Naked bikes in the winter

[Johanna]

Hey folks,
I am in that interesting situation of needing a new bike. I previously had a CBR650F and really liked it so am considering a second hand CBR650F again, CBR650R or possibly something like GSX-S 750. I'd be interested to hear any suggestions of bikes I can look at.
I ride every day, about 45 minutes to work and same again back, mostly motorway. Am I going to regret a bike without fairings? What are your experiences? I know it's going to be 2 degrees, dark and raining some mornings. My CBR650F with heated grips and good winter gear has been awesome so far.
Other criteria: I like a bit of a sporty feel to a bike. I don't want it to be too expensive in case something happens to it. It needs to be ok for a pillion.
Incidentally my old bike was written off due to blundered theft, not due to any road incident!
Anyway, throw bike ideas at me so I can enjoy the best sort of shopping!

[FretGrinder]

Used to do a 70 mile commute in the winter on the bike and the only thing that made it bearable was handlebar muffs, they may look stupid, but my hands were always toasty warm and dry.

As for the style of bike, I did it on a half faired CBF 1000, so I'm definitely biased towards a faired bike. The one big downside to having a faired bike in the bad weather is if you drop it, so I would definitely recommend crash protection such as crash bungs.

Hope that helps
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Yamaha MT-09

ಠ_ಠ

[Evil Hans]

I have a daily commute of around 30-40 minutes on mainly motorway. I recently had a courtesy bike, an MT-07 and compared to the ST it was an absolute freezing cold pain on the motorway.

So yes, a fairing does make a difference!
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Triumph Sprint ST 1050. And it's Red.

[Johanna]

[Kentol750]

Acerbis do handguards for road bikes that don't look terrible and help to keep rain and chill off well. Mrs k had then on er6 and was happy. I like the gsxs750 (had a gsr750 same bike)and it works well.
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Some bikes.

[Johanna]

[hellkat]

Yeah I have no fairing on the Snarley and no visor. ( 🙄 )
Even I found myself doing a search on plug-in heated gloves yesterday 😋
Just for Big Trips, like down to Shaftesbury or Maidstone (my two current main journeys).
No point for just buzzing round town, though.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[wr6133]

For simplicity and price nothing beats muffs, they look crap but they work. You can always escalate from there too and add heated grips as well. Who doesn't like sticking their hand in nice warm muff?

Considered a GSXS1000F? Marjay on this forum has one and seems impressed. Full fairing, GSXR derived motor and they seem to sell at tempting prices. Litre bikes make lovely commuters, bags of grunt in any gear means you can basically ride them lazy when doing the half asleep morning run.

[MCN]

Buy proper troos and a jaikit.
Preferably something waterproof/breathable.

Base layer (merino wool works best but ££)

I used R1200GS for four of five years winter summer never noticed any issues with weather.

You just get less fatigued on a faired bike.
i.e. it take less effort to sit on a faired bike as the wind that tries to push you off is diverted around you.
The cold will just be cold though.
Some rain and shite will deflect too.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[c_dug]

I did Hornchurch to Tunbridge Wells and back every day on a naked Honda NTV600 Revere, right through the middle of a particularly nasty winter in 2009.

I had no heated grips, no muffs, and shitty leaking handed down bike gear.

The bike had 73,000 miles on it when I bought it (for £300), and was way way way higher by the end of the winter, although the speedo died at some point so I never knew the exact final mileage. I'd ran it out of oil twice, and crashed on ice twice, and it still refused to die.

What is possible and what you actually will enjoy doing are two incredibly different things.

I'm no longer a cash strapped teenager, freshly moved out of home and struggling to make ends meet, and so I would not choose to do it again.

I'd advise a fairing.

edited NTV mileage
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[Johanna]

[kgm]

I'm firmly in the muff camp. With some.tucano Urbano muffs and heated grips my hands stay warm riding all day. Well worth it IMO. I had to turn my grips to the 40% mark today as my hands were too warm, even the lowest setting would.have been fine.

[sickpup]

Get a bike with a fairing and not a silly narrow fairing but a full size barn door. Just had a work mate swap from an Integra to a 700 Deauville and he loves it, lot less tired after riding 200 miles+ a day.
Saying that if you have the correct gear which most don't the bike is less relevant than people think as a 45 minute ride is less stressing than a nine hour day riding.

Heated grips in isolation are useless, you need a big pair of Tucano furry muffs. The alternative for both is to get a set of the new Kappa heated muffs which are rather nice and about the same price of the muffs and grips and a lot less bother to fit.

Still amazes me that so many riders here on BCF don't use heated clothing, its been around for a decade, is very reliable and reasonably priced.
Heated jackets are wonderful things which no one believes until they try one. I get to ride in a t-shirt and jacket with no liner year round and never get cold. Keis or Gerbing are the jackets of choice at the moment. Warm and safe if you have the money.
Heated grips are bulky and a bitch to connect up with all your gear on, they're also not needed if you have the muffs and heated jacket. There are no Goretex 12v heated gloves available.

Pro-shell Goretex will keep you dry and the rain just runs off it so you don't get soaked through and don't lose heat from transpiration.

Military Goretex boots for the feet.

[kawakid]

I ride throughout and my hack for work is an ER6n.

My commute is less than 10 mins, so I've never gone down the heated jacket route.

Though I do have heated grips and Tucano muffs.

I do have access to a hose at work and when appropriate I rinse of the salt and I use FS365. I also smear the swing arm area in grease.

Ohh i have engine bars also. (Steep hills and snow don't mix).

Tbh I'm too old for this crxp and wish I could afford a 2nd car.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[Johanna]

[ThunderGuts]

When I was commuting 10 miles on my ER5 through the winter, my main two gripes were cold hands and then eventually cold feet. I didn't actually feel that any of the rest of me suffered particularly. I reckon heated gloves and handguards would be an effective combo (I had thick gloves and heated grips, but thumbs always got cold).
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TG.

[Lance Beinstrong]

I have the same opinion like Joanna. I thinks its good!

[xX-Alex-Xx]

I've got a GSX-S 750 (Actually a GSR-750 but it's the same animal). It's got an aftermarket taller screen on the front which helps. Only really notice the breeze on it when I'm well past 90 (on the track of course).

For commuting it's a pretty decent bike, enough power to have a good laugh when you want, but easy enough to handle without thinking about it it, and small enough to flick between traffic when it's busy.

Only downside for me is lack of adjustable suspension (other than preload). Coming from GSXRs and Fireblades, it's a bit of a pisser, but for normal commuting it's ok
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DILLIGAF

[Johanna]

[The Tot]

I was going to suggest one of the best winter hacks out there is a gen 1 Fazer 1000, or gen 2 Fazer 600. Does exactly what I need it to do, given that my toy is an R1. Might be too late for you, but others might be in your position.

Loads of space under the seat for all your accessories and if you wanted to fit a relayed switch and junction box for your heated grips, you wouldn't have any issues.

Plenty of mid range torque to lazily cruise in 6th and pillion comfort is sublime. Sure it might only have a bikini fairing, but if you switch that out for a touring screen, most of the wind and rain will deflect off you.

I've got to say that back to back with my 07 R1, the Fazer is a much more accomplished road bike! It'll hustle and scratch. I'd argue that on B roads, I'm a lot smoother and quicker on the Fazer than the R1 due to the gearing and midrange. Suspension is more compliant and has never left me wanting. On motorways and keeping to sensible speeds, I'd be getting 180 miles until the fuel light comes on - 20L tank is a godsend. 200 miles to the tank if chancing it.

Used it for 3 years and put 20k miles on it (needed a replacement engine after I inadvertantly turned it into an air cooled engine due to a sudden terminal issue with the cooling system and blew it up).

You can find good 30k milers for about £2500 and generally tend to be well looked after.

Oh as for winter kit. Stick a kidney belt if you don't run/refuse to run heated clothing. I'm also looking for the neoprene sleeves for the levers. It's such a pain having cold fingers every time you try to meter the clutch in heavy traffic when it's less than 5°C
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism