France & Spain. 2 Questions

[pyx_e]

I ride round the UK a lot and am used to weather conditions and choosing the right gear. I am planning a trip to North Spain may / June next year and have a couple of questions. Both to do with hot/cold conditions.

1/ I have 2 jackets. Winter and Summer. Winter one is solid and impenetrable. Summer lone lighter with some textiles and tiny holes punched in leather and the one I am planning on using. But what happens if it gets cold? Will it get cold? What should I take as an extra layer or will the addition of a waterproof layer add enough wind protection? What do you wear?

2/ I mostly ride in Jeans, except in winter on longer trips when I use a pair of HG textiles. Again considering the distance should I opt for extra protection? Will it be too hot? What do wear in France and Spain?

Sorry to sound like a bit of an idiot but I know how uncomfortable (and therefore unsafe) having the wrong gear can be and Its a big adventure for me, I want to get it as right as possible.

Ta, Pyx_e
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Shiney!
Kawasaki: ER5, Versys, VN900.

[esullivan]

[Matt B]

Agree with the layers post.

I've been down through France at that time of year before and you have to prepare for all types of weather.

You can get anything from 20+ degrees sunshine down to 10 degrees and torrential rain. Take a look at the average weather in the Midi-Pyrénées for example. In May/June you are going to get the highest rainfall for the whole year, it's often cold and misty in the mornings but hot later in the day.

Personally I would go with a waterproof textile jacket, one that has some vents you can open up, summer gloves and the bottom half of my leathers. Then stick some waterproof over-trousers and gloves in the top box.

A lot of this depends on what you ride. The Pan has a lot of protection from the elements and heated grips so I can get away with lighter summer clothing mostly.
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stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[Monkeypony]

I went France - Barcelona last June.

It rained.

It snowed heavily.

It rained some more.

Barcelona was like riding into an oven. Then it rained.
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Current bike - 2018 H2-SX, 2004 SV1000s, 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RF, 2017 Sherco SERF 300, 2003 Suzuki DRZ400 (stolen - AY53 JUU)

[c_dug]

Key is definitely a set of waterproof overalls, preferably tried and tested in proper heavy rain. Over a textile jacket without thermal liner. Pack a jumper in case it's a bit chilly in the mornings. And two pairs of gloves.

[url=https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=278369&highlight=france]I did a tour[url] last year, a bit later on in the year, I wore a Frank Thomas leather jacket and was way way too hot. Then it rained and I was very very very wet.

Good gear could have saved me a lot of discomfort!
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[Peirre oBollox]

For my Spanish and Portuguese tour this July I`ll be taking a full mesh HG 2 piece suit, 2 sets under armor base layers, a Techniche hypercool vest, and a 2 piece waterproof set, 2 pairs of identical summer gloves and HG slip over waterproof mittens/boots, plus a 3ltr camelback bladder (for hydration). But I am expecting riding into the oven known as central Spain.
However the waterproofs will help me layer up preventing wind blast and rain. The Techniche vest will when wet keep me cool, and when dry act as a body warmer. Riding to/from the ferry here in the UK is where I`m expecting rain
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[J biker]

Expect heat, cold, rain and maybe snow on high passes!

Jeans a nice idea but not much use apart from hot and dry. You can get weather that just cant make its mind up.
I have tried leathers, hot and not waterproof. Over the top water proofs, too hot, plus a pain with stop start rain.

Finally settled on Halvarsonns leather with waterproof liners. Vented. Still hot but at least the protection is there should shit happen. No happy medium I'm afraid due to variations in weather.

[richiec]

Layering is definitely the way to go, could be cold riding up in the mountains, then baking hot sat outside a bar enjoying a beer.

Textile jacket with removable inner layer.

Textile summer trousers.

EDZ inner shell top and leggings just in case it does get really cold ( both pack up really small ).

Aldi motorcycle base layer top and bottoms, both warm and cool ( strange ! ) and wash / dry really quickly.

Decent one piece waterproof oversuit.

Summer gloves and waterproof overmitts.

[mentalboy]

Last year, beginning of July in North Western Spain the temps were going into the 40's, daily. One evening, on a particularly hot day, at 8p.m. a pharmacy sign was showing 42C!!!
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[barrkel]

Hot weather on the continent is often accompanied by thunderstorms, with bursts of very heavy rain. So layering makes lots of sense.

I've done it three different ways.

(A) Highly vented jacket and trousers combined with waterproofs on top. Most waterproofs don't last very long, the seams give out, especially at the crotch, which is exactly where all the rain water collects. So at this point I tend to go for cheap and disposable waterproofs like motorway overtrousers, or something high quality like lowe alpine / north face or similarly branded outdoors stuff that have seam guarantees - provided you can size up something that fits on top of existing gear. Relatively expensive (40 GBP) motorcycle overtrousers just leaked after a few hours.

Waterproof zip-in liners inside vented jackets are worthless for rain proofing. The entire exterior gets soaked, and you end up wearing what is effectively a plastic bag with a soaking wet jacket wrapped around it. Depending on the design of the liner, it may also conduct water inside your gloves and / or boots.

Zip-in liners work OK for wind blocking though.

(B) Two jackets - goretex and vented - combined with goretex trousers. This didn't work out too badly, got into maybe 35 degree weather near Seville - uncertain because the VFR's air temperature sensor stopped working if it spent too much time above 30 degrees. In any case, it was fairly hot. However, the lack of the option to get groin airflow by standing on the pegs does get old.

(C) Perforated leathers combined with waterproofs, fleeces and EDZ windblock layers. This is my preferred option going forward for increased protection purposes. Leather gets very hot when in cities though, where you don't get enough speed to get much airflow.

Option (A) was the most comfortable, but required replacing some rain gear along the way when it started leaking. Option (B) was good when there was heavy rain, as when I'm wearing the goretex jacket, I'm in my most waterproof gear. I'd choose this again if the weather forecast is variable and riding through thundershowers is expected. And like I said, I'm now preferring option (C) for the extra protection, in spite of the reduced comfort.

Basically, expect to ride in air temperatures between 10 degrees and 40, bone dry and torrential rain. Note that above 40, you're better off wearing wind protection as the wind itself will start to burn you, unless you're wearing a evaporative cooling layer (like Pierre).

On gloves: I generally bring two pairs of waterproof gloves and one pair of vented summer gloves. My waterproof gloves are leather with goretex liners, which means they soak up water after a while and turn into steam baths, and the inside ends up soaking wet anyway. Having a spare pair of dry, waterproof gloves to switch to after riding through a soaking is very pleasant.

I've tried slip-on over-gloves, I think they're lethally slippery and compromise control. I think the same about over-boots - I stick with goretex boots. I've had situations where levers get stuck in the over-boots as you're trying to put your foot down at stops, or where the over-boot comes half-off when you pull your foot up and you nearly crash trying to get it back into place again.
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[pyx_e]

Thank you, everyone. Reading all this I think it is the trousers that are going to cause me the biggest headache. I'm not small and can handle a certain amount of cold, I HATE being hot. Maybe I should stick to pottering around Wales lol.

Pyx_e
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Shiney!
Kawasaki: ER5, Versys, VN900.

[s1h]

Textile jacket, liner in your bag put it in if you need it.

Kevlar jeans, a pair of cheap waterproof trousers you can put over the top if you need to.

[vanveenocr100...]

Been to Brittany for the last two years for a week, end of July. First year took our normal leathers, boy did we lose some weight, second year lightweight armored jackets and Kevlar jeans.
What an improvement, much more comfortable i could stand by the wife without smelling like a sweaty sock. I would be looking for a well vented jacket and trousers, we did get caught in a few showers but these were warm compared to our weather.

[Ste]

T shirt and shorts.

Too hot? Well that's easily solved... just go faster!