Hi guys I've been missing in action for a few days but my question relates to wearing shorts when riding.

I live in Noosa and in summer it's way too hot for jeans and leather so if I'm just going on a short ride at lower sppeds I like to wear shorts. Now on my Hyosung (aggghhhh!) the gear box cover doesn't poke out too far and riding in shorts in fine, but on my FXST it's like... well it's like the gearbox is 9 months pregnant . The cover gets so bloddy hot after a few minutes it burns like hell. I see guys riding Harleys all the time around town in shorts so does this mean their legs are tougher than mine or maybe their pain threshold is higher. Is there a secret to riding HD's with shorts.

PS: I know the old rule about "never riding in anything you're not prepared to crash in" and I certainly won't do rides where I'm riding at 100-110 km/hr regularly.

 

I advise against riding in shorts, "no jeans, no ride" rule for me.

+ a big 1 to above go to a hospital trauma section and see the bark of some poor unlucky person or the burnt leg of a rider from an exhaust
when they slipped whilst standing still that will change your mind

im trying to figure out how you get your leg near the gearbox. the heat rising from my 103 would put me off wearing shorts, but the evo and the 96 S&S arent a problem. i assume you have forward controls, gearbox shouldnt be an issue. i do find burn marks from my right shoe on the exhaust sometimes. heal touch. when i had shotgun pipes myself and anyone else who rode it got burnt from the upper pipe.

if you do end up getting burns, don't burst them, I highly recommend "Burn Aid" cream from the chemist, I have used it several times at work from welding burns.
Stuffs amazing, blisters go down, burns just disappear. good for first degree, blisters, etc.

i've got a few of those burn marks! for some reason they always fucken hurt!! and take forever to heal. All received while moving bikes and wearing shorts.

T1

I have ugly old little legs so dont show them to much in public, plus working in a Emergency Department i see to much skin of people that have come of Bikes, pushbike riders are the worst because they insist in wearing Lycra Lol

So if I asked you to jump out of my ute at 50kmh in shorts you'd be ok?

Perhaps you'd be better suited to Lawn Bowls eh Crooky?

Jeans and boots crooky. EVERY time. Just my 2 cents.
See heaps of twats riding round in shorts and thongs in summer, the majority on crotch rockets. Cant help but thinking wot a cock-knocker!
Even at a minimum, wearing jeans is gunna stop ya knobbly knees gettin sunburnt!

I used to ride wearing shorts when I was young and stupid. My first bad experience was getting badly sunburnt on a hot summer's Sunday. Spent the whole day in shorts and singlet and it was great...until I got home and felt the pain.

My 2nd unpleasant experience was when I dropped my bike in a carpark. Only low speed but I got gravel rash on my left leg. Being young I went home to mum and she sent me up to the local doctor. Well, bugger me dead, when I pulled up outside the doctor's surgery I burnt my right leg on the exhaust pipe as I got off the bike. Not my day and learned my lesson.

Hi all...Coming off a motorcycle and loosing skin is the least of my concerns.Broken bones,Now that's something that hurts.No kind of fancy pants can help you here.

Jeans are better than shorts - I'm stuffed if I know how that has resulted in a net slugfest

*insert bemused smilie here*

I think the OP might be meaning the primary cover when wrote "gearbox", I'm 6'3 and my calf hits the primary at times when i put my leg down at the lights and i do feel the heat through jeans.
The bitumen is very effective at removing flesh even in a low speed fall, i used to race competitively many years ago and even though i had a full 1 pce leather suit i managed to wear through it twice in coming off.
as for the argument of too hot, well i live in Cairns and it's hot and humid all year round and i still will not ride in anything less than a good pair of jeans and at a minimum a leather vest with a long sleeve shirt regarless of the weather.
some protection is better than no protection. But to each his own.

I do hope everyone stays upright and wheels down as i don't want to see ANY rider come off.

Just my 2 cents

Are you meaning when they are stopped, say at a set of traffic lights with there feet on the ground,if so I have short legs and my left leg is always touching the primary cover when I'm stopped,so i think it has a lot to do with the high of the rider, if you are a short ass like me just where jeans all the time and think how lucky all them tall people are

I'm 6'3 and my leg touches at times so it ain't just the short guys

plenty of my girlfriends have got a saigon kiss, how ever the fuck you spell it, nasty fucken burns .burt

i guess have a look at how far out the stick the left leg when stopped.

Monday 2nd Dec: I was out shopping with my wife today for a few hours. I lost count but saw at least 6 or 7 scooters and 4 bikes and all of the riders were wearing shorts.

Tuesday 3rd Dec: I also went for a ride on my pushbike today and counted another 5 scooter riders and 1 on a bike - all had shorts on.

No brain no pain