No, this rider does not have a weird medical condition, nor is he being felt up by a hitch-hiking space alien. And no, this is not the image for a caption contest (although that’s not a bad idea…).
This is the latest in personal environment control from the folks over at EntroSys – the motorcycle air conditioner. Delivering conditioned air (heated or cooled as required) through a special vest, the EntroSys Motorcycle Air Conditioning System promises to make those long rides in extreme conditions that much more comfortable. And a more comfortable rider is a safer rider, so what’s not to like?
Who would like to start?
Whatever happened to the days when we were part of the environment we rode in :-)
ReplyDeletestageleft - I'm with you. If I want a controlled environment I have the car.
ReplyDeleteIt will never catch on. I carry an air-conditioning system with me already on my bike. It is fully controllable. Low setting - I take off my winter gloves and put my summer gloves on. Medium setting - I undo the zip on my jacket. High setting - I take my jacket off. It works for me!
ReplyDeleteGary - Exactly!
ReplyDeleteDear Canajun:
ReplyDeleteI saw this in a press release last summer. And for the moment, I thought it had merit. There have been many times when I sweated my ass off riding a motorcycle... But then again, isn't that part of it? Yet from that standpoint, how does one justify a heated seat, handgrips, and gear?
Fondest regards,
Jack • reep • Toad
Twisted Roads
Jack - Maybe it's just the wimp in me, but if the weather is cold enough for me to need a heated anything (say, less than 40F) then I don't ride - or at least not far. And in the summer, if it's too hot, I just open a zipper or two and voila - air conditioning.
ReplyDeleteOutside those limits is why I have a car with both heat and air.
Dear Canajun:
ReplyDeleteThat's the waty I used to feel too. Yet I repeatedly found myself raising the bar. There were a couple of early sprng rides, where our little group would wake up to get going, and the temperature would be 25º. We had a schedule to keep and we'd ride. I simply wore another layer, and never more than jeans over long underwear.
Then I tried this electric jacket liner.
Never again will I be out on the road where the high was 40º at noon, but darkness at the end of a November day brought a 12º drop that left me cool in the saddle. The flick of a switch will keep my arms, neck, and torso nice and toasty.
Oddly enough, days when the heat is pushing 98º are almost as bad as the one's at 20º.
Jack - keep talking like that and you'll make a convert out of me.
ReplyDeleteLooks more like Noo-Noo from the Teletubbies getting a little frisky
ReplyDeleteBikerted - I'll have to take your word for it. LOL
ReplyDeleteIt looked like a traveling CPAP machine to me! I don't think it would catch on.
ReplyDeleteCanajun:
ReplyDeleteI've heard of these machines but have never seen one. Makes you look like a robot
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
Lance - Had to look up CPAP. You're right! All the rider needs is a face mask.
ReplyDeletebobscoot - Yeah, I wonder if you can disconnect it from the bike and carry it with you so you can be cool (or warm) while having a beer at an outdoor patio?
I've been tempted to try a heated vest or jacket liner, but I have to tell you there is NO WAY I would use something like that. Being from the south, the heat doesn't bother me. However when the temp drops below 40 my will to ride drops with it!
ReplyDeleteCrash - I'm with you there. I've earned my cold riding stripes way back when, and don't feel I have to prove anything to anyone any more. So if it's a choice between frost bite and comfort, I'll take comfort every time.
ReplyDelete