Summer riding: jacket or no jacket

[sebastienb]

This is my first year with a bike, I got it in December and also bought a air something jacket from Dainese, here in Miami it's never really too cold so it fits well for now. I rarely ride without a jacket ( short rides if it's hot) but it's getting really hot already. Do you guys always have your jackets on?

[herm]

yes. length of ride won't matter if you go down.

[ab]

gear on always.  not worth the risk without gear.  even in freaking hot days, I wear my gear.  The asphalt doesn't care that it is a hot day when you go down. 

[lawmaster891]

i wear full gear here in texas sitting in traffic jams with 100+ degree heat.

[sofadriver]

the discomfort of full gear in summer heat is nothing compared to skin grafts

(go search YouTube for "motorcyclist skin grafts". Ughhhh  )

[Dieter29]

Always, don't be "that guy".

[Raux]

look for a textile mesh motorcycle jacket

it's like wearing air conditioning while moving

[Brett76]

I wear an a* summer jacket around the city when it's hot, but always full leather on a spirited run...

[He Man]

Im that guy, to be honest, the ONLY reason i wear a jacket in the hot summer heat is because of sun burn.

a mesh jacket will keep the skin off your arms so you dont have a farmer tan. oh and it protects you on the FIRST bounce. anything more and it will pretty much blow apart.

[sebastienb]

look for a textile mesh motorcycle jacket

it's like wearing air conditioning while moving

Thats what i got and yes it does feel like a portable ac when moving but when stopped at a light feels like a oven, but i'll keep it on just to be safe since its still my first year in the streets.

[koko64]

With a mesh jacket, (any jacket actually), I make sure it has quality armour. If it has cheap foam inserts, I replace them with road race quality pieces, because the armour will be doing all the work, once the mesh tears.
I always wear a back protector. As He Man said, the mesh wears through quicker compared to heavier textiles or leather, so you'll be surfing on the armour and not your skin.

Living in Melbourne, I have three jackets, all amoured and a hard armour back protector which fits them all. Also have kevlar jeans with hard shin/knee armour and winter pants with armour.

I had some old kevlar jeans that had worn through the denim so that your balls hung out, so I thought I'd test the kevlar with an angle grinder. I was really impressed! The grinder vapourized the denim, but only mildly scuffed the kevlar. Amazing stuff.

It's a balance to make sure you are as comfortable as possible as well as protected because getting too hot or cold ruins your concentration and alertness.

You can't eliminate risk, but you can work the odds.

[garryc]

always ride with protective gear, when it is aussie hot i add
http://www.coolweave.com.au/cooling_neck_ties.htm.
amazing how much cooler you feel

[sofadriver]

I had some old kevlar jeans that had worn through the denim so that your balls hung out

If you're saying that you wore thru a pair of jeans using just your nads, I gotta' tell ya' - I'm impressed! 

[thought]

for the heat, get some underarmor long sleeves/tights to wear under your gear.  that + a vented jacket will basically solve most of the issues.  you'll be amazed at the difference btwn wearing the wicking compression stuff vs not wearing it... you wont be able to go back to normal after.

[koko64]

If you're saying that you wore thru a pair of jeans using just your nads, I gotta' tell ya' - I'm impressed! 

It's that bloody Monster seat sliding me into the tank! 

Well, in Greek my surname means" hard core", in Spanish it gets translated into, well , you know, its confused with another word.  Explains why everyone in Spain was laughing at my surname.