2015 F800 GS and Heated Gear

I fully realize there is probably already a thread about this but I seem to be having trouble with the search function. I will gladly take links to other threads. I have a 2015 F800 GS and for the most part I love the bike. I am wondering with the posts about the heated grips on the F800 being dependent on high revs as well as my own experience should I be concerned about purchasing heated gear for this bike? My only real issue is with fingers getting too cold. I am considering bar buffs because I had a coworker offer to sell me some heated gloves. I turned them down. I should mention I don't like the idea of relying on heated gear especially if I am not sure there is enough electrical capacity. I am pretty comfortable down into the low thirties for short trips with just my Goretex gloves.

I am not looking to be the guy that rides all winter but I would like to increase the number of day where I think, "It is a great day to ride" even in the middle of the winter in Colorado. Does anyone have experience on running heated gear on the F800 GS? If so how is it connected and do you worry about the battery?

Annie has a 2014 F800GS with 40+k miles. We live in the Rockies in Montana so cold weather riding is not uncommon. She has a Gerbing jacket and uses it in conjunction with her heated grips. There has never been an issue with not having enough electrical power available. We very seldom encounter traffic of any significance here so stop and go riding is rare. We did ride in Chicago once and used our heated gear and she had no issues. She did have a stator failure that was a warranty item, but such failures were not uncommon for a time period and not related to the use of heated gear.

On my 700 GS, which is similar (same engine) I used heated jacket and factory grip warmers but find some loss of battery discharge from f runner ng jacket on highest setting. Just recently blizzard handguards over my bark buster hand guards and toasty down to 17f. Missouri winters.

I have a F800GT with the same alternator output of 400W. I ride year around and for half the year, I am using heated gear. One variation on my bike from the OEM specs is that I'm using a Cyclops H7 LED headlight. It draws less current than the H7 halogen bulb does.

My bike has a voltage indicator light. Nothing fancy, just a glowing green light if all is well, and a red light if I'm drawing off the battery.

At idle, I can turn my heated gear (jacket liner and gloves) up to max, set the heated grips on max, hold the brake down so the brake light is on, and turn my aux lights on max and still have that light showing green. When I turn on the high beam, it goes red. I can also use all that with the high beam on...if I take my hand off the brake. So that 21W of the brake light is enough to bring it over the capabilities of the alternator...or just don't use the high beam.

Here's a breakdown on current consumption that I think is fairly accurate.

• Jacket liner = 77 W
• Gloves = 27 W
• Aux lights = 24 W on max
• Low beam headlight = 30 W
• High beam headlight = 30 W
• Rear brake light = 21 W?
• Heated grips = 47 W?

Chris

Feeling Encouraged

daboo,

Thanks for the level of detail you provided. That sounds encouraging. I did not even mention my thought that it was going to be lights or heated gear.

Thank you.

Even though I have OEM bark guards, I was surprised in the drastic difference in heat retention when I rode a friend's motorbike with full hippo-hand style covers. For shorter/city trips, I would also consider the Aerostich Warmbib, which only pulls 30 watts, but puts out a good deal of heat. A warm core will keep the rest of you and your limbs warm.

I commuted up and down Seattle's I-5 corridor in all kinds of weather. I had tried making something like the bark guards you mentioned and found they didn't do much good at all for keeping hands warm. I found some "hippo hands" for an ATV for about $25, and they worked well.

If you go that route, some tips...

1. Look at ATV and snowmobile "hippo hands" too. Since they don't say "motorcycle" on them, I found them far less expensive.
2. Use something like duct tape to seal off the gaps that allow air to come in. When I first installed them, I had places where the air came in and took away all the ability to trap heat inside. Searching out all the gaps and filling them or sealing them off was the secret to making them work well.
3. If you find the wind pushes them back against your clutch and brake levers, you might look into fashioning a bracket to hold them out clear of the levers. I made an "L" shaped bracket from some scrap metal for that. It attached to the bar end weight screw and went forward of the levers. It was never a problem slipping my hand inside the handlebar muffs with that.

Chris