is it cheating....

[andym]

.... to warm yer mitts on the exhaust on these rather mild winter nights?

Takes me about 45 minutes to get home and last night I had to stop 3 times to try thawing my hands out a bit.

[t121anf]

[andym]

with woolly gloves and bike gloves on.... it usually takes a couple of minutes just to feel any kind of heat coming through.

Mind you I have been thinking of heated grips or gloves...

[Hywel]

Nope, just don't touch the can or your gloves will melt

I've been known to hang my arms down either side of the cylinder block like an ape for warmth while waiting for lights.

[stinkwheel]

Depends on the exhaust mind. The stainless Micron can on my VFR never gets more than hand-hot. Carbn cans are usually fairly cool too. Others could take your skin off in seconds.

I used to ride my moped with one hand on the engine in the winter, then swap hands (throttle cable was stiff enough to stay put).
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[27cows]

Engine is easier than exhaust, and usually more effective (and less likely to set your gloves on fire ).

It's not cheating. You're out there in horrific weather, you have to do whatever is necessary to stay warm.
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The RXS100: vehicle of choice for Chuck Norris

[DrDonnyBrago]

My can never really gets very hot, use it at the end of a ride to warm my hands after I take my gloves off.

There is something to be said for non faired bikes when it comes to warming your hands, I have to make do with a bit of warm frame .

[Tim..]

I regularly used to rest my hands on the rocker cover at lights when I had my bandit 6.

Nice and rounded, no fins
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[Notj7]

My can gets hot.. I am screaming my bike at 9k rpm on the motorway for an hour straight, so yeah I pull over at every opportunity to warm my hands up!

Just bought some motrax muffs gonna give them a try tonight. I'll look like a tit, but whatever. I am a tit.
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Left the forum.

[dodsi]

It might not be considered cheating but I would consider it a bit daft when you could just get some heated grips.

I have just purchased and fitted some R&G heated grips and for £30 I am very pleased with them.

[Teflon-Mike]

It's NOT cheating.

Its what we all did, riding through the winter, in the 'old-days', (like up to about ten years ago), when heated grips were an expensive luxuary, likely to flatten pathetic batteries, and fry weak alternators, and muffs as often filled with water, and kept it in, better than they did out.

However, we also had leather gloves.... which meant that they didn't melt like modern gloves that even if they are leather, as often have a plastic treatment / coating or membrane to make them a bit more water-proof, and if we didn't oil them when we got home, they would crack, next time out.

Hint: when fingers, frozen.... take gloves OFF to 'thaw out'.

There's probably a Ray Miers video on it some-where about stripping off cold and wet clothing to warm up, sure I saw something on BBC2, but its the same principle.

Once your gloves have 'chilled' to the point that your fingers are getting cold, they aren't doing thier job, 'insulating' your digits, stopping body-heat escaping, they are actually sucking the heat out of your hands making them colder.

So, take them OFF.

Ambient air may be cold, but you'll loose heat from your fingers less fast than keeping your gloves on.

Next up, warming your gloves on rocker cover (usually the safer heat source), if your hands are inside them..... well, its to do with latent heats, but to get the glove to warm up, it will cary ON sucking heat from your hands, as it drys out and warms up.

So, if you take your gloves off, and warm them on the rocker cover, you can pant onto your mits and rub them together to get them warm and get teh circulation back, and they will warm up faster, than leaving them in the gloves.

You also dont risk burns or blains, your numb fingers not sensing that your actually cooking your fingers, if the heat-source is a bit fiearce.

And your gloves will heat-up and dry out faster, without making your pinkies colder in the process, or risk of burning them.
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[Scooty]

[27cows]

Best way of warming frozen hands is to take main gloves off but keep thin thermal undergloves on. Stops you burning your hands and also maintains the warmth for longer when you put your gloves back on. The secret is to not let your hands get too cold - though we rarely have weather that bitter in the southern half of the country.
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The RXS100: vehicle of choice for Chuck Norris

[Rogerborg]

[colin1]

[warped one]

My Gt suffered terribly with carb icing at the convenient time of my fingers going numb.

Pull over, slight bit of choke to keep the engine running. Remove one glove and hold it near the exhaust tip so the fumes where going in it. And rest other hand on the Top of the chamber.

Worked wonders for me because it would not only warm your hands up but also warm the inside of your gloves so they stayed warmer for longer.

Also V-Twin rule, you never get cold nuts on one when sat at the lights because the heat from the rear pipe is under your nuts so keeps the important bits happy too.
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[Teflon-Mike]

[colin1]

[colin1]

[andym]

Jeez.... ask a silly question and come back and there's a bar room brawl goin' down.

Thanks for the info, I'll definitely try taking the gloves off and stand with my hands in my pockets until just before combustion point of the bike gloves

The exhaust does get quite warm, I touched the back of the gloves to it and after about 20 seconds part of them had melted onto it

Roll on the summer

[Beamexican]

I usually just sit with my hands behind my silencer and let the hot air coming out the pipe from the engine warm up my hands rather than risk melting my gloves actually touching part of the engine/exhaust.

Rick

[Noxious89123]

I used to put my gloved hands in the fairing vents on either side of the bike when sat stationary.

My hands would get so cold that even just taking the gloves off whilst I was stood outside in the cold would feel warm against my skin. Even just going into the warm house would give me "chill-blains", let alone warming my hands on the bike without gloves!

That was usually after about 2.5~3 hours out in sub zero temps. I would wear;
Thermal base layer
2 t-shirts
2 pairs of undercrackers
2 pairs of socks
2-piece leathers
1-piece waterproofs. (Excellent wind resistance).
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[andym]

to be fair I don't ride long enough on the way home for anything else to get cold, (usually about an hour).

I wear t-shirt, shirt, jacket, anorak (with liner).
undies, thermal long johns, trousers (summer ones of course because my company are cheap miserable so and so's and won't buy thicker ones), thin waterproofs
2 pairs of socks and boots.

Oh yeah, scarf and helmet of course.... oh and the thermal and bike gloves.

I know not exactly the correct protective equipment, but I don't plan in anything other than the soles of my feet making contact with the tarmac anytime soon

My bike doesn't have any kind of vents to stick anything, although I guess if bikes had cruise control I'd have my hands in my pockets most of the way

[dragstaar]

I got myself some heated gloves. I got the Gerbing G3s. Fook me they're awesome. Seriously, they beat anything else Hands down (no pun intended).

They're a bit pricey at £99, but defo worth the damage to the wallet. They're absolutely wonderful to ride in! no cold whatsoever.

[cb1rocket]