justin_o_guy wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:12:I rode 16 miles in mid 20 degree weather this morning & decided my hodge podge of assorted stuff to protect from the cold just isn't good enough.Question is, What do you wear for cold weather protection. How effective is it? How cheap can I get by? Aww, you knew it was gonna get down to $$$.
How much colder below that mid 20s do you intend to keep riding?
I can ride down that low comfortabley without a windshied wearing a Tee Shirt; Sweat Shirt, and Jeans all uder insulated cold weather work coveralls (Like Carhart's but I buy cheaper D1ckies). Couple of pairs of socks and high top leather boots. AGV gauntlet style cycle gloves with thinsulate insulation. Oh... And never without my FF helment.
If I was going to ride a Savage reguarly below 20ºF I'd want a National Cycle fairing style windshield. Not as good as a real fairing, but way better than nothing. JCW carries them.
Another alternative is to search the storage room of local cycle shops for all of the Vetter and Windjammer fairings that they took back off in the last 20 years as they've fallen out of favour. They offer good protection, and since they bolt to the frame, the steering effect of that big sail in the wind isn't as bad as handlebar mounting IMHO.
In fact, I've found a local independant shop that has about 30 of these old fairings in a back room. They said I could have my pick from between $100 and $200. JCW still carries the replacement shield for them if needed. I had one on a Yamaha SR 500 once a long time ago, and that bike was about as fast WITH the big fairing as my Savage is without one. They are heavy though... 40-50 pounds or so I'd guess. When summer rolls around you can always pull the fairing/shield off.