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R1200RT - Riding Gear for Hot Weather

In addition to my normal summer gear, I carry my cool vest and a plastic bag. During my first stop after things start heating up (usually 125 – 175 miles) I stretch, get some gas then put the vest in the plastic bag and fill it with a large bottle of cold drinking water from the convenience store’s cooler. I fill myself with a second bottle. By the time I finish my drinking my bottle of water the vest is saturated with cold water. I put it on and let me tell you the feeling of the cold water on a hot Texas day is great. Yes it evaporates and keeps me quite cool. The whole process is aided by the fact that the water comes straight from the cooler. Oh, I get wet in the process, but the evaporation keeps everything under control. The practice is assisted if you are wearing a shirt with good wicking properties.

E.
 
easy said:
In addition to my normal summer gear, I carry my cool vest and a plastic bag. During my first stop after things start heating up (usually 125 – 175 miles) I stretch, get some gas then put the vest in the plastic bag and fill it with a large bottle of cold drinking water from the convenience store’s cooler. I fill myself with a second bottle. By the time I finish my drinking my bottle of water the vest is saturated with cold water. I put it on and let me tell you the feeling of the cold water on a hot Texas day is great. Yes it evaporates and keeps me quite cool. The whole process is aided by the fact that the water comes straight from the cooler. Oh, I get wet in the process, but the evaporation keeps everything under control. The practice is assisted if you are wearing a shirt with good wicking properties.

E.
Click to expand...

Thanks for weighing in with your experience. I take it you wear a mesh jacket? I just installed a shorty windshield, which improves the wind flow toward helmet and the upper body. As indicated earlier, at the moment the plan is to wear mesh jackets and pants and then do what you described, putting a cooling vest underneath the jacket. Hydrating ourselves and the cooling vests frequently to make up for any liquid loss. Seems like that is the ticket for riding in the hot Texas summers. :) We'll see how it works out for us.
 
Grumpy, I agree with you. I have tried to wear a regular jacket, and try control the heat with ventilation, but I thought I was gonna die because I just couldn't move enough air through the jacket to evaporate the sweat. At least with mesh I can get the air flow I need. The bad side is it might be too much air flow, but them I combat that with a long sleeve t-shirt under the mesh, and by raising or lowering the wind shield, and lots of water! I have a Camelback, plus room to carry a water bottle.
 
My wife and I took a 3 1/2 hour ride yesterday in relatively humid Texas temperatures. Late afternoon hovered around 90-92 degrees and with the humidity felt much warmer.

I just got a shorty windshield in from Aeroflow, which I tested on my RT first before getting a second one for my wife's RT. In the lowest position, I felt a bit more air flow toward the upper body, but not the blast you would get from standing up on the bike. So, while it is an improvement over the standard windshield air flow, it is clear that even with the mesh jacket, we will need to do something.

As a test, we stopped and got our t-shirts wet, which helped and is the reason why we are going to look for cooling vests next to lengthen the cooling effect. We'll also get the shorty windshield for my wife, to help improve airflow for her as well.

I doubt that with anything other than mesh we could improve upon the full fairing situation in the summer. With all-year riding in Texas, when we're moving into the colder months, the shielding from the fairing will be a tremendous benefit. Until then, we're sticking with the mesh and cooling vests, supported by the bit of more air flow from a shorty windshield.
 
I was revisiting this and guess I need to define mesh from my view.

We have several brands of jackets, some full textile,some a mix of textile and vented material, and then full on mesh that you can put a straw through. Here, those type jackets will dehydrate you quickly in July-August if you do not keep up with fluid intake.
The Vanson and Joe Rocket mesh definitely are mesh in my mind with very defined holes. The Dainese,BMW, Rev'it, and First Gear among others, have panels of breathable fabric..I guess that could be considered mesh to some.
I do not wear the fishnet mesh on long rides as it is just way to open, do wear the breathable paneled versions and layer under if hitting colder temps. I typically wear an Olympia Dakar textile, however the breathable paneled Dainese will be my choice heading northeast from prior trips thru MS, TN and Pennsyltuckey and expected humidity from all the floods and rain. I'll layer when needed.

Anyways...stay cool:wave
 
I carry a camelback in my tankbag full of ice... When I stop, I fill it up with the ice machine at the gas station, then dump in a small bottle of gatorade, and some water. I also buy an extra of both. I keep the hose to the camelbak in the corner of my mouth and keep the fluids going. About 1/2 way through a tank of gas, I reload the camelbak on the side of the road. When I got REAL serious about this, was after I got dangerously dehydrated one day. Ever since then the phrase I remember the most is "Hydrate or Die". PS, NO coffee, or beer., Yeah I know, I like both of them too, just not when Im riding a motorcycle.

Also, when I get the ice, I roll some of it up in a kerchief, and tie it around my neck... It seems to really drop the body heat. I also wash the top of my head with some of the ice water...

I use Klim Voyager air pants... They flow enough air when you're filling your bike up at the pump, you can almost get a chill from the breeze blowing through them.
That and an Icon mesh jacket with some armor in it. I took the back protector out so the air could move through it better. For gloves, I use Taichi armored mesh gloves.

This works for me, and Ive been doing this for quite a while (like a bunch of you guys!!)
 
henzilla said:
I was revisiting this and guess I need to define mesh from my view.

We have several brands of jackets, some full textile,some a mix of textile and vented material, and then full on mesh that you can put a straw through. Here, those type jackets will dehydrate you quickly in July-August if you do not keep up with fluid intake.
The Vanson and Joe Rocket mesh definitely are mesh in my mind with very defined holes. The Dainese,BMW, Rev'it, and First Gear among others, have panels of breathable fabric..I guess that could be considered mesh to some.
I do not wear the fishnet mesh on long rides as it is just way to open, do wear the breathable paneled versions and layer under if hitting colder temps. I typically wear an Olympia Dakar textile, however the breathable paneled Dainese will be my choice heading northeast from prior trips thru MS, TN and Pennsyltuckey and expected humidity from all the floods and rain. I'll layer when needed.

Anyways...stay cool:wave
Click to expand...

Very valid and important distinction.

As fairly new riders, in our quest to find the appropriate riding gear for our climate, plus adding as much protection as possible is made difficult by the generalization of terms. So this clarification is highly appreciated.

My wife ended up with a Klim "mesh" jacket that seems to be solid in terms of abrassian resistance and (hopefully) sufficient air circulation so that the cooling vests we are going to add next do their job. For pants she is using the Rev'it Tornado 2, which I also have a pair coming for me after trying various others. The quality and purported abrassian resistance seem to be quite good.

As for jacket, I am still looking. I have tried the Klim Induction jacket but I somehow fall strangely between their medium, which is too small, and the large, which is too big on me. Loved the quality of the material, of course, after having seen my wife's Klim jacket. I currently have a Tourmaster Air Intake 4, which is alright, tried the Air Intake 5, which odly feels like a completely different jacket and not comfortable at all. I might try the Rev'it Tornado jacket next.
 
jbtex said:
Very valid and important distinction.

As fairly new riders, in our quest to find the appropriate riding gear for our climate, plus adding as much protection as possible is made difficult by the generalization of terms. So this clarification is highly appreciated.

My wife ended up with a Klim "mesh" jacket that seems to be solid in terms of abrassian resistance and (hopefully) sufficient air circulation so that the cooling vests we are going to add next do their job. For pants she is using the Rev'it Tornado 2, which I also have a pair coming for me after trying various others. The quality and purported abrassian resistance seem to be quite good.

As for jacket, I am still looking. I have tried the Klim Induction jacket but I somehow fall strangely between their medium, which is too small, and the large, which is too big on me. Loved the quality of the material, of course, after having seen my wife's Klim jacket. I currently have a Tourmaster Air Intake 4, which is alright, tried the Air Intake 5, which odly feels like a completely different jacket and not comfortable at all. I might try the Rev'it Tornado jacket next.
Click to expand...

I had the same situation with the Klim jacket. The larger size had sleeves long enough for a 7' tall man.

Take a look at Olympia. I have had a couple of their air intake jackets and they fit well and are pretty close to the same quality of Klim.
 
All this talk of hot weather riding reminds me of a couple years ago riding in Montana. It was 110F and bright sun, not a cloud in the sky. We stopped for gas and water and while we were sitting there a couple riders pulled in and we ride with them often so we knew them well. The wife was wearing a tank top, jeans, no helmet and she looked like a over done steak. We were concerned for her and she just shrugged it off and hopped back on and rode away. We saw her again a week later and asked how she made out that day. She said she got a little sun burn, other than that, no issues! The rest of us were dieing from the heat. She is an EMT so she knows about heat and hydration. No clue why she wasn't suffering! She rode a few hundred miles that day. We did about 300 and called it a day. The next day was a nice cool 95!
 
Previous conditioning perhaps? After working most weekends in the last 40 years in Florida heat/humidity my body has a high tolerance to riding in the heat as might be expected.
 
Sport Windshield

jbtex said:
This is wonderfully helpful input! Thank you so much for taking the time to document your experience. I will check out the various mentions.

Your experience with the shorter windshield gives me hope. We tremendously enjoy the bikes and the heat-related aspects are something I feel we can address. At least we get all-year riding out of it. That's worth something! :)
Click to expand...

I have a brand new sport windshield I'll sell you for $300. I bought a Red 2018 RT and didn't want the sport shield, preferred the standard so they removed the sport and installed the standard shield at the dealer so the sport has never seen a single mile on the RT.

Scott Roe
866-635-2312
scott384@hotmail.com

rightsideOPT.jpg
 
snotty54 said:
I have a brand new sport windshield I'll sell you for $300. I bought a Red 2018 RT and didn't want the sport shield, preferred the standard so they removed the sport and installed the standard shield at the dealer so the sport has never seen a single mile on the RT.

Scott Roe
866-635-2312
scott384@hotmail.com

View attachment 74365
Click to expand...

Ha! Scott, that is actually totally funny!

When we bought our two RTs the end of April, I got the red 2018 you have and asked the dealer to swap the sport screen for the standard, which they did at no extra cost. I figured that if we needed the shorter screens we could go for the cheaper aftermarket short ones I had seen when I did our research. My wife got the black one with the standard windshield.

Aeroflow has a short sport screen, which is even shorter than the BMW OEM. They had a scratch and dent in stock, which had just been mounted once on a demo bike. Perfect condition and great for what we had hoped it would do for the increased wind flow. I got that in a couple of weeks ago and seeing how well it worked we decided to buy a second one for my wife.

Here's the funny part: I actually just ordered the one for my wife's bike a couple of days ago. It'll be here tomorrow. If timing would have been on your side I would have taken you up on yours! Perhaps someone else reading this thread is going to buy it from you. Appreciate the offer though!
 
BTW, Scott, where did you get the red panels that are not stock on that Mars Red. Did you have them painted?
 
mikegalbicka said:
Previous conditioning perhaps? After working most weekends in the last 40 years in Florida heat/humidity my body has a high tolerance to riding in the heat as might be expected.
Click to expand...

That is about the only thing I can come up with. Everyone in the group I was riding with sit behind a desk in air conditioning most of the time. I used to be a commercial HVAC tech and would spend all day on a hot roof. I noticed I can not handle the heat like I could back then, but then I am ten years older too!
 
I won’t get into the mesh vs non-mesh debate but when it’s hot I wear mesh and drink often, and drink more often, and finish it off with more water. As far as clothing I’m a bit of a clothes nutcase so this is my 2 cents, there is no science involved here just my opinion.

Motoport mesh the stiffest mesh, heaviest of my non-leather hot weather gear, plasticky in feel, also the most irritating to paint if you lean on your bike with it. If I was sliding on the ground I think it would be the most protective. Flows great air as it is almost all mesh. I’m not a great fan of their armor, I find it one of the more uncomfortable types, although it does not prevent me from enjoying full days in the saddle and the optional armor is quite bulky. Motoport is also very customizable, the first suit I bought was pretty standard, the second highly customized to get just what I wanted. As for the pants my first suit had all mesh pants, the second mesh fronts and stretch fabric in back, which are more comfortable. If I had to order again I would get mesh fronts only on the thigh area.

BMW air shell, very lightweight, large mesh panels but not as mesh covered as the Motoport, which is probably a function of using mesh that would probably not do as well sliding along the ground. I like the comfort of the BMW armor more than the motoport. I only wear short jackets and always zip to my pants so I like the fact that all BMW jackets zip to all BMW pants. My go to jacket when really hot, if I decide to ride.

Rukka AFT a non-mesh hot weather jacket. It’s made from woven cordura which allows good air flow, although not as much as mesh. Very soft “hand”. The impact areas are doubled fabric. Present versions use D30 armor. This is the one jacket I don’t personally have but my wife does and if she had to replace it she would get another one.

Rev it perforated leather. Very nice leather, heavier than the textiles above, flows air very similar to mesh, allows me to wear leather throughout most of the summer although on the really hot days I go for textile mesh. I live in central NY so it’s not the equivalent of living in the south. I use a Rev it safety belt that allows me to zip to various brands of pants. I like the feel of leather and it certainly is heavy enough that in a slide would probably be very protective.

At last year’s IMS in NYC I had the Vanson folks measure me for a custom 2 piece leather perforated suit (did I mention I’m a clothes nutcase). It is their competition weight leather, fits great, flows great air and is use is the same as the Rev it above and man does it feel nice.

Of course I have several jackets for non-hot weather and when it’s hot vents don’t cut it on my jackets for good air flow/comfort (streetguard, tourshell and rev it leather), at least on my K16BGA. When I ride my 9T I can wear pretty much anything as there is great air flow. Just remember drink, drink, drink. Good luck in your choice.
 
jbtex said:
Very valid and important distinction.

As fairly new riders, in our quest to find the appropriate riding gear for our climate, plus adding as much protection as possible is made difficult by the generalization of terms. So this clarification is highly appreciated.

My wife ended up with a Klim "mesh" jacket that seems to be solid in terms of abrassian resistance and (hopefully) sufficient air circulation so that the cooling vests we are going to add next do their job. For pants she is using the Rev'it Tornado 2, which I also have a pair coming for me after trying various others. The quality and purported abrassian resistance seem to be quite good.

As for jacket, I am still looking. I have tried the Klim Induction jacket but I somehow fall strangely between their medium, which is too small, and the large, which is too big on me. Loved the quality of the material, of course, after having seen my wife's Klim jacket. I currently have a Tourmaster Air Intake 4, which is alright, tried the Air Intake 5, which odly feels like a completely different jacket and not comfortable at all. I might try the Rev'it Tornado jacket next.
Click to expand...
****
Have you looked at Olympia jackets? This three season jacket works well and in hot , humid weather you can remove the insulated liner and the rain jacket and just wear the mesh shell. I wear the hi-vis color.
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/olympia-airglide-5-jacket
 
PoorUB said:
All this talk of hot weather riding reminds me of a couple years ago riding in Montana. It was 110F and bright sun, not a cloud in the sky. We stopped for gas and water and while we were sitting there a couple riders pulled in and we ride with them often so we knew them well. The wife was wearing a tank top, jeans, no helmet and she looked like a over done steak. We were concerned for her and she just shrugged it off and hopped back on and rode away. We saw her again a week later and asked how she made out that day. She said she got a little sun burn, other than that, no issues! The rest of us were dieing from the heat. She is an EMT so she knows about heat and hydration. No clue why she wasn't suffering! She rode a few hundred miles that day. We did about 300 and called it a day. The next day was a nice cool 95!
Click to expand...
tank top and no helmet? WOW!
 
cruisincruzan said:
I won’t get into the mesh vs non-mesh debate but when it’s hot I wear mesh and drink often, and drink more often, and finish it off with more water. As far as clothing I’m a bit of a clothes nutcase so this is my 2 cents, there is no science involved here just my opinion.

Motoport mesh the stiffest mesh, heaviest of my non-leather hot weather gear, plasticky in feel, also the most irritating to paint if you lean on your bike with it. If I was sliding on the ground I think it would be the most protective. Flows great air as it is almost all mesh. I’m not a great fan of their armor, I find it one of the more uncomfortable types, although it does not prevent me from enjoying full days in the saddle and the optional armor is quite bulky. Motoport is also very customizable, the first suit I bought was pretty standard, the second highly customized to get just what I wanted. As for the pants my first suit had all mesh pants, the second mesh fronts and stretch fabric in back, which are more comfortable. If I had to order again I would get mesh fronts only on the thigh area.

BMW air shell, very lightweight, large mesh panels but not as mesh covered as the Motoport, which is probably a function of using mesh that would probably not do as well sliding along the ground. I like the comfort of the BMW armor more than the motoport. I only wear short jackets and always zip to my pants so I like the fact that all BMW jackets zip to all BMW pants. My go to jacket when really hot, if I decide to ride.

Rukka AFT a non-mesh hot weather jacket. It’s made from woven cordura which allows good air flow, although not as much as mesh. Very soft “hand”. The impact areas are doubled fabric. Present versions use D30 armor. This is the one jacket I don’t personally have but my wife does and if she had to replace it she would get another one.

Rev it perforated leather. Very nice leather, heavier than the textiles above, flows air very similar to mesh, allows me to wear leather throughout most of the summer although on the really hot days I go for textile mesh. I live in central NY so it’s not the equivalent of living in the south. I use a Rev it safety belt that allows me to zip to various brands of pants. I like the feel of leather and it certainly is heavy enough that in a slide would probably be very protective.

At last year’s IMS in NYC I had the Vanson folks measure me for a custom 2 piece leather perforated suit (did I mention I’m a clothes nutcase). It is their competition weight leather, fits great, flows great air and is use is the same as the Rev it above and man does it feel nice.

Of course I have several jackets for non-hot weather and when it’s hot vents don’t cut it on my jackets for good air flow/comfort (streetguard, tourshell and rev it leather), at least on my K16BGA. When I ride my 9T I can wear pretty much anything as there is great air flow. Just remember drink, drink, drink. Good luck in your choice.
Click to expand...

Absolutely love(!) the detailed info! Thanks for taking the time to document your lineup.

One of the challenges is the sticker price in trying to find the right combination. I would love to see how a perforated leather jacket would do in the summer sitting behind the RT's fairing and shield. At the cost of them, that's a tough one to justify. That's what makes listening to the experience of others so valuable.

I'll take a look at the Rukka AFT as well.
 
badge502 said:
... I use Klim Voyager air pants... They flow enough air when you're filling your bike up at the pump, you can almost get a chill from the breeze blowing through them. ...
Click to expand...

I thought about these pants (they looked like a great match for the Klim Induction Jacket) but the pants only come in BLACK. I don't understand this... A product designed to help you stay cool that only comes in a color that absorbs the most heat in the sun. If these came in lighter colors, I'd be all over them.
 
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