Heated gear

[d3vi@nt]

It's been cold and dry here this winter in CO so far, which has got me thinking about heated gear.I know close to nothing on this topic, so was hoping to get some general thoughts.

My MTS has a Gerbing's controller mounted on the side below the seat. It's plugged into the powerlet socket nearby. It has no other marking to identify it. I'm guessing it's 5-7 years old. It has two knobs, one black and one gray and two cables coming off it with what look like RCA-type female plugs. No digital readout or anything fancy.

I'm assuming (guessing) one controller is for jacket and the other for jacket to glove connection? Are these plugs and controllers universal, or proprietary --meaning do I have to get Gerbing gear?

Frequently snow and ice end the riding season here (for me anyway), so I probably won't use it frequently, but you never know. Being an older controller would it be advisable to replace with a current unit before investing in heated gear, or should this unit work just as well with new gear?

TIA

[stopintime]

The controller is most likely the same, but Gerbing will clearify that.

Strangely, each manufacturer seems to be able to find their own plugs - making it difficult to mix and match. Gerbing is expensive, so it might be better to get a complete system, controller included, from another manufacturer.

The 'snow' people have heated helmets, visors, neck gators.... For us, wearing heated gloves is often 'enough'. Maybe a vest to heat our core - which helps other limbs feel ok.

[d3vi@nt]

Thanks for the reply.  I've been looking at the jacket liner (~$250) and gloves. The gloves are priced about the same as any other decent pair. I do have heated grips and handguards that deflect some air, but I still find my fingers get cold after more than an hour or so around 50F.

My current jacket is 3-season, but with the quilted liner added, it's quite bulky and pretty restrictive. Feet seem to do ok and I figure I'd just throw on some capilene or similar for legs. The other weak link is chin and mouth where the cold air hits. I have a balaclava, but it's pretty slippery and allows my helmet to move probably more than it should if I were to hit the ground. Not sure on that one.

I know with the Gerbing gloves, they plug into the jacket, which then plugs into the controller. How does it work if you just have gloves? With my current setup, it seems I'd have to run an extension up both sleeves and out the side or back of the jacket to run to the controller.

Today would've been a beautiful day to ride, but at 42F I knew it would get painful quickly!

[stopintime]

They sell Y-splitters. From one plug to two garments (usually gloves). I don't know if the splitters go through the jacket or outside. Maybe either one....

I'm sure there is a chin curtain out there for you. Maybe not for your helmet brand, but if the 'system' is similar it can work.

If a balaclava makes the helmet slip too much, the helmet is either wrong shape or wrong size?

[d3vi@nt]

Good call on the chin curtain. Arai sells one for my Vector-2, so I just ordered one up. That should be a big help.

I started looking at the Warm & Safe (www.warmnsafe.com) gear. Cost is pretty close. Apparently they used to supply the controllers for Gerbing, so I believe their gear will plug into my Gerbing controller and work ok. I contacted them to confirm.

Sales on either brand seem hard to come by, though...

[d3vi@nt]

If anyone's interested... I contacted Warm & Safe. The owner (Mike) confirmed their gear will work with the Gerbing's controller.

I ordered up a pair of gloves and decided to go with a heated shirt, since I already have a zip-in liner for my jacket. Thought it made sense and cost a bit less than a liner.  We'll see how it goes.

[koko64]

I have purchased a battery heated vest and gloves, so no wires to the bike. The battery tech has come a long way, but you definately get what you pay for as far as battery life over a days ride is concerned. Heat settings set to medium or low give a better range and still stop the cold.

[He Man]

how long is your commute and what speeds are you hitting?

I run gerbing heated gloves but im a bit cheap on the jacket. I didnt get a gerbing, instead I got a Milwaukee heated sweater and got a 12V lighter jacket. It wont pump out anywhere near as much heat as a gerbing, but if you arent going far and have good wind protection it may suffice and you can use the heated jacket in different scenarios.

For my chin , revit makes this neck gaiter that you put on before a jacket. its basically a fancy scarf that covers your chin. Once you cure the cold hands, the cold chin is the next big issue for me! I usually grow out a beard for this.   

[koko64]

 Electricity is good.

Neck and hands for sure are vulnerable. Oh, and toes.

Heated gloves help my arthritis (Shark brand), neck sock/scarf thingo and a heated vest. Vest is great as two elements are over the kidneys, two over the liver and a longer one over the spine. All good for about two to four hours 50-60 mph country riding at 0°C. I finally got some very warm Alpinestar winter boots. Although used they're like new and with warm riding socks, work very well. All that under a Dririder extreme winter jacket and padded winter textile pants.

Ibuprofen and Paracetamol help too, like yoga in a tablet.

Plus the Evo gives off some heat

[ungeheuer]

Electricity is good.

I just got around to accepting that I now live in a cold climate and treated myself to some heated gear.   Keis jacket, pants and socks and Furygan gloves.  Lovely 

stopintime is right about every bloody manufacturer using different plugs tho    I didn't like the Keis gloves, so had to make up my own short adapter looms to connect the Furygan gloves to the Keis jacket.