Honda-SOHC
General => Out & About => Topic started by: Otis on July 14, 2026, 05:06:48 PM
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During these days of intense and incredible heat I have shied away from riding simply because I cannot bring myself to ride in shorts, trainers and teeshirts. This however, is a decision borne from getting older and feeling that "one should be sensible".
Having taken the car recently more often than the bike for reasons of comfort I am amazed at how many bikers I see in shorts, trainers and teeshirts and feel envy of the freedom they are enjoying.
Winding my own clock back 50 years I fondly remember the Gung Ho joy to be had from throwing a towel over the saddle and enjoying the freedom; safety NEVER really crossed my mind in those days and I wonder why we have become so obsessed with protection these days.
I fully accept that a likely huge majority will say don't ever risk not wearing the correct attire but I would also like to hear the thoughts of the other camps on this subject. As I write I am recalling bombing along the South of France in 1982 from Nice to St Tropez on my CB750FB wearing a speedo and with the wife on the back in her bikini; no helmets. OMG what happy days and amazing memories.
Would love to hear other opinions.
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I think most of us face this dilemma
With age comes wisdom
Having said that, I often go for a potter on my 200 in tee shirt,
I also ride a lot steadier,
Rarely do the same on the 500,
I do it,
I don't ask others to
But I take extra care, my excuse
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Not that it happens very often in Orkney but if it’s too hot to put on the correct protection I don’t go on the bike. Just my own safety and comfort. I remember hiring a scooter and touring all over Ibiza just in t shirt and shorts with my then girl friend and who is now my wife way back in the early eighties. My advice would be don’t do it.
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I think most of us face this dilemma
With age comes wisdom
Having said that, I often go for a potter on my 200 in tee shirt,
I also ride a lot steadier,
Rarely do the same on the 500,
John, the word dilemma is the poignant one here and great that you recognise it as such because it is.
I think one of the points I was trying to nurture was that 50 years ago we just enjoyed what we did in our youth and, thankfully, most of us came through it. As I reach the Autumn of my life I wonder why I actually care so much about preserving longevity? I am, like you, incredibly careful these days and simply tootle about like I was on a bicycle. However, there is always someone on the sidelines that says "you must be bloody mad" and those comments do play on ones mind aand detract from the freedom of riding a motorcycle.
I don't ask others to
But I take extra care, my excuse
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This brings back memories of coming back from an air show on the M6 with a mate, both of us on CB750's and both of us in T shirts and jeans, not a care in the world.
Mind you I can remember riding with a gaggle of mates in the IOM going to Castletown for a few pints in jeans and a white T shirt, a huge mistake as it was decorated with hundreds of kamikaze flies on the way back.
These days I am Captain sensible if I am going any distance, however local rides have seen me in a T shirt and jeans.
It's like scraping the exhaust or a footrest going round a bend, in younger days it was "Wow that was fun", now its more like "I could get hurt here".
Cheers
Dennis
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During my teenage years I could not afford leathers, it was jeans & Wincheater, I wore a cheap open face helmet on runs over 20 miles, goggles that steamed up at traffic lights.
When I could afford leathers, decent gloves,proper boots etc they were really heavy, the ritual of putting on all that armour was very restrictive and off putting for short journeys.
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During my teenage years I could not afford leathers, it was jeans & Wincheater,
This sounds like me when I was a London despatch rider in the 1980s. I got myself a new RG 500 Gamma ( and another after it was stolen) I seemed to spend so much money on that and everything else I never did get proper leathers either! The one leather jacket I had was too damn small for me and fell out of favour. ::) Mind you the LC brigade of the 80s ( remember them?) favoured jeans and paddock jackets too. ;)
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During these days of intense and incredible heat I have shied away from riding simply because I cannot bring myself to ride in shorts, trainers and teeshirts. This however, is a decision borne from getting older and feeling that "one should be sensible".
I would never, but absolutely never become one of those fools riding in shorts. That said in this recent heatwave the leather jacket has been swapped for a Harrington jacket, a leather jacket is just too hot for the middle of London where live and it starts to feel very heavy in this heat too. I've bought myself some unlined gloves too, but the boots stay.
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You mean you wouldnt use full Belstaffs?
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On main A roads, motorways etc, regardless of the country we're in, it's jeans and Goretex bike jackets . When pootling around on small roads, regardless of which country we're in, it's shorts and T shirts.
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I spent nearly 3 weeks in hospital after a car pulled out in front of me. I was riding sensibly and within the speed limit. You just never know when an idiot is going to take you out.
I was wearing full protective gear which couldn't prevent my ankle and leg being smashed, plus a broken arm. I dread to think what damage would have been done if I hadn't been wearing the kit, the skin damage alone would have been horrendous.
In hot weather the minimum gear I wear is textile jacket with air vents, kevlar lined bike jeans and bike boots, plus helmet and vented gloves of course. As long as you're moving the heat is fine and when off the bike I take off the jacket.
These days there are lots of mesh jackets available with built in protectors, I'm seriously thinking of getting one because of the hotter weather we are going to keep getting in the future.
Don't be an early organ donor folks!
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Hotter weather we are going to be getting in the future?
You’re optimistic aren’t you?
We get one heat wave, and tbh not a very good heat wave and suddenly it’s a clear indication that the world is warming up and we should all buy shares in swimwear manufacturers. The summer of 76 was a heat wave, can’t remember a single mention of global warming, it lasted far longer, killed far more people, yet no one blamed the earth for warming up. The 89 heatwave was also worse, again no mention. 13 years apart and it’s been quite a few years since our last heatwave as far as I can recall. Will we get another before next year? Doubt it. Before 2030, doubt it. It’s a blip that occurs every now and then, like floods. Dress accordingly and stay safe by doing so. A period of being uncomfortable is far better than lying in a hospital bed wishing you’d used the car instead.
I missed the small period of good weather we had last July, spent all of July in a coma, I’m missing all this lovely good biking weather right now due to said coma, last time I rode a bike was June 16 2025, am I bitter about that fact? You bet you’re arse I am, but seeing the bikes go past or hearing one going at speed still makes me smile, I always say to myself, stay safe lads ( I say lads but they could just as easily be women) get home safe and in one piece. Wear the right stuff, if it’s too hot for your wardrobe buy a new one better suited.
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We shall see.
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Hotter weather we are going to be getting in the future?
You’re optimistic aren’t you?
We get one heat wave, and tbh not a very good heat wave and suddenly it’s a clear indication that the world is warming up and we should all buy shares in swimwear manufacturers. The summer of 76 was a heat wave, can’t remember a single mention of global warming, it lasted far longer, killed far more people, yet no one blamed the earth for warming up. The 89 heatwave was also worse, again no mention. 13 years apart and it’s been quite a few years since our last heatwave as far as I can recall. Will we get another before next year? Doubt it. Before 2030, doubt it. It’s a blip that occurs every now and then, like floods. Dress accordingly and stay safe by doing so. A period of being uncomfortable is far better than lying in a hospital bed wishing you’d used the car instead.
I missed the small period of good weather we had last July, spent all of July in a coma, I’m missing all this lovely good biking weather right now due to said coma, last time I rode a bike was June 16 2025, am I bitter about that fact? You bet you’re arse I am, but seeing the bikes go past or hearing one going at speed still makes me smile, I always say to myself, stay safe lads ( I say lads but they could just as easily be women) get home safe and in one piece. Wear the right stuff, if it’s too hot for your wardrobe buy a new one better suited.
Very wise words there , I always wear all my motor cycle gear what ever the weather which is always leather as I don’t trust the jeans which I am sure are very good but not as good as leather.
I made this decision years ago when I saw a guy just wearing shorts come off a monkey bike onto tarmac at about 20 miles an hour at Brands Hatch paddock.
Not a good outcome as the guy had lost all the skin on his thigh and the gravel was deeply in beaded in his flesh , I just imagine the medical staff having to pick all that gravel out so life changing injuries.
It’s easier to learn from other peoples mistakes than your own thats why I always wear the right kit even if I am just going up the road for fuel etc.
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You mean you wouldnt use full Belstaffs?
I haven't got about a thousand pounds for what used to be despatch riders staple, I just about FLED from their shop in London's Spitalfields market! :o
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You mean you wouldnt use full Belstaffs?
I haven't got about a thousand pounds for what used to be despatch riders staple, I just about FLED from their shop in London's Spitalfields market! :o
I bought my leather trousers and jacket off ebay and had them 20 years now, both Scott leathers in really good condition when I bought them .
I think the jacket was around £50 - £60 and the trousers were around £40.
I thought it was worth trying them out as I could always re sell them if I e Ed other didn’t like like them or they didn’t fit but luckily enough perfect in both respects.
Both had very little wear do a bargain so there’s no need to skimp on safety .
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1976 Heat Wave, for me that was a great year, I met my future wife.
The spring fed pond next to my parents house completely dried up for the first time in the memory of the farmer who owned it.(He was in his nineties)
Everyone's lawn was brown, hose pipe ban, car washes were closed. Everyone's car locally was covered in dust.
Don't remember wild fires, probably as at that time farmers burnt fields of stubble.
We didn't blame global warming allegedly man made, no TV warnings about not swimming in the rivers or sea, did we have more common sense back then?
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I wear leathers, gloves, armoured trousers and bike boots even if I just go to the village to go to the shops. Last Friday when I came home from riding to work, 40 mile round trip, my shirt under my jacket was completely soaked and getting trousers off was very difficult. I would not consider riding in anything less and simply put up with being hot. The heat isn't really any trouble when in motion and much more fun than when it is raining, foggy or icy as it will be again in a few months time.
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My choice of attire on days like these (and I'm out on the RE Interceptor at the moment, just stopped off in Burnham Beeches for a bacon bap and a latte) is a pair of Red Route denim jeans for bikers with AA hip and knee armour (about £100 three years ago and purchased from J&S) and a light grey Oxford Arizona Air jacket (A rated) cost around £140 last year with a AAA rated back protector that was another £35. The jacket is a godsend, fits like a glove and allows plenty of airflow. I don't feel the back protector as it's the latest lightweight type and not the heavy, solid inflexible plastic of years gone by. Boots are short length Daytona and fitted fine straight out of the box with no painful breaking in.
I wear all this gear but the thousands of half witted scooter riders that swam everywhere in London ride in shorts, tees, flip flops and no gloves and that's just not in summer either!
As for Scott leathers, they unfortunately folded a month or so ago with the owner saying it was because of the cheap leathers now coming in from the far east.
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Thats a shame about Scott leather shutting down , another great British icon goes to the wall, Scott leathers had a great racing heritage.
I used to have a blue Lewis Leathers Manx style jacket with a 38 in chest which I wore 40 years ago when I was a bit slimmer.It was in the loft for years when I grew out of it and I forgot it was up there, anyway decided to sell it on EBay a couple of years ago and didn’t realise how collectible it was.
I put it up for auction and got £175 for it from a guy in the states, if think I paid £100 for it in the early eighties, which makes me think that my Scott leathers might become valuable if they are no longer in business, you never know !
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1976 Heat Wave, for me that was a great year, I met my future wife.
The spring fed pond next to my parents house completely dried up for the first time in the memory of the farmer who owned it.(He was in his nineties)
Everyone's lawn was brown, hose pipe ban, car washes were closed. Everyone's car locally was covered in dust.
Don't remember wild fires, probably as at that time farmers burnt fields of stubble.
We didn't blame global warming allegedly man made, no TV warnings about not swimming in the rivers or sea, did we have more common sense back then?
Sometimes it was hotter in UK than Gibraltar where I was stationed as a young soldier. No, we didn't blame global warming or climate change, or Franco either! When in the history of this plane did the climate stand still?
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Oh Yes, Lewis Leathers. My new wife and I had matching outfits. Yellow Sportsman jackets in horsehide, nice soft leather jeans from Rivetts of Leytonstone along with soft leather 3/4 length boots, and Everoak Grand Prix helmets. If the photos attach(!!), it's 1975, looking at new housebuild, new CB750 (GME 1N). The other photo shows that the jacket is still available, but Holy S--T, I paid nowhere near that for the new 750.
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OOPS!! 2nd pic should have been this.
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I've still got my Kett leather jacket I bought when I was 17 and first started biking on my CB160. It was a 38inch chest, a bit on the small side now considering I do a daily workout with my Bullworker (although sometimes I do struggle to get it out of the box) 😳. Some things you just can't throw away.
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I literally teach my CBT students
"Dress for the slide not the pride - Gear up before you ride!"
I am aghast that any rider would go out in shorts and T-shirts let alone a mature rider.
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Eldrick, that is precisely the reason I provoked the discussion in the first place.
You are absolutely right and wise to educate young riders but I personally have had some nasty spills on a bicycle in my earlier days. Nobody ever criticises a cyclist for wearing shorts and a tee shirt but every motorcyclist is immediately considered "insane". As a now mature motorcyclist I spend much time along the coastal road between Chichester and Brighton. Very very rarely is it permissible to exceed 30mph and most journeys are less than that. Whilst I try to balance protection with enjoyment I sometimes feel that the default position of protection at all cost is just symptomatic of today's nanny agenda. I sincerely believe that there are times and places whereby enjoyment and comfort should outweigh the dogged necessity to protect.
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1976 Heat Wave, for me that was a great year, I met my future wife.
Me too!
Our first date was 1st June 1976. We went down the pub on my CB125S. If I remember correctly I wore a Wrangler denim jacket and jeans. She wore a rather fetching off-the-shoulder sundress…
Been married 45 years in August.
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1976 Heat Wave, for me that was a great year, I met my future wife.
Me too!
Our first date was 1st June 1976. We went down the pub on my CB125S. If I remember correctly I wore a Wrangler denim jacket and jeans. She wore a rather fetching off-the-shoulder sundress…
Been married 45 years in August.
What a fabulous story and huge congratulations; I'm just a year behind you ;D
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I believe the following to be factual;
30mph is 44 feet per second, sliding up the road with just your skin for 2 seconds will get down to bone.
Some roads are smoother that others so you may be lucky, I personally would not take that risk. Also, with the cyclist, I do think they are mad to be wearing lycra, both as a fashion statement, (who wants clothes that tight :D ) and as any form of protection.
Sometimes, we people need protection from ourselves.
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I believe the following to be factual;
30mph is 44 feet per second, sliding up the road with just your skin for 2 seconds will get down to bone.
Some roads are smoother that others so you may be lucky, I personally would not take that risk. Also, with the cyclist, I do think they are mad to be wearing lycra, both as a fashion statement, (who wants clothes that tight :D ) and as any form of protection.
Sometimes, we people need protection from ourselves.
I totally get where you are coming from but I have to say that I have avoided riding my bike in recent weeks because the misery of discomfort far exceeds the misery of sitting in an air conditioned car in traffic. I want to be Freeee!
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yep, that is a good sentiment and I agree with that.
The law says we Must wear a helmet and does not specify anything else. I would not have that changed, I like the freedom we all have to choose.
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During my teenage years I could not afford leathers, it was jeans & Wincheater,
Mind you the LC brigade of the 80s ( remember them?) favoured jeans and paddock jackets too. ;)
Don't forget the white ankle boots too!
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I am having a leisurely break in Northern Italy, Porto Cerisio, on the shore of Lake Lugano,about 1 km from the Swiss border,
I would say 80% of riders and passengers are in shorts, tee shirts, even dresses
Most bikes, scooters, including the GS are like that,
The fully kitted out riders tend to be sporty bikes, Ducati, Blades etc
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20260720/3188f4dea7122617f85ef16dbeadbc8b.jpg)
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I found this interesting, in context of just what different materials do by comparison during testing.
https://youtu.be/2tG8EFmnDb8?is=4cTr0qTEYd58T6cM
I watched this presenter after her accident that lead her to examine aspects of protection. A nice enquiring look through the practicality of clothing used for riding.
I don't know what others think about seeing someone else with accident damage to them, but it makes my skin "prickly" even with the description of the girl on there before the after effects of sliding down the road in such unprotected state are shown and discussed. Makes me really feel for someone that's gone through that, however it came about.
The protective equipment I buy I take reasonably deep interest in what its capability is. I'm not risk averse in riding bike though and wouldn't like to point out another's outlook or give opinion on failings. I'm certainly not a good role model from that aspect, but would be reluctant to ride in shorts etc.
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I watched this yesterday funnily enough and I was surprised that there were no regulations in the USA which is old it being the sueing capital of the world, also the alarming amount of fake gear about.
They always say if it too good to be true it normally is !
I have however just picked up a Scott leather jacket second hand from EBay which is in very good condition, I bought some leather cleaner and give it a good clean and it’s come up really nicely .
Not the first time I have done this as I currently have Scott leather jacket and trousers I bought 20 years ago and it’s still going strong .
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I'm unsure if its all part of same company, but a number of Scott branded clothing, ski related, cycle etc are all well designed/manufactured/long lasting typically. I've quite high degree of faith in their products.
I use "neatsfoot" oil for rejuvenating good quality leather protective clothes, boots etc as they age. Successful in bringing and keeping them in supple condition in my experience.
It's good to get a very good product for reasonable price, along with it not going to waste too.
I bought some short bike boots likewise recently. A guy had bought size too small, hummed & hawed about them too long to get refund, so tried on and not used. TCX brand, fairly costly but bidding on the famous selling bay reached only £41 :) very nicely made they are too.
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I found this interesting, in context of just what different materials do by comparison during testing.
https://youtu.be/2tG8EFmnDb8?is=4cTr0qTEYd58T6cM
The protective equipment I buy I take reasonably deep interest in what its capability is. I'm not risk averse in riding bike though and wouldn't like to point out another's outlook or give opinion on failings. I'm certainly not a good role model from that aspect, but would be reluctant to ride in shorts etc.
Thanks for posting this, I had not seen it before and found it very informative. I certainly now intend to be far more mindful of the gear I wear when doing anything more than "pootling".
Without wishing to conflate two topics this also had a bearing on my thoughts about the age of riding (seperate thread) and I was only kicking those thoughts around yesterday after having been for a good run out on the Ducati. The Duke is, without doubt a handful compared to my 350F and whilst the sound, the torque, the road presence and the ability to get up and go is significant; on balance, at the age of 70 I have to confess that I enjoy the 350F more. This conclusion (and it's why I felt it appropriate to mention it here) was partly borne out of the possible consequences of coming off either. Animals running out are my greatest fear but as I probably never go quicker on the 350F than a professional cyclist does, I took some comfort that an incident would probably be considerably less serious than coming off the Ducati.
Oh to be young and carefree again and I loved reading John Webleys observations from Italy ;D
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Another (once you watch one, they que them in stack for you) that's thinking more on the lines of temperature effects, as considered at thread start.
https://youtu.be/ba1mmapA6_Y?is=FKbnYI9sR8700ebA
Not conclusive, but some interesting observations about concentration at more elevated temperature for the rider.