• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Heated gear 2018

bjkennyp

bjkenny
I am looking to get some new heated gear and in these times of fast changing technology I am clueless. My old equipment from tour Master was bulky, uncomfortable and with the wired controller not always easy to manage.
I live in the Pacific NW so I am not facing the extremes of temperature. Mountain passes and extended damp chilly rain are about the worst things I face.

With that said, I am looking for jacket and pant liners that use battery/plug power to supply heat, rather than bulky fabrics that are intended to keep you warm i.e. the Tour Master line. Their early design seemed redundant.
Additionally I like the thought of the remote controller as way of cutting down on wiring, or am I misunderstanding the use of "Remote"
So fellow Forum members in 2018, what is the state of heated gear? Any suggestions, considerations or experience would be very helpful, and appreciated.
From the moderately cold, but damp NW
Brian Kenny
 
Last edited:
Hot Stuff

I am satisfied with heated stuff from Aerostich have one old unobtainum vest and a newer Kanetsu Airvantage vest with zip on sleeves both have power cord with lighted push button on off switch, if they get to hot turn off for a bit, both work great. Both cheap, both looked unused, off eBay less than $150 airvantage one, less than $100 for unobtainum one. Keep lookout on marketplace on this forum and eBay people either really like them or don’t like them, ones that don’t like seem to sell cheap.
 
Warm N Safe. https://www.warmnsafe.com

Buy it once, trade up when a new model comes available, superb customer service, and a full range of controller configurations to fit your needs.

No vested interest, just a satisfied customer for over a decade...


Best,
DG
 
Yuup Warm-n-Safe works for me. Light weight not bulky at all and works as advertised. The Dual remote controller is great no wires to the jacket except the one to the battery.
 
Use HexEZCan for heat controller

I know you said you wanted to use a battery, but . . . It is really nice to have the heat control "at your fingertips", not tucked in a pocket or dangling somewhere, so I use the Wunderwheel on a R1200GS to control the heat, via a hard-wired HezEZCan as the control/relay/fuze. Works great. Gong to use it tomorrow morning--forecast is for 40 degrees and fog. Reply if you want more info.
 
I know you said you wanted to use a battery, but . . . It is really nice to have the heat control "at your fingertips", not tucked in a pocket or dangling somewhere, so I use the Wunderwheel on a R1200GS to control the heat, via a hard-wired HezEZCan as the control/relay/fuze. Works great. Gong to use it tomorrow morning--forecast is for 40 degrees and fog. Reply if you want more info.

First I have heard of Wunderwheel integration of any type of vendor accessory. Lay it out for us if you can.
OM
 
First I have heard of Wunderwheel integration of any type of vendor accessory. Lay it out for us if you can.
OM

You can use the wonder wheel to control aftermarket lights.
I have not heard of using it for heated gear but I guess if you can vary the brightness of lights you can vary the heat.
 
+3 on Warn 'n' Safe...very satisfied customer. I do have the remote controller and I just have it velcroed to the top of the brake reservoir. I also have the electric gloves and the controller has separate dials for each. Nice to have it in easy eye view.

Reminder...in order to work properly, a heated jacket liner needs to fit VERY snug (not loose like a normal, lightweight jacket). Proper size should fit like a jacket that is slightly too small for you as you need to have the heating elements next to your body in order for them to work efficiently.

Good luck with your purchase decision.
 
Thanks everyone for the input..

after reading the comments from this forum and others I headed out to see what the local BMW dealer carried. Their favored jacket liner was the Firstgear 90 watt. Tried it on and it felt comfortable, suitably snug as well as lightweight.
I think it will work very well under my Darien Light.

The dealer did not have any of the dual remote controllers in stock so I started checking web sites and ended up on Revzilla. They had a remote for the First gear, but clearly marked "Warm and Safe".
To avoid warranty issues I did some further checking and it turns out that the heated Firstgear equipment is actually from Warm and Safe. So that is on order with expected arrival this week.
Following a major service, new tires and now the heated gear I think I am ready for the NW Winter.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
 
My EZCan jacket control implementation

First I have heard of Wunderwheel integration of any type of vendor accessory. Lay it out for us if you can.
OM

I rigged my Hex Ezcan <http://hexezcan.com>as the controller for my electric garments, plus the other usual items, lights, horn. Nice, neat installation controlled by the existing Wunderwheel (for intensity), & turn signal selector (for "on" "off.") Cheaper and neater than a typical heat controller, mounted on the handlebars, or wherever.

Bike: 2017 R1200GS

I used EZCan Configuration 3, e.g.,

Red Circuit: Air horn operated by normal horn button. (Factory horn, left in place, works simultaneously, too.) (breaker tripped when set at 10 amps, but seems to work OK when set to 15 amps. I used a $16 horn from Ebay. Annoyingly loud--which is what I wanted, primarily for animals. [see http://katu.com/news/local/bear-stru...marion-county] Due to the different way that I had to use the "orange" circuit (below) the EZCan cannot flash my fog lights when the horn is sounded. <http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-...4923103?epid=12004205651&hash=item46665a94df: g:jrgAAOSwi8VZU07i&vxp=mtr>

Orange Circuit: Dedicated heated garment (jacket+gloves) circuit, breaker set to 10 amps. (2.4 ohm load with heated jacket and heated gloves in parallel--worst case-- or 14v/2.4ohms= ~6 amps.) Also have very small incandescent pilot light in this circuit to give me a visual indication of power (heat) level. [I initially tried an LED pilot, but it flickered annoyingly at low power due to PWM so I switched to an incandescent, which is more even-tempered.] Since I opted to use a nominal 10 amp "lighting circuit" for the heated jacket--and instead used the "white" accessory circuit for my fog lights, it means that I don't have access to the trick flashing of the fog lights normally associated with a typical EZCan installation. My red incandescent pilot light is from an airplane ($40) and has a twistable shutter to dim the lamp, if need be. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/el/presstotestindicators/ms25041.php> The bulb should last forever at the very low heat settings that I anticipate.

Yellow (brake) Circuit: Brake light (s), set to 1 amp for auxilliary LED license plate frame lights ($17.) Similar to <http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-M...7450249?hash=item4b16589109:g:CBQAAOSw42JZAvH 2&vxp=mtr>

White (aux) Circuit: Two 10w LED Cree "fog" lights ($12 each) in parallel (1.3 amps measured; breaker set to 2 amps.) These are for enhanced recognition. Might go to slightly bigger lights now that I see that I have a couple amps extra to play with . . . <http://www.ebay.com/itm/2inch-10W-C...3619374?hash=item283dafbdae:g:1QkAAOSwQjNW9f0 Y&vxp=mtr>

The EZCan concept is a little inflexible if you want to do something that they hadn't intended, but I am sure they will improve on the device, add more features, etc., over time. On my former F800GT I had wired in a FuzeBlock (brand) relay for my previous F800GT bike, but the EZCan is much more compact and elegant.

I used Positaps (2) and Posi-splices (a lot of them) and they are all working without incident, but I am thinking of switching to knife splices for enhanced vibration resistance, covered with shrink for insulation. <https://www.aircraftspruce.com/search/search.php?s=KNIFE+DISCONNECTS&x=26&y=14>

For those tempted to do something likewise, it is worth noting that Denali is selling a licensed version of the Hex EZCan with a somewhat different feature set. It might be worth investigating that device for your future projects. It does cost, however, about $100 more than the EZCan and I am not sure if what it offers is worth the extra money. <http://www.denalielectronics.com/cansmart-controller>

Winter is coming and I'm ready!

Photos show my pilot light, mounted to the back of the Nav6 GPS
Attached Images show pilot light
MVIMG_20171120_173526.jpg

IMG_20170904_191259.jpg
 
EZ heat with hex

First I have heard of Wunderwheel integration of any type of vendor accessory. Lay it out for us if you can.
OM

Well, the HexEZcan is a relay/fuze device completely separate from the bike's circuits, except that it takes signals from the canbus circuit to get signals for its own battery-supplied circuits. It has four circuits nominally available, two 10-amp circuits, and two 4-am circuits. One of the 10 amp circuits is intended for auxiliary lights, and has a dimming function--when used for lighting--controlled by the Wunderwheel. Instead, I used that circuit for my electric garments, which draw around 6 amps max (most of the time I use about 25% of "max."--gets too hot otherwise) The Wunderwheel provides more "positions" or heat settings--about 7--than typical heat controllers. To better sense (too hot or too cold) the heat change after an adjustment I put an incandescent pilot light in the circuit so I could quickly see the effects of my Wunderwheel heat adjustments. You can also turn it "on" or "off" by holding the turn signal switch for a few seconds. The Hex is more compact than the usual relay options, so easy to fit under a R1200GS rear seat. I like it because it simplifies wiring.
 
Well, the HexEZcan is a relay/fuze device completely separate from the bike's circuits, except that it takes signals from the canbus circuit to get signals for its own battery-supplied circuits. It has four circuits nominally available, two 10-amp circuits, and two 4-am circuits. One of the 10 amp circuits is intended for auxiliary lights, and has a dimming function--when used for lighting--controlled by the Wunderwheel. Instead, I used that circuit for my electric garments, which draw around 6 amps max (most of the time I use about 25% of "max."--gets too hot otherwise) The Wunderwheel provides more "positions" or heat settings--about 7--than typical heat controllers. To better sense (too hot or too cold) the heat change after an adjustment I put an incandescent pilot light in the circuit so I could quickly see the effects of my Wunderwheel heat adjustments. You can also turn it "on" or "off" by holding the turn signal switch for a few seconds. The Hex is more compact than the usual relay options, so easy to fit under a R1200GS rear seat. I like it because it simplifies wiring.

Interesting :thumb
OM
 
Denali has its own version of that, under their own brand name Denali CANsmart controller.

Also the Clearwater CANopener works with the BMW Wonder wheel. It has some of the features found in the Hex module and uses the CANbus. Clearwater does not sell the CANopener as a stand alone unit.
Pat, not wanting to nit-pick, but the Denali is a re-branded Hex unit made for Denali by Hex. It's a small difference but it is significant. The Denali unit comes with Denali plugs on the wiring so it works very well if you are using all or mostly all Denali accessories. Not as well if most of your connections are not Denali plugs.

My limited experience with the Clearwater CANopener (I've got two) is that it is more proprietary than the Hex/Denali alternative, however, all will work if you have any of these.
 
Pat, not wanting to nit-pick, but the Denali is a re-branded Hex unit made for Denali by Hex. It's a small difference but it is significant. The Denali unit comes with Denali plugs on the wiring so it works very well if you are using all or mostly all Denali accessories. Not as well if most of your connections are not Denali plugs.

My limited experience with the Clearwater CANopener (I've got two) is that it is more proprietary than the Hex/Denali alternative, however, all will work if you have any of these.

My answer was in reply to OM's remarks "First I have heard of Wunderwheel integration of any type of vendor accessory. Lay it out for us if you can. OM".
It seems I wasn't clear but I believe that is exactly what I said. :scratch :dunno

As to the CANopener there are more functions available than just the lights. There are extra wires coming out of that little box. CANopener manual.
 
got Gerbings jacket,gloves and socks with a Warm & safe dual controller mounted in the left side panel on my 2018 RT. Works great
 
Back
Top