Heating the core (winter riding options)

[Gabe]

Hey guys,

With the temperature dropping faster here than expected, does anyone know of a good electric vest to wear underneath?

I recently purchased and installed the wind guards and heated grips... but also had a socket wired to the same location (circuit) as the grips in the right front faring pocket, so I can't run the electrically heated grips and something more powerful than say a cell phone to charge without draining the battery or maybe blowing a fuse. (This was done at the dealer.)

A little bit of reading tells me that most electric vests are amp hogs and that would probably be too much draw as the heated grips. Battery heated jackets (vests) from what I read can last as little as 4 hours depending on how it's turned up and the length of riding. (It would be ideal to have something that would last at least 8 hours for weekend riding.) Furthermore batteries, even lithium die and wear out over time, reducing the time, and I would probably use this almost every weekend, sometimes during the week to get to work. I also use an air-bag jacket for safety so I can't replace the entire jacket with something heated, though it does have a rainproof barrier inside that acts an additional thermal layer.

So I'm kind of torn and the limited options I see thus far:
- Plug in vest (would require an upgrade to what on the bike to run this and heated grips?)
- Battery vest (require multiple batteries, limited run time, screwed if dies out on a long ride)

Thoughts, experience and recommendations are most teeth-chattingly welcome!

Thanks guys,

- Gabe

 

[karl]

I have the Honda heated grips and use a Tourmaster heated vest with collar I got at Iron Pony in Ohio. The vest is connected directly to the battery and never spends much time on High but usually is low most of the time. Have not had any problem with them both on at the same time but I do wait to ride off before turning them on so the alternator is is spinning pretty good all the time. The combo makes days that would be a pain fun. The Tourmaster gear comes with everything you need to use it in the package and for me has been well worth the cost of the entry fee.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Gabe, like they said before me, the NT does fine with a heated jacket and the heated handgrips. I've got a pair of Denalis that pull 10W, a Warm & Safe heated jacket that can pull as much as 90W, and a cruise control that pulls something (not much). I've ridden in temps down to 10F and couldn't stand the jacket on full blast. Temperature controllers for heated gear like my Warm & Safe jacket aren't thermostats, but pulse on and off.

I've got a Kisan Chargeguard on my bike and have monitored voltage while riding with heated gear cranked up. The voltage stays steady with the Denalis turned on, the jacket turned up to 100%, and the handgrips on high until I add high beam headlights. If I turn the jacket down just a little bit, or turn the handgrips down to 3 (out of 5), the alternator pumps enough electrons through the circuit to keep everything copacetic.

I wired my jacket directly to the battery with and ran the wire to the controller up in front of the saddle and have the controller mounted on the left side of the gas tank.

 

[Gabe]

Wow! Okay, the voltage monitor might be a good idea, especially since I could charge a phone in the pocket at the same time as running one or the other (migh twant to use it for GPS at some point in the future and that sucks down batteries in no time). The Chargeguard sounds like a smart idea too... I guess the only way to tell if I'm going to drain the system (short of finding a dead battery). I can't ride with the handgrips above 3/5 anyway as that's pretty damn toasty, and I just got winter riding gloves too so that may help further.

My hope is that with a vest underneath, I won't need as much power as it's closer to skin and underneath all the layers, and subsequently would use a lot less power to heat. *fingers crossed*

Thanks guys!

- Gabe

 

[Phil Tarman]

Gabe, I forgot to mention that I had a Garmin GPS Street Pilot 2720 running all the time with everything else.

BTW, if you've got Honda's heated grips, they are a voltage monitor. As soon as your voltage drops below 13.8V or so, the indicator lights on the heated grip controller start to blink. A handy feature that isn't documented anywhere (or at least I haven't seen it documented).

 

[Gabe]

Wow! Awesome, thanks Phil - that's a great tip! Good to hear about the GPS too... gives me some confidence in the Alternator to keep up. I would have never suspected the Heated grips act as a voltage monitor of a sort too, that's awesome!

So in theory I could assume that as long as the indicator lights aren't blinking that voltage is at least on par-leveled out?

- Gabe

 

[Warren]

Gabe, I forgot to mention that I had a Garmin GPS Street Pilot 2720 running all the time with everything else.

BTW, if you've got Honda's heated grips, they are a voltage monitor. As soon as your voltage drops below 13.8V or so, the indicator lights on the heated grip controller start to blink. A handy feature that isn't documented anywhere (or at least I haven't seen it documented).

Do the grips have to be turned on for that feature to work?

 

[Herb]

I have heated grips running from accessory plug and heated vest directly to battery. No problem leaving the heated vest on to drain the battery sine I disconnect every time I get off.

Not so with heated grips..... That's why I changed from a direct battery connection to switched accessory plug.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Do the grips have to be turned on for that feature to work?

Nope. If I turn on the ignition key, they'll blink until I start the bike. The frequency of blinking is apparently linked to the amount of voltage draw.

The grips always reset to "Off" when you turn the ignition off.

 

[ht1648]

All I've ever used for riding in RI 12 months a year is Gerbing electric gloves. Keep my hands and feet warm and I can ride forever.
Harry

 

[JQL]

Porridge with sugar or honey for breakfast is absolutely amazing for heating the core. On really cold days I'll have it for lunch also.

You find you can turn your central heating in the house down (much to the chagrin of the other family members! )

As to the helmet, the Schuberth C3 is the warmest helmet I've ever had. Amazingly it is also one of the coolest in the summer too!

 

[banjoboy]

TJ, can you tell us where you got the Neoprene Gasket for your helmet?

Terry

 

[Dee G]

I love my Aerostich heated vest. Used to have the full gerbing liner suit, but it was just too much of a pain. Vest keeps my core warm and that helps with arms and legs. Heated grips keep my always cold hands from turning blue.

 

[Rmcapozzi]

Gabe,

Just to mirror what others have said. The NT can run electric gear with no problem. My wife has a full Gerbings suit (gloves, jacket liner, pants liner, and socks) and she hasn't had any issues running that along with her heated grips and her Motolights (LED). All the Gerbings come with a battery harness. Just run the clothing straight from the battery or if you feel so inclined, you can wire up an auxiliary fuse panel but isn't necessary.

Definitely go with the full jacket liner the heated sleeves are not to be underestimated.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Definitely go with the full jacket liner the heated sleeves are not to be underestimated.

+ 1 on the heated sleeves. I rode with a pretty good heated vest for a year before buying a full heated jacket. The sleeves make a tremendous difference for me.

 

[Rob]

because the bicep area is constantly hit with wind, having that portion heated is definitely a boon. i believe it's the only part of the sleeves with heat in my gerbings (roughly shoulder to elbow in the front) - but it's really the only part that needs it.

 

[Rmcapozzi]

because the bicep area is constantly hit with wind, having that portion heated is definitely a boon. i believe it's the only part of the sleeves with heat in my gerbings (roughly shoulder to elbow in the front) - but it's really the only part that needs it.

Interesting. My heated liner has heat all the way down the sleeve. I definitely feel it in the forearm area. My liner is 6 years old though. Maybe they changed some things in the more recent liners?

 

[elizilla]

Sure Terry...Looks like they are on sale just like when I got mine!
Here is a link (Hopefully)

http://www.cyclegear.com/eng/product/Wind_Stopper_Helmet_Skirt/web1006881

PS. I only used mine a few times and it has held up so far... just noticed some reviewers seem to be having more difficulties=with it than i was??? Can't speak for longevity at this point.

I had a similar thing, mine was a NOJ Quiet Rider. It had plastic tabs that inserted between the helmet liner and shell, and stayed in place pretty well. It worked well and I liked it except for one thing. It picked up smells. Like, if you set it on a table in a restaurant, that had been wiped with a sour cloth, that smell transferred to it. Or if you set it on a table in a motel where they had sprayed that nasty perfumed motel air freshener. Or put it on when you had sunscreen or bug spray on your neck. The smells would get on it and never go away until you washed it. I ended up taking it off and washing it pretty frequently.

 

[banjoboy]

TJ and Katherine, thanks for the info. I just called and ordered one. TJ, some of the negative reviews said that it didn't stay on well, another liked it and used double sided tape. Do you use anything to hold it on more permanently? Katherine, I'll keep it off the table. BTW, can you wash these things? Regardless, they're fairly cheap--$10 plus shipping.

Terry

 

[elizilla]

The one I had was washable. And since it was held on with plastic tabs that snapped in between the helmet and liner, it did not slide off.