Heated gear help

[gr8grins]

Greetings all! I hope most are finding an extended riding season this year and are able to use your heated gear.

I am looking for heated gear for my wife and I and have several aspects I want to consider. I am sure many of You have already crossed these bridges so I'm hoping for some help from the ADVcosmic intellect and experience.

My wife rides a 2012 r650 GS twin and I ride a 2012 R1200 GSA

Please tell me about your heated gear with regard to:

1. Reliability

2. Ease of use under riding gear

3. Simplicity of electronic connection and hookup to bike and gear

4. Which pieces are truly useful and which ones are just useless fluff.

5. From where was it purchased and how was the experience with that vendor?

6. What brand did you buy?

7. If you were doing it again, would you do it exactly the same? If not, how would you change it?

Thank you for your help!
Grins

[greer]

This will get you started:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=827055

Sarah

[Wlfman]

Check out the Mobile Warming gear by ANSAI. It's battery powered and doesn't need to be hooked up to the bike.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=738901

[rjsurfer]

Originally Posted by Wlfman

Check out the Mobile Warming gear by ANSAI. It's battery powered and doesn't need to be hooked up to the bike.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=738901

I can't see that Lithium Ion battery powered Mobil Warming gear keeping you warm on a bike at highway speeds, it's rated 7 1/2 watts compared to a typical heated jacket's 65+ watts. With just three heated "pads" to keep you warm just doesn't pass the smell test. My 65 watt Tourmaster Synergy jacket with heated sleeves and neck does a great job but take away the heat in the sleeves and neck and I doubt if I could be kept warm.

Ron W.

[Wlfman]

Originally Posted by rjsurfer

I can't see that Lithium Ion battery powered Mobil Warming gear keeping you warm on a bike at highway speeds, it's rated 7 1/2 watts compared to a typical heated jacket's 65+ watts. With just three heated "pads" to keep you warm just doesn't pass the smell test. My 65 watt Tourmaster Synergy jacket with heated sleeves and neck does a great job but take away the heat in the sleeves and neck and I doubt if I could be kept warm.

Ron W.

And you are entitled to your opinion. I used it all last season and had no issues. As per my review in the other thread...

[bomber60015]

gernings -- pre-micro wire, HD branded, picked up on the remainder table for pennies on the dollar. . . . .

simple on/off switch -- works great, field repairable (hasn't needed it.

don't feel like writing an essay, though . . . . .I'll just say, "highly recommended."

[Blindstitch]

I have several pieces.

I have a tourmaster synergy vest with collar and it works good with the three button choice.

But I really like my Gerbings heated jacket liner. It heats up a lot hotter and has a turn knob to go up and down.

These days most stuff just uses a coaxial plug that can be tucked under your seat or there are kits to mount one in a side panel or other solid spot.

I also have a widder vest with the on/off that was bought for $10 and it's ok. Great for the price.

And then there's the Gerbings heated gloves. The few time I plugged them in my hands got to hot. They seem to be great all by themselves.


I would recommend gerbings for the long run. Their stuff has a lifetime electrics warranty and can be custom made.
Not all bodies are the same so there's no reason we should all be wearing the same gear. My measurements are pretty basic but I have longer arms so I had them sew in 37 inch sleeves instead of the 34-35. But they have all the skill and time to accommodate for the funkiest body styles.

I'm sure you have seen more than enough animated cartoons imitating women these days. Now think of one that's highly exaggerated like huge breast and butt with a toothpick sized midsection. Or a circus strong man with bulging muscles in every direct. Well gerbings gives you a list of places to take measurements and write them down and they will build exactly that in about a week. Then they send it to you and you have a month to return it and make changes till it fits perfectly.

[Mudcat]

Originally Posted by Blindstitch

I have several pieces.
But I really like my Gerbings heated jacket liner. It heats up a lot hotter and has a turn knob to go up and down.
.

My Gerbing micro-wire jacket liner has been disappointing but still useful. The heat is not even, it has hot spots. Nice jacket otherwise.

Maybe they are all like this. I read a review on Warm $ Safe’s water proof jacket liner and it had a cold spot. W & S jacket is $100 + more then I paid for my Gerbing
Below is a link to the review, the second review mentions the cold spot
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=836389

[max384]

I have Gerbings T5 gloves.

1. Reliability
I've had them for about a year and 20,000 miles of use. I crashed in them at highway speeds earlier in the year. They were battered, but still worked just as strong as the first time plugging them in.

2. Ease of use under riding gear
They're only gloves, so obviously very easy.

3. Simplicity of electronic connection and hookup to bike and gear
I just hooked the heat troller up directly to the battery, so it was very easy. I then attached the troller (adjustable) to the bike. I have the wires through some zip off panels in the sleeves, so it's completely out of the way. I just sit down on the bike, plug in the gloves, then plug into the heat troller. Easy peasy.

4. Which pieces are truly useful and which ones are just useless fluff.

5. From where was it purchased and how was the experience with that vendor?
I bought from Revzilla. I've bought several items from them, and it's always been a very good experience. Fast shipping.

6. What brand did you buy?

7. If you were doing it again, would you do it exactly the same? If not, how would you change it?
Exactly the same. I love these gloves.

[NitroRoo]

TourMaster Synergy Jacket, Pants, and Leather Gloves here.

1. Reliability - absolutely no problems. Once I had a battery terminal screw coming loose and it would cut out - thought I was having a problem until I found that.

2. Ease of use under riding gear - I highly recommend getting the fully sleeved jacket to use with gloves - for the simple convenience of plugging the gloves into the jacket with no additional wires. Pants plug into the jacket too. That leaves 1 wire to be plugged into the bike - easy enough.

3. Simplicity of electronic connection and hookup to bike and gear - I think most of these are the same, unless you are permanently installing the heat control onto your bike, which takes just a little more routing/mounting. but in essence it's a connection to your battery terminals, and a power lead to you / the heat controller.

4. Which pieces are truly useful and which ones are just useless fluff. Look for where the jacket actually heats. Look for fit features - these things have to fit snug but have enough stretch material to not impede movement. I'm a big fan of the TourMaster and Firstgear models for this reason.

5. From where was it purchased and how was the experience with that vendor? Gotta recommend Competition Accessories (full disclosure, I work here )

6. What brand did you buy? TourMaster

7. If you were doing it again, would you do it exactly the same? If not, how would you change it? Been using Tourmaster heated gear for 2-3 seasons now. No problems, no complaints. I have the older style with a 3 level electronic control. The new Synergy 2.0 is even better with rheostat controls and the ability to independently control the jacket and gloves.

I'd definitely buy Tourmaster again, especially with the new controls they offer. The ease of use and not needing to purchase additional wires and controllers is what appealed to me.

Maybe this vid will help:

[Spummerr]

Gerbing makes high quality gear. Lifetime warranty, Made is the USA and GREAT customer service

Can't go wrong