IDK about you guys but where I live (Sacramento, CA) in the summer its tops out over 110, and seems like most summer days are over 100, it's already high 80's in early May
Anyway, what kid of riding safety gear is cool enough to wear in this heat?
Helmet is given (required in CA and if u have a brain) (edited)
mesh textile jackets and gloves. helmet always. wear shorts if you want to, they are just as useless as jeans if you went down. (Note: I wear jeans.)
i wear a helmet, perforated lightweight leather gloves (mine are buffalo), jeans, and usually a long sleeve of some sort. gotta find something lightweight/breathable for this summer...
I have a white mesh jacket that was hot -- but not unbearably so -- in 90 degree heat the other day. There are also lots of options for mesh or ventilated gloves. Lighter colors are going to be better heat-wise, but they'll also be worse from a showing-grease standpoint.
I think the real problem with summer motorcycle gear is that it's designed for people on motorcycles. As in, they go faster than 30-40mph. They don't break down and have to push their motorcycles. They don't pedal off the line/up hills. They don't have to run up and down the street to get their motorcycles started. Barring the few of us who have fast mopeds that always work and are easy to start, we have a lot less airflow and get a lot more exercise than most motorcyclists, so any gear we get, no matter how lightweight or ventilated it is, is still going to suck. It's up to you whether you want to wear the gear and be guaranteed to sweat like mad all the time, or ditch the gear, be slightly cooler, and potentially deal with more road rash/broken bones if you crash.
ur riding a moped, only other people will cause you a wreck unless u cant ride
ur riding a moped, only other people will cause you a wreck unless u cant ride
You say that like it somehow negates the purpose of safety gear.
I've gone around a corner too fast and had the rear end slide out on me. No other cars around, and no dirt/water in the corner. Just too fast with old, hard tires. One of my best safety investments has been nice tires and brakes.
With that being said, I will always ride with a helmet, jeans, leather/reinforced gloves, and a riding jacket. It's not worth being in that much pain again.
In Tucson in the summers I always wore shorts and a T shirt. No helmet laws so I usually opted out because I am not a fan of having my brain cooked.
I've worn the BMG Discovery jacket for a few years, in the heat, but on a 650.
I'm going to try this guy out this summer:
unlined leather gloves do the trick, full face visor up w/ glasses, and pants.
Draggin' Jeans makes some really cool looking kevlar long johns which they say are breathable. been wanting to try those out sometime.
long pants and a full face at least.
On my Moped:
Helmet
Leather riding gloves (not gauntlet type)
SHOES (no flip flops or anything stupid)
Long pants. That's about it.
If im on a moto, add a textile jacket. On occasion ill wear shorts but not often. I figure if I crash it'll most likely be from a car. Only so much will help when getting hit by a car, so why make yourself uncomfortable?
shorts, flip flops and good breathing helmet. unless i am on the race bike then leather jacket, shoes, jeans/leather pants. but thats only cuz i think the back wheel is gonna lock up at any time.
Naked, no helmet, riding side saddle with sunglasses at night.
Rev it air jacket. If you want to get serious.
I'm assuming that those of you who don't wear proper gear have never crashed before, or had to deal with serious road rash before, or never visited a buddy laying in the hospital with serious injuries that proper gear would have prevented. If your ped is hard to start and you must constantly pedal to get going, get a tune up! That's ne reason to not wear good gear. The last time I was in SoCal, I endured 3 back to back days of 110+ wearing mesh gear, leather gloves and a moduler helmet. I drank lots of water and just kept on keeping on. Hot yes, roadrash no.
Bill
MSF Instructor
IBA Member
I wear a full face, leather armored jacket, gloves and good boots. Its been hot this week but I'm cool as long as I am moving. I have learned to get my ped running then put the hot gear on and blast away.
Going about 25 around a corner with jeans and no gloves gets you these (only half of my injuries)
ur riding a moped, only other people will cause you a wreck unless u cant ride
go to a rally, see all the fucktarded moped riders, and report back.
Want to post in this forum? We'd love to have you join the discussion, but first: