| Author | Message | ||
     Midnightrider |
I'm getting real close to plopping down the $$ and get a full set of Gerbing's - socks, pant liners, jacket liner (already have heated gloves). Is there anyone who has these (or at least has tried them) and NOT found them satisfactory. I am a real wimp when it comes to the cold. I still ride when it's in the 30s but with so many layers I feel like the Michelin man. Thanks Don | ||
| Jimidan |
 (Message edited by jimidan on February 19, 2007) | ||
| Jimidan |
I ain't no pinko animal lover or nothing, but gerbling sounds pretty cruel to the little critters. The downside is how do you get it out once it is dead? jimi | ||
| Cityxslicker |
OMG that made me spit Mt Dew out my nose! It is the heated gear Gerbing, got Gerbling! I have a set, they work great, rode all winter with them. Although the thermostat is a lil useless since I seem to have them cranked to full all the time anyways. mmm...mmm...mmm Toasty | ||
| Littlebuggles |
yeah, 'bout blew my nutterbutters and chocolate milk out my nose too. Gonna go buy a heated vest tomorrow, looking forward to being able to ride and not be cold. Looking at the Widder system 2 vest, they got a good write up on the canyon chasers website... | ||
| New12r |
I have the Jacket liner and Gloves and have yet to be disappointed. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Don - i have a full set of Widder gear - vest w/arm chaps, leg chaps, and gloves, and also a set of Gerbing socks. i always held Widder gear in high regard...until i actually bought and started using their stuff. their product is overall sub-par, IMO, from initial design to final implementation. if you're interested, i'll elaborate. if i had it to do over again, i'd go full Gerbing. btw on the Gerbing socks: they are NOT confortable to walk around in while you're off the bike, as you can feel every wire in them every time you take a step. once on the bike and moving, however - if it's good and truly cold - you forget the wires are there, save for the fact that you can feel their wonderful, blessed heat. FB | ||
| Oldog |
They must be bad for you to complain Ferris. how about having to deal with the wiring? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Ferris, I'd be very interested to read your observations of the +/- for each. I've had a set of Widder gloves for about 3 years now, and I'm happy with them. I'm thinking about getting a vest prior to MBIV, so I'd sure like to know if I should switch brands before I go any further. Isn't it possible to mix/match at least some of the Widder and Gerbing stuff using suitable adapter plugs? | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Oldog - one man's bad is another man's Bad, i suppose.  they're nice folks (used to be our neighbors in Cali, had a summer home just down the street from us), and easy to deal with, but after thousands of miles of real-world use, their product leaves me (figuratively) cold. what do you mean about having to "deal with" the wiring? FB | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
I'd be very interested to read your observations of the +/- for each. Hugh - Widder's gloves are bulky enough that i feel like they hinder tactile feel somewhat. much worse, they're supposed to be waterproof, and they certainly are anything but. after having used Widder's "chaps" concept (which is, IMO, for ease of manufacturing - i.e. one size of garment can fit many body types) on the arm chaps and leg chaps, i can honestly say i hate this design feature. the Velcro around the waist is of barely adequate size, and the bazillion other Velcro straps will catch and hang up on ANYthing handy, and will also get contaminated with "debris" (fibers from other clothes, mostly) after a while. same with the Velcro straps on the arm chaps. MUCH worse, neither chaps - arms or legs - provides heat around the entire circumference of your limb; the backs of your legs and the backs of your arms are NOT heated. doesn't sound like a big deal until you're doing back to back to back days in some truly cold conditions, and a major portion of all four limbs is freezing. i really hate this aspect of my Widder gear, REALLY hate it. Widder's thermostats are big, clunky affairs, with eight sharp, square-edged corners waiting to lay waste to a nice paint job. i actually took a file and gently rounded the corners on my thermostat to minimize the odds of a stat-induced scratch on the tank or one of the side panels. With Widder, the stat controls all three pieces of gear - vest and arm chaps, leg chaps, and gloves - but what happens if you'd like to have more or less heat in your legs, and/or torso and arms, and/or gloves? without multiple thermostats (expensive and cumbersome), you get what you get, regardless of whether another part of your body is too hot or too cold. speaking of which, the abdominal portion of my vest gets EXCEEDINGLY hot, nearly to the point of burn. on my 3K winter ride to Washington last year i used an Oregon Travel Guide under the vest to help knock the heat down to a tolerable level. with Widder, without the ability to individually control each garment, what you get in the way of heat from the overall system is always, at best, a compromise. this is an area in which Gerbing shines. first, their stats are smaller, sleeker, lighter, and friendlier to expensive finishes. also, Gerbing makes dual-control stats - two small rotary temp controls built into a single-control-sized stat. an ideal set up, IMO, would be to get two dual-control Gerbing stats and secure them to each other back-to-back with a self-stick adhesive square like you can get at any hardware store. now then you can individually control the level of heat to your torso AND gloves AND legs AND socks. like i mentioned above, the socks suck to walk in/on - the wires are uncomfortable - but i don't notice this discomfort when i ride, i just notice the warmth. Gerbing makes "comfort" socks, which don't have heating wires running under the feet, but this kinda defeats the purpose, IMO. Isn't it possible to mix/match at least some of the Widder and Gerbing stuff using suitable adapter plugs? yes, but to what end? speaking of plugs, Gerbing's are smaller and much easier to use, and there's no guessing whether you've got the polarity correct when plugging stuff in - it only goes one way. nothing "bad" happens with the Widder gear if you reverse polarity, other than you get FULL HOT whether you want it or not. i've had to gently bend outward the prongs on the male plugs on my Widder gear a bit, to make sure everything stays connected all day, but this also makes it harder to initially plug everything in in the first place. before i did this, it wasn't uncommon for a plug to come undone during a ride, which is frustrating. I'd sure like to know if I should switch brands before I go any further. Hugh, i CANNOT make this decision for you, nor do i want to nor am i intending to. there are plenty of folks who love their Widder gear, i just happen not to be one of them. the best thing would be to find a dealer who's got Gerbing and/or Widder gear in stock and test ride the stuff. hopes this helps! FB | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
one more note on the Widder plugs: they still use mechanical connectors on some of them, i.e. strip the wire, insert under a set screw, and try not to tighten TOO much. these connections are not waterproof and as such are prone to corrosion, and the tiny individual strands of the wire invariably, inevitably, will break, either from corrosion, vibration, or both. | ||
| Hughlysses |
FB, Thanks for the info. Sounds like Gerbing's gear has a significant number of advantages over Widder. I totally agree the Widder gloves are bulky. When I ordered mine, I sent in a hand tracing to determine my size. They sent medium gloves (I normally wear large) which proved to be immense. After I flubbed a couple of reaches for the front brakes, I sent them back. They were nice enough to exchange them for a set of smalls, which are still largish but usable. I e-mailed Widder after getting my gloves and asked if they were waterproof and they told me they weren't, but that a good coat of Scotchguard would fix them. I Scotchguarded mine, but I've never had them in the rain to find out if it worked. One other idea- I've seen a couple of webpages with instructions for making your own heated gear. Basically you run small gauge insulated wire through a cheap insulated vest. The page gives data on how much wire you need to obtain acceptable heat and an acceptable electrical load. Probably tedious to do, but cheap! Hugh | ||
| Sleez |
here's some info on DIY vests; http://www.klr650.marknet.us/diy-Electric_Vest.pdf | ||
| Sleez |
another sight with a lot of reviews, seems to echo ferris quite a bit! http://www.motorsports-network.com/ProdTest/electr ic/summary.htm | ||
| Rkc00 |
The only downside is you did not do it sooner. Mike 06 XB12X Black of course | ||
| Gowindward |
Buying heated gear has been some of the best money I have spent on motorcycling. It extended my riding season to year round with the exception of when there is freezing precipitation in the forecast. I have a full set of Gerbing gear. I have the Union Ridge jacket and pant then the gloves and sockets. I also have jacket and pant liners that I have picked up on clearance. It's all nice stuff. It's so nice riding when it's cold or even just chili out and being warm. I even took my jacket liner with me last year on my trip to Homecoming in June. After 5 hours of riding in the cold rain, I was getting chilled. When we stopped for lunch I pulled the jacket liner out of my bag and plugged in and started bringing my core temperature back up. Having heat turns what could be a long cold miserable trip into a good trip. The only draw back is listening to your riding buddies teeth chatter as they give you $hit for being warm.  Before buying the Gerbing gear I did wire up a jacket liner out of one of my Joe Rocket jackets. It worked very well, so well that I wanted "heat" all over then. | ||
| Oldog |
you covered it in your comments about the stats and the connectors, I dont even know if ol blues' lectrics would handle the additional load. scratches to the paint. I aint worried about but having wires and connectors hanging out here and there to catch and cause mishap would suck. | ||
| Adrian_8 |
I have the Gerbing heated jacket and the gloves..as most people say they are great..my only suggestion is to get the two way controller where you can run the gloves at a higher temp. than the jacket. When it gets real cold like in the 30's I need to run the gloves much higher than the jacket. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
you covered it in your comments about the stats and the connectors, I dont even know if ol blues' lectrics would handle the additional load. Oldog, i thought you mighta been talking about handling the extra effort of getting "suited up" for a ride, which is a pain, but after a bit a system and routine materializes and it ain't "quite" so bad. i always encourage someone who is thinking about heated gear to start with gloves. you can get in relatively cheap, and most any motorcycle's electrics will handle the additional load. once you ride with warm hands on a bitter cold day, however, it's likely that the rest of the system will follow. FB | ||
| Rich |
Mike's right, I should've bought it years ago. I have Gerbing jacket liner, and it's great. I really appreciate the wiring in the neck area, too. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
I really appreciate the wiring in the neck area, too. Rich, i agree 100%. the interface between the top of your riding outfit - be it jacket, 'Stich, or whatever - and the bottom of your helmet can be a drafty, hostile place on a cold night. a warm, fuzzy neck in this situation is a blessing. (no complaints with my Widder in this regard, btw.) FB | ||
| Jmhinkle |
I have the Harley labeled Gerbing jacket and love it. The heated neck area is awesome. It heats nice and evenly all over it as well. I really like how the jacket is prewired for running the gloves with it or independently of it. I was so impressed with the jacket that I ordered the dual heat-troller and the gloves to go along with it. Should have them soon. I would highly recommend them especially if you can find a deal on them somewhere. |
