It’s 44-degree Celsius outside and thoughts of riding are long gone from my mind. It is so hot outside right now that my tyres have already reached their maximum grip despite them not moving for a single kilometer. Still, If you’re like me who wants to go out and ride, no matter what. Then there are 6 ways to help you ride in summer, let’s begin.1: Use a wet Bandana
A bandana can be a variety of ways, one of them happens to be beneficial for hot weather riding. Before going out for any ride, dip your bandana in ice-cold water and wear it across your face like a mask. Put the helmet over your head and you’re good to go. The hot air coming into your helmet will be converted into the cold air in no time. Repeat this process if the bandana becomes fully dried. If you don’t have a bandana and don’t use one occasionally then don’t buy it, just use a big handkerchief and you’re good to go.
2: Drink a lot of water
Before you leave for a ride in the scorching afternoon, drink at least a liter of water. Not ice-cold water, but medium cold one. The increased water level in your body will help to maintain your body temperature for a long period of time and won’t leave you feeling thirsty. A pro tip, mix a lot of electrolytes in your water, the ions will maintain the osmotic balance of the cells in your body, and the proper functioning of your sensory and receptor neurons. In short, it will keep you agile throughout the journey.
3: Wear skinny clothing
Wearing loose clothes leave a lot of space between the skin and the fabric. In this open area, a lot of hot air can enter and exchange heat with the body, thus increasing body temperature. Wearing skin-tight clothes can prevent hot air from coming in contact with the body by decreasing the free space between it and the fabric, thus reducing the amount of heat exchanged and core body temperature.
4: Vented helmets
Remember the wet bandana we talked about in the first part, well it won’t work if the air doesn’t flow inside your helmet. In order to increase its flow, you can either crack open the helmet or buy a vented one.
5: Ride fast
Most of the roads during summer are always deserted and If you’re lucky like me, who lives in a small populated town, then just ride fast wherever you want to go. Go 70 where earlier you were going 40, just make sure that you’re able to handle this type of riding.
6: Plant a tree
This might be a long-term solution, but if every biker plants a tree every time he goes for a ride then within a span of 2 years, we can have thousands of actively growing, earth cooling, food-producing devices aka trees. Who wouldn’t want to ride on a road filled with huge lush green trees. Plant a tree now so your son too can enjoy what it feels to enjoy the life on two wheels. Please, it’s for a good cause.
There you go my brothers, let me know in the comments what you think about these methods and until then stay tuned for more.
By: Yetnesh Dubey
Summer Motorcycle Riding Made EasyOriginally Posted on 24th March'18
With the heat shooting off like a Kawasaki Ninja H2's acceleration, riding in the cities and highways can get annoying in the summer. Highways could be tolerated on the move though but in the city, you hardly move much in traffic. What's important here though is to beat the heat and riding under high temperatures is like inhaling the polluted air, you can’t stop yourself from doing it at any cost, can you?
Reality is that you can't do much about the heat. The ride between 11 AM to 4 PM will feel quite miserable, especially if you stop with all that riding gear. But I do follow certain practices that helps me deal with it; if not completely but at least partially.
Use a Hydration Bag:
Riding in the heat will leave you sweating profusely. And when there's a certain wind called loo making its way through the helmet vents and onto your lips, you won't realize when they go dry and when you get dehydrated. For that very reason, hydration bags make it very easy to sip water on the go. The trick is to not wait until you feel thirsty because then it’s already late. Sip water occasionally as and when your lips go dry, just to keep your head and other things within, cool. Piss breaks could increase in frequency on a long ride but that’s still better than getting loosies.RELATED ARTICLE: 10 Points To Keep In Mind Before A Long Ride In The Summer
Cover Yourself Completely:
It is often found that people who expose their skin directly to sunlight dehydrate at a faster rate. As a result, it is ideal to wear thing clothing in the summer that covers almost every area of the body. Mesh riding gear in such instances seems like the best bet! Any other areas you can think of? Gloves or high ankle boots! On a long ride, don’t compromise on those as most people take those off first when the heat gets tough to handle.RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Basic Riding Gear That Complete Your Motorcycle Riding Kit
Cool off at Suitable Spots:
Spending long hours on the saddle in the summer could prove to be strenuous to your cheeks down there, especially if you’re wearing a riding pant that’s got a weird rubbery patch that prevents you from sliding on the saddle. Suitable spots like places around a lake, under a banyan tree or café by the highway with umbrellas are excellent for short cooling breaks. Avoid air conditioned environments unless you’re desperate for it as in my experience, you would feel hotter than usual once you’re back on the saddle!Wear them Shades:
Yes, and you’re lucky if your helmet has got an in-built one! There have been days when I’ve ridden under 38 degrees centigrade of maddening heat that kept blowing loo into my eyes. It did hurt a bit. That’s the first time I used the shades of my helmet. Not only did it keep my eyes cool but it also helped take off the highlights of the cemented highway ahead. Until then, I thought it was useless! BTW, tinted visors too do the job!
There so many little things you could do in case you’re extremely heat sensitive like keeping a wet towel on the seat when you’re off the motorcycle, sprinkling water over your t-Shirt before riding and any other ‘jugaadu’ ideas that come to your mind. Do let me know, I’m always on the lookout for creative ideas to experiment with.RELATED ARTICLE: Effects Of Sunlight On Your Motorcycle
Also, ensure you take care of your partner in crime too (your motorcycle) and save it from being affected by the heat. Check coolant levels at the end of the day, ensure correct tyre pressure when the tyres are cold to prevent a tyre blowout and fill the engine with oil that’s made for higher temperatures in case you’re riding under extremely hot conditions.
By: Ssaajan Manoj Jogia