alegerlotz
Member
I forgot to mention that I wear wicking liners under my mesh gear (and cooling vest if I'm wearing one). They help with the evaporative cooling and keep the mesh gear from sticking to my skin and bunching up.
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The best isn't cheap but it's the best https://www.motoport.com/product/ultra-ii-air-mesh-jacket/ I got the pants too.
Jay
You're not kidding about the "cheap" part! :-D I am trying to imagine how the conversation with my wife is going to go... She'd want a set, too, of course!
In my experience, there's no substitute for good quality gear, especially if you're going to commute or ride often. Also, next to the money you spent on the bike(s), good gear is a mere fraction.
If budget is an issue right now because the recent bike purchases, you can get decent stuff from Revzilla (and other places) and use that for a couple of years before deciding to invest in something custom like the mesh suits or aerostich. My advise would be to avoid some of the very low priced items unless they're heavily discounted because of something like a close out. Some of the super cheap stuff will disintegrate after a couple of uses; there are no shortage of reviews on motorcycle gear, so you can usually figure out what's good and what's junk from reading those.
Good Luck
Both my wife and I wear Klim Induction short gloves in hot weather.
We have the previous generation of the glove.
The big thing we like is the narrow short cuff allows air to get up our sleeves on our RSs.
Not sure if you'll be able to get air up your sleeves on a RT.
Here's a review of the current Klim Induction short glove.
<iframe width="1227" height="690" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QyTLVxSdtjM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Good suggestion! We tried the Klim Mojave Pro. My wife is keeping hers. For some reason the 2XL I ordered were still very tight and leaving impression marks on my hands. I have large hands, but those felt more like an LG or XL at best. I might try the Induction next.
How's the air flow with them?
So, taking the article posted earlier into consideration, and the suggestions various posters made so far, here's what I gathered:
Above 93F degrees air temperature, sitting behind the fairing and windshield on the RT, the best way to deal with the heat is to wear a mesh jacket with a cooling vest underneath. That makes sense, as the vest takes care of the convection evaporative effect so the hot wind does not contribute to the dehydrating effect (as much) on the skin/body. For that matter, if a stronger cooling effect is desired, keep the windshield down and re-charge the cooling vest more often to keep the evaporating effect going.
Loved the summary picture posted earlier, so I did some OCR text conversion on it for esier copying. Here it is:
In Summary
The magic number is 93. Below 93°F, it's fairly easy to stay cool on a motorcycle as long as you are moving fast enough to get some wind against your skin for convective cooling. A mesh riding suit feels great.
Above 93°F, it's a different world. The wind is no longer your friend.
For long distance riding in temperature higher than 93°F, you need to:
1. Minimize your body's exposure to direct wind blast.
2. Wear wicking undergarments, including a helmet liner.
3. Carry an adequate supply of cool water and drink frequently.
4. Insulate any parts of your body exposed to engine heat or radiator discharge.
Dress right, drink right, and enjoy the ride.
Since this thread is about riding an R1200RT fully faired bike I'll agree that mesh may be appropriate. But I would caution riders of bikes with less wind protection to be very careful because in the wind on a hot day mesh can kill you.
The best isn't cheap but it's the best https://www.motoport.com/product/ultra-ii-air-mesh-jacket/ I got the pants too.
Jay
His bottom line...
Above 100 degrees - Wear mesh
.The most important factors are to limit intensity and duration of activity, limit the amount of clothing and equipment worn, increase the number and length of rest breaks, and encourage proper hydration.
Whether or not to wear mesh is on par with the "which oil/tire is best" religious wars of motorcycle message boards.
The general argument against mesh in very high temps (repeated at least half a dozen times here) is that "you will sweat too much and dehydrate if you ride in mesh and it's too hot and or humid." To this I say poppycock. And balderdash. And any other old-timey fighting words I can think of. It never made any sense to me. The more of your sweat that evaporates, the less you will sweat. This is basic physiology. You won't sweat more simply because you are evaporating it faster riding in the wind - there is no amount of sweat on your skin your body is trying to maintain so it will replace it faster. If you evaporate a lot and it removes heat (by conduction from the skin and evaporative cooling) your body temperature will drop and you will sweat less.
Lots of people die from heat stroke in "sweat lodges" where they are in high heat with no air flow. Plenty of people also suffer heat injuries in hot tubs and spas. So why would anyone recommend less cooling while riding a motorcycle? The basic protocol for treating heat injuries is to get airflow over the skin as fast as possible if other cooling methods aren't available. It only makes sense that one would want to do this while riding.
The answer to "how do I ride safely in extreme heat" isn't "dress warmer." It's "drink more."
One of the best discussions I've read form someone who asked an expert is here https://advrider.com/f/threads/mesh-or-not-above-100-degrees-f.396906/. Few people know more about how to handle heat stress than scientists at the Soldier Systems Lab in Natick, MA - the people who are responsible for keeping our soldiers safe in the desert while humping large rucks. The post author contacted them for advice. One of my neighbors also works there and he rode for years before cancer took him last summer. He wore mesh. Read the second half of the post for details, but the summary of the expert:
For some additional science, the National Association of Athletic Trainers has guidelines for preventing heat illness in athletes. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC164365/. They remind trainers that the guidelines are based on athletes wearing a t-shirt and shorts. When it's hot and humid their recommendation isn't "have athletes put on more clothes," it is:
.
The idea that mesh leads to dehydration faster than full-coverage clothing when it's really hot or humid is just flat wrong. If anything, what happens is that mesh works, people feel more comfortable, sweat evaporates, so people forget to stop and take breaks. But bundling up in less-ventilated clothing isn't the solution to that problem. Stopping and drinking more is.
My strategy: any time it's above 80 for a significant portion of the day, I wear mesh. In 95% humidity or in 107° dry Arizona heat. My Darien and AD-1 pants are fine up to 80°, but after that it's mesh, mesh, and more mesh, with wicking undergarments.
Good luck.
I'd sooner take advice from this guy:
http://www.soundrider.com/archive/safety-skills/when_youre_hot.aspx
Harry