hot days - full gear or not?

[scrape]

Wondering, because I am thinking of trying the dark side....

It is a hot a humid day, you start with full gear (armored jacket, jeans, bike boots, full face helmet), your dripping sweat at the stoplight, you have shorts in your tankbag....

As a safe rider I stick out the heat and stay suited up, but I am getting tempted to rip off the gear and go squid (keeping the helmet on at least). I have a mesh jacket too, it helps some, but not quite enough.

How do you ride, on those long summer days? Full gear or t-shirt/shorts/helmet?

[kulbiker]

Yesterday it was like a 100 here in Central Missouri.....I still wore my flak jacket and helmet and knuckler gloves. Jeans and boots....so yeah I was allcovered. I drove for about 50 miles.....got a ticket....(read post).....and then my legs started burning up cause all that heat from the bike was coming up right where I sat. My ass got warm and I was sweting in my lid....not a pretty picture. I gave up after 50 miles.....just got too damn messy. I took her out again at 8:30 in the night was way damn better. Since we have to drive on so many highways to get in and outta St. Louis I never ever go without gear.....kinda makes me feel more confident.

[woobie]

I've been out the last 2 days and it's been 30C (86F) in full leathers. It's hot but not unbearable.

If your worried about going gearless, why not look at some textile-mesh gear like the Joe Rocket Phoenix jacket and pants. You can get some fairly cheap on ebay at times. Firstgear makes some mesh stuff to.

[pitbull76]

Mesh and perforated leather are your friend in hot weather. Once I get out of stop-and-go traffic it's pretty comfortable.

[WildKat]

Dont go over to the dark side .. be strong.. but you can get some lighter weight gear though for those hot days.. i ride in my phoenix JR jacket religiously in the heat, and some not to thick gloves help alot to keep down the sweat on your hands as well. Also try wearing a bandana under your helmet..that will help soak up the sweat.

And remember.. its better to be hot with your skin intact...then cool, w/ none left

[Gsxxx600]

blah, i guess im one of the few...

I cant bare to wear my jacket in this temp.

yesterday...90 degrees, i wore tshirt, jeans, sneakers, and lid

[wittymonkey]

I do wear my stuff ( leathers.... ) but it has good vents ( the jacket, the pants have no vents at all)... You sweat but you stay safe. If it's too hot means you're not going fast enough ( just jocking ! )

W.

[HS2020]

I will say this SWEAT WASHES OFF ROAD RASH DOESN'T. You can take that for what it is worth. I rode yesterday in a 1 piece leather rac suit. Was I hot yes but was I protected if I went down yes.

[irenekat]

words of wisdom: "better to sweat than to bleed"

[Mojoe]

blah, i guess im one of the few...

I cant bare to wear my jacket in this temp.

yesterday...90 degrees, i wore tshirt, jeans, sneakers, and lid

You are not alone. I am too frickin old and spent too many days sweating my ass off in a shop to sweat my ass off some more when I ride. But unlike kulbiker, I don't have to deal with heavy traffic. During the weekdays when everyone is at work, it is not hard at all to find nice open roads with little or no traffic. I don't wear shorts tho....at least jeans, always. Sometimes t-shirt if the heat is too extreme. Always gloves. Helemt too...cuz it is mandatory. But if it wasn't, I am sure I would remove it from time to time. It might not be the wisest choice, but my 20+ years of "accident free" riding should keep me from being called a squid.

[zleviticus]

I say the following:

"if it's too hot for gear it's too hot to ride."

[JDS]

The heaviest traffic I see is in a small city - Oak Ridge, TN. If I go down the turnpike, it can get pretty warm because I'm not moving the whole time. If I take the backroads through there, it's great, no matter how hot it is.

I wear a FirstGear mesh jacket, jeans, boots, vented gloves and a helmet all the time.

[Badkitty]

go ahead and say what you want..i dont wear any gear when its over 80degrees PERIOD. I cant stand being hot or sweating in my clothes.

Why is it people talk bad about people who dont wear gear and ride sport bikes , yet dont really say anything about big dog riders who wear wife beaters and jeans. How are the bikes different? Other than who is driving and what their intentions are. I can see if you do nothing but speed and twisties when you ride , but i dont do that. I just like relaxing rides in the city and out in country.

[ablank]

I was out riding Saturday in Houston, according to weather.com it was 89F (felt like atleast 95) Did about 30 miles in a JR Phoenix with jeans, boots, gloves and helmet. Stopped by CycleGear and picked up some JR Phoenix pants. Did 100 miles with those and it was awesome. Once I was moving the pants were cool and it made a big difference.

"if it's too hot for gear it's too hot to ride."

[Mojoe]

go ahead and say what you want..i dont wear any gear when its over 80degrees PERIOD. I cant stand being hot or sweating in my clothes.

Why is it people talk bad about people who dont wear gear and ride sport bikes , yet dont really say anything about big dog riders who wear wife beaters and jeans. How are the bikes different? Other than who is driving and what their intentions are. I can see if you do nothing but speed and twisties when you ride , but i dont do that. I just like relaxing rides in the city and out in country.

I know what you mean. This is an old debate that has been beat to death....yet it still pops up about once a month or so on the forums. Everytime I see a post like this, I think to myself, "oh fuck....not again!".
And ever since my heated debate on the freedom of choice back on KP, my opinion has not changed.
But considerring how many members of KR dump thier bikes, maybe it is not a bad thing that it keeps getting brought up.