A climate chamber at the University of Wollongong is being used to tackle the "urgent" question of how to develop protective motorcycle gear suited to the Australian climate.
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While helmets are worn among all Australian motorcyclists, riders complain they get too hot wearing heavy protective pants and jackets under the Australian sun.
A joint study by Neuroscience Research Australia and UOW's Centre for Human and Applied Physiology is examining how much body heat motorcyclists produce, and whether they risk reaching a physiologically damaging level of heat strain.
Neuroscience Research Australia senior research officer Dr Liz de Rome hopes the study will lead to a five-star rating system for protective motorcycle gear suited to hot climates.
"[Existing protective gear] is designed according to a study at Cambridge University in England, where the issue is protection from injury and protection from the cold," said Dr de Rome, who is a motorcyclist.
"To pass European standards, you have to be able to skid for four seconds before this [gear] wears out, whereas your average denim jeans will last 0.6 of one second.
"We know it works, but we also know that under Australian conditions it's uncomfortable and this is a disincentive to usage."
The researchers worked with Honda to establish that riding a motorcycle requires about as much exertion as slowly pedalling a pushbike.
Inside UOW's climate chamber, 12 volunteers each complete four, 90-minute rides on a cycle ergometer under radiant heaters - three times in swimmers and protective motorcycle gear, with the chamber set at 25 degrees, 30 degrees and 35 degrees and again at 25 degrees, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt underneath.
The experiments are part of an $800,000 study funded by the Australian Research Council and the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust.
"There's a lot of work in materials science that hasn't been applied to this particular problem," Dr de Rome said.
"I would like to see the motorcycle accessories industry using it, but the manufacturers have got very little information to go off."
Research participants face a series of field of vision tests during and after their rides.
UOW thermal physiologist Associate Professor Nigel Taylor said the tests were aimed at showing whether heat strain - the body's build-up of internal heat from environmental conditions and muscle action - could cause a level of cognitive impairment.
"There's some evidence that when you get hot you can still do your job, but you have to focus more attention on it," he said.
About 82 per cent of Australian riders wear protective jackets but far fewer wear gloves (67 per cent), protective pants (59 per cent) and boots (57 per cent).