Attitudes about protective gear in hot conditions.

[Da Bear]

I wear Aerostich Darien jacket and pants. About the most comfortable I have found for summer riding. Nylon hiking pants and a C9 shirt underneath. I wear it all the time. Its reasonably comfortable and a lot more comfortable than road rash or sitting in a hospital bed

+1 on the hospital bed. BTDT more than once.

 

[Oldbikefixr]

Just plan on the accident you weren't planning on having...

Absolutely! I shared (bored you with?) my riding and driving philosophy. I'm convinced that my sight seeing is compromised by my excess caution. I bent a bike badly on July 9, 1969. That one convinced me that not everyone shares our love of life. Anticipate where a source of danger may be hiding, Watch the drivers around you....not just the vehicles...some folk can almost multitask well, Drive/ride where there is an escape route....that may be behind slow traffic or way the heck ahead of other conditions, just leave it....It's far more palatable to have a roadside discussion with the local gendarmes than a nasty alternative, I've found they are quite understanding as they live with illiterate behavior daily.
Just don't bend the bike.

 

[ReSTored]

I can't imagine living, or riding, in an environment where temps get to 119F. We took a trip to Death Valley a few years ago and the temp was about 112 and it was smoking hot (but a dry heat as they say). Totally enveloping. A walk on sand to see a monument off the road melted the soles of my crocs.

I'll take the cold and heated gear any day. I'm 100% ATGATT anytime I'm on the bike and survive our relatively mild summers with Olympia mesh gear.

 

[Grabcon]

Got my first street bike when I was 16. I went to show it to my Grandfather, the male influence in my life. He lived on a quiet residential street with very little traffic. I parked out front and he came out to look at the bike...
"Follow me" he said. You didn't argue with gramps. At 75, he did 150 sit ups, 75 pull ups, jumped rope for ten minutes... You get the idea.
He walked across the street and told me to take off my shirt. I did. "Lay down on your back..." I did.
He grabbed my feet and slowly dragged me back to the other side. I was scraped and scratched. "That was zero miles an hour. Imagine what it's gonna feel like at 65... Buy the best protective clothing you can. Upgrade when you can. Never ride without it." He never disproved of the bike, he just made sure I rode safe. I have yet to go back on the promise I made to him regarding gear. There are some that say it was abuse, that slow drag across the street; but I'm telling you, it worked...

My guess is that gramps experienced that same thing a little differently. Learning by example. To bad some don't learn.

We all have options to deal with weather and we all can do some sort of risk management. This is my first summer living in SE Arizona. Where I live is typically 10 degrees cooler than Tucson, but it still gets hot but typically not over 100. I am ATGATT so regardless of temp the gear is on. On short rides 100 miles or less I don't prepare much. I know I will be at 50 mph or more most of the time and I will be home in an hour to a hour and a half. I bring water for drinking. This would be all pavement riding.

Now during the last month. Since July 17th I have put on 3000 miles plus in the heat that we are having and thought that I was somewhat prepared. I don't know if we ever are 100% prepared. In these last days I have ridden in temps from 46 to 115 degrees. It is hard to prepare for the unknown. I was not expecting 46 degrees, luckily it only lasted an hour or so. There has been some heavy rains at the low temps mixed in too. The wife and I went to the Top O Rockies BMW rally in Paonia CO. We left on the 17th and returned the 25th of July. Most of our riding was in the high 90's to 105. These are daytime temps. I don't ride at night, the risk is to high.

What was our riding gear for the trip. Solid riding pants with mesh jackets, I find that for me there is not much difference between solid pants and mesh pants but the solid pants give more flexibility for changing weather. We also wear very light synthetic pullover long sleeve shirts. They wick better than cotton, they also help with cooling during hot times. We wear neck gators and cooling vests. Water is our friend both for hydration but for soaking the cooling vests and gators during those hot time, stopping every 100 to 150 miles is also helpful. Since this was my first trip since my back surgery we did no more than 300 miles a day. This was mostly open road riding and like I said short distances. I have no idea how the LD guys do it.

On the way back we went thru Tucson It hit 115 and traffic. It was miserable all the prep did no good here. Riding in 100 plus at 60 to 70 mph was easy compared to an hour at 115 and 30 mph. I guess the point here is we all have options. To ride or not to ride. If we ride we need to be sensible about what we are doing. Trips and commuting are two different animals. I personally don't know if I would commute on a MC with these high temps unless it was all above 40 to 50 mph. Sometime some have no option. On the other side of the coin I also don't ride in snow. 40 degrees yes but if there is a chance of frost, ice and snow. Nope just like I don't ride at night.

I am no expert but this is what works for us.

 

[ST1100Y]

Lots of pro's about the outer, protective layer, but non on functional (Transtex, whatever...) underwear...

Got my 2-piece GoreTex stitches (jacket with big, waterproof vent zippers front and rear), but I swear on the long sleeved/legged D-Core Dry underwear going with that...
It prevents the inner jacket/pant liners from sticking on your otherwise sweaty skin, hindering all your movements or getting the gear on/off...
Yep, still kinda warm, but dry... thin, special woven fabric, transporting humidity outward, away from the skin (boosting the GoreTex function), so when I take my jacket off while taking a break, my body/back is fully dry... rinse in the hotel bathroom sink, fully dry over night...

 

[DannoXYZ]

How does a 1/2 hr. motorcycle commute equate to 2.5 hrs. by car?

Only 35-miles to my office in S.F.

Bay Area traffic is worse I've ever seen, and I grew up here. About as bad as L.A. traffic going past LAX. My 1st day on job, I wanted good hair, so I took car in, big mistake! Just getting past toll-booths on Bay Bridge from Oakland took 45-minutes to go 1/4-mile even with automatic Fastrak toll. I could've ridden in on my bicycle! in less time than it took to go by car!!

On moto, I completely bypass 16-lanes of toll-booths in carpool-lane in 45-seconds. Video of that on way in.

Sample commute home from S.F. So much easier than taking car. Flows smoothly on Bay Bridge until landing in Berkeley.

I wear all my office clothes under this. And have set of slippers and shoes in desk-drawer at office.

 

[jspringator]

I usually wear Joe Rocket Mesh uppers and lowers with a Tech Air 5 airbag. When I wore a Helite vest I conducted and experiment to see if it was cooler without the vest. It wasn't. The Tech Air 5 is hotter than the Helite.

Is it necessary to zip the uppers and lowers together for street riding? I always wear "clip on" type suspenders, but I don't know if that would keep by lowers on in a crash. My Joe Rocket jacket doesn't have a zipper.

 

[Larry Fine]

Is it necessary to zip the uppers and lowers together for street riding?

I do, to keep the top down as well as the bottom up.

 

[Da Bear]

Only 35-miles to my office in S.F.

Bay Area traffic is worse I've ever seen, and I grew up here. About as bad as L.A. traffic going past LAX. My 1st day on job, I wanted good hair, so I took car in, big mistake! Just getting past toll-booths on Bay Bridge from Oakland took 45-minutes to go 1/4-mile even with automatic Fastrak toll. I could've ridden in on my bicycle! in less time than it took to go by car!!

On bike, I completely bypass 16-lanes of toll-booths in carpool-lane in 45-seconds. Video of that on way in.

Sample commute home from S.F. So much easier than taking car. Flows smoothly on Bay Bridge until landing in Berkeley.

I moved to Portland Oregon in July of 1983. I grew up in the SF bay area. I knew that after the '89 quake that things were going to change, especially on that particular commute; but man, I hardly recognize a whole lot of it!
Traffic was bad even back when I lived there. I had offices in Santa Rosa, Hayward, Fremont and Foster City. Imagine hitting all of those every day. Now I doubt it could be done and expect to actually get work done...

 

[DannoXYZ]

I moved to Portland Oregon in July of 1983. I grew up in the SF bay area. I knew that after the '89 quake that things were going to change, especially on that particular commute; but man, I hardly recognize a whole lot of it!
Traffic was bad even back when I lived there. I had offices in Santa Rosa, Hayward, Fremont and Foster City. Imagine hitting all of those every day. Now I doubt it could be done and expect to actually get work done...

In '89, I was at university in Santa Barbara and actual felt shake from Oakland quake all way down there!!

Yeah, traffic in Bay Area's pretty gruesome! I contracted with Gilead Sciences in Foster City for couple years. I'd take faster but longer route down east Bay and cross at San Mateo bridge (no toll). It'd still take me about an hour by bike splitting entire way! Or close to 4-hrs by car... each way!!

So glad I got outta there! Costs way too much and way too crowded. I'd hear my neighbors on both sides snoring at night!!

 

[Da Bear]

In '89, I was at university in Santa Barbara and actual felt shake from Oakland quake all way down there!!

Yeah, traffic in Bay Area's pretty gruesome! I contracted with Gilead Sciences in Foster City for couple years. I'd take faster but longer route down east Bay and cross at San Mateo bridge (no toll). It'd still take me about an hour by bike splitting entire way! Or close to 4-hrs by car... each way!!

So glad I got outta there! Costs way too much and way too crowded. I'd hear my neighbors on both sides snoring at night!!

I lived in Hayward, and rode my bike to work in Foster City 365. Those wind gusts at the top of the San Mateo bridge could be terrifying. More than once I wished they made scuba for bikes while on that commute. Waves would wash up on that section that leads to the toll booth... More than once I made a bed on bags of cat and dog food in the shop, and spent the night there... ATGATT isn't just clothing; it's knowing when to look outside and saying "Oh, hell no..."

 

[ST Gui]

it's knowing when to look outside and saying "Oh, hell no..."

Ohhhh yeaaaah 100%. There have been very few times I've had to ride in really hot weather. When given the option there's a car with A/C or staying in. I've got heated gear for bone chilling 50º weather and mesh gear for dehydrating 80º weather. Outside of that it's put up the feet at home with hot chocolate or lemonade as is appropriate while looking out the window thinking "Not today" with a .

 

[Da Bear]

Ohhhh yeaaaah 100%. There have been very few times I've had to ride in really hot weather. When given the option there's a car with A/C or staying in. I've got heated gear for bone chilling 50º weather and mesh gear for dehydrating 80º weather. Outside of that it's put up the feet at home with hot chocolate or lemonade as is appropriate while looking out the window thinking "Not today" with a .

About 15 years ago, I had a dead battery in the car. I was driving a 26 foot truck doing local deliveries as a job. It was 16°outside. I put on my gear, turned on the grips and seat, and rode the bike the 15 miles into work; about half an hour commute time. It wasn't that bad. Of course, by mid day there was 3" of snow on the ground. I got to take the truck home that night, with the bike secured in the box. Thank ghod for lift gates...

 

[Jay547]

80° or over, I go to a mesh jacket. If I'm riding my dual-sport bike, I ditch the jacket at that temp. It's just too hot at those low speeds.

 

[fast_st]

I like the stitch one piece hi-viz though the prior generation hi-viz has become hi-fade its got miles and years and it shows. Was a couple years back during a heat wave, it was over 100 out and a little humid, cheated a light with a little unauthorized lane split to pull up next to a sportybike rider clad only in t-shirt, shorts and sandals. Sporty looked over at a hi-viz giant and exlaimed, 'how can you stand to ride like that' I had to laugh and reply, 'I was going to ask you the exact same question' we both got a chuckle, ride your own ride!

 

[motornut]

I actually had a rider explain to me that his jaw was broken because of a full face helmet being pushed into his chin, could not get him to think about it even a little.

 

[DannoXYZ]

I actually had a rider explain to me that his jaw was broken because of a full face helmet being pushed into his chin, could not get him to think about it even a little.

Yikes! Just think what would've happened to his jaw with direct impact to ground... ouch!!! Well, understanding physics isn't everyone's strong point...

 

[IndyST]

In '07 my wife and I hit a stopped Buick at about 25mph (got slowed from 40) we both were in full gear. EMT on site and ER tech all said it would have been a double fatality if not for the gear. Me, fractured pelvis in 2 places, fractured wrist, 6 broken ribs. Wife, concussion, fractured tail bone, fracture elbow. NO ROAD RASH. ATGATT.

 

[Da Bear]

Only 35-miles to my office in S.F.

Bay Area traffic is worse I've ever seen, and I grew up here. About as bad as L.A. traffic going past LAX. My 1st day on job, I wanted good hair, so I took car in, big mistake! Just getting past toll-booths on Bay Bridge from Oakland took 45-minutes to go 1/4-mile even with automatic Fastrak toll. I could've ridden in on my bicycle! in less time than it took to go by car!!

On bike, I completely bypass 16-lanes of toll-booths in carpool-lane in 45-seconds. Video of that on way in.

Sample commute home from S.F. So much easier than taking car. Flows smoothly on Bay Bridge until landing in Berkeley.

I wear all my office clothes under this. And have set of slippers and shoes in desk-drawer at office.

I kept two suits at the shop in Foster City, and one at the store on Santa Rosa There were dry cleaners nearby both places, and both were in malls, so if I needed a new shirt, tie, or shoes, they were readily available. I wore jeans and a T-shirt under the gear and looked like something the cat dragged in when I got to work. My logic was that, sure, I could wear a suit under the gear, but If for some god forsaken reason I did go down, Levi's and a T-shirt are cheaper than a $400.00 suit; and gear doesn't always mean pristine skin at the end of that 10 grit slide...

 

[Da Bear]

How does a 1/2 hr. motorcycle commute equate to 2.5 hrs. by car?

Drive the Sylvan, into Portland or 205 into Oregon City and you'll know...