Summer riding pants

[Felix the cat]

I,ve been looking to buy some riding pants for late spring thru early fall. The heat plus humidity here in Georgia can get pretty rough sometimes. Anyway, I see lots of black mesh pants ( with armor of course) but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the white riding mesh pants. Would the white pants be any cooler? Running down the road I know that the pants will provide some good ventilation but their are times I have to sit in traffic, at lights etc and think that the white color may not absorb the heat as much. Thought?

My wife's comment was "the white ones will dirty quicker" or "show the dirt more". Ya just have to love the love the little woman!

Thanks in advance for you thoughts and experience!

Steve
Aka: Felix the Cat

[paulcbrowne]

I have a black pair of Firstgear mesh overpants, a pair of black Revit mesh riding pants, and a "silver" pair of Olympia mesh overpants. I'd recommend grey/silver vs. white. It won't show as much dirt as white.

I pefer the Revit pants for protection, but sometimes they are too warm on hot days (90+). I've worn the Olympia pants in hot summer weather and I notice that they seem to feel coolest of the three. If I'm on a trip I'll usually wear lightweight convertible hiking pants underneath and that gives me a range from upper 60s to mid-90s. If it's really hot, I'll just switch to lighweight gym shorts. If you're going to have just one pair of summer pants, check out the Olympia brand.

[malahy1501]

I have had a pair of FirstGear HT mesh Overpants for 6 seasons now. They are as functional today as day one Never start the bike without them on first...ATGATT

I have no knowledge of the others out there now...but I know the pair I have sure have been durable and they are available in regular, short, and tall lengths...which dramatically improves the "fit" and "look" for those of us who do not fall into the regular length category

Here is a link to MotorcycleGear, formally NewEnough

http://www.motorcyclegear.com/street/pants/mesh_pants

Bill

[Scootereno]

Yes the lighter colors do help when stopped in our hot and humid days.

[westnash]

You might consider these from Olympia.....very good quality and they transition to shorts quickly and have good padding and protection. Better yet they are available in a color other than black:

http://olympiamotosports.com/catalog/ai ... rmer-pant/

[icing777]

+1 on Olympia. LOVE those pants!!!

[wayneman]

$179.99 are you out of your mind........

[icing777]

$179.99 are you out of your mind........

You get what you pay for.... I personally went thru many pair of pants for summer riding. Nothing I found before gave me the comfort, venting and protection Olympia offers.
Hey, to each his own....

[lojo]

$179.99 are you out of your mind........

@ Wayne-some folk might think you are out of your mind buying a Burgman Scooter....everything is relative....value is what something is worth to you. I'm just saying.......

LoJo

[Jon_C]

$179.99 are you out of your mind........

These babies are $480!

[JT]

$179.99 are you out of your mind........

How much are your knees worth? Mine are worth at least that.

[westnash]

You might be able to find them cheaper too. They offer you both protection and comfort and no reason why they wont last many, many years. Not that much more expensive than several pairs of jeans which don't offer any protection and dont offer vent capability.

[wayneman]

Just checked my AFLAC policy..My knee's really aren't worth that much. Now my head on the other hand
is where the big $$ come in. Still would not pay $180 for pants.. BTW, my helmet cost me $260 which i gladly paid.

$179.99 are you out of your mind........

How much are your knees worth? Mine are worth at least that.

[Noth]

I have a pair of Tour Master venture air pants.. about $170 on line... The come with two liners.. One for rain, which is actually pretty good for temps down to high 50's or lowewr. and a quilted liner, which is good for me as low as it goes before I worry about ice on the road... The Mesh is good too and I wear them over over my business casual khaki uniform for work.. bought a pair of short length.. I have a 30" inseam.. and they fit fine..

[paulcbrowne]

I found a good solution today. I put a pair of Columbia lightweight wind pants over my Revit vented/armored pants that I like so well. It was in the low 60's, cloudy and drizzly at times. But sun was a possibility later in the day (but didn't materialize), and I wanted to be ready if it got warm. This combo worked amazingly well, far better than I had anticipated. Now I have summer riding pants that will cover high 50's to 100 degrees and all I had to do was rummage through my closet.

[cheap0]

I just ordered "Famous Maker" (is that a brand name, or a hidden brand?) mesh pants from http://www.compacc.com/ , to-wit:
http://www.compacc.com/p/Famous-Maker-Mesh-Pants

They're on closeout, US$70, USA shipping is $9 or free, if, like me, you keep on shopping until you exceed $100.

Grrr, it was getting frustrating as I searched for something cheap and also NOT black! I kept thinking of Henry Ford's famous quote from the early days of Ford Motor Co.:

You can have [your new Ford automobile] in any color you like, so long as it is black.

Well, here they are. Cheap (as protective riding pants go) and except for the knees and the butt, not black (silver.)

New Enough was always good to me, I trust them, but these guys sound good too. The bottom line was that I didn't find such a deal at motorcyclegear.com, so I jumped on this one.

I almost settled on the Olympia Recon 3 Mesh Tech Transformer Pant in pewter as referenced upthread, $180, but yikes, I am a cheap0 who hates to part with that much money. And the pewter is a nice color for pants, but not exactly high-viz. The ones I am getting witll stand out a bit more, I think.

Tour Master Venture Air Pants, also referenced upthread, are nder $170 at motorcyclegear.com, but my size is "Extended Backorder".

Why do riding gear manufacturers make so much of their stuff in BLACK?

Why do so many bikers want BLACK riding gear?

It's demonstrably hotter. It's demonstrably less visible. What's the deal? Am I just so far out of it that I can't see the benefit in wearing black?

[Scootereno]

$179.99 are you out of your mind........

How much are your knees worth? Mine are worth at least that.

My knees are worth $9.99 for MX knee guards worn under or over the pants/shorts I wear.
No need to pay for more than you need and they are cooler than most other biker pants mesh or not .

[Noth]

Black means your tough?
I wonder the same thing..
They don't have that great deal in my size.. so I will keep using my tourmaster venture air pants in BLACK... I should have ordered them in silver.. duh ? !

[Aladinbama]

I picked up some Joe Rocket 3.0 mesh pants in gray. I think I spent @$129 on them - They work (I hope) and they're pretty airy. I definitely won't be wearing them in winter.

[cheap0]

I just ordered "Famous Maker" (is that a brand name, or a hidden brand?) mesh pants from http://www.compacc.com/ , to-wit:
http://www.compacc.com/p/Famous-Maker-Mesh-Pants

They shipped promptly and arrived on Saturday (I did not know that Fedex Ground delivers on Saturday!)

"Famous Maker" is a custom/exclusive deal with Compacc.com. If I was to guess who "Famous Maker" was in this case, I would guess Teknic. I have a Teknic mesh jacket from '07 or '08 which is silver/gray, and the silver mesh fabric and gray textile panels appear to be the same as the pants. The jacket and pants together look like a perfect match! It looks like I spent $300+ to get a matched outfit. But you know me, good ol' cheap0, I actually paid less for the jacket than the pants. Total investment there is around $135.

(Scout58 has a photo of me in that jacket in her album from the Mentone ride of 2010.)

These are not just summer pants, and in fact, I suspect that they won't be that great for hot weather riding. (I can't ride test them until I get the bike running again, sigh.) They don't have as much mesh as the jacket does. And they do come with a zip-out quilted liner (you bet I already did zip it out!) They also claim to be "waterproof". Waterproof and allowing air flow are almost mutually exclusive.

For protection, these will be far better than nothing, but the hips and butt have very little. There's a thin foam pad (not CE) on the outside of the hips. The butt will be well protected against abrasion (the same black ballistic nylon as the knees), but as for padding, the rider is expected to provide his own.

The CE knee armor is adjustable by means of six velcro strips each. To put mine in the top position, I had to open all six, move the armor to the top, and carefully close the bottom three strips. Was not easy to do, since the hook side wants to hook into that nylon mesh liner.

The leg zippers only go to the knee. I think they'll be difficult to take off and put on in the field, with boots on. I suspect I'll just wear them when I stop.

Sizing, well ... the Famous Maker seems to think bikers are young and thin. We here at BurgmanUSA.com probably tend toward the other ends of those scales, and I'm no exception. I'm not really huge like a lot of people I know around here in Dixieland, but, uh, let's just say I could stand to lose a few pounds. Most of my pants are 42 or 44. I got 2XL Regular. These are snug and a bit longish. Not unbearable, and I discovered that by undoing the snaps and clasp and zipper, I can sit quite comfortably. So I'll do that while I strive to shed a few inches around the middle.

(I chose to keep these rather than exchange for 3XL Short, which is sold out of the silver.)

Bottom line: if you are uncompromising about safety, spend a bit more and get something with CE hip armor and more butt protection. Also consider separate summer and winter pants. These are probably not that great for either extreme, because ventilation will reduce the effectiveness of the quilted liner. But if, on the other hand, you are a cheap0 who wants to feel safer without spending a fortune, you'll be pleased with these.

[Felix the cat]

Thank you to everyone! I didn't do to much riding this summer. When i did I wore shorts and my Fieldsheer mercury 2.0 pants. They worked good as long as I was moving. Now I'm back at work (I have part of summer off since I work for a school system) and using the fieldsheer's for now in the mornings. Nothing on the way home. Too hot. At payday I plan to order me some AGV sport solare pants. They are now below $100. I had looked at some from competion accessories but preferred a name I knew and had a good reputation. I'll let y'all know how they work for me. Thanks again for everyone's help!

Felix the cat
Aka: Steve