What to wear on the bike?
 

Hi All

I've been going round in circles over what to wear when riding the bike for our big trip setting off from South USA in November 2 up. Problem is we'll be going through all temp's / climates and altitudes pretty much at any time. I boil in synthetics in the heat and freeze in leathers in the cold but can't carry both.

We've been looking at the BMW Rallye 2 and Savana stuff which seems the business and I know people who love it. Problem is it costs more than my bike - 100's of £££. Is it worth the £ or should I go for the cheeper Hein Gericke Toureg stuff or even the Belstaff Airflow stuff? If you've got experiance of any of these, or your own solutions your comment would be appreciated.

(I've done a search here and come up with some useful stuff but nothing on the site recently)

Thanks in advance

Chris

Chris
I have not got the answer but the same question. Trying to sort clothing for Africa trip. Will it be incredibly hot or will I freeze in the evenings/mornings?
How about one of those Arnold Shwartzennegar(?) elasticated armour mesh vests with a light weight cordura jacket over the top or even a motoX vest if it get really hot? I hate trying to function if too hot and might be tempted to ride without protection.
Stash a thin lined waterproof oversuit for cold nights/rides?

Help from the experienced ???

alan

Hi Chris

Everyones idea of what is best will be different, I to was looking at the BMW stuff but decided on the Hein Gericke Tuareg Rally for half the price of the BMW, I have been using it for about six weeks now and have found it absolutley great, both with and without the Gore-tex liner, and with the dosh you save you could treat yourself to some other goodies.

Kind regards
Baz

I have a pair of HG Tuareg trousers. Mine have the Gore Tex liner, and are secured at the ankle with velcro. This means I can tuck them into my MX boots. I have crashed on the road several times in them, and they worked brilliantly (although I did upgrade the armour to the best you can get - Sports?). They were fantastic value for money.

Recently I have bought some Acerbis MX-style trousers too, which are also good. They're a bit cold for the UK - a good sign for my desert trip... Several times I have worn the HG liner under the MX trousers, which worked perfectly, to give me flexibility (and less bulk) while still being cosy and waterproof. The only real bad points of my Tuaregs (after 18 months and 35,000 miles) is that the zips isn't stitched in very well - mine has been repaired twice, and that they aren't stretchy enough to allow me to wear my seperate knee armour underneath.

A++ for the Tuareg trousers, but WHY did they put a zip on the new ones???? Now you can't tuck them into boots comfortably. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/frown.gif

I also wear a Rukka R3000 jacket which I also rate very highly - but not for the Dez. I am considering using a Sinisalo / Acerbis / Scott / KTM Dakar Rallye - style enduro jacket with a very lightweight wind/waterproof "shell" to use in the rain. I also like the idea of the armour vests. Then you can wear whatever you like over the top, so you don;t *have* to look like the latest MX star! I like the idea of a very low-key safari shirt or something....

Hi Chris, Haven't heard from you for a while. Hope everything is going to plan. The Mrs and I had exactly the same problem. The Savana was a great suit, but the price was too high, knowing me I'd drop the bike the first time I wore it and write suit off! We both went for the 'Tuareg' I've been wearing mine for the past few weeks through the cold, with the liner in, and through the current warm spell, with the liner out and found it too be great. One problem though is that they only do the 'Tuareg Ralley' in sizes medium and large. I was fine with the Large, but the Medium was too big for Jules. They tried to order a small for her, but apparently they don't manufacture it! She did get a 'Tuareg Ralley Raid' suite, size small, which fits fine. It comes with bright orange shoulders which she doesn't like, but nothings ever perfect....oouch!
We're both taking 'Low Alpine' 'Dry Flow' T-Shirts. We wore these last time we went away and they are fantastic as they wick away sweat, don't smell after one days wear and dry really quickly when washed.
I pondered long and hard over the choice of boot and originally was going to get an MX type boot, but due to an old injury my left calf is twice its normal size so could't get a pair to fit. I've ended up with a pair of 'Altberge' 'Hog lites' These are great as I only intend to take one pair of boots for walking around and wearing on the bike. Ernie did a great job on the bike by the way....Bob

Thanks for all the replies. Good to hear from you Bob - we'll catch up soon.

I've desided not to go for the BMW stuff; its just too expensive. Plenty of time to keep looking and it looks like some of the UK manufacturers are starting to catch on to the fact that not everone wants either summer leather or winter synthetics but may need something inbetween. We'll see.

Keep the discussion going 'cos it seems to be perhaps the second most difficult desision to make after what bike and route.

Cheers

Chris

Has anyone tried the Sinisalo Rallye Jacket. Seems to have a zillion pockets but is it water proof?

On a big trip, use the layer system.

I ride with a thin enduro jacket and jeans model leather pants and army boots. When it gets colder i put on my long underwear (very small packet), a normal sweater, a fleece sweater and voor realy cold days i just put on mij 2piece rain suit (very small packet).

most importantnt on big trips and enduro trips is that every thing can be used for different things. This way you don't carry to many shit with you.

The yeans model leather pants, because it has normal pockets!!
The army boots, because the are strong enough to protect and good for walking hiking etc. to.
2piece rain suit, because when of the motorcycle you need a rain jacket.
etc.

Important item on the motorcycle are grip heaters!!!!!!!

The layer system is the only way to go. Look at some backpacking sites to figure out how to layer. I recommend polypropline thermals. I first used these in the Army several years ago and became a believer. I use the joe rocket safety gear. Not as expensive as some but has armour. I use other layers for warmth. look at northernmountain.com and click on the gear site. It explains how to layer. backpacker.com is another site for information.

------------------
John

Hi,
A little late, maybe, but I wanted to throw in my tuppence worth, specifically in response to Alan Hopkins's queries.

I travelled Lagos, Nigeria to Dublin, Ireland in July/August 2002, crossing the Sahara along the Western route.

It was very, very hot during the day and very hot during the night. I didn't experience any plummeting temperatures during the night, even with clear skies in the desert. Most nights I lay in my tent with just a sleeping bag liner over me, and it was wet through in the morning!

On the bike, I wore a Dainese Safety Jacket (Arnie mesh vests, as Alan calls them) and Fox Pivot Knee protectors. (Didn't fancy having myself reconstructed in an African hospital. Riding without protection isn't worth it--that's only my opinion though. Make up your own mind how much you're worth intact.)

Over that I had cordura jacket and trousers (fleece linings removed): Rev-It Multi-Pass jacket (c. EUR500) and Rev-It ??? trousers. (c. EUR180). Expensive I know, but they are EXCELLENT. I'd definitely buy their stuff again. To be honest they were a bit heavy duty for Africa but I bought with riding in Ireland (cold, wet) when I returned in mind too. A little compromise there.

They weren't unbearably hot, once you were riding along. Stopping at customs, police checkpoints, etc. was when you felt you were cooking. Still, I think with height-of-summer temperatures, you'll feel hot in anything.

For slow-speed, off-road sections, where I wasn't moving quickly enough to get a cooling breeze, I took off the cordura jacket and just had the safety jacket on. Watch for sunburn on the back of the neck though. A wet t-shirt, folded and stuffed under the shoulders of the safety jacket, covering my neck, did the trick.

The safety jacket did get a bit smelly after 4-5 days of camping and no showers. I usually washed it in the shower at the next opportunity and hung it out to dry. No problems there.

My travelling buddy had the same safety jacket and knee protectors, but instead of cordura, had a tough twill/canvas pair of trousers. I think he got them from Hein Gericke. His jacket was lightweight, MX style with some zipper vents for improved ventilation. He was hot too though.

We both dehydrated several times each. The only thing to do is stop and get in the shade and drink loads of water. Take some Gatorade too, or bring some rehydration salts like Electrolate (see your pharmacist: standard rehydration salts if you have severe diarrhoea).

THE best piece of kit we had with us was a three-litre Camelbak sitting under our jackets. It meant we could take a sip every couple of minutes without having to stop, get off the bikes, etc. I can't recommend this enough. We'd drink a full Camelbak on an average day, two on the really hot days in the desert (45ºC in the shade!), and like I said, we still managed to dehydrate!! It's well worth the money. I still use mine, cycling, running, skiing, etc. My EUR500 jacket also earns its keep on the snow slopes too!

Hope this helps. By the way, I'd be interested to hear people's opinions of Rev-It gear. I am well impressed.

See ya later!