[Haroon]

Note to Moderators: I kindly request this thread in Motorcycle section as its not the regular riding gear like helmets, boots, jackets etc & will get lost in the riding gear thread…


While touring on a motorcycle, how about using a single underwear continuously for a week or more??? Sure it does sound absurd….and no I am not inviting entries for the record books on that count!!

At the outset, when I casually mentioned to my wife I ordered a pair of ‘special’ underwear for US$ 45 (plus shipping), she gave me one of those looks (which read something like “Oh, when I want a simple kitchen accessory…you ask a 100 times- do you really need it…do you really really need it…and here you splurge US$ 45 on underwear"). And when I added that I plan to use this one underwear for our whole bike trip in South Africa for 8 full days….she thought my fuse was completely blown out on my top floor!!!

To give you a little background- one of the most neglected parts of our body when touring on a motorbike, is our buttocks. On our South India trip, when me & wife did about 600kms in one day, although our trusty BMW R1200GS bike never gave us any body fatigue and kept us both fit enough to easily munch another 600kms, our buttocks were pretty bashed up. Anyway, I mostly solved that problem on my GS with a subsequent & expensive custom seat upgrade from Day-Long saddles in USA. However, that got me thinking of finding a less expensive option for our badly abused bottoms because, over long hours on the saddle of a bike, the sweating makes our buttocks soft & spongy and that’s when we get monkey butt or extreme discomfort in our bottom. Besides, the excessive perspiration over long periods around that whole area also sometimes leads to allergies, itching, rashes etc. From creams to powders to cotton garments to what not, they all have their short saturation points and everything was useless after sometime. Hence I started searching on international bike touring forums and found lots of praises for one particular product across a wide spectrum of users from Iron Butt riders to Saddlesore riders to Bun Burners etc and went to this company’s website, read about it and decided to take the plunge. It’s the Mens Dryline Shorts from the company LD Comfort (www.ldcomfort.com).

While packing for our South Africa trip, my wife again asked me if I wanted to take a big chance with this new ‘one’ underwear! I said well if it does not work, I will curse its makers and we go to the market & get back to our conventional stuff…! HOWEVER, after 8 wonderful days of riding about 2000 kms on a rented bike in South Africa in temperatures as high as 42 deg C, this product really did a marvelous job and held out every bit as advertised. And before you draw other conclusions….well it was being washed every night and used the next morning coz technically it takes about 10 minutes to dry.

Basically the garment is a two layer fabric, where the inner layer is non-absorbent and quickly transfers the moisture to the outer nylon layer, that way keeping your skin more dryer and preventing it from becoming soft or tenderized. Similarly, while washing it every night the inner layer dries in less than 10 minutes, while the outer layer dries out overnight. Even if the outer layer does not dry out completely due to very cold conditions etc, you can still wear it as the inside is dry. Besides, it has no seams in the seating area and hence there are no annoying pressure points either. Anyways for more of the technical stuff of how it works and why it is designed that way, please see this link: LDComfort Product Description

In my personal opinion after having put it to good use, I can endorse the fact that this is a really worthwhile investment (if you want to call it that way) for long distance motorbike tourers.

Ride safe & ride hard…..coz you have your back covered now

[mayankjha1806]

Haroon, Excellent find and review.

I was wondering, after going through your blog, going through some of your exciting rides, why arent they on Team BHP as well? I loved the European Alps done in 2010, please consider penning it down on Team BHP as well.

I see three on the blog, European, South Indian and South Africa, any more plans to do in 2012?

Excellent pictures on the blog i must add.

[amitwlele]

Good find for all the tourers. But really $45 for one of those sounds a bit steep. But as long as it does the job i guess you are not complaining.

So when are we going to read your South Africa road trip TL on Team BHP???

[hifisharu]

Totally agree with you there, Haroon. Briefs are probably the worst choice for long distance riding, and light boxers the best. I too have been considering trying out the bicycle shorts, which have a bit of padding for the bottom, and should help reduce the fatigue. On a related note, here's what Nick Sanders, world motorcycle tourer has to say about underwear:

Nick Sanders Journey Beyond Reason - Fastest Man Around the World - Washington DC Motorcycle Travel | Examiner.com

"His experience and training in super-human endurance were invaluable. Also essential was his pragmatic tuning of time-saving measures. For example, he packed no luggage and took no change of clothes. He explained, "No luggage means I don’t have to pack – I can save 25 minutes each day." He also shared (too much?) that he would wear no underwear, but then clarified that he would be washing his underclothes every night"

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Haroon

Note to Moderators: I kindly request this thread in Motorcycle section as its not the regular riding gear like helmets, boots, jackets etc & will get lost in the riding gear thread…
Ride safe & ride hard…..coz you have your back covered now

Haroon,
Wanted to check your feedback on the gel shorts that are available. Have you ever given them a try? yes it does make your butts look more rounder but my fellow cyclists have never complained of itchiness, rashes or going soft.
On the contrary do you think wearing Gel Shorts might lessen the grip on bike?

For folks in India, you can check this out in Decathlon. Missed buying it last time when I was around there.

[Haroon]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Haroon, Excellent find and review.

I was wondering, after going through your blog, going through some of your exciting rides, why arent they on Team BHP as well? I loved the European Alps done in 2010, please consider penning it down on Team BHP as well.

I see three on the blog, European, South Indian and South Africa, any more plans to do in 2012?

Excellent pictures on the blog i must add.

Thanks mayank. Infact, my ride reports are very picture intensive (since my wife does all the shooting), and I use third party image hosting on other forums where I am active. Since each trip has anything from 400-1000 pics, that becomes a big task to upload again here. Therefore, my website has all the stories/pics/videos. My wish-list of rides is unending, but sure US & New Zealand are in the plans for the immediate future...

Originally Posted by amitwlele

Good find for all the tourers. But really $45 for one of those sounds a bit steep. But as long as it does the job i guess you are not complaining.

So when are we going to read your South Africa road trip TL on Team BHP???

Yes, its very very steep, esp for a guy like me who buys a lot of my regular dresses from Brand Factory in Bangalore....But seriously consider this like an investment.

As for my RR, like mentioned in the above para, its mainly the pic (re)-uploading here which is a big job and hence its all there on my website under Touring section Ride for Passion - So Many Roads, So Little Time

Originally Posted by hifisharu

Totally agree with you there, Haroon. Briefs are probably the worst choice for long distance riding, and light boxers the best. I too have been considering trying out the bicycle shorts, which have a bit of padding for the bottom, and should help reduce the fatigue. On a related note, here's what Nick Sanders, world motorcycle tourer has to say about underwear:He also shared (too much?) that he would wear no underwear, but then clarified that he would be washing his underclothes every night"

Thanks. Yes, in addition to the functionality of this underwear, like the board on our trains say 'Less luggage, more comfort', I am always looking at ways to reduce the packing mass, since the stuff for me & wife for 8-9 days of riding has to be carried on the bike. List of things we carry is listed on my website under RESOURCES

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Haroon,
Wanted to check your feedback on the gel shorts that are available. Have you ever given them a try? yes it does make your butts look more rounder but my fellow cyclists have never complained of itchiness, rashes or going soft.
On the contrary do you think wearing Gel Shorts might lessen the grip on bike?

In the past I did read about riders using gel shorts and it also seems to work & except for a little bulk on your buttock, it should be fine for riding. However, I would guess it is more suited to cycling since the cycle seat is normally hard and has a very small contact surface with your bottom, so unlike sitting stationery on a motorbike, you are constantly peddling, so the gel in your shorts would make more sense as a cusioning medium, whereas on the motorbike seat there is some cusioning already. BTW, the expensive custom seat rebuild I did on my GS was probably the best money I spent on farkling my bike. I think I will also do a separate write-up on that as well.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Haroon

BTW, the expensive custom seat rebuild I did on my GS was probably the best money I spent on farkling my bike. I think I will also do a separate write-up on that as well.

Haroon,
That would be wonderful and very kind on your part. Am personally looking up the gel seat which yamaha sells for their FZ-1.
(Yamaha FZ1 Accessories, Yamaha FZ1 FZ1 Comfort Seat) but a bit skeptical if it would be the best thing to go ahead with or get simple and buy some gel shorts.

[gthang]

@Haroon,

Thanks for the tip. Your link led me to another great piece of gear I'm looking forward to try: https://ldcomfort.com/store/dryline-...eneck-top.html

Your thread came just at a time when I was exploring for some new gear for the impending summer season. Mesh jackets just arent cutting it with the extended stationary periods in Indian riding. This "Air Bubble" thing sounds intriguing. Plus gives me an excuse to get some cool looking jackets which were skipped for not being mesh.

Oh, getting the chaddis as well.

Cheers

Ride Safe.

[Haroon]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Haroon,
That would be wonderful and very kind on your part. Am personally looking up the gel seat which yamaha sells for their FZ-1.
(Yamaha FZ1 Accessories, Yamaha FZ1 FZ1 Comfort Seat) but a bit skeptical if it would be the best thing to go ahead with or get simple and buy some gel shorts.

I will put up the seat review in a few more days as I have to take some pics of the new seat to better explain in detail etc.

As for the gel seat, from what I have researched so far most of the OE gel seats from Suz, Yam and Kaw (dont know about honda) seem to be doing a good job. They are basically for your regular rides, small touring etc. Whereas the Day Long seat that I have is for multi-day, multi-week kind of travel. So the OE gel seat looks like a good option. Whereas I have seen the readymade custom seats like Corbin, Sargent etc are liked by some and hated by others...so I guess it depends on each individuals body/buttock structure as well.

Originally Posted by gthang

@Haroon,

Thanks for the tip. Your link led me to another great piece of gear I'm looking forward to try: https://ldcomfort.com/store/dryline-...eneck-top.html Your thread came just at a time when I was exploring for some new gear for the impending summer season. Mesh jackets just arent cutting it with the extended stationary periods in Indian riding. This "Air Bubble" thing sounds intriguing. Plus gives me an excuse to get some cool looking jackets which were skipped for not being mesh.
Oh, getting the chaddis as well.

Cheers, Ride Safe.

Nice to hear from you gthang. I would be eager to hear about your experience with the long sleeve shirt as thats on my next shopping list. Last summer I did try out a waist-coat type inner wear evaporating cool vest (which needs to be soaked in water for 15 minutes before the ride) http://www.techniche-intl.com/en/cat...rel/index.html It did cool me very well with a vented jacket but after some hours in gridlock traffic, it was beginning to get warm inside. But due to work I did not do much riding last summer. So a mixed verdict for me...have to extensively test it out again this summer.

[Sutripta]

Hi,
One thing I've always wondered about is that why is seamless innerwear (no p.... lines) available for the ladies and not for us. If readers here know of such, (affordable in rupee terms) please give leads/ links here.

Regards
Sutripta

[vivekiny2k]

Not sure if it help you but I had to wear one (much more comfortable otherwise) inside out because of an irritating seam. For some reason they make them seamless on the outside but seamed on the inside.

Inside out works wonders!

[ravi_xx]

A couple of inputs having tried these and found them useful; i usually wear nylon cyclets inside my astars / rjays riding trousers (yup - no briefs). Have been doing so for a few years now and have found them to work extremely well, even on long rides. Last October, rode to Delhi from Mumbai including covering 900kms on 1 day in seriously miserable hot and sweaty weather. From a butt perspective, absolutely no skin-related issues like chafing / burning. A few other friends have also now moved to this solution and find that it works. Please do remember not to wear cotton cyclets or other similar materials since sweating would cause these shorts to tug at the skin once wet and cause a fair amount of pain. Stick with the nylon stuff. Alpinestars does make summer riding innerwear shorts. Am still to try them out but find the nylon cyclets to work remarkably. Also a cost effective solution - at USD 3 to 6 (INR 150-300) each.

Other minor benefits include that they don't occupy much space so you can carry a few of them on each ride. They also dry extremely quickly after washing. Easy to wash and dry overnight.

Separately, on the said Bombay - Delhi ride, made use of an Airhawk Seat Cushion which just made an incredible difference to seat comfort. The company claims its air cell tech is better than using gel seats. I haven't used gel seats but can vouch for the effectiveness of the airhawk seat cushion. It is pricey (USD 160 on amazon) but is well worth it when you consider that you can strap it on to whichever bike you're riding.

My two bits; hope they help. Will certainly look at the LD Comfort products though; they look pretty interesting.

Cheers
Ravi

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

For some reason they make them seamless on the outside but seamed on the inside.

Inside out works wonders!

Didn't know that. Will check it out. (After that, the two of us will be officially outed? )

Regards
Sutripta

[adrian]

^^ or wear it over your pants like spiderman and superman

[Sutripta]

^^^
But then again, with butts of steel, there is no necessity to do that!

Regards
Sutripta