Victory Motorcycle Forum banner

Unrelenting heat!

3K views 24 replies 14 participants last post by  RoteBaron 
#1 ·
I have tried to ride around it and thru it. We are close to breaking records for most numb of days above 95°. We are also needing rain. We had a very wet June but since then, barely any thing.

Humidity is now making the real feel way above 100°.

Today has been first day I have not ridden in a while. I think i'll get an early ride in tomorrow morning.

I have forced myself to ride in some very hot conditions and it is difficult enjoying hot air hitting you like a jet engine.

So, I'd ride late in the evening but then have to contend with the bugs.
 
#2 ·
Mate here it is 365 days a year hot & humid, yes early mornings or late nights are good ...
 
#11 ·
I feel for ya. Not for the heat but the humidity. It's a real killer. It was 94 and crazy humid for a couple days in Sturgis. I wasn't used to the humidity at all so I really felt it. Give me 120 degrees and 10% humidity any day.
I'm with ya brother.
 
#5 ·
When we hit the upper Adirondack National Park yesterday morning riding down from Malone, NY it was a mere 45 degrees......maybe that will cool you off. ;)
 
#6 ·
Yeah Dill it doesn't make it fun to ride in. We have the same thing here it isn't something you ever get used to. Yesterday i did about three hundred miles it was hot to say the least.
some of the roads were two lane blacktop thru nothing put pine trees so there was a little shade but the closer i made it to home there were less trees and more open farmland that made it feel twice as hot. The thermometer on the bike started off at 92 went as high as 106 and stayed at 99 to 100 for most of the day.
 
#7 ·
You're right about the shade! You get out of it and the heat/humidity can suck all the fun out of racking up the miles.

I finally went out around 9 pm last night to get my fix. Found out that it not only had cooled down some but the bugs seemed to have found somewhere to hang out... bug bar maybe! :p

LAWD Hep Us!!! Whew!
 
#8 ·
I got a mostly-white full face helmet and a Joe Rocket mesh jacket which function much more comfortably than traditional black gear which is absurd in the heat. Good air management feels better than no gear at all besides keeping flesh off that big black belt sander we ride on.

Next will be an evaporative cooling vest since the mesh jacket will give it airflow to work.
 
#9 ·
next will be an evaporative cooling vest since the mesh jacket will give it airflow to work.
I wonder if those cooling towels that you soak down will really work. We just bought one from Wallymart for more son who is at band camp this week. Real feel is 100+. Supposed to stay cool for couple of hours. She gave $8 for it. May go get one for me this afternoon.
 
#13 ·
We've got 96% humidity on the morning commute into work.

In the afternoon ride home, I'm looking at 103 air temp, with a Heat Index of 107-108 degrees and humidity in the 30%-40% range. I've always been at ATGATT guy, but just last week have decided to eschew the mesh jacket. The full face is enough to give me a good sweat!

Day-um it's hot out there.


D.
 
#14 ·
You guys with the high humidity have you noticed more popping now when shifting.
Here in MN. when the humidity gets high I get more popping.
 
#15 ·
but just last week have decided to eschew the mesh jacket.
I don't care how meshed your garb is or how well vented your helmet may be, this stuff is hell. I'd rather have hot air attempting to cool the humidity moistened skin. When you get to ride underneath some tall trees, you then get a little relief.
 
#16 ·
Actually the mesh jacket works in two very distinct ways. First - it keeps the sun off your skin which will make you feel much hotter; especially when you stop. The sun's radiation will stay in your skin for quite a while continuing to make you feel hot. With the jacket you simply remove it and you are right back to being at a normal temp.

Second - it slows the evaporation of the evaporative vest. Without the jacket the vest will be dry in no time and become more like a warming vest than a cooling one.

The vests work best in dry heat as already mentioned. I have never tried it in a humid environment so I will have to leave that test to someone who does or has.

I like looking cool on the road as anyone else but after getting dehydrated enough times I tried the mesh jacket and never looked back. I don't care if it looks a little dorky to some people. It works and with extreme heat; that's all I care about.
 
#20 ·
OK - I'm gonna tackle a number of replies here, as I was in meetings all day and couldn't keep up.

Dill - By "eschew" I meant that I no longer wear my mesh jacket. Yes, it's hot as hell and humid here and I'll bet the same in MS. I know the whole ATGATT thing, and how mesh moves air across your skin, but I was still roasting so chose to leave the jacket at home a few weeks back. My commute is 15 - 30 minutes, and fairly direct, but still hot as Hades, so I am rolling the dice until we cool back off some in (maybe) November.

Bbob - fantastic tip about hydrating and peeing to see how well you hydrated. I am a marathon training coach, and many of the same hydration tips we give to runners apply to being out with your "knees in the heat"!

visionjohnny - that is so odd that you mentioned the popping. My XC has never popped since I got it. Still have stock air and exhaust on it. But a couple of weeks back I put on Pain's exhaust tips, and in the process cut back my exhaust pipe to about an inch of the muffler. I noticed over the weekend that my bike popped when shutting off after a group ride. I just thought it was the changes to my exhaust pipes. . . but perhaps you are onto something with the humidity. Curious at the least.


Back at home and pounding ice-water, and cold beer. cheers

Dan
 
#22 ·
Dill - By "eschew" I meant that I no longer wear my mesh jacket. Yes, it's hot as hell and humid here and I'll bet the same in MS. I know the whole ATGATT thing, and how mesh moves air across your skin, but I was still roasting so chose to leave the jacket at home a few weeks back. My commute is 15 - 30 minutes, and fairly direct, but still hot as Hades, so I am rolling the dice until we cool back off some in (maybe) November.
I was actually trying to emphasize your eschew comment and agree 100%. We are getting a front next day or 2 that will bring both temps and humidity down a tad.

The hottest I've ever been in my life is 2 summers ago at Dallas' Six Flags. I vowed never again!
 
#23 ·
I will also say that experiencing very hot and very dry air is indeed dangerous. I was in vegas couple of years ago and the 100+ dry heat did a number on my sinuses. Bled like a stuck pig! Woke up in middle of the night with it all over my pillow.

Bob is so right about hydrating. You can't wait until you are thirsty.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App
 
#24 ·
My bike does not pop when shifting it is completly stock and never has popped when shifting and it is always humid here in south Louisiana. I am an auto mechanic so i work in a hot shop all day, and when i am off i am usually outside but you still never get used to it.
 
#25 ·
You know it's hot when

From the 4th through the 14th of July I rode my Vision from here to Albuquerque to Denver (and back) and I wore one of those cooling dicky type things and it worked....for about 30 minutes or less...Humidity didn't matter and it was humid. I also wore a white long-sleave shirt, open finger gloves and stayed "sorta" cool. On the way back thru Oklahoma City some minivan operator changed lanes and caused a pile up that stalled lookieloos and others for an hour. The temp on my gunge reached 102....darned-if-I-know what it"felt" like all I know is it was freekin' hot! Worst of it is it affects your "judgement". By the time I reached the hotel on the other side of the City my reasoning ability was shot. Hotel sign coming off the freeway said it was straight ahead but I didn't even notice it...had to all someone to find it..(address on line was wrong so GPS was nearly useless!)..Scary. Oh, and the next morning the Vision didn't want to start. WFTO eh? Had to set it up straight so it could get some gas..... put 5.6 gallons in it. It was 107 when I went through Memphis....kept dumping water on my shirt to cool off....was damn glad to get to Alabama because it cooled down to 90.....Point of my little "rant" is I haven't seen any "good" cooling stuff so any ideas.... OBTW while humidity is an issue I still cooled as long as I had the shirt and the dicky thing wet.....
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top