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Riding gear on a naked or faired bike

WalterK75

Member
Riding gear on a naked vs faired bike

I think that some riding gear is designed for naked bikes, not bikes with windshields and fairings. Mesh riding gear, for example, needs air flow which one gets on a naked bike, but sitting behind a windshield prevents or reduces the air flow. Also, it seems the top air vents in helmets may be designed for the sports bike riding position. I'm curious about what others may think on this, assuming this hasn't already been discussed to death and I can't find the thread.
 
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I ride a fully-faired bike (R12RT), wear mesh gear in the summer, and find the airflow and cooling to be quite noticeable, more so through the jacket than pants. With pants, I've found a big difference in air flow sensation between manufacturers/models. My old Teknic mesh pants were hot (black in color) with little air flow whereas my new Olympia airflow pants (silver in color) are cooler and also have more detectable air flow. With my flip-up helmet (HJC Symax II), its hard to detect much difference in airflow through the top of the helmet with the top vent open or closed, and this may very well be influenced by the fact that I'm behind a fairing. I haven't found the helmet to be uncomfortably hot though (silver in color).
 
There are major differences between riding a fully faired touring type bike and a more naked bike. I currently ride three different BMWs. A K75RTP (RT fairing), an R1150R with a windshield, and an F650 Dakar with the little Dakar windshield.

On any given day if I am comfortable on the R1150R and switch to the K75RTP I will be too warm. I tend to wear the same jacket but layers would be far fewer on the RT.

In the winter the K75RTP is perfect and in the summer it is too hot.

So, any discussion about riding gear needs to start with what bike the rider rides, and what weather/climate it is that we are talking about.
 
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