Stay cool from the inside out! It's the best summer motorcycle base layers

In the same way that winter base layers work in tandem with good winter gear, this is also true of summer base layers. Worn underneath your summer motorcycle gear like mesh jacket and coupled with some good summer gloves and summer boots, you should be kept cool on even the warmest of the summer days. Summer motorcycle base layers for the hot weather are just as important as thermal base layers for winter. While they may be intended to carry out a slightly different role, there are several similarities and, indeed, properties that are shared between the two.

What makes a motorcycle base layer good for summer?

One of the key requirements of a summer base layer is to wick moisture – sweat – away from the skin and allow the clothing you are wearing to dissipate that moisture.

You might be wearing breathable textiles, and the membrane will allow the moisture vapour to escape or you might be wearing vented or mesh clothing and direct airflow will carry it away.

Whichever form of outer clothing you are wearing, then the base layer will carry that moisture away from your skin.

They will also make it easier to get clothing on and off, particularly if you are wearing leathers on the road or you are doing a track day, for example.

Damp skin can stick to the inside of all sorts of clothing, and it is rarely a pleasant feeling if you are wearing long-sleeved tops, for example, then you may also get less irritation from seams and material changes than in a T-shirt.

What types of base layers are there?

There are generally two forms of base layers; compression fit and against-the-skin. Compression-fit layers generally are very tight and use that tightness as well as potentially different textures and materials to provide support to the muscles, which can be useful on longer or more strenuous rides, such as off-road.

Against-the-skin items, on the other hand, are not as tight though they do need to be touching the skin as much as possible to wick the sweat away. Size is key with these to make sure that they contact as much of the skin as possible.

Here is a selection of the best summer motorcycle base layers we reckon are worth a look.

How MCN tests summer base layers

At MCN, our team of expert journalists have decades of experience gained over hundreds of thousands of miles in order to provide you with opinions and evaluations you can trust, alongside news of the most significant developments in motorcycling safety gear. We want you to stay safe, enjoy your riding and hopefully look great while doing so! 

We don’t test our kit to destruction; we use it exactly how you do, in the real world and in all conditions.

That means we can deliver impartial buying advice you can rely on. To make it onto this list, base layers must have been worn for thousands of miles by our team of experienced testers, show no major flaws, and meet modern safety standards as well as offering decent value for money. 

Each of our expert reviewers tests their base layers for warming and/or cooling properties, wicking, the quality of the stitching and any labels that rub or otherwise irritate. We look at their packaging too, how heavy they are and whether they’re easy to fold.

However, we also assess how they fit, and how quickly we’re able put them on.

We cover thousands of miles in these base layers and regularly compare them with one another in the office, so collectively we’ve built the sort of knowledge base you can trust.

If you can’t see a review against a base layer on this page, it’s because we haven’t tested it yet. These base layers will only be included if we think they’re important and relevant in the market, and rest assured, we will be working on bringing you a review as soon as we’ve done the miles.

When we review base layers, we give them a score out of five. Here’s a guide to what each number score means:

• 1 star – Poor performance in this category or overall. A product with a single star rating has fallen below the expected standard and should be avoided.
• 2 stars – Basic performance in this area or overall. A product with a two-star rating has managed to perform to a barely acceptable level and there is room for improvement.
• 3 stars – An average performance in this area or overall. A product with a three-star rating has achieved a basic level of performance and is deemed adequate.
• 4 stars – A product has performed over and above the accepted averaged in this category or overall. A product with a four-star rating has surpassed expectation and delivered in a particularly impressive way.
• 5 stars – A product has performed at the highest possible level in a particular category or overall. A product with a five-star rating has delivered to the highest possible level, impressing the tester with its performance. We would happily spend our own money on it.

To find out more, head to our dedicated page explaining how we test motorcycle products.

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