Heated Clothing: Want Advice.

I've been thinking about getting some heated clothing so as to extend my riding season a little and I have zero experience with these things. I've found some at various price levels and obviously some are better than others but I was just wondering are there real big differences one from another?

Are the controllers pretty much standard? IE: Could I buy a controller from one company and a garment from another?

What is the difference between a mounted controller and a semi mounted controller?

Will I need any special items that may not be included such as some sort of splitter or an extension cord?

If I get just a jacket will I discover that I should have bought pants and gloves to go with it?

Will my silver wing produce ample electrical power to support heated garments?

Any advice at all is appreciated.

Your Silver Wing will supply enough power for heated gear. I can only speak for the Gerbing products that I own which are the heated jacket liner, the gloves and a dual controller. Mine are 3 years old now and the newer stuff is even better.

Lets answer your questions:

The controllers are different, with different types of connectors. I imagine with a little research that the different systems would work together (not recommended).

Controller mounting: You do get some choices here from a simple on/off switch (with no regulation), to a dual variable control device. They can be portable (clip to your jacket) or fixed (mounted and hardwired to the bike).

Extra items: This depends on what you buy. If you buy just the gloves or just the vest, it comes with a Y-harness that you need to feed from the bottom of your jacket down each sleeve. The jacket liner has a connector box (3 input) and all the wiring is integrated into the jacket. At the hand end of each sleeve there is a zipered pocket that contains the glove connector, that is why the full jacket liner is my recomendation.

If you are going to take the plunge into electrics, evaluate your needs (what do you want to keep warm?) do some research and a full price comparison. If you go Here and type in "heated clothing" in the top right search box it will bring up all the brand reviews and specific products. (webBIKEWORLD is just one source for reviews).

I chose the Gerbing full jacket liner, the gloves and the dual controller, less wires, more control and an extra input for future expansion (pants + socks). If you are a serious rider and the cold get to you then this will expand your riding season. The electronic dual control is easy on the electrical systems, once your garment is up to temp the controller uses only enough current to maintain that temp. The dual control makes it a zone system. Sometimes my fingers need more heat and it is nice to just crank up the hands or if you feel your "core temp" dropping, you know that chill that starts in your lower back and travels up our spine to your neck . The jacket liner keeps your back, arms and neck nice and toasty. The two other suggestions are the tighter the fit the better the garment works so buy the correct size. The last suggestion is wear just a light shirt under the jacket liner, you want the heat to transfer quickly to your body and not have to travel through several layers. You will find you will not need so many layers making that cold ride less bulky and definitely more comfortable!

I'll see if I can dig up some pics and post them. If you look at Dan's accessory pics you will see how he has mounted his grip heat controller. There are many more choices out there and many advances on the original ones!
Good luck and let us know if you have other questions.

www.Heatedclothingoutlet.com

tankyuong wrote:

Heatedclothingoutlet.com

Great pricing!

What I found on ebay was this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170558756872&viewitem=

The seller says I need a controller to go with it, not included.

Looking at the site tankyoung linked (thank you!) I found this controller:

http://www.heatedclothingoutlet.com/tgpd-w.shtml

The ebay stuff is the same price as heatedclothingoutlet.com with the advantage that they seem to have my size in stock.

If I get 2 jackets do I need 2 controllers as well, or will one "duel" controller work them both?

smorkle wrote:

If I get 2 jackets do I need 2 controllers as well, or will one "duel" controller work them both?

There are single controllers (one knob) and dual controllers ( two knobs ).

If you have a dual controller ( two knobs ), it can control two separate heating items. I have used a dual control to control two heated jackets.

right now gerbing.com has a sale on heated jacket liners and gloves. of course i paid $139 for each at a local cycle store, now on their site they are $99 each. lifetime warranty on wiring and the wife loves them. she also has the shoe inserts. they work great with the dual controller.


Jim

does anybody know if the material is washable?

tankyuong wrote:

does anybody know if the material is washable?

http://gerbing.com/Products/Specialty/nikwax.html

Yep Gerbings are great. Four GW riders and I took a 200 mile ride in the mountains around here today, temps in the high 40s low 50s and very high humidity. In fact the first hour of the ride was in fog. My Gerbings jacket liner and gloves made it a pleasant ride. Without them I'd have suffered from painful hands all day but with them it was like riding on a warm day. The heated gloves are much better than heated grips which I've tried before. I haven't wired up the SW for them yet but will soon, before the real cold weather shows up.

Columbia is a company known for outdoorwear and have just come out with a new line of warm wear including heated boots, with ankle protection suitable for a motorcycle in my opinion.

Columbia heated boots

Why is it that you can buy heated blankets that plug into your cigarette lighter for $30 but make a jacket out of the same stuff and it's $200? And it doesn't come with the connection to power it up. THAT's extra! Something is definitely screwy with that picture.



http://www.amazon.com/Roadpro-12-Volt-Fleece-Heated-Blanket/dp/B0009Y2CFS/ref=pd_sim_dbs_auto_1

Gerbing and Warm n Safe (www.warmnsafe.com) use the same coaxial connectors. Firstgear's heated clothing and the Tourmaster 3-level heated gear use Warm n Safe components. And yes, they work together. I have a pair of Firstgear gloves with a Gerbing jacket liner and they use a Heat-troller (also made by Warm n Safe). I also used to have the Gerbing gloveliner (AVOID unless you wanna leave grill marks on your hands) and pant liner. The SWing really helps with blocking a lot of wind so my legs are fine with just fleece-lined jeans plus longjohns on cold days. I've also had an old Aerostich Kanetsu heated vest that just had a red pushbutton but no thermostat. Trust me, you want to make sure you have a thermostat or these things can get uncomfortably warm and/or burn you.

One thing I will say is that any of the jacket liners can be a real PITA because of the glove connectors receding back inside the sleeves of your outerjacket. I've spent many a frustrated minute or 2 trying to fish out those darn connectors. Gerbing does make an outer jacket that would solve some of those problems. I have yet to come across a review of that jacket as regards waterproofing, etc., but their old Cascade jacket had a lot of good reviews. No idea if their new XE (extreme element) outerwear cuts the mustard.

Hammy wrote:

I also used to have the Gerbing gloveliner (AVOID unless you wanna leave grill marks on your hands)

I believe there are some liners that have wiring to either allow you to regulate the glove separate or with the liner.

I use the premium heated glove liners from www.cozywinters.com and they work great.

It comes with the battery harness and the "y" cable to go all the way to your hands through your jacket; I do not use a controller, but I'm thinking about the simpler (and just $12) on/off switch.

For the rest, an undershirt, a high-collar fleece (one size smaller than my street clothes) and my jacket are enough down to about upper 20's. I also wear underpants and ski pants (which I wear also when it rains). Columbia waterproof insulated boots do the job for my feet.

An electric vest could be nice too but I have not felt the need where I live.

Hammy wrote:

One thing I will say is that any of the jacket liners can be a real PITA because of the glove connectors receding back inside the sleeves of your outerjacket. I've spent many a frustrated minute or 2 trying to fish out those darn connectors.

One think I do is to poke the sockets of the jacket liner sleeves back under the cuff of the liner. Then you can hold the cuff against your wrist with a couple fingers as you put your arms through your outer jacket. Then it's merely a matter of pulling the loop of wire out of your over jacket sleeve. I've also found that holding the sockets with my fingers and then stuffing my arms into my jacket works pretty well too. I made a flat aluminum bracket that I mounted with two bolts and a couple spacers on the clutch (rear brake mount on the SW) that I clip the dual controller in it's leather case to. It works very handily with the control knobs in an easy to reach postion and the blinking lights in sight. I did have to splice the two wires that go to my jacket liner to get them long enough not to pull tight with the handlebar turned hard right.