety wired and ready to go
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