I'm definitely going to keep riding during the winter. Here goes my rundown from what I have experienced so far. And I'm sure Reaper will have some solid insight as well.
General thoughts
-The sun makes a HUGE difference. A 40 degree day can feel a million times better when its nice and sunny vs overcast
-less wind the better. Monday had 18Mph winds and OMG did I feel it. Less windier days make you feel less cold
-Dry is good. It rained a lot on sunday so a lot of the streets were still wet yesterday. Wet means less traction and more danger, so use caution
-When the ground is cold, the tire has less traction/grip with the road so go a little bit slower than usual
-Different people have different tolerances of cold. If you don't feel comfortable while out, don't force yourself to go out or stay out. Riding takes a lot of focus to keep yourself safe, so being comfortable makes it easier to focus and stay safe.
-You'll see on the back of my bike, I have that little bag. That thing is a life saver and offers versatility. If the day warms up, I can take the hoody off an throw it in there, and I also have my summer gloves in there, so I can switch things up.
Clothing and gear
This is what works for me personally
-Full faced helmet. being able to put the face shield down makes your face feel comfortably warm imo. (I have a Shoei RF 1200)
- Full leather jacket that zips all the way up to the neck (Blocks the cold air great)
- Hooded sweatshirt under the leather jacket
- I wear Drayko jeans, which are lined with Kevlar material (bullet proof vest stuff) and this insulates great and they feel just like regular jeans
- Riding boots
- Dedicated cold weather gloves (mine are sedici)
With all that gear, I can ride comfortably and have great ride. I did try out a bunch of different stuff though before settling on that set up.