Motorcycle Sport & Leisure Magazine 713 - February 2020 Vorige editie

How cold does it have to get before you abandon your plan to ride a motorcycle? My personal limit is ice on the roads. I’m not so bothered about icy temperatures (I was born in Finland, after all), but the lack of traction that black ice brings with it puts me right off getting on two wheels.

So, if it’s slippery underfoot when I walk the dog first thing in the morning, there will be no riding for me until the roads have cleared. If it’s just cold then let’s go for it. I would rather be cold on a motorcycle than warm in a car – I’m sure many of you know the feeling. But the thing is that these days, you don’t necessarily have to be cold when riding in winter. At least, not as cold as you used to be.

Thanks to the developments in riding kit, even the cold days can offer great rides now. Thermal layers really have improved a lot, being thinner, but more effective than before. Heated kit is also better than a few years ago, and the prices are acceptable if you do enough cold miles to get plenty of wear out of them. Last winter I tested a couple of textile suits specifically designed for winter riding (Furygan Cold Master and Dainese Antarctica).

They were a bit of a revelation.The amount of heat-preserving tech that you can pack in a garment that isn’t massively thick is impressive. I appreciate that riding all-year round isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but with the right kit, it becomes a lot more tempting for many.

This winter I have gone up a league, and tested heated jackets (see pages 110-111 in this issue) and heated gloves (more about them in the next issue). Having heated motorcycle clothing is a bit of a luxury, since you have to pay for it in addition to all the other necessary gear, but for me it’s definitely worth spending the money on.