Fort Worth Motorcycle Riders

Well, now I can say that I have done that too! Now I know what it feels like to ride in those temps and I do not plan on doing it again (unless I have warmer fraking gloves!!)

dufremle wrote:

Telomere wrote:I can tell you that that ride was my official first and last ride in below freezing temps!

Been there, done that. I learned my lesson the first time. Not going through that again.

OHH now come on its not that bad, after you fingers go numb its easy going after that.

After 7 years of not having a car and riding to work all winter long, I'm over riding in extreme cold. Very interested in electric gloves though, if anybody has a set, please chime in.

I ride in the cold ALOT! and would love some heated gear.

Awesome...wish I could've been there, but was playing in a softball tourny in Arlington. First two games were at 8:45 and 10:15 so yep, it was cold as can be out there! Glad everyone made it safely

dufremle wrote:

Telomere wrote:I can tell you that that ride was my official first and last ride in below freezing temps!

Been there, done that. I learned my lesson the first time. Not going through that again.

Glad you guys had fun but I am with Jim on this one!

I'm Curious about the battery powered liners, I'm already running a GPS, Fuzz buster and Bazzaz off my GSXR so I'm not sure how much more electrical load it can handle. Anyone know what it takes to up the power output on these things? Being a GSXR I would assume its somewhere close to minimal power production.

http://www.compacc.com/Apparel-Heated-M ... ove-Liners

I would guess one would need an alternator with greater capacity. The C-14 alternator produces 590 watts, and it appears that about 350 watts or so are available for external (non bike) use. The z1000 alternator is rated for 336 watts total, and I suspect is more in line with par for a sportbike. A full electrical outfit is typically fused for 15Amps, roughly 180W, with gloves only pulling 15-20W. A liner with pants looks to pull about 90W. I have done some research along these lines, but have yet to settle on a brand. Not many of us seem to have this stuff.

It also seems that I always have the money to do this sort of thing after income taxes, and by then winter is on it's way out. Same thing with the Olympia Phantom I keep eyeballing.

Sorry for all the OT, hope you all had a great ride, you're the man Benny.

El Diabro wrote:Awesome...wish I could've been there, but was playing in a softball tourny in Arlington. First two games were at 8:45 and 10:15 so yep, it was cold as can be out there! Glad everyone made it safely

Like I said, there is always someone else out there that is crazier!! I hope that you at least won one of those games.

Telomere wrote:

El Diabro wrote:Awesome...wish I could've been there, but was playing in a softball tourny in Arlington. First two games were at 8:45 and 10:15 so yep, it was cold as can be out there! Glad everyone made it safely

Like I said, there is always someone else out there that is crazier!! I hope that you at least won one of those games.

Well, thanks for the hope, but it didn't happen. Our last game was our best game at 2:15, but we still lost 9-8

El Diabro wrote:

Telomere wrote:

El Diabro wrote:Awesome...wish I could've been there, but was playing in a softball tourny in Arlington. First two games were at 8:45 and 10:15 so yep, it was cold as can be out there! Glad everyone made it safely

Like I said, there is always someone else out there that is crazier!! I hope that you at least won one of those games.

Well, thanks for the hope, but it didn't happen. Our last game was our best game at 2:15, but we still lost 9-8

Sorry to hear that. Sounds like you should have gone on the ride with us

The battery powered gear is awesome! Just ask Pink. Plus the side benefit is no cords and when off the bike you still stay warm.

Telomere wrote:I can tell you that that ride was my official first and last ride in below freezing temps! And yes, there will always be crazier people out and about (like those bikers we saw today). I thought I was nuts until I saw them!! LOL!

Heh, I rode to the MSF range Saturday morning at about 6:00 am. I didn't realize how cold it was until I was almost there and passed a bank that was showing the temperature. Then I got to spend all day outside at the range. It was 32 with a wind chill of 19 when we went to the range at 10:30am. I felt sorry for the students who didn't pay attention to the weather. One girl was in a sweatshirt. I had four layers on including a windproof outer shell so I wasn't doing too bad.

It's really not the temperature, it's how you dress for it. With the right cold weather gear it's no big thing to ride when it's 28 out. Well, other than the risk of black ice.

I have heard that electrical systems on sportbikes are very tuned to the bike, and that the power generated doesn't leave much extra. A lot of electrical gremlins and battery issues have come about because folks try to tie in too many power components without an alternator / generator capable of handling the draw demands. Sportbikes are very finicky when it comes to power requrements. They weren't built and designed for all of extra draw requirements like touring bikes were.

Some people get by and seem to not have any issue, only to find their battery goes bad and won't hold a charge a couple months down the road, but they don't put 2 and 2 together on it...

Anyways, here's a good article regarding how to calculate excess electrical capacity, and just how much load you can safely add to your bike. Just make sure that you're not pulling down more power than your bike's excess output, and you'll be fine. Of course, no clue on how to find the electrical peak output unless it's in the owners manual. You might get a mechanic that is able to tell you, but good luck with that...

http://www.powerlet.com/learningCenter/excessCapacity" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Step 1: Wait for the Triumph Tiger Explorer to come out.
Step 2: Find one and steal the 950W generator.
Step 3: Hack the generator onto your bike.
Step 4: Fry your ECU and realize Firewa11 might be onto something there.