Does Safety Go Out The Window With You??

[Old_n_Slow]

I live on the Gulf Coast in Southwest Florida where it is hot and humid much of the time.  I have found that a Firstgear Meshtex jacket and pants are comfortable in the hottest of weather.   Bare skin burns quickly in the Florida summer sun and direct sunlight can be really uncomfortable.  The mesh jacket and pants avoid sun burn and actually feel cooler than a T shirt with bare arms.  ... Try some mesh gear.  You will like it.

+1

Absolutely true. A wicked sunburn last year put me into a Firstgear Meshtex this year, and it IS cooler than bare skin. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't tried it.

[Red01]

Can't quite say I'm a ATGATT guy, but pretty close. Mostly from experience. Not only can you get sunburn from riding around in summer clothes, you can get windburn, too. I always wear boots (but then I usually wear at hiking boots at work or home, so that's easy) and full-fingered gloves. I do ride sometimes with jeans instead of riding pants, but NEVER in shorts - if it's hot enough for me to wear shorts, the bike is hot enough to burn me. My Joe Rocket Alter Ego jacket was purchased so I'd have a jacket that I could use year-round. Granted, in it's mesh form it's not gonna be as protective, but it's gonna be better than a t-shirt. Helmet is pretty much a given since the law requires it, but I have been known to ride without one on rare occassion when riding the dirt bike around the back yard (which is done without the jacket) or back when it was legal, a quick little trip down the road to the beach or the store.

[Sven]

I have found that a Firstgear Meshtex jacket and pants are comfortable in the hottest of weather.

I have that jacket, and while I wouldn't say it's comfortable in the hottest weather, I do wear it.  I didn't know they have pants in the same stuff...I guess you wear them over shorts or jeans?  (Otherwise, people would see your junk!)  Tell me more about the pants...

[Dave 02 1200]

Don't underestimate the protection offered by Aerostich Cordura and Ballistic garments.  The Aerostich suits and jackets are constricted of 500 denier Cordura and 1050 denier ballistic nylon.  There are two or more layers in many areas and the body armor is substantial.  I wear an Aerostich Roadcrafter in cooler weather and, like the testers who work for most of the motorcycle magazines, I believe it offers good protetion for fast street and highway riding.  Check out Andy Goldfine's comments on the Aerostich web site.  He has done his research and his suits are very well made.  That said, competition-weight leather and Kevlar might even be better.  I agree that other lighter garments offer lower levels of protection.  The main thing is that even a denim jean jacket is much better than bare skin.

[Sven]

Don't underestimate the protection offered by Aerostich Cordura and Ballistic garments.

I got a 'Stich suit this past fall to extend my riding season, and while it was more comfortable than it looks, it wasn't as warm as I hoped.  However, it would just be TOO DARN HOT for summer.  This whole "oh, you just unzip a vent and it's plenty cool" is some amazing fantasy.

[Vidrazor]

>>The Aerostich suits and jackets are constricted of 500 denier Cordura and 1050 denier ballistic nylon.<<

Not all. I was in a shop and saw one with 300 denier Cordura. I'm not exactly sure about "ballistic nylon". I've never heard of this term other than in Joe Rocket stuff, and it's just a fancy name given to standard nylon. There's nothing "ballistic" about it. I'm not sure there is a such a thing, but I don't know for sure. When you say "1050 denier", are you sure you're not referring to the blends such as Keprotec?

I agree with you that wearing SOMETHING beats wearing NOTHING, but if you're going to wear "something", might as well make it "something" that's going to do "something" good for you should you have an unfortunate mishap.  

[smooth operator]

Went for a ride today and wore a heavy cordroy shirt and mesh gloves,w/kevlar knuckels.Work jeans and boots. Usally its always the leather jacket and if its going to be or might be a spirited ride,its full gear. That was the 1st time this yr. I wore a long sleve shirt instead of the jacket.

[LensWork]

>>The Aerostich suits and jackets are constricted of 500 denier Cordura and 1050 denier ballistic nylon.<<

Not all. I was in a shop and saw one with 300 denier Cordura. I'm not exactly sure about "ballistic nylon". I've never heard of this term other than in Joe Rocket stuff, and it's just a fancy name given to standard nylon. There's nothing "ballistic" about it. I'm not sure there is a such a thing, but I don't know for sure. When you say "1050 denier", are you sure you're not referring to the blends such as Keprotec?

I agree with you that wearing SOMETHING beats wearing NOTHING, but if you're going to wear "something", might as well make it "something" that's going to do "something" good for you should you have an unfortunate mishap.  

Denier refers to the thread count density. The higher the Denier rating, the higher the thread count per square inch. The term "Ballistic" nylon comes from two threads being twisted together, thus a 1680 ballistic nylon is two 840 Denier threads twisted together. This process strengthens the weave making it less likely to be punctured, thus the term "Ballistic".
 
Anyways, enough of the technical stuff. No matter how short the ride, nor how warm the weather, I ALWAYS ride with a full face helmet, Arlen Ness textile jacket w/ CE armor, full leather gloves, jeans & riding boots. I live in Central Florida currently, and grew up riding in Texas. Yes, riding as I do may be sometimes uncomfortably warm, but as another poster stated, "I would rather have heat rash than road rash".

[billybandit]

I wear jeans/boots/jacket to work (don't really go above 40mph) and on short journeys but anything over a couple of miles and I'm usually leathers all the way. Falling off at 40mph when I was new to bikes took all the skin off my knees, I dread to think what jeans (and legs) would look like in a 130mph+ spill  

[PitterB4]

Ask this couple about the value of gear!  (check out the girl's flip-flop clad left foot already starting to catch pavement...)

[Sven]

All it would take would be for that big mutha of a backpack to shift weight and dump them.

[WabashMX5]

Amazing pic -- where did it come from?  What's the story?

Some photographer either lucked out, or knew how to catch a shot at what looks like two-tenths of a second before disaster.  Look at that front wheel angle....

[solman]

Amazing pic -- where did it come from? What's the story?

Some photographer either lucked out, or knew how to catch a shot at what looks like two-tenths of a second before disaster. Look at that front wheel angle....

I was thinking the same thing, she is so SCREWED!!!

Anyways, here is a pic of me with my Summer gear.  Regardless, I always were a jacket, gloves, helmets, pants(and the other obvious stuff).


I've already gone down, I don't want to lose skin as well.

[PitterB4]

Sorry - I didn't mean to derail this thread.

There's a series of pics (this is the last).  She gave the photog the peace sign as they went by him.  They knew the camera was there and were probably hamming it up.  Too bad.  

I don't know the full story - I stole this pic of another board.  I think it is from a Killboys-style site where photogs set up on good roads and post pics on the web.

[Desolation Angel]

There's a couple of pics in the Clubhouse section that show some attractive young lady completely buck naked ('cept for boots) riding some bike and I couldn't help but think what would happen to her if she went down.  

...he says with a violent shiver...