Possible Cooling System for Riding !!!

Hi,

I've been thinking of trying to make a system that will help keep me cooler in the hot climates in some of the places I ride. Here in California we have what are called "micro" climates. It may be 80 degrees where I live but 20 miles away it might be 100 degrees. So for me to ride in quite a few places means that I have to ride in hot weather. So I'm thinking of using this to help keep cool:

http://shop.myhandycooler.com/

My wife bought this for me for my Fathers Day and I plan on buying that longer white tube (if you click on the link and scroll down) that fits on the end. Believe it or not I have used this during warm days in the sun and it does crank out cooler air. I plan on getting the white tube that fits on this and then fitting it to some smaller tubing, and then making a vest that will fill with this cool air. I know it won't be air conditioning but it should blow cool air on my torso.

I am going to get a gold wind vest since they are very lightweight and have an outer and inner shell that can trap the air. And then use a paper punch that will let some of the air flow out to my torso. I can use a fitting that will be sewn on the inner shell and also sew the seems at the sides. I know they have air coolers/conditioners that can be used for m/c's but the cheapest seems to be $400 and I don't want to spend that kind of money.

With this unit you fill wet the sponge and turn the unit on and it does blow air out that is about 25-30 degrees cooler than the hot outside air. They say these don't really work in high humitidy very well but it stays somewhat dry out here.

So, what do some of you think if I can get cooler air to blow through a light weight vest, that will fill with the cool air, and then have it blow over my torso. Do you think it will work and cool me down? I know these things only cool bodies and not the surrounding air but I am going to try this to see if it works. I only have the unit but was wondering if others have a better idea.

My other idea would be to get like a small cooler, about the size of the Givi Tank bag for the SWing, and putting ice it is and using this unit to blow the air into the small cooler with ice packs, and then another smaller tube that will hook on to my vest. I was thinking that may work better since it will blow the cooler ice air into the vest. I figure it will only cost about another $25 to do this.

After you test your idea ... if you still need something to cool your head or quickly wick water away without leaving any dampness (even in high humidity), then I would still suggest an LD Comfort headliner.




I even wear my LD Comfort headliner off my SWing in either high heat or humidity when I wear my gear ... it makes a huge different for me.

Keep us informed on your testing and analysis.

Jeff,
You can find a motorcycle air conditioning system here:

www.silverwing.org/.... ooops...sorry. Force of habit

Try this link:

http://entrosys.com/

Dan

Dan,

I have seen that one and another one that uses a cooler with ice that forces air to a vest. But that one costs about $400 and the one you gave a link too doesn't have a price. I remember reading about this one when you posted this on the other site. But I bet it is expensive since it is real AC from what I understand. Thanks.

I was just looking online and found these vests.

http://www.tuffrhino.com/Cooling_Vests_s/47.htm

the sleeved version seems a real good buy for $62.

I may be looking into this myself after my last road trip and heat exhaustion.

MaxB

I live in the desert area of Arizona, so consequently have to deal with the heat a lot, routinely riding in 100+ degree weather. For short rides (to/from work, etc) I just sweat it out (pun intended). However, for longer rides, I wear a long sleeve lightweight microfiber shirt. It can be used two ways.

1. Soak it in water, wring it out until damp, put it on and ride. Evaporative cooling will keep it quite cool for a while, and works best in low humidity.

2. If it dries out and you start sweating, the microfiber wicks the moisture away quite nicely, keeping you as cool as possible under the circumstances.

You can get more information on this and other hot weather riding apparel from www.coolingapparel.com

I should also mention that you must drink LOTS of water if you are going to ride in this kind of heat.

Stay cool!

Simply solution.

Ride faster to increase airflow over ones self!!!!

Benefits - improved grin factor.

Negative points - police!!!

Here are additional alternatives

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47F-daVQibw

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/user/goazmotorcycles#p/a/u/0/ThTaCYnjGYo

Move over here to England

John,

I probably need that, move to England. It doesn't get too hot where I live but in California we get "micro climates". It could be 80 degrees where I live but if I ride 20 miles it could be 100 degrees (or more), or if I ride about 30 miles to the coast it could be 60 degrees. It used to freak me out when I moved here. It would be 85 degrees in San Jose, Ca (where my office was) but the city I was responsible for was South San Franciso and Pacifica. I would leave in a short sleeve shirt and then freeze my butt off when I got to Pacifica.

I'm from the midwest and if it was 90 degrees where I lived, it would still be 90 degrees 200 miles away. It is nice here since you can go a very short distance to get nice weather. But I'm going to play with this thing just because I like to do stuff like that.

Apart from the real high temperatures (although hasnt been bad lately) we get all climates in the back yard in about an hour . .....however being british this is good because man do we like to moan about the weather lol