Gear will always be a compromise for the hottest and coldest/wettest days.

I have wrestled with one piece rainsuits back in Europe and will never own anything one piece again, such a PITA to put on and take off over riding gear.

I am currently using a BMW Rallye 3 jacket and either BMW City pants (heavy denim with good armour which I wore in South America with Gore-Tex rain pants) or Klim Traverse pants which are Gore-Tex.

The Rallye jacket has a zip in Gore-Tex liner, but to be honest its a waste of time, BMW missed the boat and instead of making a nice zip in jacket with hand warmer pockets and branding on it, they have a plain insert with no external pockets or roll away hood. Why would I bother faffing around with this when I can wear my Mountain Equipment Paclite jacket with lots of external pockets and a roll away hood? - which is much more practical than the liner on or off the bike, it also fits outside or inside the Rallye jacket. The Rallye jacket is good, plenty of air vents, pockets and a hydration bladder pocket built in, I prefer this to wearing a separate hydration pack personally, it is quite a heavy jacket though (it has full back armour) and when its 42C and you stop in the sun at some lights for a few minutes you still cook.

I wore the Klim Traverse pants this Summer on the TCAT sections in BC, we had temperatures of 37C or more, hot and bloody dusty, they are never going to vent like a mesh pant, but with the front thigh vents and rear 'exhaust' vents open they do vent surprisingly well, you can get some good airflow over your Femoral arteries, which does help to cool you off, lower leg ventilation is non existent, but if you are wearing motocross or fairly high leg boots then its fairly pointless anyway. When it was cold or raining, zip those vents up and they were totally windproof and dry, I was fairly impressed with them overall. I just wore some swimming shorts under these for the whole trip, which was handy at lakeside lunch stops, go for a dip in the cool lake, put the riding pants back on with wet shorts underneath and enjoy being cool for an hour or so whilst riding in the afternoon.

Separate Gore-Tex waterproofs which can be worn off the bike (for hiking and camping) and well ventilated riding gear are the way to go, but having a pair of Klim or similar Gore-Tex pants in the closet are a good option occasionally.

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Grif

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SNAKE OIL! Agreed. There are many easy and cheap tricks to get round most of the problems we run into. Experience teaches best. No $2000 Klim jacket is a panacea for all conditions. Top line gear is wonderful stuff ... but many less expensive garments can do the job too ... if you know how to use them and how to combine other things with them to optimize effectiveness.

Most riders ride & travel in Summer in warm environments. So HEAT tends to be an important concern. To sit and be Par Boiled in a non vented suit is dangerous. No need for that.

While it's true sweating is good (to a point) you also need enough cooling air flow to make that sweat work for you. With Mesh gear you CAN get dehydrated and never know it ... so always drink plenty of water in super hot conditions. That massive air flow Mesh provides does suck a lot of moisture right out of you ... so be aware. Hydrate!

Constantly sweating is good but if you get too hot ... you can get heat stroke and pass out. Soaking down garments, helmet, T shirt, neck scarf, cooling vest, can all help cool your core some.

But constant small sips of water is the way to survive. Staying covered is important, not like the Harley guys riding across the Desert in 100F temps in Tank Top and Nazi helmet. Direct Sun on skin not good. Seem obvious, right?

I can recall the time when Mr Gore's main patent expired, but I didn't realise how long ago that was!
Gore - Research Papers - Melissafever1

Anyway, that led to further innovative products (or "knockoffs" as per the link) and now we have many choices on the market for clothing.
Personally, I have never owned a riding jacket that even claimed to be water proof/resistant, so it's "oilskins" for me when the heavens open.

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Dave

I used different types of jackets in my early days that were useless in most condition till I bit the bullet and bought a BMW rally suite at the time cost me an arm and a leg, it had three layers that was very heavy but very good,,,,well very good to what I was used to,,, I got my money's worth out of it cost 7 years later I sold it and I got over £300 for it second had,,,,,
As its been pointed out the three layers is a problem with riding in hot rain weather you tend to over heat quickly that's ver dangerous also when it wet it's really heavy, when you stop for fuel or coffee then you have to put it back on, it very uncomfortable,
Luckily I'm in a better position now I went for the klim adventure gear it's the best suite I've ever had, the suite was not as much as the BMW suite so that's a bonus, just remember this suite will last many years how many cheaper suites do you think you will use in that time,
With most activities it cost money biking costs more than most, as you get older you find that you will be able to accumulate better quality items and clothing.

Ta-Rider raises a very good point above, something we all need to be aware of.

The Gore-Tex material itself retains its 'waterproof' characteristics as time goes by, but all of the various seams and joints on the garment need to have their waterproofing renewed periodically by application of an appropriate spray or liquid.

To put it another way, if you join two pieces of Gore-Tex fabric together by stitching them, the seam where they are joined will leak (right from brand new) unless it is waterproofed. Normally, manufacturers of Gore-Tex motorcycle wear waterproof all the seams after the garment is constructed, but before it leaves the factory.

Also keep in mind that it is rare for a garment to be '100% Gore-Tex', this because there will always be little bits of material used here and there that are not made of Gore-Tex - for example, zippers and so forth. Those items also need to have their waterproofing renewed periodically.

Michael

All true. We use a product called "Seam sealer". Like glue. But does not last. So you have to go over seams about once a year to maintain watertightness.
Also, DIRT ... the enemy of Gore-Tex.

I thought Goretex somehow renewed their patent rights? Not sure. You still see the Goretex tag on garments and I know they have to PAY EXTRA for that and have to get garments tested by Goretex labs. (or so I hear??)

I'd never heard of the Companero suit before, but googled it and wow! That is certainly a high end piece of kit... very nice!

But what I find interesting about the design of that suit, plus almost every comment I read on here is that ultimately, my theory of what to wear on long motorbike trips is right. Maximize airflow in your main riding gear, then carry a separate waterproof layer for when you need it.

So in one sense, this makes me happy as it seems like I'm already doing the right thing and don't have to buy any extra stuff from what I already have. In fact, my Rukka AiRider jacket is made out of the same Cordura AFT airflow fabric that the Companero suit is made out of I believe.

Though, I was kind of hoping someone would post to say that their £17,000 TouraBMKlimRukkaW suit with 'Magitex' fairy dust construction was able to air condition their sweaty nuts while being watertight to 5000 feet and makes the wearer irresistible to the opposite sex at all times.

Alas, seems like the old ways are still the best... waterproof overjacket and overtrousers it is!

It's too true - removable waterproof liners are all round useless. But what are you guys using to to put over the jacket/pants? Some sort of Berghaus, etc? Do you have to buy a much bigger size and so cannot wear it comfortably off the bike?

Before I bought my current suit, I had a Rev'it mesh jacket / trousers and Berghaus jacket / trousers. This was a good combo. I bought a size larger jacket than I need; bizarrely, I can still wear it now and it fits very well, even being a little larger. It looks and fits fine. This combination was good. The reason I changed was more down to the desire to improve on the Rev'it gear as opposed to the Berghaus.

Most rain only jackets are sized a bit larger than listed, so should fit over your riding jacket OK. I use a First Gear rain jacket ($70) ... but use only when doing an "All Day" rain ride, otherwise my main jacket works pretty well. No waterproof liner so no heavy, wet jacket to lug round and no misery putting a wet Dog on first thing on a cold morning. The outer layer of my First Gear is waterproof, yet breathable.

This jacket has a built in Hood that you can unroll from collar and put up over your head. Keeps water from running down your back. It works!

For rain pants I have several common Moto, Ski and hiking ones I buy at the Good Will store for about $3 to $5 each. Some are super high quality, others China made crap. I buy the good ones when I find them ... now have a stock of spares.

For a full day in rain they may only keep me dry for a few hours or so.
But my leathers are treated with SnoSeal and resist water really well. I've never gotten truly wet yet ... but I don't live in UK ... YOU GUYS are truly the RAIN experts! I really was impressed how FAST and HOW well your local bike cops could ride in rain in London traffic. These guys are GOOD!

I wear a set of commonly available waterproof over trousers. Not breathable. About £20. I think mine are made by Spada but they're all generally the same. On top I wear a gortex jacket that fits comfortably over my bike jacket. Available from any camping shop. I'd stick to gortex. Pay the extra.

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Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

This is an interesting one. In Northern Europe, especially the UK and Ireland a laminated gore-tex jacket and pants works best and doesn't have to break the bank.

Of course there are other materials with the same properties that work in the same way but they aren't necessarily tested as thoroughly as Gore-tex with its lifetime guarantee (garment lifetime that is, not yours).

Spidi make the xtour which uses their own membrane and has 'waterproof' vents, so should be cool enough for the warmee weather in northern europe too. They guarantee their membrane for something like 10 years too.

Now when touring in areas with huge temperature ranges and weathers that's when the problems start. Take South America for insrance. You can be in the hot and humid Iguazu which will easily be over 39c then a week later in -10 temps up on the dry altiplano.

Gore-tex or any other semi permeable membrane will leave you soaked in the first instance (due to the breathability), whilst a mesh layer is dead weight in the second as it provides no insulation even used in a layering system.

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I'm starting to wonder whether a 2 jacket system is the best option. Obviously that takes up a lot of room, but may be the way to go. I'd have a vented goretex jacket as my main jacket for 90% of the riding, then also something like this to wear as a standalone jacket for wearing on slow, hot off-road sections and in city traffic - Knox Venture Shirt - RevZilla

Obviously, no abrasion resistance, but that should be less of a problem in slow riding. And in high speed riding the vents on a goretex jacket should make it bearable.

Just an idea I've been kicking around...

A lot of people do that. Use an amour layer for off road and hot conditions, then combine it with a jacket (for abrasion resistance and cold) that they've removed the armour from.

It's much more difficult to do when 2-up though, as even without the armour in the jacket, it still takes up a lot of space. Shouldn't be a problem riding solo though.

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True, but jackets can be strapped somewhere at the back, temporarily at least, while the weather holds.

These riders don't have that issue with lots of room available in their panniers:

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Dave