loose jacket may be cooler but it isnt as protective as the pads etc can move around in a crash then. My non-perforated jacket is loose but its mainly for cooler weather so I can fit some layers under it lol. My perf jacket is snug like it should be, and yea air dont flow to well to the back lol. Commuting to/from work protected properly is a tough one on a sportbike lol

 

Z Custom Leathers -. makes wash n dry leather. It says more you wash, it gets softer
Super expensive

 

i live in phoenix currently and i have driven that far from city to city and i would definately get a mesh jacket( had my first accident in mine and didnt feel a thing) there good on protection plus a good one comes with a wind protector for cold days.. helmet whys something silver like i have but i see a lot of riders with black. just have to make sure its vented really.. as far as pants go ive never had any protective gear there, idk how they ride out east but in az i have yet to see one even in biker clubs.. so id say jeans, but your choice.. make sure you have a helmet with a inner and outter sheild for when your riding into the sun, definately helps..

 

Sorry to have been traveling the last 3 days.

Thanks to tucsondude and The_Prince_NR for the local input. My helmet is white, and is now an Arai Profile, as that's the only thing I've been able to find that seems to fit my long-oval head very well.

I'm hoping (sorta, at least) that I'll be able to have a 6 - 14:30 schedule. That's what I think it will be; we'll see.

I'm going with perforated leather, based on all the feedback from locals and others who ride regularly in the heat, combined with my ATGATT approach to riding. I think, though it'll be financially tight, that I could possibly afford one of the 'entry-level' Teknic 1-piece suits. They're leather, perforated, and are available in mostly-white color schemes. Any feedback specific to the Teknic suits? Or suits in general?

The Z custom stuff may be a great product, but I can't tell anything about it from their website. It's also expensive enough that I'd have to do something else first/for a while, and potentially get their stuff later on.

 

I ride to school (almost) every day, so if I wanted to do wash like twice a week I'd need about 3 pairs

 

That's what I was thinking... I normally cannot wear anything that I put on once, even just trying on deciding what I'm gonna wear today, I have to wash it. The riding jacket has been the exception, but I have 3. I don't know how I feel about putting on the same pants...

I think I will try the china made one. portgear.com Since someone mentioned about the single stitching he experienced with china made leather, I asked them. And they actually have all these different free and paid options you can ask for. Any type of stitching are free option as well as any design, any insert etc. for $160 custom fit for my hard to fit body, I think it might be worth it. I will let you guys know how it is

 

I ordered a Komodo Ceno jacket the other day (the very last white/yellow one; discontinued color scheme). I got to talk to them directly, and they say it's well-perforated. Komodo also seems to have a very good reputation for quality, durability, and protection from what I can find on the 'net, so I hope it works well for me. I'll get to the Phx area in less than a week, and it'll be waiting for me there along with a couple of closeout (NOS) LDComfort shirts. I also got ahold of some new, CE Level-2-certified Xpd (Spidi) perforated WR7 boots, and a pair of their gloves.

I feel like I'll be close to as well protected as a commuter can be, and hopefully have adequate ventilation & cooling tools in place as well. If this combo won't cut it for summertime, I'll grab one of the phase-change cooling vests. If even THAT won't do it, I guess I'll drive the Baja. LOL

 

Thought I'd post a quick follow-up in this thread. The Komodo leather jacket is outstanding! Superb features and apparent quality (how would one know for positive unless/until one crashes?), particularly for the price, and wonderful ventilation.

One thing, though: It occurs to me that perforated leather may not be a great choice for when it gets super-hot. At that point (this based on just a couple of hundred-degree days so far), I would agree that wind blast from air temps above body temp is very bad, not good. So, for that reason only, I kinda think it would be best to have a non-perf'd, non-mesh jacket. Something with zipper vents that I can wear my LDComfort stuff under. That stuff is amazing!

 

I think you'll go the other way and decide that airflow is good. When it gets toasty here in Vegas I usually dump a bottle of water on myself before I leave. Then the airflow is actually cooling, and because of how dry the air is if you're going much further than 10 minutes away you should be dry by the time you get home.

Without perforations, I found that I was even more susceptible to the heat.

If you don't already have a mesh jacket, some hybrids have non-mesh sleeve inserts. With one of those, you could try an effectively non-mesh jacket and see if it works out better for you. For me it's winter that perforated jackets make difficult. Once it hits the 40's or so, all those little holes are terrible. My Joe Rocket jacket serves double duty, as a lightweight alternative in the summer and a pretty decent winter jacket, neck area aside.

 

Yes, the evaporative cooling is critical. I didn't mean to suggest a no-airflow condition, so I'll elaborate a little:

My LDComfort shirts are extremely effective at evaporative cooling when I soak them with water. What happened to me already (at only ~100 degrees) is that they completely evaporated all the water by the time I got ~2/3 of the way home. The arms were pretty well dry perhaps as early as halfway. I was thinking that if I had more control over ventilation, such that I could allow airflow, but just somewhat less, the water wouldn't evaporate quite so quickly, and thus I'd have good evaporative cooling the whole way home.

As it was, it's not like I was getting heat stroke or anything, but when the mercury climbs another 15 - 20 degrees, I can see it _potentially_ becoming a significant problem. However, you may be right that I won't end up feeling that way. Time will tell!