Anyone wanna rehash the winter gear discussion?

Heated jacket and glove would be best IMO

 

I use 12V Gerbings heated liners (vest, pants, and glove inserts), and I find that with those I can fairly comfortably ride down to -10C (14F). Mind you, I wear pretty much the same gear year round, so with windproof gloves and an extra pair of socks I could probably ride in much cooler. I like the liners since I can store all of that stuff in a backpack or tank bag in the afternoon, if it's the kind of weather where it's 5C in the morning and 20C in the afternoon.

 

When I lived up North, I used to use a one piece Hein Gericke thermal motorcycle suit. It had fake fur in front of the shins and on your bum. That combined with a Widder Letcric vest and their gloves would enabled me to go oot in pretty much anything you could find weather wise. It was a bit of a hassle to don though, and by the time you made your way to the bike, you would be sweating!

I had an over sized Aerostich suit that I combined with a Chase Harper Breeze Buster (like a dickee.) Actually, that was used with the suiit I mentioned above too. Good thing aboot that suit was you could don/doff it in 15 seconds. With the electric stuff, you could ride in the 40s or so, I only had condensation freeze in side my visor once! And that was when I had chaps on :loco: (chaps get a bad wrap, can't wear them.) ound:

I had Vetter Hippo Hands on bikes that did'nt have clip ons, when I got the viffer, I discovered I couldnt use them anymore. The gloves worked awsome, your just kinda tethered to the bike and have to remember to unplug yourself. I never believed in heated grips btw...

Used to use two pairs of socks in over sized boots to keep my feet warm. Now I have gotten softer and would not think of riding in that shite anymore.

 

Not sure how cold you ride....I found riding in the high 20s heated grip is not enough with glove and jacket keep my hand nice and toasty so I can have a better feel on the levers. Vest is compact and work for sure but thought jacket would allow more heat to your arm so you can arrive in comfort :livid:

 

Yes I agree fortunately the weather here never been in the teen.
Wait.......I take it back rode back with Reg thru willow last trip from Borrego and the freaking temp drop to 19 and it was brutal :soap:

 

I've had both the vest and the jacket liner. I personally prefer the full jacket liner. I have had both a Gerbings jacket liner and a Genx vest. The vest did not stand up while the Gerbings is now going on 6 years old.

I don't think you will find that having the sleeves of the jacket liner being that intrusive all around. I also have the pant liners and boot insoles which all plug into each other. Those insoles are a nice touch if you have to ride in the cold. One thing I would do with the insoles, if you get them, is to stitch the cord to the inside webb of the boot opening near the top. You don't need to sew the whole cord, just a stitch at the top. That will keep the cord away from being stretched as you pull your boot on and off. That was the problem I had with the insoles but Gerbings handled that very well. I bought the dual control module so that I could have the jacket toasty warm and the pant and insoles at a lesser heat. That was extra. The jacket comes with a simple on off switch and the jacket and pants do get very warm. You want to be careful with the controller as they are rather susceptible to damage. Gerbings should have made the casing of this unit from a different plastic that would take more punishment. I have my third controller on order expected early next week.

One thing about Gerbings is they are very good at honouring the integrity of their product. They replaced the pair of insoles after almost 2 years of use, no questions asked.

I have not found a need for the glove liners or heated grips. I have a pair of Alpinstars winter water resistant gloves that keep my hands warm and dry. I know many here don't like the thickness of winter gloves but I found you get used to it quite easily. Naturally I like the summer gloves better but hey, you sometimes have to persevere.

 

For you guys that have heated gear (Grips, vest, jacket liner, socks, ect.), is there anything that must be done to the bike before hand in regards to having enough output to power all that stuff ?

I have a Powerlet with a cigarette lighter end I use to power my GPS and charge a cell phone with and have had no problems, but I didn't think the stock VFR electrical system would have enough juice to power multiple heated accessories.

It doesn't get very cold where I live even in the winter ( High 30's with Wind Chill in the mid 20's ) , but I would like to extend my riding time and was considering some electric gear. But I'm hesitant due to the known R/R issues although I haven't had any problems with mine yet.

 

With me, I can wear heated Jacket liner, pants and insoles, GPS complete with MP3 player, 4 HID lights. My Rectifier was replaced after three years of age and 85,615 km (53,200 miles -+) and the stator burned out at over 6 years and close to 97,000 miles. So I don't think this is a worry. Now if you really load the system up with a whole pile of needless items, you may run into trouble, I don't know.

 

Although I will admit I am no expert, but one of the R/Rs duties is to take the unused wattage/voltage and "scrub it" from the system, essentially tuning it into heat, hence the built in heat sink. I would think that the more wattage/voltage you draw away from the R/R, the less it has to work, thus prolonging its life span. The wiring, the connectors and the stator would be a different story, I would imagine this is where you need to beef up and/or upgrade the system possibly. I would also say that as long as you do not draw more from the stator than it puts out, you would not overwork it either, thus leaving the most "iffy" part of all this, the wiring and connectors.

Has anyone seen this before?
http://vfrworld.com/tex_vfr/tech/rectifier.htm

 

I ordered a rechargeable vest from Bob's Cycle in MN. I love it, it's good for 3-5 hrs, runs on a lithium ion battery. Company is Ansai. I wear it all the time.

 

Got a Widder. Plugs into a connector that is hooked up to the battery posts. High collar that's wired too. The darn thing is even warm withoot being turned on. The controller looks like it was made for an electric blanket. 20 plus years old and still working just fine.

Just a reminder...the controller (rheostat) senses ambient, so if ya got the thing inside your duds it ain't working right.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I have a 100% stock system, but maybe I'll give a heated vest / and or heated grips a try.

 

Electrics I have on my bike:
PCIII
Security tracking system
Two Powerlets up front for radar detector and phone charging
Built-in thermostat for Gerbings heated jacket liner.

At about 40k miles my stator went. I don't know if this is normal or a cause of the power load. I replaced the stator and added a VFRNess because one of the main wires was pretty burned up. I've got over 50k miles now and so far no additional problems.

On the warmth issue. I do not have heated grips, I ONLY have a Gerbings heated jacket liner and that keeps me as well as my hands and feet warm to 30 degrees. Below 50 degrees I put a polypro shirt over the jacket liner and under my jacket as an extra layer to keep the heat in. The idea is that if you keep your core warm, your hands and feet will be warm because your body will release the warm blood to your extrememties. If your hands and feet are getting cold it means your body is cold and keeping the warm blood at the core. This is a bad sign for your reflexes and reaction time because it also means blood is not getting to your brain. Get the heated jacket liner, full sleeves and you will be a much happier, safer rider. My gloves are wool lined so perhaps hand warmth will also depend on your gloves... The wind does come into play some there....

 

Great thread.
Bike show season is coming, gonna keep a look out for quality items mentioned here, liners in particular.
Thanks

 

More on hypothermia in general and specific types. The brain requires relatively high systolic and diastolic BP. The eyes even higher so when you're freezing your ass off it's hard to see it.

http://www.medicalsci.com/files/human_physiological_responses_to_cold_stress___hypothermia_1.pdf

 

I little tid bit I learned and have passed on regarding keeping your hands dry and warm. Though some here don't like wearing them, I have had a few pairs of Winter Water resistant gloves. They are now where near as comfortable to wear as summer gloves but damned, is it nice to have warm fingertips when riding.

My problem "was" that even though these are supposed to keep you dry, they did not. I tried everything in the book and other things to boot, but my hands got soaked on even shorter rides. I have finally managed to keep the rest of myself very dry but not the hands. I thought that to put on the rain suit over my winter jacket, then wear my gauntlet gloved over top that was the way to go. Driving rain would run up the gauntlet and off as I drive.

I was totally wrong in that regard. Tuck you gauntlets beneath your rain suit sleeves and pull the sleeve well down to your wrists over the gauntlet. What was happening that made my hands get soaked, was, water would run up on off the gantlet onto the rain suit sleeve, just like I said, but it would then run down inside the glove where it was trapped because the gloves were very good water resistant gloves. If it keeps water out, it keeps it in too. The new way works like a charm.

Food for thought. You will get used to the extra bulk in the gloves too.