so I finally bit the bullet and took my CBT last weekend and picked up a new 125 Honda PCX. So far I am enjoying it immensely – especially the insane economy I seem to be getting.

It is going to be used mostly for commuting – 20 miles each way. The shop were generous enough to chuck in decent jacket and trousers with removable liners, some summer gloves and a discount on the helmet, so other than some decent winter/warm/waterproof gloves, what are the other essentials I will need to make commuting all year round (within reason) a doable prospect?

And as for gloves – am I better off buying the best winter gloves I can find for about £100 (thinking about some HELD Talins) or spending the same on a glove/muff/heated grip combo? Bearing in mind that even this week my hands were frozen at 5 deg C.

Other tips are welcome!

Boots. Para boots or the like. Gloves look at the Heine Gerike stuff – they do some lobster claw ones that are good. I have never found a waterproof pair of gloves apart from some Rukka overgloves. liner gloves help immensely as well. I did not get on with heated grips – didn’t make much difference.

Enjoy

Well if its just for commuting get some every day gloves and some muffs.

You could take the muffs off, or be lazy and leave them on.

Thick winter gloves will reduce the feel you get.

I ride with summerish gloves most of the time. Only on frosty mornings do I think about needing thicker ones.

Muffs are cheap, dont need wiring up and can be moved to a new bike. Heated grips are expensive for good ones and cant be moved to a new bike.

Heated gloves are an alternative, but with a small bike you may kill the battery. Muffs it is.

I hate thick winter gloves feels like riding with oven gloves on, and I already have issues reaching the clutch lever. Saving up for winter heated grips, already have the battery charger in the house. Its a safety issue !

Careful attention to chain and tire maintenance was the tip I got from pretty much everybody I know who has a motorbike.

I hate thick winter gloves feels like riding with oven gloves on

You get used to it.

I already have issues reaching the clutch lever.

Adjust the lever. You only need it for pulling away. Not mandatory for shifting.

Muffs, heated grips, decent clothing and boots. Hein Gericke’s calling you!

Heated grips don’t do much for keeping the backs of your hands, and your fingers warm. Far better to buy some really decent winter gloves IMO.

what are the other essentials I will need to make commuting all year round (within reason) a doable prospect?

An INSANE amount of determination! Something sadly not available from any shops I’ve found yet (if you do find it on sale, let me know)… Cos in the summer you’ve only got the crap car, lorry, bus drivers and any pedestrians not paying attention trying to kill you. In the winter, you’ve got Mother Nature trying her best to finish you off too!

Don’t get me wrong, I love motorbikes, but I’ve just never had the determination to ride one through the winter. Riding Mountain Bikes in the mud and wet can at least still be fun, but riding a motorbike through winter I found to just be a case of trying to desperately get from A to B in one piece, with little or no enjoyment involved…

Goretex boots. They keep your toes warm and waterproof. I eventually bought some after years of drying out wet soaks every rainy morning, on the back of my PC 🙂
Heated gloves. I’ve tried lots of gloves and expensive Goretex ones at that, none have kept my hands warm enough apart from Heated gloves (although I’m not sure on their reliability – had a few fail). Heated grips keep your palms and inside of fingers warm, but not the outside.

Also get yourself a snood type scarf, fog city visor insert and a visor wipe.

I need to find a better bike shop, I asked them to adjust the lever at the last service and they claim they did but it’s no better.

In Scotland you need full winter gear in spring and autumn.

I dont see the problem with riding int he winter, in fact I rather enjoy it – if theres snow, its a challenge and I like adventure+challenges!
A lot depends on the bike you are on. I used to be on my GSXR all year, but now have a trailie bike for commuting, which dont care about and is fun riding in the rain/snow.

Back protector. Never ride without one.

Cheap waterproof boots – deriboots motorcycle boot. Ok its a welly for motorbikes but who cares – damn good boots -0 I have done many thousands of miles in mine
http://www.shoeandboot.co.uk/derriboots-mcb-motorcycle-boot-size-6s.html

Fog city or similar visor insert. Stops misting up

in the rain

The best quality helmet you can afford, its an essential safety item but also cheap lids mist up like hell. A breath deflector is a must. Respro do one- it’ll be the best £12 you spent (i think they still cost £12).
Also, if youre warm and waterproof the weather wont be a problem- heated inner gloves and vest are a good investment and best of all heated socks!
Just dont flick the on switch till the engines warmed up or you’ll kill your battery.

For gloves, try Spada’s WP Force, they’re fab- very warm, almost waterproof (practically nothing that says it’s waterproof actually is) but also they just wear like normal gloves. Warmer than the hein gericke ninja turtle gloves and more durable.

Heated grips are hard to top, though it’s not really cheap and sometimes they’re just enough to tip the charging system over the edge on some bikes, especially in winter. Depending on the bike a bit of headlight fettling might be worthwhile as well, 125’s headlights by and large are rubbish.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I ended up buying a decent helmet (Shoei Qwest with a Pinlock) which seems impervious to mist – even under a kettle.

As usual it’s the extremities – boots and gloves it seems.

What about a higher windscreen? There are aftermarket ones for about £45 but I’m not sure if its worth it.

A small windscreen makes a heck of a difference. Doesn’t even look too naff on a commuter either.

Wind proof kit for the extremities makes a big difference. Hand guards or mitts do keep the worst of the wind chill off.

MCN did a feature a few years back and compared various impairments to motorcycling – drink drugs cold and tired and they are all as bad as each other in terms of control and safety.

If your bike has the power heated gloves socks boots vest etc can make winter bearable.

I’ve not biked in the winter for a few years now as its warmer, safer and healthier on the push bike. But when I worked further away I did my time and I’ve ridden across the country in mid-winter through snow and ice and almost got hypothermia in the process and I don’t miss it.

If you are enjoying the fuel economy of your 125 be very careful about buying a bigger bike as few modern bikes get decent mpg nowadays. I think BMW are about the best with their parallel twins and anti-knock sensors leaning things right off.

Use the lobster heine gericke gloves mentioned above, very good bit of kit and not overly thick. For boots I’ve had Sidi black rain evo for years, very good and very tough, also had a pair of whatever boots they issue to the royal Marines which were surprisingly good.
I also found a silk balaclava
( http://www.ghostbikes.com/products/GhostBikes.com-Brands-Schuberth/1084-bike-it-motorcycle-silk-under-helmet-balaclava.html)

worn under the crash helmet to be very good at keeping the cold out.
Used heated grips on various work bikes and quite liked them – but will a PCX have enough oomph to power them or heated gloves?
As with a lot of winter activities don’t neglect to keep your core warm – good thermals, a buff and decent socks all help in winter. Also I never ride without earplugs, even on small scooters

Gonna have to be the first to say it aren’t I…..

Donor Card

Nothing to do with kit, but someone telling me about countersteering made a big difference to my riding when I first started.

Basically you turn the bars left to go right, and right to go left.

If you want warm hands, heated grips and some hand guards and or muffs to stop the wind blast.

Good tyres, worn ones (squared off)will make any bike feel like a pig with out you even realising.

Get some off road experience so you at least know what limited grip feels like and you can have some practice crashing and thus avoiding.

Commit, don’t panic break, look where you want to go and not at what you want to avoid.

Just picked up a pair of HG Lobster gloves – my they’re warm! May even get some use on the MTB in winter.

Also just got a flouro vest.

Boots and an extended screen are next on the list.

Boots. I tried a few ‘waterproof’ ones around the £100 mark. All kack. So I lobbed £220 at some Daytona Roadstar GTXs. They have never, ever leaked a tiny drop in 10s of 1000s of miles, they are comfy enough to walk in all day, and being real leather (Not that plastic leather) they don’t get sweaty even when it’s hot. Warm, yes, not sweaty though. IIRC I’ve had them about 6 years or so now. Probably the best value piece of kit I’ve ever bought. Oh, and I had a 30mph crash in them and they were virtually unmarked too

Those Hein Gerike lobster gloves are very poor though IMO. The first set I had leaked, so I got them replaced, and so did that second set. That said I’ve never had a truly waterproof glove. The best way is handlebar muffs with heated grips over some decent ‘waterproof’ gloved IMO.

Get some protective gear which will actually protect you, like this stuff

I remember an article in MCN years ago about non-biking biking gear, including marigold gloves and foundry boots.

It’s worth thinking outside the box: sometimes you’ll find things that are made to do the same job well in an industrial setting, at a fraction of the cost of the branded mo’cycle stuff. Albeit less prettily.

I wish I could remember more of the stuff in the article…

marigold gloves and foundry boots

😯
Bucket with eye-holes cut in for a helmet?

Other tips are welcome!

You do know you can ignore the highway code?? Use advanced stop lines etc 😆

Aahh just re-read your post you passed the CBT not the test, maybe wait a bit before using the code for bog roll 😆

On a serious note – enjoy yourself

Just to share some more motorcycle good news…

Insurance renewed today. Blackbird, fully comp = 200 of your English pounds guvnor. It does pay to get older and wrinklier (said the scrotum)… 🙂

<edit> Oops on topic.. Shope around for insuracne and call everyone (who sells it). You may get some recognition if you’re a car driver of some experience and be flexible on the annual mileage and excess values. I shop around every year and mine has gone from nearly £400 to £200 in about 4 years.

Odd. Motorcycles used to be relatively expensive to insure compared to cars. Now it’s the other way around. In a big way.

Scottish all season scooter, Heated Grips, Handlebar Muffs, Denali High beam LED. I scrapped my suit internal liners and use ordinary cycling waterproofs underneath if required. A pair of sealskins socks in extreme conditions. I should think a Honda PCX will have plenty power spare for heated grips.

The only weather that put me off the road was the deep snow. I find the bike is warmer than my van and doesn’t need its window scraped in the morning.

good luck! i hope you dont regret it like i did.(if you read my post on you mian one about doing your cbt)

i would advise not getting big thick winter gloves but thinner waterproof ones and get heated grips and handlebar wind deflector thingies!

good luck again and watch out for wet manhole covers!

That reminds me… you can get thin waterproof lobster style over-gloves. Very good…

Try and clean your new Shoei with a visor wipe as often as possible before lifting the visor to stop the grime from scuffing the top of the pinlock.I have a wee plastic sleeve that i have an old sock stuffed into with some water and mucoff soaked into it for quick wiping.Theres not many insects yet but its just around the corner.Thats the beauty up until now.. the bike and visor have been fly free! The wet sock slipped down behind the bikes screen can be used really quick without removing my gloves so you dont waste too much time when it gets bad out there.

Magazines always tell you to buy proper boots.If you buy other types of boots with laces,expect the possibility of laces wearing through in a matter of milliseconds.. then the boot falls off.Brill.The price of some of the oxford boots in the sales right now are very good value.The bone dry ones can be had for £80.Some magazine said they werent too waterproof but it wouldnt put me off a boot if they were that price.I have been doing upto 7 hour rides through the past few winters (leaving the house when its 4c)with non waterproof boots.As long as the socks arent too thick,the feet stay warm enough.They just seem to stay warm enough for me with only a merino sock inside them.
I have oxford heated sport grips.Like others have said,they backs of the hands can get cold.The ultimate would be heated grips with good winter gloves with a bit of bulk inside of them and a waterproof shell.I ride with alpine stars gp plus gloves and if i cant hack it, i put trek ripstop lobster shell goves over them.This takes the chill completely off my fingers.All for around £15 quid.

forget lots of buffs around the neck or big necked fleeces.They cause bulk and wind will still blast through them.If its a sports bike you ride,your head is restricted from tilting backwards into a natural position the more you put on around the neck too.It gets sore after a few hours.The answer is to buy a windproof neck sock like the ones oxford make.The material does the job and even half a buff underneath it can stop minor drafts but still allowing heaps of movement for yer life savers!
If you are normally large sizing in jackets and trousers,expect to buy a size up to fit in extra clothing.The bulk at the sleeves with gloves on could mean that you cant zip up the sleeves easily.The trousers i have are big enough to be comfortable with merino long johns too.

In torrential downpours,the pinlock can let in water.This happened on my shoei not long after getting it.I stuck a piece of electrical tape along the back of the helmet to have ready just to stick on the top of the visor.when this happens,you cant really ride so hopefully your helmet wont do this.Its been so handy to have as the rain and steam can be a big prob.

Booked my CBT today for next Friday. Wahey! 🙂

Got my module 1 (DAS course) next week. Need to master the u-turn and figure of 8. (If the bike is moving at walking pace, will it never tip over even if turned at full lock? Just wondering as the bike always feels like it is going to fall over when I try to do a sharp u-turn so I abort instead of continuing.)

timothius – sounds like you need some tuition to nail the u turn, but when doing the slow speed stuff don’t touch the front brake, get used to using the back brake when turning and use clutch not throttle to control speed.
Motorcycling is great, it’s worth all the effort!

I did not get on with heated grips – didn’t make much difference

Obviously crap ones…

Heated grips are brill, plus decent gloves (I have 3 different pairs depending on the weather – full winter Held’s, mid-season waterproof Rukka and summer Hein Gericke), good boots (another vote for goretex Daytona’s) and I wear leathers all year just varying underclothes and over waterproofs.

Good gear isn’t cheap, but you can buy decent gear for not a lot (try Hein Gericke).

One tip, in rain never ever lift your visor – if it mists use either Bob Heath spray or install a Fog City insert.

Need to master the u-turn

Luckily the test was a bit easier in my day (1982), when all the guy did was stand on a street corner while you rode around a ‘loop’ in town.

timothius – Member

Got my module 1 (DAS course) next week. Need to master the u-turn and figure of 8. (If the bike is moving at walking pace, will it never tip over even if turned at full lock?

This is one for your instructor- yes, it can tip over at full lock, if you screw up. Try not to screw up! Repetition is the key really and avoid the obvious mistakes (don’t front brake, don’t pull the clutch right in)