Heated clothing

[GTRPete]

360 mile round trip thursday night/friday afternoon to hastings for an interview.  Hammering down Thursday night and well chilly friday evening.  I have a keis X5 heated waistcoat which made a big difference but arms and legs pretty cold (and hands despite winter gloves and heated grips on full chat).  For the first time this year my feet were getting a bit cold too.   Does anyone use any heated clothing, and what do you think of it?

[Lonewolf]

I dont have any heated clothing but I have thought of getting a heated vest of some description. I dont want one though that you have to plug in anywhere, I see Maplin Electricals sell heated jackets that will stay warm for about two hours something like that would be ok for me. I came back from Sunderland on Saturday via Swaledale in North Yorkshire and there was snow at the side of the road.  :o   Twas damn cold.

[GTRPete]

Why dont you want to plug into anything?  I ran a power lead from the battery and it works well.

[Kwikasfuki]

For survival in the cold I have:

Hand Guards
Heated grips (Hein Gericke)
EXO2 heated clothing

The EXO2 I can recommend. It gets seriously hot. Infact too hot. I purchased the optional controller and wired it to the battery via a fuzeblock.

[Lonewolf]

Why dont you want to plug into anything?  I ran a power lead from the battery and it works well.

It's bad enough having to cope with a lead to the autocom unit without having another cable I could strangle myself on.  ;D

[Kevin]

We used Gerbing heated gear for a long time but after some crap service from Gerbing UK have switched to Warm'n'Safe. Unfortunately there is no WnS dealer in the UK so we had to import them. Bike Tek gear gets good reviews from people we know who use it. I'd like to buy the EXO stuff as they have been very helpful in the past but I want warm arms as well as trunk.

Lyn tends to use heated jacket, trousers and gloves whereas I usually forego the trousers. IME heated gear can make the difference between a nice comfortable ride in Winter and being too cold to enjoy it.

We always carry extra layers with us though in case the heated gear packs up which the Gerbing gear was wont to do with regular monotony. In theory Gerbing warrant the electrics in their clothing for life. In practice that obviously depends on the dealer and the last jacket I had replaced had to come from the European distributor after a disagreement with the UK importer (I think I caught him on a bad day but we went past the point of no return). When the replacement arrived with a faulty zip it was cheaper to have that repaired myself rather than send it back to Holland. That jacket eventually failed as well and we changed manufacturer.

Kevin

[Rusty]

I am glad this has come up again.... ( a long long time ago ! ) ... with wind deflectors fitted and heated grips I now have the cold crispy dry roads on which to get my heated waistcoat out and plugged into the Gtr, as opposed to last year when I had the wires from under my Honda seat I now have a nice simple jack plug ...... I think EXO2 is good stuff, but I have a waistcoat made by KLAN ... the old style wires running inside up and down with no thermostat it's basic but VERY HOT so I can only use it when it's really cold like now ! I have tried it when not so cold but it's so good that things get pretty warm fairly sharpish I my wife bought it for me about 3-4 years ago and it's still going well. For those cold winter months I would certainly recommend heated clothing it's just a matter of what you fancy !!  :)

[Kevin]

<snip> the old style wires running inside up and down with no thermostat it's basic but VERY HOT so I can only use it when it's really cold like now <snip>

[nods] All the heated clothing we've tried over the years has run too hot for us so we've always used a thermostat. Even with one of these fitted Lyn managed to burn her hand (she now uses inner gloves as well as a precaution) and her knee (the way the wires ran on the Gerbing trousers; she stopped using them) so you definitely need to be careful with them.

Kevin

[Martin#30]

I have finally admitted defeat, and ordered some heated gear this year. Went with Gerbing, as a number of my colleagues receommended it very strongly.

I ordered from the UK distributor, and as Kevin says, it has not been a particularly pleasant experience. I ordered the gear 3 weeks ago, and after non-existing communication and chasing by me, it is supposedly arriving this week - we shall see.

Martin.

[mecki]

Heated clothing? And it's not even freezing outside?
What a bunch of wuzzes!

[Kwikasfuki]

Another essential item for winter is a balaclava. Really keeps the face warm.

The only heated gear is the grips and the EXO2 body warmer. It would be nice if the body warmer was a heated jacket to warm the arms up, but I don't find it too much of an issue. Having a bigger screen helps, which is countered by the hand guards now deflecting the wind away from the hands and onto the arms. You can't always have your cake and eat it I guess.

Legs don't get cold, but feet do when its a couple of degrees about freezing. I find the cheap thermal socks from Primark do the job.

[mecki]

Just get yourself some Angora underwear, wear a woolly jumper and an extra pair of trousers and socks and you're going to be warm as toast even with frost outside. 8)
I also recommend wearing a kidney belt not only when it's cold.

Once the temperature drops below double figures it's your toes, fingertips and nose that are in real danger of frostbite (not to forget the crown jewels) so you should better stay home or use public transport or a car if you really have to go somewhere.  ;)
I used to ride an off-road bike in winter and the lowest temperature I've ever experienced was a half hour ride home at -30^oC; and I wouldn't want to feel that pain ever again.

[Rusty]

Martin ... if they don't turn up or you have any problems go to " Infinity Motorcycles " ... I think they have a few places dotted about and I use the shop in Great Portland Street London and they have always been very good, both in person and via Internet, and yes they stock what you are looking for  ;D

[Andy]

Recently bought a jacket & chaps from these guys in Jarrow, not used them much yet. Wish I could route the cable to come out at front of seat  :)

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/simmiperformance/Heated-Clothing-/_i.html?_fsub=480775012&_sid=289237132&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

[Kevin]

<snip> Wish I could route the cable to come out at front of seat  :) <snip>

I'm probably missing something here but my heated gear plugs into a cable that comes out of the front of the seat (well, left-hand side of the front).

Kevin