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Lets Talk About Heated

_RockZ_

Seeking the 4TH dimension
Either Vest Chaps Gloves Socks, one All what is your prefrence?

what brand is Your favorite and what would you recomend to go on my Santa List,
 
heated stuff

I'm on a 93 1100RS. Use an Aero Flow windsheild when it get's into the 40's.

With my riding pants my legs & feet are fine, for upper body, I wear a Tour Master Synergy jacket liner. The 93RS has a 50AMP 700 watt alt. If I put the jacket on high setting it'll leave red stripes on my arms if I don't have a long sleeve shirt on.
That sucker just puts out. About $130 from Motorcycle Acc Warehouse. My morning commute is 23 miles. I'm good down to single digit temps, F of course.
Gerbing I hear is best, I'm really happy my second year with the Synergy.
Don't wait! Be a sissy and try this stuff, any brand but try it. You will want to ride so much longer. I no longer care about the temp. If it's dry and clear and staying that way, I'm riding. No problem.
If yiou need/want a more adjustable heat setting than high / med /lo they make controllers to dial it in closer. I like the KISS system so as it came is AOK for me.
I WILL be adding heated grips soon though as my hands get too cold to react quickly enough for my taste after an hour of riding at mid 30 temps.
 
I see by your profile that you are an ironworker. I thought they wore T-shirts in the winter? Seriously, the heated jackets are great-mine is Gerbings. I have heated grips but think hand guards would make a needed improvement. My Hein-Gericke jacket has a liner and I wear the Gerbings inside that if cold enough.The right gloves are an absolute must. Understand that with too much glove you will not feel the heated grip.I like wearing a silk balaclava under my helmet when cold. I also wear polypropylene glove liners year round for perspiration,vibration isolation and in winter-warmth.See Campmor(best price), Dick's or Cabelas. I will now plug the Hein-Gericke cold weather bib over pants I have for sale in Flea mkt.!
 
I just upgraded my 8 year old Gerbings jacket for the new microwire version, the old one seems to have shrunk a bit ;)

I also have 8 year old Gerbings gloves and their heated socks which have apparently been replaced with the heated pad that goes in the bottom of the boot. The ONLY issue I ever had with using all of it at once was the charging system on the Concours was borderline with all of it powered on. If not riding on the highway with the engine turning over 3500 rpm, the battery would slowly lose voltage over a period of time and once or twice I had to bump start it after hours on backroads. RT doesn't have that problem as the alternator puts out nearly 2x what the Concours does.

I find the Gerbings gloves work very well with the RT heated grips, although the grips on low sometimes don't feel hot enough, and on high I can feel it being almost too warm through the Gerbings, a fault of the RT, not the Gerbings. On the Concours without heated grips the gloves were fine as long as I kept the temp cranked up, palms did sometimes get a bit chilly, but much better than unheated gloves.

New microwire jacket is superior to the old one in overall fit and function. It's wired so that you can use a dual controller and have different zones for gloves and jacket. First time I used it took a bit of fiddling to find the right balance, but it sure is nice to be able to turn either one up or down and not affect the other. Hands a bit chilly? Turn the glove control up more without warming the torso the same amount, couldn't do that with the old setup.

As advertised, the new microwire system does warm up a bit quicker and the heat distribution seems a lot more even than on the old jacket that had distinct hot/warm areas. I need an extra long sleeve and the new styles provide for that as well as standard lengths, so I was able to get a much better fit than the original jacket ever had, even when it fit me better years ago.

When I bought the new jacket I also saw that Firstgear is now selling some decent looking heated gear, and the controller and plugs are compatible with the new Gerbings, so it is possible to mix and match if you find something you like in both products, I'm using their dual controller with my Gerbings gear.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with the comfort level that having the heated jacket, gloves, and socks brings to cold weather riding, it has significantly extended my riding season to the point where I'll ride year round as long as the road conditions here in the northeast are decent enough to be safe.

HTH...
 
Gerbing gloves here. As long as my hands are warm I'm good to go.

I second the hand guard comment kantuckid. My riot windshield knocks off alot of the airflow with grip coverage. It's ugly, gnarly and large but does the job.
 
Gerbings for me. Neck down and I have rode in sub 20's with no discomfort. The insoles can get a bit hot! The newer BMW's need to be wired directly to the battery as the power outlets only allow 10 amp draw before they pop the auto reset circuits.
 
I bought a Tour Master Synergy Jacket about month ago and it gets plenty warm. My coldest so far was 29 degs F last Thursday and it worked fine on medium.

My first jacket only lasted 5-6 rides before the controller died, but Motorcycle Superstore made it right by sending a replacement and Tour Master sent a spare controller.

I added the Tour Master leather heated gloves last week and have to say that at 29 deg F and 60 mph they were okay but not great on a one hour ride. Even with the heated grips turned on I got the dreaded cold thumb issue they are known for. Once I came down out of the mountains back to 37-40 =/- degs they were fine. Luckily we don't get a lot of <40 weather here but I don't see these gloves allowing me to do long trips in sub 40 deg F cold weather.

Also, my F800GS only has a 400 watt alternator so I installed a Datel voltmeter to help me keep an eye on voltage / charging levels. With everything on other than my highbeam I'm seeing +/- 12.5 to 12.8 volts while moving. Idling at traffic signals I have to shut off the grips.

By everything on, I mean: jacket (77w), gloves (24w), grips on high (25w?), headlight (55w) and a pair of PIAA 510's (70w). Adding the highbeam (55w) knocks the voltage reading down to around 12.1 which begins to slowly drop lower as I go. I'm also running GPS always on, Hyperlights and LED turn signals as needed.

At this point I'm just experimenting with what I can get by with in terms of capacity and clearly when I'm "all-in" there is a deficit. The voltmeter method is not perfect but it's all I have to go by.

That's what I know for now.

RobStar
 
Did a May jaunt up to the Arctic Ocean

and had heated grips and a heated vest.

I survived, but on the way back to Chicago, stopped at Aerostich and bought a heated jacket.... I spent too many hours with cold arms to want to repeat that experience.:usa

Now I'm good to 15 degrees F - legs and feet haven't been a problem esp with the heat an old K throws off.
 
Vest good Liner far better

I had a heated vest, did not believe it could be better. Wrong! a liner is much better. Takes up only a bit more room and is good when you don't need it to be turned on. Will save space in your luggage.
 
Like jpberens, I ride a '93 K1100RS and I agree that what is in front of you (fairing, windshield) determines what heated add-ons are needed.

Our K-RS bikes are lower extremity blast furnaces in the summer but in cold weather the engine heat and the fairing lowers keep insulated riding pants covered legs nice and warm- no need for heated gear down below.

I also use an Aeroflow windshield below 40F (necessary evil- hate the looks) and heated "warm-n-safe" First Gear Jacket liner and gloves. Plus the dual controller.

With this combo I can ride at just about any temperature. Now if I could do something about the 6" of snow outside..........
 
Warm-N-Safe jacket liner and controller along with old style Gerbing gloves. I haven't yet felt the need for pants liner. Keeping your trunk warm is the most important part, then the blood you pump down your legs is pre-warmed.;)

John
 
I have Gerbing Jacket Liner, G3 Gloves, and Pants Liner. I have only had them a short time, and the coldest I have ridden was last Saturday at around 35 F. Totally comfortable. The only thing that was cold was my nose, so I may need to get a silk Balaclava. Any recommendations? My HJC helmet fits really well, so I am guessing if I get anything thicker than silk I could run into a problem.

I would rank them in the order I listed above. If I had to choose only one piece, I would definitely go for the Jacket Liner. Before Gerbing, it was always my arms that got cold first. So far, my boots are so warm I feel no need to check out the insoles. I bought the Jacket Liner and Gloves first and added the pants later after riding in some low 40s temps that left my thighs cold. Boots are pretty high, so my lower legs don't seem to get cold.
 
Whatever you do

Get the full liner not the vest. Takes up only a little more room but oh so much warmer.
 
Hey Phil, they look the same but I would give them a call to confirm. The BMW powerlet only allows 10 amp draw. If you plan on adding any more you may want to direct wire it to the battery.
 
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