Helmet Recommendations?

[mrlmd1]

They make cooling vests you can wear under the mesh jacket to stay cool. Some of these things have those gel freezer packs in them some of them you wet so you get more evaporative cooling. You can always wet down your tee shirt under the mesh jacket.
One thing you have to be careful about riding in the heat is actually getting dehydrated, from insensible water loss due to evaporation from your skin in the wind. Some riders actually like the windproof or even leather jackets when on a trip to cut down on water loss and they say it actually keeps them cooler in a long ride.
It's not bad till you stop and sit in the sun. For me, even with all the vents open, my helmet and head is all wet, but unless I'm just going around the corner, I always wear it.

[YoungRider2010]

Thats interesting. I never would have thought about dehydrating from skin due to wind. Makes sense, I just never thought about it. Good tips.

[dhgeyer]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

Was it the jacket and pants that accomplished that feat.......or the helmet ??

Both. I tumbled and rolled 100 feet (I paced it off later). My helmet was marked up all over. If it had been a 3/4 or 1/2 helmet, I probably would be one of those guys without a chin. No helmet, and I'd have been a vegetable or dead. The initial impact for me with the road was on my armored right shoulder. It was sore for a year, but has healed up now, two years later with no medical intervention. I got up and walked away at the time. My jacket was severely abraded in several places that would otherwise would have been my skin. Without the shoulder armor I probably would have been crippled.

My wife must have hit something. To this day we don't know what. She blacked out. There is no question that she would have died without the full face helmet. As it is, she suffered a traumatic brain injury. Her short term memory, multitasking, and concentration have all been affected. She is very thankful to be alive. Her jacket was not as heavily armored as mine, unfortunately. We had tried to find one like mine for her, but they didn't sell them in women's sizes anywhere we tried. She suffered 26 fractures to 20 bones, mostly ribs, all above the waist and below the neck. Also 2 punctured lungs. She will always have chronic back pain, and it limits what she can do and how long she can do it. Still, it was better than a non-motorcycle jacket, or no jacket, and her internal injuries would have been worse without it, and I doubt she would have survived them. It was close as it was.

I agree that overheating to the point where your brain doesn't work is at least as dangerous as riding without a jacket. I ride with a 3/4 helmet in very hot weather, if I'm riding the Concours, which has a large windshield. I've tried a lot of windshield/helmet combinations, and have come to the conclusion that full face helmets are designed to be out in the moving air in order to ventilate properly. They can't do that behind a big windshield. Medium windshields cause buffeting on a helmet. Full face helmets function best with a windshield that is short enough to put the turbulence at or below the shoulders. This will keep the pressure off your chest at highway speeds, and let the FF helmet do its job.

A mesh jacket with nothing other than a T-shirt under it does almost nothing to add to overheating, and will give a lot of road rash protection. Even mesh jackets come with armored elbows and shoulders, which can prevent broken bones as well. Some have armored backs to protect the spine. A wet T-shirt is even better in very hot weather. Under a mesh jacket, a wet T-shirt will keep you cool under pretty hot conditions. You have to re-wet it once in a while.

I've ridden well into the 90's with a mesh jacket and 3/4 helmet without overheating as long as I kept moving (and drinking water). I can't talk about over a hundred, as I have never done it. On the few occasions when it gets that hot around here, I take the Prius and crank up the AC.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

I haven't found that to be a problem. It seems to keep itself moist somehow!! :biggrin:

Although I'm sure some extra water would probably help.

[Sarris]

DH, I am certainly glad you have both pulled through as well as you have. The outcome could have been much worse. Your story does emphasize a personal rule of mine.

I NEVER CARRY A PASSENGER!! They add to the bike weight, they make the bike handle and manuver like shit, as well as impairing acceleration and increasing stopping distances.

The only exceptions I would make are for a hack or trike. PERIOD

Consider this: It could be possible that you may have avoided the accident entirely or had a less severe accident had you not been carrying a passenger.

If a woman wants to ride with me, she damn well better have her own bike, or we take the cage. I don't want anyone elses life in my hands.

:chop:

[dhgeyer]

Well, it won't be an issue for us in the future, since my wife is no longer physically able to ride, passenger or otherwise.

[Water Warrior 2]

Severe dehydration and heat will really mess you up. In 06 I had my first long distant ride. I was not smart enough at the time to carry and drink water. Half way throught the first day and temps at 96 F in the shade. Then it really warmed up. Finished my first day and was forced to stay put for 2 days with leg and foot cramps that were extremely painful. I could not even sleep in an A/C equiped hotel room I hurt so much. Since then I have to take meds on a daily basis to avoid cramps. You don't have to crash to have lasting effects of bike riding. Oddly enough the day I left after my recuperating, I rode in 5 hours of rain(no rain gear) and very low temps for that area. Hypothermia set in and I got real dumb. After almost leaving the highway 2 times I finally figure it was time to stop. A real learning experience and lucky to be alive. Since then I have tried to always have proper gear on my body or in the side cases when needed. The proper gear is out there for every ocassion, just have to find it.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by Sarris

I NEVER CARRY A PASSENGER!! They add to the bike weight, they make the bike handle and manuver like shit, as well as impairing acceleration and increasing stopping distances.

I agree with the second part, & wish I could accomplish the first part. Unfortunately, traffic is so heavy on the local village streets over here that when we go to the local town (around 7 miles) we can do it easily in 15 minutes. In the car it could take us over an hour, so we've no choice really.

[dhgeyer]

Actually, rethinking the passenger issue, I can't fully agree with the assertion. I think it depends on the bike and other possible mitigating circumstances. The Concours, the bike we were riding at the time of the accident, weighs close to 700 pounds, and is very top heavy. I weigh about 185. My wife weighs about 125. She's a small enough percentage of the total weight that the difference in handling/braking was insignificant. Given the nature of the accident, which I have described elsewhere, I do not believe that her weight was a factor in having the accident or not having the accident.

The alternative at the time was for her to ride her own bike. She has a license, but never rode very much. She had her own bike. We were both riding Honda Shadow VLX 600's. We decided that it would be safer, given how into it I was and how little she rode, if we got a bigger bike and rode together. If we had been on individual bikes at the time of the accident, Sue would have been in the lead, as we always rode that way so that she could set a pace that was comfortable to her. Being fairly inexperienced, she would never have been able to avoid the direct collision, and would probably be dead.

So, while in general the statement is true that a passenger makes a bike less responsive, there are situations where, for one reason or another, it still may be the best idea, short of staying home in bed. Actually, I'm terrified to go to bed. Statistically being in bed is the most dangerous thing you can ever do. That's where most people die.

[patrick_777]

That's why Sarris never has sex. Statistically speaking, more people over the age is 85 die from having sex than from riding motorcycles. He's just playing the odds.