| Author | Message | ||
     Mattl |
I know, this has been covered before, but I searched in the board and couldn't find a discussion of where/how electric heated gloves would connect to an XB's electronics. I'm liking the Gerbing product line, and wondering if anyone has tried their Snowmobile gloves? The style is a bit more to my liking and they appear to have some sort of knuckle protection, at least more than the Classic style. Thinking of getting the Snowmobile gloves and the jacket liner. Any hints as to which connectors and harnesses would work best for a Buell? I got the handguards for my XB, I got some silk inner liners and use the Buell X Waterproofs, but with the temp in the high teens to mid 20s, my hands are still completely frozen/numb after about 15-20 minutes of riding. | ||
| Whodom |
Matt, I'm not 100% sure about the Gerbing stuff, but I have a set of Widder gloves and I'd imagine they're the same. You have a "pigtail" that connects directly to the battery. There's a plug on the end of this pigtail that you plug the glove's wiring harness into. You route the pigtail (tie-wrap in place) and place the plug so that it's somewhere near the front of the seat. With the Widder gloves at least, there's a wiring harness that plugs into each glove, runs down the sleeves of your jacket, down the back, and then plugs into the pigtail. The pigtail has its own fuse to protect the electrical system. | ||
| Mattl |
Awesome! Thanks for the info. I'll go check it out on lunch. | ||
| Perry |
I think you would be better off with heated grips rather than gloves. This gives you the flexibility to have the heat in cool temps as well as unbelievable freezing temps and still be comfortable wearing different gloves. Obviously there is no "accessory plug" built in the Buell, so you basically have to wire your own. I recommend using a relay attached to the accessory circuit (relay because the accessory circuit doesn't have enough power) to control a direct battery connection. If you want heated gear you add an accessory plug of some sort. I have some info on my web site about both wiring an accessory plug and wiring heated grips. http://www.perrypoint.com/heatedgear and if you get the heated grips from American Sport Bike you will get instructions on how to wire them up that are pretty clear. | ||
| Whodom |
Perry, I tend to agree with your assessment. The heated gloves work really well, but they are cumbersome to use. In cold weather, suiting up goes like this for me: Get out cold weather jacket, find glove wiring harness, grab plugs for gloves in hands and put jacket on while holding onto plugs. Make sure harness-to-bike plug is accessible at bottom. Plug gloves into harness (don't put gloves on yet), zip up jacket (double zippers), put on helmet, get on bike. Plug harness into pigtail on bike, put gloves on hands. Crank bike, turn on heat to gloves. Unplugging when you get ready to get off can be a pain too, and of course I forget on occasion. Luckily I haven't broken anything or fallen. Having heated grips would eliminate all of this. I imagine the gloves may be a little better at keeping your hands warm, but since I haven't tried both I can't say. One other alternative- the Uly guys over on Big, Bad, & Dirty are raving about some heated handlebar inserts that Daves sells. Inexpensive, easy to install and you can retain your existing grips. | ||
| Mattl |
Well, I understand your view on the ease of heated handgrips, but it just seems to me that the source of the cold is on the outside, therefore the outside is where it should be blocked or heated. I have no practical experience to prove it, just how I imagine it would be. Anyone been able to ride comfortable in below freezing weather with heated handgrips? I'm a skinny little guy with lousy circulation in my hands, so trying to find the best warming/heating method. I was actually trying to come up with a method of ducting cylinder heat through some tubing up to the handguard, and then blowing the warm air near the handgrips. Probably wouldn't gain much warmth out of it, and it would look kinda' silly having these hoses running everywhere, but getting desperate. | ||
| Ikeman |
Matt, I've installed the Polly heaters (inside the handlebar) on my Uly. They throw plenty of heat but my only issue at this point is I still get frozen finger tips on a couple fingers. My commute into work is the worst since I run about 1/2 hour on the highway (65-80mph) and then I've got another 20-30 minutes of stop and go with frozen fingertips grabbing REALLY COLD levers. I think I'm going to get a set of Hippo Hands. It seems to me that if I can keep the wind blast away everything will be fine. Keep in mind this is once the temperature gets under about 35F. | ||
| Whodom |
Ike, Have you still got the handguards on your Uly? I thought they would keep most of the air blast off your hands. I can attest that my Widder gloves keep my hands acceptably warm on my S3 in ~35 degree F temps at ~75 MPH on the interstate. | ||
| Whodom |
Well, I understand your view on the ease of heated handgrips, but it just seems to me that the source of the cold is on the outside, therefore the outside is where it should be blocked or heated. I have no practical experience to prove it, just how I imagine it would be. Matt, that's kind of my gut feel for it too. The Widder gloves seem to have all of the heating element wiring in the backside of the gloves (not on the grip side) where the airblast effect would be worst. | ||
| Etennuly |
I ride a Uly, before that a City-X, the hand guards work pretty well for blocking the wind. I have ridden my wife's Blast that doesn't them, at the same temperatures, my hands got very cold. I have a heated jacket and the Buell Gauntlet gloves, I am going to do the grip heaters soon. Everyone says they get too hot unless you install Hi-lo switch. I know how you feel to have the "suit up" struggle. I sometimes have to do it three or more times a day. It reminds me of my mother dressing me in that stupid snow suit when I was in first grade in school!.....You know.....the one where you couldn't bend your arms, legs, neck, or even in the middle, then she would tie a scarf around your neck that would drag the ground and choke you if you stepped on it, and then those stupid plastic mittens with the water sponge wool interior that would freeze as soon as your fingers got damp. Always the last thing, she would slide your glasses into your hood, missing your ear on one side and stabbing the other, there was no way for you to adjust them and she couldn't hear what you were screaming through all the wool stuff, then she would send you out the door where your glasses instantly iced over. It was always about this time you realized you had to go to the bathroom.  | ||
| Gowindward |
Gerbing makes good stuff and they stand behind their products. The jacket liners are wired with glove connects at the end of the sleeves. Their products come with the battery wire harness, and you will want a temperature controller too, which is an extra item. I have rode all day in sub freezing temps with my Gerbing gear on. I would have to get back on the bike at fuel stops to warm up after fueling. They work that good! | ||
| Mattl |
Well, went up to TilleyHD and bought the Gerbing classics. Was hoping they'd have the Snowmobile style, but the Classics look and feel fine. The wiring was incredibly easy. The recommend just wiring straight to your battery, so that took all of about 3 minutes. I'll test ride them tomorrow morning. I really like the Gerbing product lineup, between their jackets/liners, pants, socks, gloves, and all the various thermostat options and the way everything interconnects. Tilley even had the regular Gerbing stuff, not the over price Harley branded stuff. Feels like a nice glove from the few minutes I've played with them so far. Thanks for everyone's input! | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
What are Hippo Hands? | ||
| Tdiddy |
I was just in D.C. and noticed some guys riding around with covers on the handle bars. They looked like big bags that they put there hands into to grip the bars. I'm from SoCal where you get away with glove liners. | ||
| Ikeman |
Mortarman - Tdiddy sort of inadvertently answered your question. Go here and all will be revealed: http://www.hippohands.com/ Whodom - I have the handguards on and I'm betting they are blocking significant wind from my knuckles and the back of my hand. I think the airflow from the underside is what's causing the cold fingertips. I don't have any electric gear (except for the grip heaters) and except for my fingertips I'm comfortable for a couple hours at a time in temps in the teens. |
