Do they work well in heat? How about in a crash?  

The answer depends on several things:the material used in the mesh, the amount and type of armor, & general overall construction. Some manufacturs use polyester in theirjackets or pants which is thought to disintegrate from friction & melt into the skin. Some use use a form of plastic or foam armor which offers minimal protection.
I have a jacket or coat, actually , because it is fingertip length, made by www.cycleport,com . It is claimed to be as protective or more so than leather due to its construction and use of materials in the textile makeup. In addition the armor is Kevlar and is used  more liberally thruout the jacket than perhaps some other less expensive mesh gear. I am told that leather tends to degrade over time in its resistance to abrasion especially if proper maintenance is not performed periodically.
As for the heat question, a mesh jacket naturally flows much more air through it than any leather jacket,vented or not. Of course there are some old school riders who wouldn't be caught dead in anything other than leather...no pun intended. Then there are those who ride in shorts, sandals, doo rags, muscle shirts, etc. I have to confess that here in the AZ summers I have to take the calculated risk of just helmet, boots, & gloves along with drag jeans, & long sleeve shirt when the temps are 100 plus degrees  

I wear full mesh gear here in the desert of Az. Jacket and pants. I ride year round. Havnt had to crash test the gear yet and hopefully wont,however, I believe the more protection even if its not as resilient as leather the better off you will be when you get to the hospital. It does work quite well for hot weather riding and again offers a level of protection.  

I wear the Olympia Mesh jacket through the Central Texas summer and just had to lay my Ultra Classic down doing 45 to avoid a cager who pulled in front of me.  The jacket had to be cut off but otherwise was intack.  My wife was also wearing the Olympia and walked away without a scratch.  We had bumps and brusises from the blunt force trauma but no road rash anywhere.  I would highly recomend wearing the Olympia.  

In terms of protection , most decent mesh jackets have CE armor on the shoulders ,elbows and back , and the materials are generally abrasion resistant.

From a safety point they protect well, and you stand much less chance of making a mental error due to dehydration /over heating .

I wear my mesh jacket above 85 (Tourmaster Intake)
I wear my denim jacket with CE armor from 65-85 (Cortech DSX)

and below 65 I wear my Fox Creek set - Black Rock jacket/chaps  

I use a Tourmaster Draft jacket here in Seattle whenever the temp is predicted above 70. It works great, even with a fairing. I do mostly freeway commute. I won't bother taking the jacket off when I have to go into a store, as long as I don't have to stand still too long it won't get too warm. When it really gets warm (for us) I will wear an evaporative cooling vest under the jacket, makes it almost too cold. I like the armor, but like the above posters, I have not, and do not plan on testing it.  

The absolute only time you might not like a mesh jacket in the heat is when you're stuck in stop and go traffic.
The fabric absorbs the sun, and can start getting warm (not as bad as leather, but, more than bare skin.
Of course, you get going, all that heat that would have been broiling your skin is now cooled off by the wind. You dehydrate less, you get less sunburn (wonder if anyone ever measured SPF on a mesh jacket).
I've got a Joe Rocket leather/mesh summer jacket and a Cortech 3/4 for rain and cool. They're both getting a little long in the tooth, and I may look a a Tourmaster Flex. Removable heavy nylon panels for the outside, waterproof liner. Last time I went on tour, I had 2 pants, 2 jackets, all with non-interchangable body armor. Lot of lost space in the luggage.  

Well, most of the comments here are on the mark.

But VVVTop!  You didn't read the August issue of Cruiser?  Where we have a mini-buyer's guide???  For shame!

A couple of quick points:

1) No matter how much armor a piece of riding gear has, if the garment (jacket or pants) isn't close fitting, that armor will likely be (or move or rotate) out of place if you hit the ground and won't do you any good.  A floppy jacket or pants might flow air better but they won't protect you well.

2) Nothing -- not kevlar, not ballistics cloth -- provides the same abrasion and impact resistance as leather.  Period.

3) Now, as far as legal (or even street-reasonable) speeds go, there are synthetics that can provide all of the protection you need (plus the armor, of course).  Again, as someone already mentioned, that depends on the quality of the construction and the stitching.

4) Although I wear mesh pants (with knee and hip protection) over jeans and a mesh jacket (also with armor) when it's hot, I don't feel that mesh garments provide the same protection as "solid" fabrics or leather at more than street speeds.  In all fairness, that's only my personal belief, not a statement of fact, because I have never seen any studies that have tried to mimic what happens in a crash to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of mesh clothing.

5) No matter how hot it is, wear at least a mesh jacket, mesh pants, gloves (with leather palms), motorcycle boots (not hiking boots) and a helmet (preferably full-face).  If it's too hot for that, then you shouldn't be riding.

Happy riding!  

The_New_Guy. No your opinions about safety(4) are correct. In basic terms, you have only half the fabric to protect you with mesh. I've seen some synthetic/leather tests. Synthetics have a problem over 100mph (so do I). The friction causes melting, so you avoid the broken bones, but, end up with 2nd/3rd degree burns. Other difference is synthetics are realistically, a one shot deal. Not too bad if you report it to the insurance company... they tend to pay for protective gear.
I have the obligitory leather jacket, and I do wear it on group rides, but, I tend to the synthetics (ok, not the mesh except in warm temps). If the rain comes up, I just keep riding...waterproof.  

Yes and Yes.

I have two mesh jackets.  One has less ventilation and more armor and is good in temperatures up to about 85 and down to the high 20's when wearing the liner.  The other mesh jacket is good from about 80 to 105.  After that, you are pretty much struggling in a moderate speed commute.

Yep, they are OK in a crash.  Definitely get one with armor on the arms, elbows, shoulders, etc.  I wear synthetic pants in the winter but after about 60 degrees, they are too hot to wear and walk into an office.  

I too wear a mesh jacket nearly all the time when temps get above 60 degrees.  Mine is made by Shift, and I doubt it is the highest qualtiy jacket out there, but I have worn it in my commute when temps here in KC reach into the low 100's and heat indexes reach to 110 degrees.  For a short commute, I can take the heat I experience when stopped and do so gladly in knowing that I have more protection than a cotton shirt!

Like most who have posted, I have a few jackets that I wear and each has its use under certain conditions (primarily temperature and liklihood of rain).  Good luck with your choice, but whatever you do, choose safety!  

I have a Tourmaster Air. I live in central Fl. The humidity get ya as much as heat here. Last fall I took atrip up I95 to VA. It was so humidi and hot on my back where som of the armor padding sits I had to take the pad out of the center of the back. For the most part I try to wear my textile jacket, although when it get above 90 here it's tough. I am going to start trying to wear some under armour shirts that are suposed to wick away seat to see if they are any cooler.  

The_New_Guy said...
>2) Nothing -- not kevlar, not ballistics cloth -- provides the same abrasion and impact resistance as leather.  Period.

Unfortunately, that may or may not be true. All leather is not the same.

Split horsehide or full thickness cowhide provides good protection, but is very heavy and not very flexible.

Split cowhide (fashion leather) is mostly what's used in today's riding leathers and it provides much more comfort and much less protection. Some split cowhide riding leathers don't provide any more protection than denim does.

If you were talking about 50 year old riding leathers, I'd agree with you, but not the leather in the stores today. This is called progress    

regards,
Joe  

djh3 brought up a good point. It's also what you wear under the jacket. I'm generally fitted out in cool-max shirts, which are good a wicking the moisture away. About 4 years ago, I bought one of the high-tech tee shirts, and while working out at the gym, and I realized that my shirt was no longer soaked at the end of a workout. I started buying it for my everyday shirts too.

Vanson still does high quality leathers, but, it's true, you have to watch out with some of the others. If it feels soft as a baby's but, that's how much protection it's going to give.  

Again, sloowpoke, if you read the magazine, you'd have seen our analysis of different leathers in our leather jacket buyer's guide (June '08).  You always assume that everyone else is making a blanket -- and unexamined -- statement when your own comments frequently fail to provide accurate information, such as the type of leather in today's motorcycle gear.  NOBODY uses full thickness cowhide in in any garments because it is TOO thick and inflexible.  They didn't use it in the '40s, '50s, '60s or anytime in modern history.  TOP GRAIN cowhide, which IS ALSO A SPLIT of the full hide, is usually used and is what one should look for in motorcycle riding gear.  This is NOT the same as fashion leather, which merely refers to light weight, thinner leathers which lack the tear and abrasion resistance of good top-grain leather.

Companies such as Schott still make high-quality leather jackets with horsehide, but for reasons that you would find in the buyer's guide, their jackets aren't the best for riders (and not because of the horsehide).

A little learning is a dangerous thing, Joe.