I wear a leather jacket and gloves when it's cold. A vest when it's hot (mainly for pockets). Sometimes a half helmet and sometimes none. I do usually wear boots, but I often wear boots regardless of whether I'm riding.

 

I had a mesh jacket with kevlar padding and it was surprisingly cool on hot summer days. It was a bit too big for me so I sold it and now I mostly wear my leather jacket which has a removable liner. It gets a bit warm at stops but I'm getting old now and I'm more interested in protecting my skin than I used to be. I always wear gloves too. Having your hands bandaged up while road rash heals would not be fun. I reckon you just have to decide how much or how little protection you want.

 

Congratulations on your first summer riding! I hope your summer is fun, and safe.

I live in Arizona, so I'm sure you can imagine how bloody hot it gets here, and you are right.

I love riding, and like many other riders I see out there, I would really love to ride without any protective gear, as boy its more comfy to have the wind all around you to cool you off. I also don't judge anyone for riding with whatever amount of protective gear you deem necessary. It is a personal choice, so what I can share with you is only my opinion.

I ride with as much safety gear as I will feel comfortable with.

I always ride with a full-face helmet. I use a modular helmet in case I do sweat I can get it out of my eyes easily. I also prefer helmets with internal tinted visors. In the summer, I actually use a tinted outer visor and tinted inner visor, as it really helps with the Arizona sun, and cools down the helmet a lot. (more than I expected).

I have a Harley Davidson Jacket that has a zip-out external leather layer, revealing a mesh jacket underneath. I still retain my shoulder, and elbow armor as well as a strip of leather that goes from my wrists and across my shoulders. The Jacket is black, and I purchased it with my bike last September. Keep in mind that last September it was still well over 100 degrees the whole month here in AZ. The wind going through the Jacket made it decent enough, but it was hot when I sat still at lights and things. Last year I usually wore a long sleeve shirt to avoid heavy tanning/burning.. not a fan of skin cancer, this also saved me from dust/sand storms and bugs.


I got Chaps this winter, and I'm still debating if I am going to keep wearing the chaps, or if I'm going to get some reinforced jeans. Either way, I really believe in leg protection, as leg injuries are very common in motorcycle accidents, and I've had road rash twice before, and it is one of the less pleasant things I've had to endure in my life.


I wear Doc Martin's boots, but I am looking to upgrade to some purpose-made motorcycle boots, I wear boots year-round. I've seen several biker injuries where they were broad sided, and their foot/ankle was turned basically into hamburger, both of the instances I am thinking of would've had only crushing damage rather than the hamburger effect if the rider was wearing appropriate boots, which doesn't sound like a hell of an exchange, but I'll take it.


I didn't wear gloves all summer last year, and its pretty funny, but The backs of my hands were very very tan, but my fingers weren't, I plan on wearing some light gloves that will vent well.


Just my .02

 

Nope!!! You forgot shorts!