I see we have some issues that have been jumped...
* climate factors.

-10'C at sealevel, like the UK, costal areas of scandinavia and baltic etc; that is as Pecha72 points out; damned cold!
-20'C at the moutain tops in Norway (in-land climate, dry air) is less cold than -10'C at sealevel in the costal areas like Helsinki, Stockholm...

When temp drops below -25'C it really gets chilly... -30-35'C is really cold...



My equippment, same as I use in summer, is ok down to about -18'C for rides around Mälardalen (100-200km inter-city trips), but when it drops to -20'C I like to pull a snowmobile suit over (on top of) my bike-suite. With this, it is ok down to about -25'C... below that one must use far better clothings.

Heated linings are great - good comfort, but is to be used as a neat suppliment. Things like heated linings have a tendecy to prove Murphys and Finagle's Laws... when you really need it - the circuit is busted and you get no heat.


15W visir will make a trip down to -7'C in the low-land areas ok, but will not work at higher altitudes (inland-climate)... you simply need more.
Andy is still correct (!)


On the Crystal rally back in 1994 I saw an East German solution; hot air. Two MZ 250's with two different solutions; one using the whole exhaust system as heater and the other had simply put an eberspaecher, www.eberspaecher.se: Luftvärmare , Eberspächer UK ,on the luggage carrier. (IF I could figure out how to publish pics on H.U. I would - but I overfill the quota all the time... send contact me directly and I'll send you the pics to your e-mail account for the time being).

Here are some links to winter riding:
YouTube - sweden army motorbike in full winter
YouTube - sweden army motorbike in full winter IIII
YouTube - sweden army motorbike in full winter
YouTube - Husqvarna 258A Military with automatic and ski equipment in snow
YouTube - Hjälmkamera Enduro träning FMCK Gävle I 14 090214

The major problems are:
* hands
* feets
* face
If you are really to do this trip on a 650 - contact Göran at www.touring.se . Göran did a comersial thing with BMW AG in 1994 - I think they used 7-10 Funduros - prepared them for the Crystal Rally (big article in the Swedish BMW Club magazine. Svenska BMW MC Klubben • Index ). We who are prepared and have experience sat at the hotell at the moutaintop watching the arrival of these "vikings". As they steped off their Funduros they vanished from the face of the earth (flead inside/-doors...) - much to our amuzent; these "vikings" were freezing to their bones while we were eating ice-cream and stroling around the moutain at -20'C in the bright sunshine making jokes about them -

Touring at winter is -not- like active driving such as enduro or motorcross... it is much more like sitting down on a park-bench at a seaside resort with hard and heavy winds coming in from the sea... it is -cold-, but if you have the proper gears, i.e. not freezing, you will enjoy it. The air is fresh. No protein messing up you visir and fairing-screen. Glittering and sparkling from the snow/watercrystals. The sharp light (sunglasses is a must!). The Disney fairlytale like night ridings as your drivinglights lit up the road and its surroundings !



There is one condition at winter you should dread - the blizzards! Those are real killers - do not mess with them; you stand no chans - they win, and you loose!



Keep the hands and feet warm = the body will be warm.

__________________
Drive Safely,
Albert