.......... for France and north Spain in Sept. Undecided what to take. I have textiles but hardly use them. Hoping leathers will not be too hot. I was out in them yesterday all day and felt fine. Just thinking of getting suggestions from people who have toured when it's warm/Hot. My new Dainese 2 piece are vented a bit and I seemed to managed well during the hot weather when out. I do not have much room on the bike to take loads of gear, I was thinking of taking my Draggen jeans, but as my jacket is short it will not cover my back. So what do people recommend? Also worth taking my back protector. I am also unsure if I want to take it. I wear it most of the time when out on the bike but as I'm touring with 2 cars I won't be pushing it with luggage on the bike.
I will be using a leather jacket that is light blue and has plenty of vents, and light brown loose fitting cordura tousers. Lighter colours tend to be cooler, loose fit means more air flow. Will have waterproofs in luggage and a spare pair of gloves. Air flow leads to accelerated dehydration, was drinking 3-4 litres of water a day on top of normal consumption in the hot south of spain.
Agree with largeviking - don't underestimate the heat/dehydration. Check the weather forecast closer to your departure, but I would imagine leathers would be too hot (unless you're riding all day and not bimbling around or sightseeing whilst off the bike). I wore a gore-tex suit on 2 Euro trips last year, and glad I did. I would have passed out walking around Siena with my leathers on! Even riding around towns/cities looking for our hotels, etc, was hard work in the heat. Also second the spare gloves advice. If you get caught in a downpour having dry gloves to change into are a god-send.
Stunning, I think the best thin is to adjust what I take a few days before hand. I have some gortex waterproof gloves I shall take. Only thing is that they are more winter gloves. Not sure where to start on waterproof summer gloves. Or just take a spare non waterproof pair when it drys out ?
If you have some gore-tex gloves then I wouldn't bother looking for waterproof summer gloves, just wear vented summer gloves for the dry riding (which will hopefully be most/all of the time!) and if it chucks it down then either change into the gore-tex gloves if poss or just wear the gore-tex ones until your summer ones dry out. There's nothing much worse than riding in cold, soggy gear. I got caught out in France the other year and ended up in a petrol station putting the free plaggy gloves you can get on the forecourt on under my soaked gloves. It helped a bit but not much!
I don't know if I'd be comfortable ditching the back protector. I got mine as an after thought the day after I bought my Dianese jacket (I saw an advert in MCN stating that I should have got it free but my dealer denied they were part of the scheme despite being listed in the Dianese ad). and I must admit that riding without it now feels just... wrong. Like driving without a seatbelt or riding without a helmet. It's your spine mate, but...
Might be worth thinking about your footware. For long non-scratchy trips I always tend to wear more convenient boots (think TCX Jupiter 2's), as long as they are gore-tex and protect your ankes you will find it so much easier for all the walking (shops, cafes, fuelling etc) that you will be doing all day long.
I have a choice of Sidi Corsa Air which fit will, comfy and vented. or Alpinestars Supertec R which are the above less vented but more waterproof. Was going to go with the Sidi. Finding the blade keeps allot of wind off the legs than my old speed triple used to so less change of getting them wet
