Best summer jacket?

[Hmm]

I went with a Bilt jacket. I have no idea if it is good. It fits perfect and I rode about 150 miles today in the Texas heat and it is a game changer for me. It was rather inexpensive as well and I liked the fit more than any of the pricer jackets.

For now this is a solution. If I want something else I will get it as well.

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View attachment 239644

I've got a pair of Bilt boots and bought them based on price. After riding with them a while, I would recommend them. They have a wide toe box.

It's not how much money you spend, it's how happy you are with your purchase. That's why I ride a used 11 year old bike.

Stay safe out there everybody.

 

[2WheelNut]

I haven't mustered up the cajones to put my Latitude on above 94 degrees to test this theory out yet.

I feel like I'd heat stroke by the end of the street.

I rode mesh last Saturday and Sunday and it was pretty hot in the afternoons and evenings, but with all the air flow on the Speed Triple, I didn't notice the heat much.

Mesh is fine for short distances but you really will get heat stroke in mesh if you ride in high heat, above 94 or so, all day. Your body can keep up for a few hours but if you do it all day, you simply won't be able to take in enough fluids to stay hydrated with essentially a blow dryer dehydrating you all day.

4 years ago this week, we rode to Las Vegas and back. Temps were 100+ for 4 days there and back including a stretch from Hoover Dam to Kingman, AZ where it was 118. I wore full textile (non mesh) gear and LD comfort undergarmets. I'd stop every 200 miles and re-wet them in the bathroom sink at the gas station. We did 500-700 mile days and I was fine. I'm not saying it wasn't hot, but I could actually get a chill when I'd open the sleeves and vents in the textile gear, allow a bit of airflow and evaporative cooling and then close the vents for about 15 minutes until it got warm and then do it again.

5 minutes open, 10 minutes closed and repeat for 2 hours or until the under layer shirt and skull cap had dried out and then re-wet them and do it again.

If I had tried that trip in mesh, I'd literally probably have passed out or died.

Having said that....it only works if you are riding faster than 50 mph. I tried it last year on an ADV ride where we were going 20 mph or less on a section of the K Trail and I got really hot as there wasn't enough speed to force the air though the jacket and pants and activate the evaporative cooling. For slower speed riding, or for short riding, mesh is more confortable. For long distance riding in heat, textile gear where you can fully control and cut off the airflow as needed is much better and safer.

 

[Jarrett]

That's good info. But why in the **** would you ride through the desert in July?

 

[MidlifeCrisis]

2WheelNut is correct that too much hot air flow can be just as bad as - if not worse than - not enough.

Regardless of what gear you select, the key is air flow control. If you ride a naked bike, or a bike that gives you little to no control on how much air flow hits your body, then you must employ other means of controlling it. The choice of outer jacket becomes much more critical. It would need to have controllable vents and flaps.

This is why I prefer a sport touring bike with a motorized windscreen and adjustable "wings". I can wear full mesh gear and have to ability to control air flow with the bike. The range of control "on the fly" is excellent and easily done without fumbling with zippers and flaps.

 

[Yeeha! Stephen]

How about :

Klim = $$$$$
Olympia = $$$$
First Gear = $$$
Joe Rocket = $$
Bilt = $

And a few others in the + or - bracket.

 

[2WheelNut]

That's good info. But why in the **** would you ride through the desert in July?

That is exactly the right question. I guess we did it to say we did it.

I didn't say I was smart. I definitely wouldn't do it again...

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[LaserDave]

and then maybe the best oil.

Aero Shell 100 (straight 50w) in the old Ironhead. Hey, if it's good enough for old radial engines.....

 

[LaserDave]

Have a 12 year old Power Trip mesh I got way back when Iron Horse was in biz near my house. It's fine.

At 65 and no humidity this morning, I hauled butt out of the garage at 6:30am in chaps and my nearly 30 year old leather jacket.
It was just getting warmer than I like in it when I got back about 10:30am. The PT jacket never came out.
There were a couple of times north of the city that I was actually chilly. In July!! Yippeeee!!