![]() ![]() While 0☌ can feel a bit chilly, add in a… ahem… 70mph wind-chill factor and all of a sudden, you’re in a serious situation. ![]() Any outdoor enthusiasts also know this and motorcycling is no different. Jon Snow knows all about winter and he knows that layering up is the way to go. You might also want to invest in a set of waterproofs – none of this stuff responds well to a sudden downpour… Winter is Coming There aren’t many changes you can make to the bike to help cool you down, though if you have fitted a larger touring screen, for example, you might consider going back to a smaller original version or even removing it altogether to get as much airflow onto the body and head as possible. ![]() Keeping your hands safe is also crucial and when the heat is on, a pair of sporty summer gloves, like the LS2 Swifts will give plenty of protection and feel for the bike’s controls, thanks to the thin leather while offering the highest CE rating for protection and decent cooling from the front-mounted air vents on the knuckles. You can get sporty vented boots from Alpinestars that will offer the highest levels of protection while allowing your feet to breathe and prevent overheating. Getting a set of boots that will both protect your feet and allow them to breath is no mean feat and depends on your style. So a set of summer base layers, like the Forcefield Armour Tech 2 will not only wick sweat away from your body and disperse it evenly and effectively, it will stop you sticking to the interior and the design will also help support your muscles and keep you fresh. Riding in a warm jacket in just a T-shirt is a fairly unpleasant experience your bare arms stick to the inside, cotton T-shirts gets saturated with sweat, becoming sticky and nasty which is not good. Heading inside, it sounds crazy but base layers aren’t just for when it’s cold. The Tucano takes it a bit further, with zip-off lower legs on the trousers to convert to shorts if you’re staying in your destination for while. This can be a bit strange to ride in to begin with, as it feels like you’re not wearing anything significant and that’s scary but choose well and you can get as much protection as a warmer textile. Using solid-material panels in the typical impact zones for abrasion protection, such as shoulders, arms and back and the seat, hips and knees, the areas that don’t typically need protection from abrasion are formed from air-transparent mesh, admitting enormous quantities of cooling air. This is where mesh clothing, like the Tucano Urbano Network jacket and Zipster trousers, comes in. A leather one might look cool but they are generally heavy and sweaty and textile jackets, while usually containing plenty of vents in the form of flaps, slits or even panels, sometimes don’t flow as much air as you’d like. Moving down, we next get to jacket and trousers. Flip the chin-bar forward again and instantly, it’s a full-face lid once more with all the protection that offers. The visor keeps the worst of the roadkill of your face while plenty of air is still flowing to keep you cool. It’s a slightly-larger-than-normal full-face helmet (with undertones of Blake’s 7 for the oldies) but a quick flip and the chin-bar passes up and over top the back of the head, leaving the visor in place in front of an open-face design. This is a dual-aspect open and full-face helmet, offering the best of both worlds. ![]() A compromise is a convertible helmet, like the Shark Evo ES. However, many people aren’t fans of the exposed feel of an open-face despite the airflow that they offer. The skull is protected and with either a built-in visor or sun-visor or a pair of sunnies, you should avoid kamikaze wasps and flies trying to take your eyes out. From the head down, the best form of crash helmet for airflow is an open-face. We all know that still hot air is a lot more unpleasant that moving hot air – if you don’t believe me, try to buy a fan from Argos at lunchtime on the hottest day of the year. Obviously, I need to tailor my clothing for the task at hand and the key here is airflow. So it’s 37☌ and I fancy going out for a ride. With the right kit, you can enjoy riding a bike in virtually any weather. There is a saying that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choices and to a degree, this is right. As I sit here in my working-from-home office with the thermometer reading a heady 37☌, I find myself looking ahead to riding later on in the year and in particular, what additions to my kit I might need. ![]()
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