Suzuki V-Strom (VStrom) Owners Club DL250, DL650, DL1000 & DL1050
Oily Rag - Dedicated to Pat, Greywolf. 26/06/45 - 04/06/18 => Clothing => Topic started by: Jeff in Wales on May 29, 2018, 19:16:00
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Hello,
Hopefully I'll be heading off to the Pyrenees, Picos and Portugal in July.
Over here I'm currently wearing Richa Cyclone textile trousers and my legs can get a bit sweaty whilst sitting or walking around in the hot sun.
Wondering if I'd be cooler in denim (the protective type) or leather.
What do you blokes wear on your travels to hotter places?
Cheers.
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I never wear leather, textile is much lighter and good stuff is pretty good in an accident. If I am riding fast, always armoured textile, when tootling kevlar jeans.
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Not long back from a few weeks in Spain. Kevlar jeans all the way.
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I have a BMW Rallye Pro 2 suit for hotter climes. The amount of ventilation is superb. The suits were horrendously expensive when new, but good condition used ones often come up on eBay. The BMW size guide is very comprehensive and accurate, so buying blind should be OK.
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Might get a few raised eyebrows saying this but when ever I've toured Europe and hotter climates I wear the lightest gear consisting of textile merrel gortex walking boots, ankle high, light tanned coloured DeWalt trousers, rukka gortex jacket , half faced lid and super thin summer gloves. To keep my legs dry in the rain I have a set of gortex waterproof lightweight throw overs.
In fact unless it's below about 15 Deg that's pretty much what I wear all the time I ride and once parked if I pack away my lid and jacket you wouldn't know I was on a bike.
I know my gear isn't the safest but, it's quick and easy and the more dexterity I have the better I ride. Being restricted in sweltering safer (I know , I know) bike gear really doesn't appeal to me.
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RST "Pro Series Adventure" textiles top and bottom for me. All liners out, all vents open- the sleeves have full-length zips from wrist to shoulder, zips on the back, large mesh panels on the chest. Trousers have large mesh panels from knee up to thigh. It's OK, but too much velcro, too many zips and still hot at 40 celsius. Light, vented gloves ( gloves are mandatory in France, as a roadside cop kindly informed me one summer evening when out for a little spin in t-shirt, shorts & trainers - all he cared about was the legal aspect, the gloves.) Normal Hein Gericke boots, thinnest of socks and Scholl foot powder. Shoei Neotec, open ( Iknow, it's not j/p homologated)
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Seriously think about base layers that wick the sweat away from your body. They make riding in Spain much more comfortable and can usually be rinsed and dried overnight
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Nobody plans or wants to 'come off' the bike but for those of us who have and were wearing unsuitable gear at the time will know that 'gravel rash' is uncomfortable at best and could/would spoil a trip. Good, armoured gear can help in some accidents so I'm not prepared to ride without.
I agree with the use of base layers too, good help in regulating the body temperature.
Get some good armoured textiles with plenty of ventilation, they don't need to be waterproof, you can take an over suit with you. If we're touring we will be riding most of the day, when we stop for a coffee/food we'll try & find shade, plenty usually provided in hot countries. We'll stop regularly to take photos etc. but that won't be for too long. If we've needed to walk around for more than 20/30 mins we've changed into more comfortable clothing in the corner of car parks/behind buildings etc and chained the clothing & helmets to the bike.
On occasions, if somewhere needs a good tourist look around, we'll stop an extra night, then use public transport or taxis if necessary.
It's up to you what you decide on but personally I'd rather be hot than in pain. :grin:
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Ciao!
My summer gear:
six2 base layer
Dainese Airflux jacket
PMJ Titanium full kevlar jeans
TCX Airtech boots
Riding at 30/35 C° can be very unconfortable and needs a lot of (preferably non alcoholic) liquids.
Sometimes I also switch to Tucano urbano thick canvas jeans with protections I bought some years ago: they're fresher than PMJ, though less protective.
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Like Kwackboy I’m not too fussed if my gear isn’t ‘proper’ motorbike stuff.
I rode across Europe, including many 35’C+ day’s across France & Spain, in a pair of Brasher walking boots & ‘normal’ non-armoured jeans (Tesco’s finest I think), though I did wear my Aerostich Roadcrafter jacket (loadsa vents) and carried the matching Roadcrafter bottoms, (only to use if it rained, luckily it didn’t ????)
Incidentally, the missus dressed similarly, her own choice (& no, we were not wearing matching Mr & Mrs outfits :grin:).
Ultimately it’s personal choice eh, you’ve got to be ‘comfortable’ in whatever you use, both physically and psychologically.
It’s all a balance, a calculation of likelihood and consequence, what does the time/effort/cost involved warrant.
The ALARP risk matrix in my head told me my boots/jeans combo would do just fine.
An alternative, if you demand ‘armour in all the right places’ might be to look at motorcross type under-vests/pants.
Never tried it myself, even when I raced enduros, but there’s all sorts out there, like this..
https://www.ghostbikes.com/accessories-armour-body-armour/
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Thanks for all your ideas, much food for thought.
Think I might go for a ride out to SBS in Boston on Sat and try a few things for size like mesh jackets and pants etc.
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I bought an old set of Buffalo mesh gear (jacket and pants) off Ebay for pennies (well £25). Oh lord it's lovely. Useless below 15c but the warmer it get's, the better they get .
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Just noticed your location, though ‘Jeff in Wales’ should have given it away :crazy:
Wales to Boston, in darkest deepest Lincolnshire.! That’s some Ride out :thumb:
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In summertime I wear motocross trousers and carry a light waterproof nylon trousers in case of rain.
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Kevlar Jeans for me :thumb:
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Hood Kevlar jeans for me and the other half.
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Ref the second hand mesh Buffalo suit I bought off ebay for £25. The zip on the pants went just as I got on the bike to set off....then the poppers went in Portugal so our lass did a running repair...then the seam under the crotch started to give way in Spain. Repairs were impossible to that area. By the time we crossed the Pyrenees I was walking about with what looked like a loose nappy on. By the time we got to the ferry at Caen I was officially a tramp and our lass couldn't walk next to me without laughing. Took them off at home and put them in the bin. Moral? Buy cheap buy twice? You can wear anything if your sense of humour lasts? Oh and the mesh? Yeah I felt the wind through them but all you get is a long blast of hot air. They were cooler then my touring textiles though.
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I am riding around the world at the moment, chasing the summer. I have a KLIM vented jacket which is probably the toughest out there. I have a puffa jacket which rolls up into a small bag to wear underneath when its cold, and doubles as a casual jacket when off the bike. For wind and rain I have a Mountain Warehouse nylon jacket which I got from Go Outdoors for less than £30. This has proved valuable off the bike when we were in Japan dodging heavy showers.