I updated my winter motorcycling gear this week.
I formerly used an UnderArmour balaclava to keep the wind off of my exposed neck during the cold seasons. This gear has a couple of problems:
- You look like a ninja.
- Ninjas have a hard time getting a pair of glasses squeezed in their helmet with the little eye portal thingy.
- Ninjas apparently wear their ninja gear all the time to hide the scary things that it does to their hair.
- It tends to eventually ride up and lose the seal at my jacket collar as I move my head around.
- I lost it.
I rode down south of Longmont to go play in a corn maze last weekend. That’s about 30 or 40 miles at 75+ mph. On the way back, a friend loaned me his TurtleFur neck gaiter because it was about 39F and I’d mentioned that I was fine on the way down except for this cold wind going down the back of my jacket. It worked very well, so I bought one.
Pros:
- Seals the bottom of the helmet and jacket collar much better (more material)
- Bulkier/stiffer material being “compressed” downwards by the helmet keeps the seal at the jacket a lot more positively.
- Can take off the helmet and go into a store without getting jumped by the Samurai waiting at the deli counter.
- Better multi-tasker for non-motorcyle use than the balaclava.
- Much more insulative, too. The balaclava stopped about 95% of the wind just fine, but didn’t do a lot for basic insulation.
Cons:
- Bulkier/stiffer material being “compressed” down by the helmet adds some resistance to the head moves I want to make.
- If I don’t pull it down far enough in back, it bunches up to push my helmet forward.
Cons aside, it’s definitely worth the $15 and packs very nicely into one of the pockets in the tailbag I have on my back seat.
Now I just have to remember to loosen up the waist straps on my jacket when I put the insulating liner in – if I forget to do that, it causes a nice little compressed spot with minimal insulative value on my ribs that gets really cold at freeway speeds.
Tags: gear, motorcycle, review, winter
I wish I hadn’t misplaced my neck gaiter. Though my GoLite balaclava does keep my neck admirably warm for something that weighs effectively nothing. I do have to re-comb my hair when I get to the office, though.