SuzukiSavage.com /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Warm weather riding gear /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1110750163 Message started by doppelganger on 03/13/05 at 13:42:43

Title: Warm weather riding gear Post by doppelganger on 03/13/05 at 13:42:43 What do you wear when riding in warm weather? I just got my bike in October, so I haven't ridden during the summer yet.  I have a leather jacket (non motorcycle specific) that works well for 40-50°F weather, but I think it will be too hot once the temperatures are in the 60-70°F range.  I would like to keep something between me and the road besides a thin layer of cotton, but I don't want to spend $200 on a hi-tech jacket, and I don't want to be uncomfortable.

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by Ed_L. on 03/13/05 at 14:25:13 Take a look at http://www.newenough.com/ , they have a lot of different riding gear. Last year I got a First Gear mesh riding jacket from them, has soft armor but is light and cool. Was very happy with it while riding during the hot weather. There are a lot of good deals, some of the gear is as much as 40% off. The other place to try is e-bay, you can get some good deals there if you know what you are looking for. Ride Safe

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by Max_Morley on 03/13/05 at 16:00:25 How un-comfortable will you be with road rash on your body? Good riding gear is an investment in your safety, not just wasted money. I have never paid more than $200 for a current year Kevlar/cordura jacket with armour in the elbows/forearms, shoulders and back. Once I found year old styles/colors they have been the $129-130 area.  My ventilated mesh Joe Rocket style is very comfortable clear up to 10 deg F + when moving, anything will be warm stoped in traffic.  Max

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by Honda_fan on 03/13/05 at 19:07:22 I wear ballistic nylon/cordura under 70 F and mesh when over. My mesh is Joe Rocket but I like many of the newer ones out there and will probably get a First Gear next. I would recommend leather pants for the Savage since I kept melting my nylons ones on the pipe. I worked around this by sewing leather patches on the bottom of the legs.

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by gitarzan on 03/14/05 at 06:13:44 You can get leather jackets with zip out-liners and vents.

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by Savage_Rob on 03/14/05 at 11:07:11 I also use an evaporative cooling vest in the hotter parts of summer here in TX.

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by jbird on 03/15/05 at 03:33:08 leathers year round here in miss. the bugs here thrive on steriods got hit saturday on the shoulder leather helps    ride wise

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by lancer on 03/15/05 at 06:47:48 I have a FIRST GEAR jacket that is really good for everything except maybe the very hottest part of summer.  It has a zip-out liner that enables me to ride in the cold (as low as 30) and through the summer (up to the 90's).  It has a removeable liner and  zip open air vents on the back & under arms.  It also has removeable armor in the elbows, shoulders and back.  I love it.  I also have pants to go along with it.  They are made of the super strong nylon stuff. If you want to stay warm, it works. IF you want to have fresh air, it works. If you fall, it will protect. It is WATER PROOF. The best part is that with a little patience, you can get them on Ebay for penny's on the dollar. My jacket was free......lucky contest winner. The pants cost $35, retail about $169. My boots cost $50, retail about $125 Besides the regular auction section on ebay I shop the DENNIS KIRK CATALOG company ebay store (d-k trader).  Every day they have hundreds of items, some are for auction and others are a fixed price.  On the fixed priced items you can expect to save at least 50% to 70%.  The auction items can be had for up to 90%  off....depending on the bidding.  That is why I said that you are rewarded for patience. They ship quickly and the products are top grade stuff. Try it.....you'll like it.

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by Chench53 on 03/16/05 at 03:55:23 I guess a lot depends on your own heat tolerance, and your humidity. Riding in 70 degrees is not really warm by my standards and personal tolerance. And if you consider the wind speed (think wind chill effect) wearing leathers can be OK at those temps, just take out the liner if you can. Also, I like my textile (JoeRocket Ballistic 3.0) without the liner. Even in 80+ degrees, I've worn my leather (First Gear), but as the humidity and temps go up, its harder to do. I do have a mesh jacket (First Racing), but I use it for 80+ weather in slow, stop-n-go commuting to work in NYC traffic when I don't have advantage of the wind to cool me. I don't like it for highway speeds because I get too chilly, even at 90 degrees believe it or not. And like gitarzan and lancer say, look for vents in leathers and textiles, vents that zip open/closed, they are terrific. :D I also have worn my denim jacket for warm weather riding, but not so much. Generally I always wear my chaps in warm weather, and only in unbearably hot would they come off and just wear jeans. I do find that the nylon lining in the JoeRocket or my leather first gear is not very cool. Can't do anything about that, and so I find long sleeves T shirts are always more comfortable with those, even in warmer weather. Helps keep me cooler. Gerry

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by Tony on 03/16/05 at 04:13:30 I like to wear a leather jacket. They have come a long way is providing back support as well. Mine has a built in back belt that seems to help. When the weather gets to warm for that I switch over to my Joe Rocket vented ballistic jacket. It to has  the build in back support as well as upper back, shoulders, and elbow armour. As for the legs? I always wear jeans and leather chaps. I also were high leather engineers boots. I like the boots for a multitude of reasons. They not only provide a decent ankle support , but they also take abuse well and are waterproof (I use boot parafin to keep them that way). I cannot believe the amount of people I see riding wearing only shorts and t-shirts. As far as I can tell they must have some sort of a death-wish. You have got to be nuts to take those kind of risks. I wonder if they have ever seen what happens when flesh meets pavement.

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by Savage_Rob on 03/16/05 at 05:57:19 And it doesn't take a deadly spill to remove a decent quantity of skin from your body either.  I use the Power Cool cordura jacket from Brosh (http://www.brosh.com/).  It has Kevlar and internal slots for additional CE armor in the elbows/forearms, shoulders and back, which I added.  It also has front and back zippered vents and comes with a zip in/out quilted liner.  I've used it in 28 F weather with the liner and in 103 F weather without the liner and with the vents open.  I also like the number of pockets it has.  I would also recommend a microfiber t-shirt for hot weather.  They do a great job of wicking away sweat and cooling you in the process.  I usually wear Leather Legs (http://www.leatherlegs.net/) half-chaps (gaiters) instead of full chaps.  Draggin jeans are a good complement to them.  The cooling vest I use is the Men's Classic Cooling Vest available from Silver Eagle Outfitters (http://www.silvereagleoutfitters.com/shop/vests.htm).  It looks like they've improved upon it and now offer a New Generation version while putting the original on sale. Oh, and carry a Camelbak or something similar.  A plain old canteen works if you don't mind stopping to drink but hydration packs allow you to use a tube to drink while still riding.

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by Ed_L. on 03/16/05 at 06:14:30 Since we are talking about safety, I discovered the hard way not to carry keys or anything sharp in my pants pockets. When I dumped last year I had the house keys in the pocket of my jeans. They poked a hole in the jeans and stuck about 1/2 inch into my leg. Since then I've been carrying them in the tool pouch or saddle bags.

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by lancer on 03/16/05 at 07:16:41 OUCH!!! Now that is a useful tip........thanks.

Title: Re: Warm weather riding gear Post by Savage_Rob on 03/16/05 at 10:18:39 Good safety tip, Egon.

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