| Author | Message | ||
     Wahmbush |
It's not riding season yet, but I have put miles on my bike for 4 out of the last 5 days. I have been layered up and still am a bit cold. I ride w/ a guy that loves his heated gear. Any one on this site use heated gear on their XB? Does the XB put out enough power to run heated gear? I hear that heated grips work well and am going to at least do that. Tempted to do heated gear.... Any info as far as companies to go with as well as experience is appreciated Thanks Mark | ||
| Whodom |
Mark, Widder and Gerbing make heated riding gear. I've had Widder gloves for a couple of years and they do a good job. I'm pretty sure an XB alternator will handle gloves (or grips) and a vest without a problem. Widder gives some general guidance on their site for determining your bike's electrical capacity; Gerbing probably does too. | ||
| Xb9 |
I run with a widder vest and gloves on the XB - No Problem | ||
| Gowindward |
I use a full set of Gerbing heated gear. Gloves, Jacket, Pants, and Socks. Total watts for the gear is 165. The XB's charging system puts out 513 watts. That leaves you 348 watts for the rest of the bike, with the biggest draw being the both head lamps. The XBR's twin 55watt lamps still leaves 238 watts. As you can see by the numbers there is no problem. Heat ROCKS!!!!! I ride all winter long. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I think people have mounted the handguards from the 9sx on the XBr's with some luck. Not sure if any special mods were necessary. My "minimum tolerable 20 mile ride" threshold went from about 42 degrees F to 30 degrees F just by adding the guards (along with my other non electrically heated gear). Not a perfect solution to every problem, but painless, completely passive, and cheap. | ||
| Fcbuell |
Sorry to hijack this post, but Gowindward, XB9, I'm new to heated gear, how does it plug in? Or can you explain what mods or set you have to do to provide for electric clothing? Thanks! | ||
| Josh_ |
The gear will typically come with a "pigtail" to install on your battery. This will be a 6-12" piece of wire with battery terminal connectors on one end, an inline fuse in the positive line and a plug on the other end end. You'll plug a wiring harness with an on/off switch from your heated gear into the plug. Different gear companies use different plugs by default, you can sometimes order them with different plug and you can always change them to what you need. Widder uses the same SAE plug that the BateryTender uses so one pigtail can be used for both when needed. | ||
| Perry |
I created my own heated gear - I converted the rain liner on my JoeRocket jacket to heated - it cost about $20 in parts using instructions from online. It makes a WORLD of difference! I also added the heated grips from American Sport Bike - they work great. I usually have them on low because they put out a lot of heat. With both heated jacket and grips, and both headlights on, I still have high enough voltage to keep the battery charging. maybe I'll post pics later of how I made the gear if anyone's interested. | ||
| Stevenknapp |
Heated gear is great. Like the grips it allows you to quickly adjust your warmth without getting off the bike and adding/removing layers. Having said that, I won't rely on it alone to keep me warm on a long ride. I had it fail on the north side of Lake Superior. It was barely above freezing and raining. Oh ya, my stuff is from Aerostich: http://www.aerostich.com/home.php?cat=284 (Message edited by stevenknapp on February 27, 2006) | ||
| Bomber |
Steven -- as much as I LOVE the diea of saving some dough, knowing the number of times it generally takes me to get things right, I shudder to think of my suffering through an electrified clothing adventure! | ||
| Crusty |
My incredibly fantastic wife got me an Aerostitch Airvantage electric vest for Christmas. It works really well. I'll be wearing it this weekend, as I brave sub-freezing temps so that I can watch some Buells kick some serious butt at Daytona! | ||
| Wahmbush |
Thanks for all the info. Would you say heated gloves are the way to go or do the grips work ok? | ||
| Debueller |
I LOVE my heated grips. I did not go with heated gloves because of my fear of the f*** around factor. (pluging in each glove every time I put them on). Not to mention the cost. (Gerbings are $169). Now I just flip a switch. Dual star kit, about $25. They also allow me to wear a lighter glove. BTW, on the power consumption issue, I normally ride an Uly and use a Gerbing heated jacket liner, heated overpants, grip heaters, and also have my high beam wired with both lights on and have no problems with my battery. (I dont even use a battery tender because my bike gets ridden at least twice a week). On the other hand, last weekend I was riding my XR650L using my heated gear (about 100 mi. pavement & gravel) and almost killed my battery. I suspect that the charging system on my Honda dual sport does not have the current output to support pants and jacket liner. I will be adding the grip heaters to my Honda (which gets used mainly in the dirt, I like them that much). | ||
| Perry |
Heated grips are definitely worth it. Be sure to wire them to a relay so you won't run your battery dead when you park and forget to turn them off. | ||
| Hogs |
Perry, I for one wd. be very interested in making my own Special heated gear IF ya can fill me in on how to do and what materials I need Thanks Pal... | ||
| New12r |
Heated gear is the SHIOT! Period. I will never ride in the cold without it again! I use Gloves and Jacket. | ||
| Perry |
I threw together a page that gives information about my home-made heated jacket as well as my heated grips from American Sport Bike. check it out and send me any questions you may have... www.perrypoint.com/heatedgear |
