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Originally Posted by bigfour
And frankly I'm terrified of riding all the way to Boston in mid winter,
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And rightfully so. I STRONGLY advise you to plan on another method of transport, regardless of cost.
Here's my first (and last) experience with riding when it is REALLY cold:
(At that time I had a bigger bike and a larger windshield)
I had messed around close to home on the rural roads and pastures when it was cold so "No problem" I thought........WRONG.
Bundled up good. 3 layers of jackets, 2 layers of pants, gloves, boots and helmet. Felt very warm before starting out. Temp about 38 F. No problem first mile or so; piece of cake. Fingers and toes feel a little chilly; no problem. After 5 miles, fingers and toes feel a little numb but not bad; notice a tiny bit of air at the junctions of jacket/pants,pants/boots and at neck around helmet. Still nothing I can't handle.
Somewhere about 10 miles, while still not feeling too cold in any one spot, the shivers set in and the teeth start to chatter. This could be a problem!!!
Once the shivers set in, you are screwed. After just a few seconds, your whole body starts shaking uncontrollably and you can't control anything.......steering, throttle, brakes....nothing. If you don't stop immediately you will crash very soon.
OK, so now what? It takes a full 5 minutes to stop the shivers completely and to realize that everything but my body core feels numb and cold. About the time I start to feel warm again, I start to sweat because I still have on all the clothes I started out with. Crap. Now I'm WET and 10 miles from home.
Hope that's enough for you to get the picture. Yes, you can (and many people do) ride in the cold but you've got to remember the wind chill factor and dress for a temp. at least 20 degrees colder than it really is.
And you MUST take a test ride first. It took me another 4 hours to make that 10 miles back home........and I swear it took me 2 days to warm up completely.