I have a wonderful gear shift **** from Whalen, bead-blasted steel, and as you might expect, it can get mighty hot if the sun hits it directly for long in the summer, and very cold in winter. My solution was to put a sock over it, but I happened to find these charming iPod covers, which are less crude than a sock, but not overly elaborate. Cost is $10 for a set of three. take a look...
<www.littlemissmatched.com/store/Mixter?Args=>

 

If you think the sock is useful in the heat of summer, just wait for the sub-zero eves of winter. I use a glove on the ole Whalen to avoid frostbite in January.

 

Made to order!

 

This is what I've decided to do...I'll let you know how it works:

I found a checkered, knitted hacky sack online yesterday. I'm going to put a cut in bottom after I've sealed up the threads so it won't frey and empty out the beads and use that.