does a white jacket make the rider noticeably cooler than black under the sun?

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Mythbusters did a segment on this. Light and dark colored cars. The black car heated up real quick and was hotter.

I've got a black perforated leather jacket and it's good at speed. But, it bakes me standing still. Riding a Harley, I can't go fast anyways so, I use sun screen and a Tee when things get warm.

White looks like crap. New or afterwards, doesn't matter. Light grey or something light colored in a mesh would be the way to go.
 
I have this bad boy and I'm going to play devil's advocate for you.

Alpinestars_Ice_WhiteBlack.jpg


If there's no humidity, it's great, I can still feel the sun on my back (I guess because the shoulders are black?) But once moving.. it's nice. If there's humidity which there usually is in the summer.. white, black, blue, pink whatever colour won't save you from the heat. It gets just as roasty, maybe not as much as a black jacket but it still does.

I never got white for the reflecting the heat from the sun.. I'm brown, I freaking love heat.. I got it because I didn't want to be invisible at night. White is the most noticeable colour to the human eye at night. It's brighter than orange or neon green when it's dark outside!
 
I tried to get a lighter coloured jacket when I first got my gear, but all they had in my size was a black Teknic jacket. Still wish I had waited and got something lighter as I have a brown leather jacket for when it eventually gets cold.
 
Ooh, a physics question! Now I'm excited. I'm a Mechanical Engineer and have advanced knowledge on the subject of heat transfer.

Talking specifically about leather jackets, when at standstill, a black jacket will be warmer, but only just, over a white one. We are assuming both jackets are designed identically except for colour. This is due to the fact that the thermal emissivity for both of the materials are almost identical with white being 0.95 and black being 0.99. Look up "black body radiation" and "thermal emissivity" for clarification on the matter if you want.

At typical outside summer temperatures @ +30 C, electromagnetic heat transfer via light, only makes up a marginal percentage of the total heat transfer when compared to convection effects caused by air flowing over the surface. What this means is that whilst moving, the colour of the jacket makes almost no difference to the temperature. You would not be able to feel the difference whilst moving.

On the flip side, it's interesting to note that although you'll warm up faster in a black jacket, once you're in the shade, you'll cool down faster and maintain a lower temperature than with a white jacket.

When talking about different materials, especially synthetics, it's a completely different ball game. The material properties matter more than anything else and colour we see through our eyes have almost no bearing on the heat transfer. For instance, ever wonder why the tiles on the bottom of the space shuttle are not white if white reflects heat better?
 
My white perfed 1-piece leather is seriously cooler than my black, mesh textile. So yes, white is more comfortable.
 
I wear this jacket everywhere i go, it's cool 24/7 :cool:
o_EKWHITE_large.jpg
 
right now

hood of white car.....92
hood of blue truck....99
hood of black truck...102
 
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gqelements said:
With that in mind however, it boggles me why gear manufacturers, worse shop owners manufacture/merchandise so many black summer mesh jackets...
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Because black is so cool that you don't need to worry about thermodynamics. 8)
 
is white leather really that hard to keep clean? can;t you just wipe it with leather cleaner once a week? if that's too much, how about once every two weeks?
 
SkyRider said:
is white leather really that hard to keep clean? can;t you just wipe it with leather cleaner once a week? if that's too much, how about once every two weeks?
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It's leather so you just wipe it down like anything else, but you can't wear it after labour day.

Also, dressing like Evel Knievel is probably a 172 violation.
 
Works for me.
 
drummerboy said:
Ooh, a physics question! Now I'm excited. I'm a Mechanical Engineer and have advanced knowledge on the subject of heat transfer.

Talking specifically about leather jackets, when at standstill, a black jacket will be warmer, but only just, over a white one. We are assuming both jackets are designed identically except for colour. This is due to the fact that the thermal emissivity for both of the materials are almost identical with white being 0.95 and black being 0.99. Look up "black body radiation" and "thermal emissivity" for clarification on the matter if you want.

At typical outside summer temperatures @ +30 C, electromagnetic heat transfer via light, only makes up a marginal percentage of the total heat transfer when compared to convection effects caused by air flowing over the surface. What this means is that whilst moving, the colour of the jacket makes almost no difference to the temperature. You would not be able to feel the difference whilst moving.

On the flip side, it's interesting to note that although you'll warm up faster in a black jacket, once you're in the shade, you'll cool down faster and maintain a lower temperature than with a white jacket.

When talking about different materials, especially synthetics, it's a completely different ball game. The material properties matter more than anything else and colour we see through our eyes have almost no bearing on the heat transfer. For instance, ever wonder why the tiles on the bottom of the space shuttle are not white if white reflects heat better?
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Thank you
 
Well... i have an Icon Timax textile jacket, and it's a lot hotter in summer than my new Rev'it Tarmac Air leather (black jacket)
The textile is a bit bigger, so that I could wear a sweater or two underneath it for spring/fall, while the Rev'It is fitted snugly with a backprotector.
BOth are bloody hot if you are stuck in traffic and wearing a back protector, the REVit being full perf excells the second you start moving above 40 km/h.

Icon Timex.jpg

Here's the rev'it:
revit-tarmac-usa-lederjacke-bild_22333.jpg

Along with the post above mine, i think the perf leather is a lot cooler, because it cools down faster (being fully performated) than the textile. I've had the textile for years, and find that if I'm stopped at a light, I have to open it after i start moving, to get the air to cool me down once again because of the heat build up. In the leather, I just have to start moving, and any heat/sweat that began to form, gets cooled immediately. The textile definately gets clammier and more uncomfortable.
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