Whether you’re an adventure rider deliberately setting out to tour in the snow, or a commuter who rides through necessity to get to work – you’ll both agree, riding in the winter can suck.
It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s windy. You find yourself shivering despite wearing bulky layers. That’s where heated gear can be a lifesaver (quite literally in some cases). Why might you consider making the switch to heated kit?
Increased Control Handling
It’s no secret that numb hands leads to lack of control. You might have heated grips already and lean on these in times of need, but as great as they are, they leave the tops of your hands exposed, and you risk losing dexterity. When exposed to colder temps, your body initiates a defense mechanism, called peripheral vasoconstriction. Simply put, your blood vessels narrow and to protect your heart and other vital organs, your hands and feet get less blood flow, which leads to numbness and loss of sensation. Not great for handling the clutch, brakes or throttle.
Increased Safety
When you’re cold, your body naturally diverts all your energy towards staying warm, which can reduce your concentration and slow your reaction times. Both things needed when on the road. Heated gear massively reduces cold stress, which occurs when your body is losing more heat than it can generate, which results in general discomfort which distracts the brain from the more important things at hand, like operating a bike.
Temperature Regulation During Wind ChillAs well as being dangerous, it’s mostly just uncomfortable when you’re cold on a ride. Wind chill is a scientific phenomenon where moving air rapidly strips away heat from your skin. On a motorcycle, even a moderately cold day can feel much colder at higher speeds. At 60 mph in 0°C air, the effective temperature on your skin can feel like -17°C. This rapid heat loss accelerates the body’s cooling process, heightening the risk of hypothermia and frostbite in a short period.
Improved Reaction Speed
In colder conditions, your muscles can become stiff due to reduced elasticity and slower metabolic reactions. This slows your reaction speeds and weakens your grip strength, which is obviously dangerous when you’re handling a machine. In Winter, hazards almost seem to double, to a speedy reaction time is necessary
Increased Comfort
Simply put, heated gear just generally increases your comfort when riding in the cold. Rather than relying on retaining heat through bulky layers, KEIS kit is made with Far Infrared and Micro Carbon heating technologies, which generates heat that feels more like sunshine warmth than synthetic warmth, and warms the skin directly rather than just the area inside the material.
