Heat tolerance

The wife and I came back from a short vacation on the bike today. Boy was it hot! Temperature was around 35 degrees Celcius ( about 100 F I suppose). In itself, it wasn,t so bad as long as we rode, but we hit some serious traffic jams. We were stuck for almost 45 min almost completely stopped. Clutch in, clutch out, clutch in, repeat. In the traffic, the temperature was hellish. (About 10 degrees more). I didn't split lanes as it is not allowed up here, but boy was I tempted! I feared that the bike would overheat or suffer, but no!

Kudos to Honda for such a resistant bike! The wife and I must have lost 5 pounds each in perspiration!

Note to myself : check traffic reports and weather forecast before leaving next time!

That's pretty hot for Canada, eh?
Don't worry about overheating. The NC has a fan that will come on if the engine gets hot enough.

Yup, that's pretty hot for Eastern Canada. But I know it's nothing compared to southern and SW USA... 95/98 F is scorching hot for us! But don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.

I ride home during rush hour all summer in triple digits and amazing humidity. I will say that a full mesh suit keeps you cooler. Not having the sun on your skin makes a huge difference. I also love that the NC is water cooled and the cylinders are no where near my legs. I just spread me knees apart for some ventilation. I think it's the perfect bike for commuting on famously hot Columbia, SC.


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I just don't understand how you can live in Montreal...and it has nothing to do with the temperature !
Traffic jam, road conditions, bad drivers...I simply hate this city !
This said, it is nothing against you...

Gigs said:

I will say that a full mesh suit keeps you cooler. Not having the sun on your skin makes a huge difference.

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You got that right. I know what you mean, I always wear full gear.

2brnut2b said:

I just don't understand how you can live in Montreal...and it has nothing to do with the temperature !
Traffic jam, road conditions, bad drivers...I simply hate this city !
This said, it is nothing against you...

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Actually, I live on the North shore of Montreal, in Laval. And I now work from my home, so I dont have to travel in the city too often, which is a good thing. The wife works in the area, family lives in the area and kids go to school neaby. That's the main reason I live here. Otherwise, I'd live elsewhere for sure, near a lake or a river!

I WILL visit Canada one day , God willing! I have my bear spray already. I've been told any gun you can holster will only piss off a bear. Besides, your gov. is backwards when it comes to gun ownership.

itlives said:

I WILL visit Canada one day , God willing.

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I too hope to visit my country one day. I haven't been farther West than Ontario. In the next few years, I intend to ride to Alberta and British Columbia. And my brother and I will certainly ride the Us West coast in 2 to 3 years from now. I can't wait for that to happen.

As for the bears, if you go to Western Canada, in the Rockies, I suppose you could encounter big brown bears, but here in Eastern Canada, you would more probably stumble on black bears which are smaller and easily scared off. I've only seen one black bear in my entire life, and it was in a heavily wooded area, far from were I was.

However, you'll see your share of groundhogs, porcupines, skunks and other small critters!

I hope your projects come true.

Gigs said:

I ride home during rush hour all summer in triple digits and amazing humidity. I will say that a full mesh suit keeps you cooler. Not having the sun on your skin makes a huge difference.

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I completely agree on this. I ride with a group of mostly cruisers who never wear jackets in the summer, and I am always the least affected by the heat in my mesh jacket. I am also one of the only ones with a full face helmet, and it's so well vented my head almost never sweats while they look really uncomfortable under their shorty lids.

You are all so cute talking about how "hot" it gets....Try riding in Phoenix in July when it is 118 F. I had a small patch of skin exposed just above my ankle that received 3rd degree burns from riding on the freeway where it was easily over 130 F, when you consider the radiating heat from the asphalt a few inches below my boots. 100 F is a gift, and 90 F is a nice day.

I live in Arkansas where it gets nice and hot in the summer but the humidity is more of a factor than the heat itself. Its like a weight bearing down on you. Its still super hot even if I'm lucky to find shade or a cloud blocks the direct sun rays.

They are doing some major construction on the primary route to my house. Around 4:30PM that stretch of road gets bombarded with traffic. It is a curvy stretch of road and with the cement barriers on both sides and it seems like there is a wreck about every other day. I get stuck in heavy traffic routinely in this area. I know exactly how you felt because we have been hovering at 95F for weeks and this morning we are at 99% humidity which is close to the norm.

I always keep a bottle of water in the frunk. Yea, the water is warm/hot but I've got to replace what my body is loosing. You can't always pop off the highway because there are no exits so having that water on the bike has saved me a few times. I use one of the bottles with the flip top lid (Smart Water) and refill it with the filtered water from my fridge.

2brnut2b said:

I just don't understand how you can live in Montreal...and it has nothing to do with the temperature !
Traffic jam, road conditions, bad drivers...I simply hate this city !
This said, it is nothing against you...

Click to expand...

you left out east is south

Mother Nature has her ways. Here in E. TN we've been having 91 to 95 temps with heat index to 107 due to humidity. I lived in N.O., LA area prior to E. TN so am use to humidity and heat. Was on vacation one year and went to FL. Too hot to stay so went to E. TN. Still to hot, in the 90s up in the mountains, so we went to Upper Ontario. Pulled into the Park that evening and it was 95. Seems there was a heat trough and we just followed it from the southern end to the northern end. Left a day or two later and went back to A/C in our LA house.

My NC puts off the least amount of heat of any bike I have ever owned.

In general, Honda is known for all of their vehicle and motorcycle engines to be extremely tolerant to heat. My 3 BMW cars and 1 BMW motorcycle ran extremely hot and I had all kinds of overheating problems with a 1987 325 that I had. I have also owned 4 Honda Motorcycles (3 that were air cooled) and 11 Honda Cars. Not one motorcycle or vehicle has ever overheated despite being driven in 100+ degree temps, stop and go traffic, and occasional humidity. That's one of the many benefits of owning a Honda. There are some negatives, but I won't bore anyone with those.

2brnut2b said:

I just don't understand how you can live in Montreal...and it has nothing to do with the temperature !
Traffic jam, road conditions, bad drivers...I simply hate this city !
This said, it is nothing against you...

Click to expand...

I had a pretty bright friend (cardiac surgeon) who believed the most beautiful women in Canada were born in Montreal, and that a women's beauty was directly related to how close to Montreal they were born.

Those are the words of a very wise man! Indeed, Montreal offers a great sight, especially during summer months.

Getting stuck in traffic in the heat is the worst! I feel for you, OP.