Riding today in Connecticut at 28 degrees F

[hud]

Took the 2009 C14 out for an hour this afternoon in Middlefield, CT. Handy excuse for a ride at 28 degrees F at 4:30pm - my wife, Donna, who rides her own Ninja 650 and is about to move up to a Ninja 1000, needed cranberries for a recipe. I took the opportunity to ride to the Apple Barrel (Lyman Orchards bakery and farm market) http://www.lymanorchards.com/ and ride for another 45 minutes on the coldest afternoon we've had this winter. The Concours is incredible, and with the Cal Sci large windshield and Baker Built hand wings, I was able to stay comfortable...could have ridden much longer without getting cold. Have self-installed grip heaters and jacket liner connection, with a 12V relay controlled by the front accessory circuit. The grip heaters get too hot on high, but I have also installed controllers with knobs for the grips and jacket liner. This is the coolest thing! They are controlled by pulse width modulators, which give you a knob for setting the heat anywhere between off and fully on. The controllers are from Qkits at store.qkits.com in Canada. I have bought six of them since spring, 2010, and have put them on the Concours 14 and the two 1985 Honda Nighthawks my wife and I rode all season in 2010. To help with extending our riding season, we just got First Gear Kilimanjaro jackets (hi viz yellow/black, of course.) We decided to go with hi viz because car drivers are less likely to expect (and see) bikes in cold weather. We wanted to make it easier for them to see us. Also, hi viz seems to be getting more popular among riders. Good. We like to do everything we can to avoid trouble while riding. This helps us middle-aged riders do the right thing and feel less nerdy for wearing yellow jackets. So - great cold weather ride in southern New England on a January afternoon. Stay safe, everybody.