Hot Weather Riding.

[trokarr]

I just finished a 4,957 km (3,080 miles) trip over 6 days and was hoping some members could provide some advice regarding riding in hot weather.  It was usually 30C plus (86F) by noon each day I rode, with not a cloud in the sky the entire time.  Highs ranged from 34-38C (93-100F) with temps of 42C on the pavement.  The bike performed flawlessly but riding by 1 PM was usually brutal.  I have an Olympia Airglide mesh jacket and pants but this didn't help much.  I drank a liter of water at pretty much every fuel stop and soaked my t-shirt and hair with water, but this still wasn't enough.
 
Any hints for trying to keep cool in this type of heat?  I was in some beautiful country (I especially loved Mt. St Helens national park) but it was hard to enjoy it with the unbearable heat.  Some pics:
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
Edit:  Trip mileage was incorrect.

[bowlin01]

I found these videos by Craig very interesting on riding in hot weather....
 

 

 
Hope they help
 
Cheers
Steve

[angrygirafe]

When it’s over 100F, I like to wear a low-profile camelbak under my jacket, and stuff the bite valve in my helmet. And then just go as fast as possible.

[trokarr]

The mileage in my original post was incorrect due to the one grip I have with my bike. It is almost impossible to reset the trip meters back to zero without 10-30 tries every time. This has been the case since day one. Sometimes no matter how hard you press the reset it will not work. Other times, pressing it causes the field to advance so quickly I end up resetting Trip 2 by mistake. I use Trip 1 as my gas gauge and Trip 2 as my mileage record, so having it reset in the middle of a trip is annoying to say the least. Does anyone else have difficulty resetting the trip meters? I am wondering if this is a common problem or just bad luck with my bike.

[Guest highplainsrider]

Swap out or remove the wind screen when it gets hot. I did a ride from Colorado to Vegas and back a couple of summers ago. Getting more airflow was essential.

[trokarr]

Swap out or remove the wind screen when it gets hot. I did a ride from Colorado to Vegas and back a couple of summers ago. Getting more airflow was essential.

What do you do about the bugs then?  Just grin and bear it?

[panooch]

The mileage in my original post was incorrect due to the one grip I have with my bike. It is almost impossible to reset the trip meters back to zero without 10-30 tries every time. This has been the case since day one. Sometimes no matter how hard you press the reset it will not work. Other times, pressing it causes the field to advance so quickly I end up resetting Trip 2 by mistake. I use Trip 1 as my gas gauge and Trip 2 as my mileage record, so having it reset in the middle of a trip is annoying to say the least. Does anyone else have difficulty resetting the trip meters? I am wondering if this is a common problem or just bad luck with my bike.

I take my glove off and just a "quick" positive jab with my index finger gets it to flash. The same to move it from Trip 1 to Trip 2. Not 100 % but at least I make attempts to use mine now where previously, I just said F**& it and wrote my odometer readings down in a small notebook. 

[DavidS]

The mileage in my original post was incorrect due to the one grip I have with my bike. It is almost impossible to reset the trip meters back to zero without 10-30 tries every time. This has been the case since day one. Sometimes no matter how hard you press the reset it will not work. Other times, pressing it causes the field to advance so quickly I end up resetting Trip 2 by mistake. I use Trip 1 as my gas gauge and Trip 2 as my mileage record, so having it reset in the middle of a trip is annoying to say the least. Does anyone else have difficulty resetting the trip meters? I am wondering if this is a common problem or just bad luck with my bike.

I take my glove off and just a "quick" positive jab with my index finger gets it to flash. The same to move it from Trip 1 to Trip 2. Not 100 % but at least I make attempts to use mine now where previously, I just said F**& it and wrote my odometer readings down in a small notebook. 

Quick jab works for me too, but when my bike was new(er) I remember it being a bit hard to get them to reset too

[DavidS]

And as for heat, I regularly ride in 90-100 degree heat in eastern Washington, and am usually fairly comfortable with just my Tourmaster mesh jacket. You might try other jackets to see if they are better at keeping you cool.

[trokarr]

I was thinking about my windscreen after highplainsrider's post and I think he may have found the problem. I have a Puig touring screen, which is quite large and puts me in a relatively still air bubble while riding. I thought that I would lift the screen a little to get more airflow underneath it when I noticed something on my bike. My GPS unit sits right under the windscreen (above the dash) and probably blocks/redirects most of the air that would normally come under the windscreen and onto my chest. I use the Cosmo RAM mount plate for my GPS, which has a 5" screen. I am going to experiment with the mount and GPS removed and see if I get more airflow. I am hoping this will solve my problem and I will just move the GPS onto my handlebar; it certainly would be the cheapest solution. Thanks for all the input guys.

[betoney]

The mileage in my original post was incorrect due to the one grip I have with my bike. It is almost impossible to reset the trip meters back to zero without 10-30 tries every time. This has been the case since day one. Sometimes no matter how hard you press the reset it will not work. Other times, pressing it causes the field to advance so quickly I end up resetting Trip 2 by mistake. I use Trip 1 as my gas gauge and Trip 2 as my mileage record, so having it reset in the middle of a trip is annoying to say the least. Does anyone else have difficulty resetting the trip meters? I am wondering if this is a common problem or just bad luck with my bike.

No, I have never had a problem resetting any of the fields. I also use Trip 1 as a gas gauge and reset it everytime I fuel up. 
The key to resetting them is a quick press and then when it blinks you can hold the button. 

[trokarr]

Ok, I just tried the quick jab and wait for it to blink method and it worked three times in a row. My mistake was that I hit the reset and held it instead of letting it go immediately. Thanks so much for this tip it will make life so much easier in the future.

[panooch]

Ok, I just tried the quick jab and wait for it to blink method and it worked three times in a row. My mistake was that I hit the reset and held it instead of letting it go immediately. Thanks so much for this tip it will make life so much easier in the future.

I had been doing the same. Glad you got it 

[skipperT]

I was thinking about my windscreen after highplainsrider's post and I think he may have found the problem. I have a Puig touring screen, which is quite large and puts me in a relatively still air bubble while riding. I thought that I would lift the screen a little to get more airflow underneath it when I noticed something on my bike. My GPS unit sits right under the windscreen (above the dash) and probably blocks/redirects most of the air that would normally come under the windscreen and onto my chest. I use the Cosmo RAM mount plate for my GPS, which has a 5" screen. I am going to experiment with the mount and GPS removed and see if I get more airflow. I am hoping this will solve my problem and I will just move the GPS onto my handlebar; it certainly would be the cheapest solution. Thanks for all the input guys.

I had the very same setup at one point, Puig Touring and a 5" GPS on a Cosmo mount. The Puig hugs the contour of the front of the bike pretty closely. I found that increasing the screen stand-off by ~8mm would improve both the airflow and allow my GPS to be angled better. I had extra spacers, but a stack of washers might do. YMMV.

 
Good ideas.
 
The other thing that I found helps is to remove the handguards, as that will increase air flow into the sleeves of your coat.
 
-Skip

[trokarr]

Ok, a quick update. I removed the RAM mounting plate from under the windscreen and moved my GPS to the handlebars (it is still easily readable and now I can see the turn signals on the dash again, which used to be blocked by the GPS). Plus, I can still easily get to the ignition. Also, as per piotrek's recommendation, I put spacers under the windscreen (8 mm on bottom, 4 mm on top). I just took my bike for a test ride on the highway and I can now definitely feel the air on my torso, which was not the case before. We have had a cool spell here since I got back from my trip so I can't say for sure the problem is fixed, but the initial indications are encouraging. Also, I had the windscreen on the middle setting, so I can still move it up on more notch if I need more airflow coming in from underneath.
 
All in, it cost me ~$30 (Cdn) for a new RAM ball mount, the nylon spacers and some longer bolts to attach the windscreen. If this solves my problem it will be the best $30 I have ever spent. Also, I gassed up the bike and the quick jab method mentioned by several forum members to reset the trip meters worked perfectly. Thanks all for the helpful advice. The lack of airflow seems obvious now as the culprit, but sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. I guess I was just so happy to have my GPS in my line of sight that I didn't think through the consequences. Oh well, life is good again lol.