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Who wears leathers in the summer?

Why is it I wanna wear the leather jacket, jeans and boots on the Harley but I'll ride the Vespa in shorts and sandals?
 
I would only take one spill with shorts and sandels to end your riding career. I will always ride for safety. I bought a leather jacket from Harley. Yea, it cost a little more but the vents are sweet. The jacket has two zipped vents in front of each shoulder. Then there is a zipper that goes completely across the back right at the shoulders. Air moving in from the front travels arouind and out the back. Now sitting at a light with a 90 degree sun beating down on ya, yea its hot. But crusing at 60, it's nice. I'm protected. I do sneak out with a t-shirt on sometimes, but a longer ride requires the leather and jeans.
 
I just cannot do it. Summer time heat here in Oklahoma is just too hot for leather jacket or leather chaps. I do have a pair of leather legs I wear but I cannot survive in a leather jacket.

How many of you that ride down south wear leather jackets? I seen some talk about vented jackets but cannot find anything that would be cool (temperature cool) enough to wear.

I struggle with the heat as well, but I am not willing to give up protection.
I have the FXRC leather jacket. With the liner out and the vents open, it is still too hot in the summer. I have the "Switchback" jacket by HD for the summer. If you zip out the outer shell, it is nylon mesh on the chest, back and under the entire length of your arm (arm pit to wrist). It has shoulder and elbow armor, velcro'ed on the inside. On my trips to North Carolina in the summer, with an "Under Armor" heat gear shirt on underneath, it is about as good as I can get without some sort of active cooling system.

I wear chaps in the summer just because I found that the heat from my exhaust pipe is more tolerabale with them on, and again, sliding on ashphalt or concrete will really leave a mark. I have found that if I angle my leg on the highway bars I get the wind to blow up the legs of the chaps. That helps.

I tried riding with just jeans and a t-shirt a few times. It sure feels really good, but I can't bring myself to do it often when I see how people drive.
 
I have a vented leather jacket that I wewar year round. You'd be surprised at how much air flow and cooling it can provide. Like others have said if you're sitting at a light for an extended period of time yea it's hot but as long as you're moving it's very tolerable. We've already had temps here in the upper 80's so I can only imagine what it will be like in August.
 
I have a Joe rocket mesh jacket with armor that I wear year round ($150 from a local bike shop), the leather stays in the closet during these months in the Northeast. typically it is just jeans then on the lowers, can't get myself to put on the chaps as I bake in the sun. The jeans are hot enough somedays with the humidity here. The jacket is plenty cool, but like anything else you have to be moving.
 
Middle TN has been in the mid 90's for days now. Supposed to hit 98 or better today. With the humidity, it is like walking into a sauna when you go outside. The HD Switchback jacket with the shell off is a mesh jacket. Keep moving and you will survive. A evaporative cooling vest helps, but you need to wear a synthetic t-shirt underneath it. The humidity here reduces the cooling effect, but it still helps. Once you get have been moving for a while and the vest has cooled some, it helps you a lot when you have to stop in traffic.
 
I live in south Georgia and I do not wear leather in the summer. In the summer it is tan top or short sleeve shirt, blue jeans and steal toe boots. There are two guys that I work with that wear full leather and full face helmets year round. It is way to hot for me but to each is on.
 
The Texas summers are just about unbearable. I have vented leathers and mesh jackets but I seem to overheat in them. Its jeans, t-shirt and boots for me. In extreme cases, I will wear a long sleeved shirt to keep the direct sun off my arms.:newsmile03:
 
Long sleeve shirt to keep the sweat from evaporating and gloves, too hot here in Florida for leathers in the summer
 
I could only afford one jacket at the moment with everything else I have been dumping cash into, so it is a fairly heavy leather jacket. Even during mid day with 97 degree heat and high humidity, I put that jacket on for any ride over a couple of miles. I figure one fall and a couple of skin grafts later is a worse option than a little sweat.

I am looking into that cooling vest however, and plan to get a nice vented jacket next month.
 
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