| Author | Message | ||
     Xbrfirebolt |
The temperature here has already been over 100 degrees the last 3 days. I like to commute to work on my bike. Its fine in the morning, but coming home is unbearable. It's only going to get worse in June, July, August and September here. I already have a Joe Rocket leather and mesh jacket that I've been wearing the last couple of years. It helps, but you still get blasted with the heat. I've read about the cool vests that you soak in cold water, and then wear under a mesh or perforated leather jacket. It seems like a great idea. Who here has one, and how long will they keep you cool before recharging? Which one is the best bang for the buck? I would appreciate anyone’s feedback on their findings. I know I'm not the only one here who could use the information. Thanks | ||
| Froggy |
Save yourself a few bucks, wet a towel. Should be about the same  | ||
| Bartimus |
I have not just one, but two. one is a vest, the other is a vest with zip off sleeves. they certainly do MUCH better than a wet towel! I live in Phoenix, and purchased the vest about 5 years ago. It works great, I wear it under my joe rocket jacket, with all it's vents open. On real hot days, 115+ I wear the vest and sleeves, and carry a 2qt cooler to soak the vest in, when it dries out in 30 minutes. Definitly a good investment if you don't want the heat to stop you from riding... | ||
| Jaimec |
Use a 100% cotton sweatshirt. Works just as well. When I crossed the Nevada desert in August, everytime I stopped for gas I'd go into the men's room and SOAK the sweatshirt. Underneath the Aerostich suit (which prevented it from drying too quickly) it was like having an air conditioner. Soaking the helmet liner helped too, but didn't last as long. | ||
| Billg |
For the DIY's: The active ingredient in many evaporative devices can be "harvested" from diapers. Starting with a new diaper, wet it (with water) and the gel beads will become apparent. Gather the wet gel beads and let them dry out. Then they can be sewn into any size/shape pockets that are needed. My wife as made several bandana devices, and they work better than the store-bought ones! Bill | ||
| Cityxslicker |
the vests work great, not so sure about harvesting anything from diapers... :P | ||
| Igneroid |
I remember the diaper harvest of 79. Bumper crop it was.... | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
Recently I posted thread on a Air Conditioned vest. It had a little cooler sized box that pumped refrigerant through a vest. http://www.coolshirt.net/motorcycle-cool-bag.html | ||
| Debueller |
I've got one of these, and have used it for the past several years: http://store.mm411.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseactio n=product&theParentId=294&id=1005 | ||
| Diablobrian |
I love my evaporative vest. It works best when humidity is lower, but even when humidity is high it makes a difference. | ||
| Xbrfirebolt |
Can you also post the brand of your vest if you're happy with it? I want to get one, just not sure which one yet. It's too bad that the Cool Shirt that Corporatemonkey linked is so large and cumbersome. It looks like a good idea, just not on a Buell yet. | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
It's too bad that the Cool Shirt that Corporatemonkey linked is so large and cumbersome. It looks like a good idea, just not on a Buell yet. There is no reason you couldn't adapt it for your needs. The shirt is the important part. You could engineer your own cooling system to fit in a backpack. Using a soft sided cooler bag, a few of these "gel" ice packs, some tubing, a small water pump (decorative water fountain parts are a gold mine). You could piece all of this together for cheap. Looking at the cool shirt website, they make a smaller cooling pack. It might already fit into a backpack. If you really wanted to go hog wild you use a custom heat exchanger located near the rear cylinder fan to provide warm water. This way you could have heat in the winter, and cool in the summer. | ||
| Ferrisbuellersdayoff |
Or you can drive a f@#*ing car and use the a/c! HTFU! | ||
| Bartimus |
http://stores.ebay.com/Safety-Products-Marketplace /ACTIVE-COOLING-CLOTHING.html | ||
| Jaimec |
"HTFU" is INCREDIBLY bad advice. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are SERIOUS conditions. I don't know about you, but anything that extends my comfort range on the bike is a GOOD thing. Especially now that our fuel prices are catching up to Europe... | ||
| Blake |
Load a scoop or three of ice into your shorts? | ||
| Ferrisbuellersdayoff |
Especially now that our fuel prices are catching up to Europe... WTF does this have to do with anything discussed here? You wanna dodge the heat while commuting? Drive your car use the a/c that what its there for. Wanna ride the bike and it's hot out? HYDRATE! Wear a backpack and stow some bottled water. Wear a mesh jacket. Wear no jacket. If not deal with it! These engines for the most part are air cooled with an oil assist. They will get HOT! And the added discomfort of a 90-100*F afternoon, man you should have planned your day more accordingly. Weather channel! Its your friend. I live in Florida, it gets sunny! And being surrounded by 3 large bodies of water, it gets humid. And have you been to the African Sahara? Dry heat is just as bad, but you know what nomads live out there. And they dont have any "Evaporative cooling vests". | ||
| Xb9er |
get a buell hydration pack and actually cool down your body | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
WTF does this have to do with anything discussed here? Dude Ferris that was sort of a harsh post. I suppose you are against people who have heated gear? Cooling gear is going to be the next big thing, and I welcome the innovation. | ||
| Xbrfirebolt |
Ferris, I guess you just don't like the newer tech stuff for ridding? Do you feel the same way about antibiotics too? Just HTFU, don't need them? It's all here to make our life better. If you don't like the questions asked, just take your own advice, HTFU, and ignore the post! | ||
| Badlionsfan |
It's too bad that the Cool Shirt that Corporatemonkey linked is so large and cumbersome. It looks like a good idea, just not on a Buell yet. what about this one? http://www.coolshirt.net/industry-port-a-cool.html | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
Badlionsfan, I have looked at that model. It only cools for 1-3 hours. I read somewhere (this was a while ago) it was realistically a lot less. The intended market is short track racers, like drag racers, dirt track, etc... | ||
| Ulendo |
And have you been to the African Sahara? Dry heat is just as bad, but you know what nomads live out there. And they dont have any "Evaporative cooling vests". actually, if you look up what the northern / trans sahara nomads such as the Taureg wear, you'll find that the layers using colors, and materials work very much like a cooling vest. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
between the mesh jacket, evaporating vest, a soaked helmet liner and a hydra pack, if it is hotter than those will combat, I am probably not riding. Did 108 in Grand Coulee last year, the heat felt like you were standing in front of a hair dryer for an hour.... proper planning prevents pi$$ poor performance. The next day I skipped riding between 1pm -245pm and it was fine. I am still NOT harvesting anything from any diapers | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
I think what is missing here is ability to ride without being drenched with sweat. Much like an aerostich allows you to ride in office attire in temperate weather, and keep clean. A cool suit would allow you to continue that into the summer. Sounds like a neat invention. I bet Honda will offer it on the goldwing at some point. | ||
| Ferrisbuellersdayoff |
Corporatemonkey: you are right the WTF part was a little harsh but I'm so sick of people bitching and complaining about the rising price of fuel. It get interjected into any conversation. Its annoying we all know its happening why depress me with your drivel that pertol products are going up in cost. what if you had someone come up to you and fanticly tell you that milk is white.(Yes i know strawberry milk is pink and chocolate milk is greyish brown, so any smart @$$es can not but in for once) Yes heated gear is retarded too. I've tried it and its a PITA. Wear 2 jackets, what did people do before heated gear? They put on another layer of clothing. Xbrfirebolt: I'm not against new tech stuff for riding. I think people are just becoming lazy. We have heated and cooling drink holders & people holders. What next mini microwaves? With all these distractions everyone wondwers why cagers hit riders and riders do stupid shit and end up getting hit because they were all fidgetting with something. | ||
| Xbrfirebolt |
I ride year round in the Central Valley in California. We have temperature extremes here. In the winter 20's are not uncommon, plus fog. At least we rarely get snow. In the summer we get as high as 110. And we have nightly lows at that time of upper 70's. I ride because I enjoy it, even in the freezing, or the blast furnace of our summer. I only have the Buell heated grip kit for winter riding. I wear warmer gear for that time of year. In the summer months I wear a cotton long sleeve work shirt and leather and mesh jacket. It's about comfort to be able to stay alert and enjoy the riding. I'm 55, the work I did in my younger years in the sheet metal trades was extremely hot. As in you wear very heavy cotton clothes, you can only work for 5 minutes, and have to rest for 15. It was between and under the ovens in a float glass plant. I just have a hard time taking the heat now. I still enjoy riding; I think I've HTFU more than most people in life. I just think there's better ways to keep cool while riding and wanted to hear other people’s experiences. | ||
| Coolrider |
Check out http://www.veskimo.com. It's like the backpack-based cooling system that Corporatemonkey described in his post on 5/20 @ 6:16PM, only better - you can drink from it too! The vest works much better than a cool shirt (I've tired both), and the Veskimo system costs less as well. |
