There is a racer in NY who races his 650 who goes by the name smokinjoe. I sold him my Intiminators a while back and he mentioned he rides year round in NY. Stop being bitches, get out there and enjoy the air!
Easy for a SoCal guy to say! Man, I was in the Army 8 years as a tanker. 6 months of the year out in the field-either in the cold or rain, or in the Mojave desert at NTC in June or July in 120 degree heat which was Ft Carson, CO's rotation where I spent most of my career. 120 degrees in full combat uniform (t-shirt, body armor, and Nomex tanker uniform) and MOPP gear (Nuclear Biological Chemical) suit at all times. 2 uniforms for 15 day rotation in the NTC "box." PT at 6am whether its 90 degrees, 15 degrees, raining, snowing, or what have you. Pushups, situps, & 5-10 mile run. Now that I've been out since 2004, & gotten older, I am not as tough.:laugh:
I keep it at my Mom's out on Long Island since I don't want it in the street with these idiot drivers who can't park & during 9 months of the year I pay $150 a month for garaging it during inclement weather days. But during Dec-Feb I move it to my Moms and keep it there 20 miles away from Brooklyn. I'll still ride during the winter, and I don't even have good winter gloves or a winter parka yet. The problem is after the first snow fall, they like to be lazy and not plow but over sand and salt the roads. You get sand dunes around corners to go along with the other NY metro road hazards like debris, pot holes, etc.
They're cheap on the roads, so guys have jobs patching the roads. If they engineered the road better they'd cost twice as much, but last 3 times as long. It's part of the economic/lobbyist/union/political cycle of "legal rackets" present everywhere in this country. Like alternate side parking in NYC. You have to move your car from 9:30-11 for street cleaners 2-4 days out of the week. I work full time and go to grad school. So sometimes I can find a spot for the next day and get a $45 ticket. Total garbage. Why people put up with it is beyond me. Streets need to be cleaned and a-holes won't move they're cars and park them anywhere in NY, but really, it's just another revenue stream nickel and diming us.
I do admire that Cali gets nice weather and its conducive to riding and racing culture more prevalent in SoCal. But I do like 4 seasons. California is big enough to have everything like NY has-mountains, beaches, cities, etc. But luckily NY is an older city and not built like a city predicated on the American dream city-sprawling, no mass transit, and built on the American love affair with automobile & open road. It's more green and sustainable as people walk and if they didn't have to shovel, they'd probably get no PT. I might bitch o some cold days, but I think it's good for you. If my parents didn't move from LA to NY before I was born, I would have been a California kid but I am a NYer to the bone. My Aunt still lives in Gardena and likes to announce the weather there duinrg winter months in NY when she calls.
If I didn't live here, I'd be living in Colorado or California for sure, but I am fonder of northern California like San Francisco/San Jose/Cupertino, but might be a function of spending more time there and being an IT/Tech guy. Every place has its pros and cons. I am a total northern yankee though. There is something special about the mid-Atlantic and New England, but a lot of this country is nice like Seattle, Oregon, and Utah, where I have skied a lot. I simply could not live in the Midwest or the South. Spent 3 years in Oklahoma, and almost begged the Army to send me to Iraq instead. It was that bad.
Anyway, I'll shut up. The cold can be hazardous for the sand and debris and your hands get numb and affect your ability along with fogging up when you stop. Just be careful out there. You're just not as comfortable and nimble out there when you're cold. When it's already a 25 degree wind chill out there and you're doing 80, it's pretty brutal on the bike. NY is cold enough. I don't get how you can live in even colder areas. NY is mild compared to places like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Canada, etc. I refuse to wear heated gear. But maybe I'll change my tune one day.0

Now I'm rambling. I digress, and I'll shut up.