So you want a mesh jacket for hot weather riding, right? Right. For HOT weather. Temps in the 90's, or 100's. Bright sunshine beaming down on you relentlessly. And you're gonna buy a BLACK jacket for hot sunny weather??
I'm perusing the online stores this evening and cannot believe that they would even make a black hot weather jacket. But every one I looked at comes in black and a number of other dark colors. Any white ones? Not a chance. How about neon green or yellow? Haven't found any of those yet either.
What's the deal here? Do we buy jackets for function or fashion? (Insert no-brainer answer here.)
Okay, this was a rant, but it ends with this question: Anyone found a hot weather armored jacket in a light color that you're happy with?
It doesn't REALLY matter what color it is. You're only going to get hot when you sitting at a stop light. And that's going to happen regardless of what color your jacket is. I have a black mesh jacket, and I live in Texas. Trust me, it's going to be ok. White and light color jackets get dirty super easily, not to mention the sweat stains. Get a black jacket, learn how to hypermile (don't get caught sitting at lights) and just go faster to create more breeze.
The Vanson Vent Max is an awesome hot weather jacket. But it is just that, a hot weather jacket. They make a silver one... of course I couldn't find one.. so I got the black one... but black has rarely been too hot for me, only when it's over 100º + here in SoCal - but everything is too hot then. I love mine and a number of other people have liked it enough after seeing it to get one of their own. When riding I find it is actually cooler than wearing no jacket at all.
The pro's: great in hot and very hot weather, looks great, fits like a glove - best fitting jacket I own, add a Joe Rocket Dry Tech liner and it is good in warm to cool weather too (I wore the jacket with or without the liner all the way up the coast from LA to San Fran and back for the Amerivespa ride and was comfortable the whole way)
The Cons: no pockets. None.; no built in liner (but the Joe Rocket one works great with it), the Vent Max's are getting hard to find as Vanson is about to upgrade their mesh offering to a newer model and have discontinued them. That said there are some great deals to be found - New Enough had some amazing prices if they still have your size... $29 - $39! Down from $175!
I picked up a red one at Scoot Over when I bought my Buddy. I agree that I would not want black, not in Tucson. When temps are 110+, you don't want a black jacket on you.
Iron Butt Association Member Number 42256
Club - The Sky Island Riders.
Publisher: The Scooter 'Zine thescooterzine.com
Howardr wrote:I picked up a red one at Scoot Over when I bought my Buddy. I agree that I would not want black, not in Tucson. When temps are 110+, you don't want a black jacket on you.
at temps of 110+, you need to be more concerned about your air-cooled engine overheating, than what color your jacket is.
Here's a few that are mostly silver/white/yellow (most that I've seen have black arms/shoulders though I believe user BuddyRaton has an all white mesh jacket)
To me color really does make a difference. I agree that it is ironic that so much hi temp gear is black!
I have the silver Fieldsheer and the silver Fieldsheer mesh pants. I also try to go with white boots and white gloves and light colored helmet.
Recently new enough had a killer deal on a high vis yellow Fieldsheer mesh for $75. I know a bunch of people down here that picked one up...including me. That one is my commuter jacket.
Diva Bocette wears a white Joe Rocket.
I would suggest trying on a jacket before buying. I was all set on a Joe Rocket Phoenix...until I tried one on. I couldn't stand how it fit around my neck!
This isn't quite the same model as I got, but I've been quite happy with my Firstgear jacket (about 50/50 silver and black), and this one, the "Mesh Tex", has even less black, with a few colors to choose from (including black, of course):
It has a few pocketses and comes with a removable liner in case temps dip to a bone-freezing 50°F As a bonus, motorcycle-superstore.com currently has it on sale for $80.
Mrs and I both have Joe Rocket Mech jackets, silver colored with some black trim(not sure of the model), hers even came with a rain liner. Cheap (like $60) from Newenough a couple years ago.
A Burgman buddy of mine showed up at the Mid-Atlantic Scooter Rally last fall with a Neon Green armored mesh (Field Sheer or First Gear I think) he was definately noticable
JSharpPhoto wrote:It doesn't REALLY matter what color it is. You're only going to get hot when you sitting at a stop light. And that's going to happen regardless of what color your jacket is. I have a black mesh jacket, and I live in Texas. Trust me, it's going to be ok. White and light color jackets get dirty super easily, not to mention the sweat stains. Get a black jacket, learn how to hypermile (don't get caught sitting at lights) and just go faster to create more breeze.
Yeah, last summer we hit over 110 and my black mesh jacket did just fine until I was at a light. I don't think the color matters as much as the heat wicking abilities of the coat.
Howardr wrote:I picked up a red one at Scoot Over when I bought my Buddy. I agree that I would not want black, not in Tucson. When temps are 110+, you don't want a black jacket on you.
at temps of 110+, you need to be more concerned about your air-cooled engine overheating, than what color your jacket is.
the 110+ was a typo? 100+ is common here, but 110+ not so much. In Phoenix yes, but rarely in Tucson.
Still, 100+ is HOT. My engine is liquid cooled, but local riders tell me the 100+ temps have not been a problem for their air cooled engines.
Howardr wrote:I picked up a red one at Scoot Over when I bought my Buddy. I agree that I would not want black, not in Tucson. When temps are 110+, you don't want a black jacket on you.
at temps of 110+, you need to be more concerned about your air-cooled engine overheating, than what color your jacket is.
the 110+ was a typo? 100+ is common here, but 110+ not so much. In Phoenix yes, but rarely in Tucson.
Still, 100+ is HOT. My engine is liquid cooled, but local riders tell me the 100+ temps have not been a problem for their air cooled engines.
It gets up to the 105-108 range here in Dallas. My 35 year old motor doesn't appreciate it. I'm glad all you high tech scooterists have more forgiving machines.
I've ridden the Buddy through 2 Arizona summers and have had no problem. I think the hottest temp I ridden in was in the 115 degree range. With near zero humidity, riding at 45-50 mph feels similar to a blast furnace, so moving isn't much less uncomfortable than sitting still at a light. Humidity can be a good thing when you're riding.
The lethality of our low humidity is because sweat evaporates so fast that you get little or no evaporative cooling effect. Your clothes never get drenched in sweat here. Wet clothes would actually cool you off once you start moving.
However, 115 degree air going into the motor is still much cooler than the temps generated by combustion. So most air-cooled scoots do fine here.
Howard
Iron Butt Association Member Number 42256
Club - The Sky Island Riders.
Publisher: The Scooter 'Zine thescooterzine.com
Howardr wrote:I've ridden the Buddy through 2 Arizona summers and have had no problem. I think the hottest temp I ridden in was in the 115 degree range. With near zero humidity, riding at 45-50 mph feels similar to a blast furnace, so moving isn't much less uncomfortable than sitting still at a light. Humidity can be a good thing when you're riding.
The lethality of our low humidity is because sweat evaporates so fast that you get little or no evaporative cooling effect. Your clothes never get drenched in sweat here. Wet clothes would actually cool you off once you start moving.
However, 115 degree air going into the motor is still much cooler than the temps generated by combustion. So most air-cooled scoots do fine here.
Howard
whoa! 115 is ridiculous. Anything above 98.6 and you have a reverse wind chill effect (which would be countered somewhat by evap cooling). 115 sounds scary to me. If it's 110 here in Tucson and I wanna ride, I will head for the hills where the temp drops 3 to 4 degree per thousand feet of elevation gained.
For the motor, 115 still produced a wind chill (because as you said, combustion temps are much hotter thant 115).
As a bonus, motorcycle-superstore.com currently has it on sale for $80.
