Heated Gear

Dear BMW MOAers,

In an effort to extend the Michigan riding season a bit further, I am looking at heated gear. The two brands that I've come across are Powerlet and Gerbing. The former uses a graphite cloth that's sandwiched between the inner and outer layers of the jacket. The latter uses "microwire" that runs inside the jacket like the heating element you would find in the seat of your car.

Can any of you who have experience with either or both comment on reliability, durability, warmth, ability to regulate and care of the garment(s)? Thanks.

Kent

Gerbings works well. My gloves are so hot they left a blister on my thumb once. I had the controller tucked under my jacket and could not adjust the temp. I don't know if that sounds like a glowing endorsement but it tells you how hot the gloves can get. I think I made an unintentional pun.

I use the Gerbings Gloves, pants, and jacket. I also use the dual controller. I wear it under my Darian Aerostich suit. I ride year round. Heats up in just about a minute and I can ride all day. Great stuff.

What about Warm N Safe?

http://www.warmnsafe.com/

The Gen 4 stuff looks pretty nice.

I'm pretty sure Powerlet is made by Warm & Safe. Some people prefer Warm & Safe. Some people prefer Gerbing. I prefer Gerbing jacket, pants and socks. Warm & Safe gloves. You'll almost need to try them to see which works best for you.

I have a BMW heated vest, bought it before jacket liners came out, would recommend sleeves, as with just a vest, my arms do get cold. Was told if your core is warm, your arms will be as well, not true for me.

You can mix and match though sometimes you might need an SAE to coax adapter.

I use a WarmNSafe remote dual controllerwith a Gerbings jacket. Got Gerbings gloves but I also have Barkbusters and stay away from electric gloves unless the tempsare well belowfrezing for a longer ride. Both WarmNSafe and Gerbings use coax and mixing is easy. Reason for the remote controller is easy of mounting and total portability but the ease of use of a built in when velcroed in a convenient spot.

First Gear also has heated gear and LOTS of adapters/mounting options. I just picked up one of their jacket liners second hand, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

www.firstgear-usa.com

RevZilla carries them as well, so if you haven't used your gift card from the Rally, here's your chance!

I've got one of the earlier Gerbings jackets. Still heats up plenty fast and I seldom turn it up over 1/4 to 1/3 turn on the controller. Have to be careful not to set the heated stuff so warm that you start sweating.

I have the latest version of the Gerbings jacket. I am pleased with it's performance. Do as they tell you, wear it over a T shirt under your riding jacket. Be sure to get the thermostat and wiring kit to wire it direct to the battery. It will trip the Can/Bus system if plugged into the BMW outlet on all late model bikes.

I use the Tourmaster Synergy full jacket and pants. Worked great for me last winter. It was suggested to me to buy the set one size smaller than what I wear so it would fit snug and heat up quicker.

I'd be interested to know how many use a jacket or jacket/gloves combination and never use pant liners. Do you find the jacket is enough to keep your body warm?

nobody said:

I'd be interested to know how many use a jacket or jacket/gloves combination and never use pant liners. Do you find the jacket is enough to keep your body warm?

Click to expand...

For me it's the opposite. My feet/legs need the heat way, way before my core and hands. Heating my core doesn't warm up my feet/legs. There have been a couple threads (at least) about this over on advrider. Seems to be pretty much two distinct camps about where people need heat.

I had a very bad experience with Warm and Safe gloves. Had 4 (FOUR!) pair fail on me in a 4-5 week period. I didn't yank on the cords, beat them up or otherwise. White Horse Gear was very accommodating and handled the returns without question.

Apparently some of the gloves in that batch had defects in the wiring inside the glove.

I now have Gerbings gloves- GREAT. No problems. And the Warm and Safe liner and dual controller (still working fine) use the same connectors as the Gerbings gloves.

Heated gear is something that you don't think you need but after using it can't imagine being without HEAT.

Warm and Safe works well for me and the missus. I just the jacket liner, my wife has a jacket liner and heated gloves. Their customer service I found to be excellent.

Since I sell Powerlet products I'll chime in. Gerbings makes a very fine product. I owned a Gerbings jacket liner for many years and it worked well. I do fine their gloves to be balky and their controllers to be on the cheap side of quality. Gerbings has had a very long run of capturing most of the market share in heated garments. Powerlet plans on taking some of that and their pretty much busting their butts on making that happen.
Warm and Safe does make the the controllers for Powerlet but they do not make the Rapid Fire jacket liner or the Rapid Fire glove liners. These are exclusively Powerlet. The material is Nano Carbon, it comes from the medical industry via space industry. It heats very quickly and very uniform. Gerbings produces 77 watts of heat, Powerlet 105 watts or 60 watts. There's a connection in one of the lower inside pockets that you can disconnect which turns the jacket into a 60 watt jacket liner for bikes that have marginal electrical capacity.
The wireless controller is to die for IMHOP. If you use your heated jacket often I would seriously consider one of these even if you buy a Gerbings liner. Their so popular Powerlet and myself are sold out of the dual controller until I hope November 1.
I would stay away from other brands that use heated panels. These came from the auto industry in the form of heated seats and though they work fine in that application when you fold and unfold the panels start to break down causing hot and cold spots.
There's a good review for the Rapid Fire at http://www.webbikeworld.com/heated-motorcycle-clothing/powerlet-rapidfire-heated-clothing/
One thing for sure, once you use heated gear you'll wonder way you didn't do it sooner!

nplenzick said:

{snip}...The wireless controller is to die for IMHOP. If you use your heated jacket often I would seriously consider one of these even if you buy a Gerbings liner...{snip}

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+1 on Powerlet Wireless Remote Control

I am using the Powerlet Wireless Dual Remote Control and it IS to die for. I have it mounted on top of the clutch reservoir and it is a breeze to adjust with your free gloved hand. The receiver is about 2" by 3" and is very thin. It tucks right in to the liner and cannot be felt in any position. These are well-engineered and quality built units that work flawlessly.

Regarding the issue of jacket liners vs pants liners vs both: I think your bike's design makes a BIG difference. If you ride a naked bike, you probably want to consider both. A bike with a good fairing (like the RT) may protect your legs enough so that only a jacket liner is needed. However, everyone is different in their cold weather tolerance.

I might suggest starting out with the jacket liner first, then assess the need for a pants liner after a while.

nobody said:

I'd be interested to know how many use a jacket or jacket/gloves combination and never use pant liners. Do you find the jacket is enough to keep your body warm?

Click to expand...

I have the Gerbing jacket liner, G3 gloves, pants liner, and dual controller. Started with just the jacket liner and G3 gloves; thought they would be enough. Added the pants liner later. When I added the pants liner, I found I needed to monitor my charging system because all the gear could discharge the battery if you didn't keep tabs on it. So, I added a Battery Bug that gives me a voltage reading as well as an alarm that goes off if the voltage drops below 12 volts for more than 30 seconds.

My arms are the first thing to get cold, so I consider the jacket liner to be the most important. The G3 gloves have thinsulate and are very warm gloves even before you turn on the electric. Above 60 degrees the gloves can get too warm, so the controller is an important thing to have.

If I am going to ride in town for a half hour or less, I am good down to around 55 degrees without any electrics. However, if I am on a highway trip that lasts more than an hour, I wear the jacket and gloves when the temperature is below 65, especially if the weather is overcast (the sun makes a lot of difference). If below 55, I add the pants. If I am on a trip, I usually wear motorcycle boots and so far they have always kept my feet warm down into the 40's. If my feet ever do get cold, I am planning to add the electric insoles.

I added a thermometer to the bike so I can tell what the temperature is before I take off. I know now from experience when I need which pieces of electric gear, and it saves time if you can put them on before you leave instead of pulling over once you realize you are getting too cold.

I really consider heated gear to be a safety thing for both cool and cold weather riding. When I used to ride without heated gear, I found myself hurrying to get to my next stop when I started getting cold, and being in a hurry and riding a bike can be a bad combination. When I am comfortable, I can take my time getting to the next stop without rushing.

I saw Powerlet only has glove liners, while Gerbings & Warm N Safe have gloves. I was thinking of getting the Warm N Safe gloves, as my other liners are not really waterproof, nor windproof. I have my HELD Steve gloves & some other leather ones.

Other glove experiences?

Gerbing has glove liners also. If my BMW dealer had stocked glove liners, I may have gone that way. He only stocked G3 gloves, so that is what I bought.

Gerbing gear has a lifetime warranty on the electrics, but not the whole product. So, if you wear through a spot on the gloves, I do not think they would cover that. If you bought glove liners, you could buy whatever gloves you want and wear the gloves out.

Same thing applies to the jacket liner. Gerbing sells jackets and pants with built-in electrics, but I believe the warranty only applies to the electrics.