What is your definition of "warm enough to ride"?

[lstayner]

I have ridden in the teens but am not a fan even with heated gear. Several issues come to mind. 1. Water freezes at 32 degrees. All it takes is some guy to toss the cold coffee out the window at a stop sign and you have black ice. Even though you are on 3 wheels, you can still do the curly shuffle on the road. 2. Hypothermia. I experienced this once riding before I bought heated gear. You never feel it coming and all of a sudden you are so lethargic that you cannot react to a traffic situation. Just missed a turning car by inches that day. 3. Salt/brine. It gets into every nook and cranny of the bike. You will need to do a thorough wash to get it clean or plan on dealing with electrical and metal corrosion.

[asp125]

I would not Spyder much below freezing, but I would snowmobile, it's just a matter of having the right gear and preferences. If I had full heated gear and good snow tires on a Spyder, sure why not.

[bhern]

Today pretty much defined my lower limits for commuting -- it was 30 degrees (but no wind) here in central Texas, and because there was no rain in the forecast, I decided to go ahead and ryde it. No disaster to report, but one of the reasons I ride my commute is to have those (thankfully, from a traffic standpoint) few minutes of me time before the day gets crazy, and after the day got crazy so I can leave it out there where it belongs. Once the temperature gets this low, it's just intruding on my thoughts too much.

Of course, as others have noted, a lot of it has to do with where you are. It's easy for us down here to reject a cold day, because we've got 364 other days where we could be ryding. And I don't want to accumulate all the gear I'd probably need to be able to do longer rides in the cold.

Snowbirding keeps looking smarter and smarter to me.

[3 Wheel Rider]

I've ridden in the snow and in 20° temps. Sometimes it was by choice, other times it was out of necessity. I'm finding out now that as my age increases, so does my desired riding temperature. I'll consider riding in the upper 40s, but I'm not excited for the opportunity. I pretty much draw the line at the mid 50s.

[Wildass]

Well I live on the central coast of Texas. I think we have had 3 and tonight will make 4 freezes this year. I have rode in cold weather 2 years ago on a trip to the Grand Canyon and Utah in March. We got up one morning 18°. We had to ride only so many days to ride. With the right gear it wasn't to bad and we were headed south. The cold is not bad when the sun is out. But 33°heavy rain and wind nope I'll stay in.

[Raknid]

35 or 37 degrees with sun - and roads must be dry and free of salt. Shaded areas can still have ice so need to be careful.

[grumpyoldretiredcop]

Gotta be above freezing and no ice/snow on my street (it's never plowed) or driveway.

[donhy]

50 and above to be enjoyable and not spend half an hour layering-up and covering every bit of exposed skin.

[Big F]

I'm one State below you (Nebraska) and can't ride also. we would appreciate it very much if you would quit sending us your cold weather and the snows!!!!! we have had enough snow (about butt deep to a baby giraffe??) and are ready for spring and ready to ride..
BIG F

[Motorcycledave]

I do NOT like to ride in the cold winter but some times you get stuck
the picture of Julie and I was in August going over Mt. Lassen in California
I always travel prepared.

WINTER.jpgJulie & I in the snow on the bike .jpg

[WisconsinDavid]

I have heated gear, so ride above zero. Like someone said, the bigger issue is salt which will chew up a bike. I usually wait until a heavy spring rain has washed the salt/gravel aside and put the bike/spyder away at winter's first salted roads.

[BryanSD]

I am guessing that that is just the record for the date. Not the season.

Yep, I think for this season we hit a low of -28F. I agree with the rest of the your post regarding the heat can be just as bad. However, after this winter...I don't think I'll ever complain about the heat this summer!

[BryanSD]

I'm one State below you (Nebraska) and can't ride also. we would appreciate it very much if you would quit sending us your cold weather and the snows!!!!! we have had enough snow (about butt deep to a baby giraffe??) and are ready for spring and ready to ride..
BIG F

Don't blame South Dakota...it's all North Dakota's fault!

[jdmartin]

North east Tx here. 75 yrs has taught me it don't feel good don't do it. We will go from 38 to 70 in three days. I like 60 or above but will do mid 50's if needed or I know it will warm up in the afternoon.

[Peter Aawen]

Isn't it amazing how varied this sorta stuff can be?!? Here I am bemoaning the fact that it's such a great day here for ryding because it's actually COOL for a change & I'm stuck doing other stuff; while you all over there are just waiting for the warmer weather to arrive so you can ryde?!?

I reckon my 'warm enough' temps are anything over about 5° & under 38°-40°....... that's degrees C of course, we're a civilised country here in Aust! For those who still use degrees F, those temps convert to about 40°F on the cold end, & 100°/104°F on the hot end - and we've been getting quite a bit of weather with temps well over that hot level lately; mingled in with a few days of devastating floods & some feet not inches of rain! (yeah, I can use feet & inches if I really hafta! )

Dorothea Mackellar really got it right when she wrote 'My Country' back in about 1908 - the bit about My Country goes like this:

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains
Of ragged mountain ranges
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!

Still, down here where I am, we're pretty much all waiting for the cooler weather, and over there where you lot are, you're waiting for some heat... wonder if we could do a mail exchange for a little of the extremities?!

[ARtraveler]

Isn't it amazing how varied this sorta stuff can be?!? Here I am bemoaning the fact that it's such a great day here for ryding because it's actually COOL for a change & I'm stuck doing other stuff; while you all over there are just waiting for the warmer weather to arrive so you can ryde?!?

I reckon my 'warm enough' temps are anything over about 5° & under 38°-40°....... that's degrees C of course, we're a civilised country here in Aust! For those who still use degrees F, those temps convert to about 40°F on the cold end, & 100°/104°F on the hot end - and we've been getting quite a bit of weather with temps well over that hot level lately; mingled in with a few days of devastating floods & some feet not inches of rain! (yeah, I can use feet & inches if I really hafta! )

Dorothea Mackellar really got it right when she wrote 'My Country' back in about 1908 - the bit about My Country goes like this:


Still, down here where I am, we're pretty much all waiting for the cooler weather, and over there where you lot are, you're waiting for some heat... wonder if we could do a mail exchange for a little of the extremities?!

In a little over six months you will be in the middle of winter.

[dpetrick]

If there is no salt, I will ride with temps in the 20+ range. We get a lot of frost on the roads in spring, then I usually wait until it gets to 40.

[Peter Aawen]

In a little over six months you will be in the middle of winter.

But unless I go looking for 'real snow', (about 2 solid days of ryding away!!) the coldest it's likely to get here is down in the low teens of the C range, so maybe down around 55-60ish °F...... yeah, winter here does get sorta wet & soggy, but then we are living in the driest State of the driest Continent short of Antarctica, so it's never likely to be weeks on end of solid rain. Besides, I've never been bothered too much by ryding in the rain, or in the snow for that matter, just so long as it's not a bucketting downpour or raging blizzard! And we do get the occasional snow here in South Aust, especially round here, cos we're living pretty close to the highest hills in the area, so it does snow sometimes..... but I gotta admit that the last time we got a few 'inches' of snow more than just a light dusting was over 55 years ago & me'n my younger brother got our pictures on the front page of most of the State's newspapers cos we got up early enough to make snowmen before it all melted, and having a coupla SNOWMEN in the Adelaide Hills is a pretty big deal round here!!

Still, I really do appreciate living here, where we can usually ryde year round. The extreme heat generally only lasts a few weeks or so, which means it hasn't really been much of an impediment cos it generally cools off a little overnight anyway; & it's quite a blast ryding out on an absolutely clear & moonless night in your lightweight summer gear with the Milky Way slowly wheeling overhead & lighting up the countryside so well that you could comfortably ryde without lights if you wanted to! And in wintertime there's a sorta perverse pleasure about ryding in the rain, warm & dry inside your ryding gear but still with your knees in the breeze & enjoying life as you pass the cagers all locked safely away with their tightly wound up windows & heaters on full blast hiding behind their madly waving wipers and all s*** scared that a little water might get in an make them WET!!

We live in a great place here, & I really do feel for you all with your restricted ryding seasons......but ain't life just the greatest thing when you can ryde a Spyder?!

[RapidSpyder]

My monthly ride is in serious jeopardy this month unless something changes....

[Grizzly]

Anything over 25*F with no rain is good enough to ride for me!

[asp125]

Personally, I would rather ride when it's colder but dry, than if it were warmer but raining. To me, being wet is more miserable than being cold; even with proper rain gear the humidity just feels worse.

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

For me to enjoy the ride, 58 & up.

[Big Juice]

For me, if it's not raining, it's warm enough to ride! Bundle up and goooooo...........

[Spyder601]

I prefer 60 and sunny if I’m just going to go for a unplanned ride. I don’t enjoy having to layer up so I just don’t go.

[Biscuit]

I have riding as low as 9 but that is not fun. Last winter I had a morning at 18 and this year a couple of mornings at 22. Since I live in the Atlanta area I try to ride every day however age is either making me smarter or a wimp. I think for me I prefer to keep the temps in the 40s or higher, but the heated grips have made the 20s enjoyable.

Rod