100+ temp Newbie to ATGATT Review

[Goodman4]

I had a really good experience in the heat on our trip this week with the info I learned here on the forum and other places. As a newbie to sport-touring I have been surprised by some basics that I would have overlooked without a lot of reading and research. I thought I'd review what I learned, but as always, your mileage may vary.

For background, I have ridden a lot in the heat of Western Ky, which is usually pretty humid and often mid 90's. But I have never had a sport-tourer or a lot of gear and I ride with minimal clothing when it's hot. This week the wife and I had a trip to Virginia planned over the 4th and we've been trying to change our style to ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time). Seemed like the temps being over 100 this week was a bad time to try it, but I was up for learning and experimenting.

Gary's reviews of the cooling options were really helpful, but I wasn't interested in spending over $1000 for two Veskimos, so we tried the hyperkwl vests at $35 ea. We each got our first pair of riding pants, mine the Klim Mojave, and hers the Fly Racing Women's Coolpro. Thought about getting mesh jackets, but stayed with the jackets we've had for a few years and we got summer gloves which was nice.

I have a book by Dale Coyner that I've got a lot of helpful stuff from but had not really read that closely on the hot riding info. His main advice was to be sure you wear wicking clothing. This is probably old-hat to you experienced long distance riders, but I never thought about avoiding cotton clothing. I'm a country boy that's never thought about wearing anything other than my normal cotton underwear and t-shirts. That is the one thing that made more of a difference than anything on our hot ride. No matter how hot it got, we stayed comfortable because we weren't sitting in a pool of sweaty cotton.

Polyester, Spandex or Coolex pulls the moisture away and keeps you dry, avoiding Monkey-Butt and helps you feel cooler even though you are sweating. The other benefit is washing them out in the sink at night allows them to be dry the next day. I think it's better to alternate two pair, giving you some variety for a much longer trip, which will hopefully be in our future as we work our way up.

We also loved the cooling vests. I don't think they would have been very good without the wicking shirts, but they did a great job for both of us even in 50-70% humidity and 100+ temps for a few hours. The pants were both great and I recommend them highly. I think there are options with more protection out there, but if they are comfortable I am more likely to wear them and I normally just wear jeans or even go shorts when it is super hot. So these are a huge safety improvement for me.

Lastly, I can vouch for the importance of blocking the wind with ATGATT gear zipped up when it starts getting above 104. There was only a couple times I had to do this on the trip because there was frequently enough shade to pull the relative temp down below 99. But when it got above the body temperature point, blocking the wind made a big difference. If this is new to you, there are several threads on this forum explaining it. This article talks about it and the importance of increased hydration:

https://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/ExtremeHeat.html

So long live ATGATT, even in the heat.

Happy Riding,

Paul

 

[A41Billy]

That's great info. I am considering a cooling vest for summer. I didnt know about blocking the wind over 99F, makes sense. Thanks for the post Goodman!

 

[garyahouse]

Goodman4,

I wish you all the best in battling the heat. Hope the vests you chose give you a level of performance you can live with. Your feedback is valuable since the more we know about cooling options out there, the better able we will be in making decisions.

However, in my humble opinion, the best cooling systems on the market are the circulating vests, especially in humid areas of the country. Granted, the Veskimo is pricey, but cha still get what ya pay for, as they say. Once again, when it comes to miserable hot weather, the Veskimo is truly amazing. As soon as ya turn the switch on, it's "Welcome to Alaska."

Anyway, in your post you mentioned two Veskimos. I never considered that. After reading your post, I got to thinking, could two coolers fit on one bike? I've got the 9 qt. cooler. But they're actually not that big. I'm thinking it's about 18 pounds when full. Each one holds about 80 percent of one of those bags of ice you can buy at any gas station. My concern is, can the FJR's rack hold the weight? It might get up to about 40 pounds with two coolers back there. Anybody out there know how much weight the FJR rack can hold?

Gary

darksider #44

 

[kbacon]

Using even mesh gear in this excessively hot weather is a challenge. In addition to the hyperkwel vest I put a 50 oz camelback in the back pocket of my jacket. Whenever I stopped I filled the blatter with ice and a little water. It would last about an hour and a half providing me with cool water to stay hydrated and also the cooling feeling of the melting ice. Actually worked better than I thought it would but the sweating camelback does drip down your back, wetting your shirt and mesh pants so you look a little strange when you stop to take a wizz but who cares. I was fairly comfortable for the 2400 miles I rode in 95+ degree heat through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina recently. Most of the gas stations/C-stores I stopped at provided the ice and water without a charge so that was an added bonus.

 

[Chuck35]

I am currently shopping for riding gear, It is often 100 + down here. I have a phase change cooling vest, been looking at mesh gear.

I have read about blocking wind, but between the vest and the v-steam billboard I don't know if mesh will be a problem for me.

 

[Goodman4]

Gary, I appreciate your comments and especially the good research you did on the cooling options. I factored it heavily when I made my decision, and that is why I considered the veskimo as the top of the line option. We usually are pretty loaded up on our trips and I couldn't imagine loading up much more weight, so the backpack veskimos would be our only possible choice. I just felt for our limited hot riding tours we couldn't justify the expense of the $500 backpacks. If we did a LOT more trips like this one, I could see it. From my experience the hyperkewl only makes it manageable, not comfortable. I'll bet the veskimos bring it up to the "ahh" level.

One thing I have read is that the hyperkewl vests don't last very long, with decreased cooling the next year of use. That should be factored in when calculating the expense. For me, even if the cooling vests only last for a year, I still think they are a good value for us.

So good luck with your research and keep us informed.

And Chuck35, I wouldn't "worry" about getting a mesh jacket if that is what you would like to get. I would have enjoyed having the mesh jacket about 80% of our ride this week. My point was more that I couldn't justify it since it didn't help that much as it got over 100 degrees. The other 20% was nice to be able to block the wind, but I could have blocked most of it with the windshield up. Just get something you will be able to protect yourself with.

 

[Chuck35]

I think I did well, It took all evening. I have a pair of Joe Rocket Phoenix 2.0 mesh pants and a Nova 2.0 jacket ordered. $120 delivered.

 

[Goodman4]

I think I did well, It took all evening. I have a pair of Joe Rocket Phoenix 2.0 mesh pants and a Nova 2.0 jacket ordered. $120 delivered.

Good deal. You sound like me shopping on the Internet. Let us know how you like them.