New Record

[dm_gsxr]

I hit my new record this morning of -10 degrees F on the Hayabusa.

Gear:
Joe Rocket Alter Ego 3.0 jacket with the rain shell plus a sweatshirt under that.
Joe Rocket waterproof pants with the liner.
Gerbing heated gloves.
Heated grips (forget who's they are).
Thin red scarf for the neck and chin.
Flip up helmet with Fog City liner.
Two drinking straws.

The drinking straws is something I thought of a few years ago but this is the first time I remembered to grab a couple.

The Fog City liner works great for keeping fog off of your shield however at about 17 degrees F, your breath freezes on contact with the liner. I did buy the Froggy Pro face mask but it doesn't work with all facial types, mine being one of them. It's supposed to seal around your nose and face redirecting your breath out the bottom of the helmet. I have a pretty large nose and somewhat pointed features along with a big jaw. So the mask doesn't seal well around the top of the nose and my jaw presses against the helmet. With no place for the air to go, it goes up and out up at the top and freezes on the shield.

Anyway, I snagged a couple of straws this morning and used them as a breathing apparatus. They're the drink straws with the accordion folds. So I put on my scarf and helmet then ran the straws through the helmet straps to point backwards. I put the short end in my mouth. It took a little coordination but I finally got the breathe in via the nose, breathe out via the straws. It didn't take long for me to feel comfortable doing it and I was on my way.

The Hayabusa had a slight problem starting this morning taking 6 or 7 tries for it to kick over and for me to catch it to lock the throttle. And she backfired once during normal riding. But in general, we made a 30 minute run with no real problems.

There was a slight air leak on the right side of the helmet so my face got a touch cold and the left Gerbing glove had some sort of issue with the thumb portion (my thumb got very cold). But I made it in without issue.

We'll see if the bike can maintain a charge all day while sitting in the parking lot. It's supposed to get to 27 today.

Carl