WINTER RIDING

My wife laughed when she read the editorial in the December issue about heated kit. She hates all the winter kit layers and used a great tin man impersonation until we bought heated kit.

I have always ridden all-year round, although I have a car as well for the really extreme weather and family taxi duties.

I currently ride a BMW R1250RS and don’t worry too much about road grime as it can be washed off quickly after a ride.

Over the years I have suffered extremes of cold and wet but now modern riding kit is so good, if you can predict the weather and wear the right gear you can stay warm and dry most of the time even in the poorest weather.

Depending on the weather, I have several outfits but when it drops below 5°C I use a Keis heated jacket, Halvarssons Merino wool base layer, Rukka Nival suit and down jacket or Rokker Revolution Jeans.

I also have a Halvarssons Wien jacket with the fantastic Outlast inner jacket, and when it warms up a Dainese mesh jacket and Scott oversuit and a Klim Zephyr windproof layer.

Boots are Daytona Travel Star Gore-Tex and TCX Gore-Tex.

Also I have several pairs of gloves, including Keis, heated Rukka, Dainese, Halvarssons, and always take a couple of spare pairs on longer rides.

BMW’s fantastic heated grips also help. I volunteer for SERV Blood and Breast Milk emergency deliveries which can be any time, day or night, so I can end up riding in all sorts of weather but with modern kit I can keep dry and warm.

Love the mag and especially Maynard Hershon.

John Albone