I'm going to take a 2,000 mile round trip on the 27th of July and it's gonna be HOT AS *****!!! I can't afford a mesh jacket right now, but I've learned that a T-shirt will actually dehydrate/sun burn you and make you feel hotter than you would with long sleeves. So my question is this...What about a thin motocross jersey? I could wear a thin white T-shirt underneath (maybe kept damp, but not sure how high humidity will affect me) with the MX jersey over top of it. I might look kinda silly, but I think the thin breathable material with long sleeves would help keep me cool. Anyone have experience with MX jerseys? I've never worn them cause most of them are too flashy and gay looking. Thanks for the advice, and sorry for another heat topic.

 

Sound like that would work. I always wear a shirt over my tee on long rides. Tees feel like they whip the skin and the neck gets all stretched out. At least for me.

 

I don't understand what's gay about MX jerseys. I wore them for years; when I raced MX. Anyway, for what it's worth this is what I was told about T shirts and keeping cool from an old Army guy:

Always wear a snug fitting T shirt under your regular shirt. You will get very hot at first then when you break a sweat your T shirt will become wet and the sweat will stay against your skin keeping you cool. Back in the days when America still wanted to manufacture things I worked in an Aluminum mill. Basically it was like working at the gates of Hell. This technique worked very well to keep us cool when out in the plant.

The next time you put on your "gay" MX shirt lets make sure you are in the saddle of a YZ450. ha ha

 

Please take pics of you in your "ghey" MX jersey...so the rest of us can make phun of u. lol

 

I've found that a white long sleeve shirt does work pretty well for keeping you comfortable (but hot is still hot!). Also be sure to wear sunscreen on your exposed areas of skin. Sunburn takes the fun out of everything.

 

keep a soaked bandana tied around your neck. works great.

 

The long sleeve Magellan fishing shirts at your local sporting goods store work really well and are cheap. They have the vent in the back to keep the air flowing. Wear a coolmax shirt next to your skin and the only place you will be hot is where momma has her tata's planted, at least while you at speed. When you stop it is still going to be hot as Hades.

 

Lol, I didn't mean gay as in "Elton John Gay", I just meant they are a little loud. I've never been one to wear any type of jersey while not actively engaged in that particular sport. I went ahead and ordered a mesh jacket today...I had no idea that I could get one so cheap online.

 

Here's what kept me comfy for the last couple of weeks riding around in 100 degree weather -- wear a long-sleeve Under Armor -type shirt. You can get 'em in sporting goods stores. They're a very tight synthetic shirt. If you've seen the Sobe ad with the football players dancing ballet; that's what they're wearing. Then put something loose over that -- I'm wearing a freakin' Power Rangers suit (I know it's un-Harley, but it saves me packing cold weather clothes plus hot weather clothes plus rain gear.) You could probably just wear a loose cotton shirt. The synthetic pulls the sweat off your skin and it evaporates leaving you cool but not clammy.

[edit] Of course, NOW I notice you already ordered the mesh jacket. You could wear the UA shirt under that, but it's a little "Elton John" if you take the jacket off.

 

I can't say I've ever heard that particular saying ... hot as hell, hot as a firecracker, hot as ... *****? O ... K ....


I've worn a mesh jacket once in hot weather ... and that was too many times. I don't care how many little holes you poke in it the damn thing is still a jacket. It's HOT!

As for a t-shirt, the biggest problem is that the air gets inside the shoot and pulls the moisture away too quickly. Especially in a dry climate. You need some moisture for the evaporation to work. When it's too humid the moisture just sticks to you and don't cool. Too dry and the moisture wicks away too quckly before it has a chance to cool you.

A long sleeve t-shirt is a better choice for two reasons. 1) It keeps the sun off your arms and lowers the chance of sunburn there. 2) It keeps a bit more moisture in allowing it to fully evaporate inside the shirt and not just blow out the arm holes.

I guess an MX jersey would work, but I've not used one in more than 20 years. That's how long it's been since I've been on an MX bike. For my ATVs I usually just wear long sleeve t-shirts, so it's the same for both ATV and motorcycle.

A friend just bought a Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad, which is pretty cool (pun intended). Here's a link to the Frogg Toggs website ...

http://www.froggtoggs.com/chillypad.asp



He wore it on a recent ride down to Mesquite, NV, where temps got over 100 for the day. You wet the pad down by putting it under the faucet or pouring water on it (he carried some extra water just for the purpose). The water doesn't have to be cold, so you can use water from a bottle you carry with you.

Once the pad is wet it absorbs the moisture pretty quickly so that it doesn't feel wet. You can then put it on your neck, head, or under your shift for a cool feel. As the water evaporates from the pad it keeps it cool. It took about 3 hours for the pad to dry out, then he just soaked it again with the water from his saddlebag. The water in the bag was at least 100 degrees (having been in that bag in the heat) and the pad still felt cool when he put it on.

I think he paid about $14 for it. I looked at Amazon and a couple online sources and that seems to be the going price. I'll order one in the next day or two when I get ready to order some other stuff.