Input sought - heated gear

[sportsguy]

I'm thinking of buying a jacket liner and glove (gloves themselves or liners).

I have an unused power cord on my battery right now (from the original, dealer installed battery charger) which is unused as my Centeck charger uses its own plug.

Thus, I have a standard plug just hanging out, all fused up, waiting to supply power to something.

AND...if just so happens its getting chilly, so maybe its time to buy some heated gear.

What do you guys like?

(I can drive to the Gerbing store, but my last trip taught me the product is expensive, and their service was very lacking.)

 

[greg the pole]

service might not be there, but the full liner that I have is first rate.
buy it you will not regret it.

 

[Karson]

i get along with mike over at warmnsafe. i ride with their gen4 jacket and pants around this time of year. their new wireless heattroller is pretty badass, too. recently updated to use standard AAA batteries.

customer service is awesome. turn around is <1 day for email, phone is great, or he'll help you on skype if you catch him online.

if you go to his site, he's pretty pro made in USA if that tickles your fancy.

 

[twinrider]

I've got both Gerbing and Warm and Safe jackets. Both work equally well regarding heat, but the Warm and Safe has a huge advantage due to its remote heat troller. A single power line runs from the jacket to the bike. The sender kept in the jacket sends a signal to the heat troller mounted wherever you want it. Can also easily be moved from bike to bike. Much easier to use than Gerbing's 3 bulky line connectors running from inside the jacket to the bike and the heat troller.

 

[EricV]

I have a circa '93 Gerbing jacket liner that's still going strong, and the wife has a '13 Warm-n-Safe jacket liner. Both bikes use Warm-n-Safe Heat-Trollers, (accept no other!). The Gerbing controller is a rip off of an older, flawed W-n-S design that they sent to China to have backwards engineered. They used to sell W-n-S Heat-Trollers with their brand on them.

Ok, both jacket liners rock when plugged in and powered up. The W-n-S is much less bulky with the new technology, which I understand is similar with new Gerbings stuff. W-n-S scores on the simplicity of the cord situation. I really dislike the Gerbing plug in the jacket and prefer the pigtail hanging out. Less bulk and works great.

The one down side to the Gen4 Water Proof liner is that it's not much of an insulation layer when not plugged in and powered up. Most of the time I wear the Gerbing jacket liner, and have it plugged in, but don't turn it on because it adds a nice layer of insulation and wind blocking, so only turn the power on when it gets below 40F. My wife uses more heat than I do, (hey, I have a healthy layer of FAT to keep me warm), but she has commented many times that when wearing the jacket liner around town, (when we travel), it's just not that warm. So, great heat on the bike, kinda lacking off the bike when trying to use it for a normal jacket while traveling.

 

[Karson]

The one down side to the Gen4 Water Proof liner is that it's not much of an insulation layer when not plugged in and powered up. Most of the time I wear the Gerbing jacket liner, and have it plugged in, but don't turn it on because it adds a nice layer of insulation and wind blocking, so only turn the power on when it gets below 40F. My wife uses more heat than I do, (hey, I have a healthy layer of FAT to keep me warm), but she has commented many times that when wearing the jacket liner around town, (when we travel), it's just not that warm. So, great heat on the bike, kinda lacking off the bike when trying to use it for a normal jacket while traveling.

Very good assessment, Eric. I would agree with you that, at best, the Gen4 jacket is a light-weight 3 season windbreaker jacket without being plugged in. An issue if you're in some colder weather and want to get off the bike and walk down main street with just it as your jacket.

On the bike, I find the fit to be good with my Klim gear, as the fit of Klim tends to be more of a Euro-cut-to-fit design. Works for some, not for other. Something to consider, too ::008::

When ordering, be sure and accurately measure on either company's site. If anything, you'll want to sway on the smaller of the two sizes if you're in between. Heated gear works best if close to your body (with a thin, syn/merino wool base layer underneath)

Good luck! Regardless of what way you go with the heated liners, I don't think it's worth testing the waters and deviating away from WarmnSafe's wireless heat troller.

 

[twinrider]

Very good assessment, Eric. I would agree with you that, at best, the Gen4 jacket is a light-weight 3 season windbreaker jacket without being plugged in. An issue if you're in some colder weather and want to get off the bike and walk down main street with just it as your jacket.

I don't really see it as an issue because in colder weather most of us would simply walk down the street wearing our bike jackets, the exception being those with 1-piece Roadcrafters. They might want to pick up one of those compact down jackets that can be packed into a pocket size bag.

 

[Tippo]

I have the Warm and Safe Gen 4 jacket liner and the ultimate II heated gloves controlled by an EXO2 controller. I also have the W&S pants and socks on a second EXO2 controller. The W&S gear is designed w/o insulation so that when you turn it off you don't overheat and don't have to stop and remove the layer. That is useful in Colorado where I experience wide swings in temp between the top of a pass and down in a low valley. At the time I bought my controllers, W&S was having problems with the remote Hear Troller that have now been fixed. You do need AAA batteries with the remote Heat Troller. No batteries needed with the EXO2. I have the controllers mounted on the bolts that attach my handlebars (on either side of the ignition key). Gerbings makes a nice coiled extension cord (2 feet coiled 4 feet streched) that I use between the gear and the bike. That way I can pump gas without unplugging.

Jeff

 

[Checkswrecks]

We upgraded from classic Gerbings jacket liners to the Powerlet rapidfIRe liners last year on a group buy. Afterward, I learned that Mike at W&S seems to continually develop new products, which Gerbings and Powerlet subsequently compete with. The difference is in cut of arm length and how tight the liners fit. The Powerlet is a better form fit for me than the W&S, even though they are nearly identical in other aspects. The new generation of jackets is much much better than the old ones with the heated wires that you could feel. The new jackets have elastic panels to make them hug you and that really helps.

Heat-wise, they seem to all be similar within a generation of development and you do want the most recent generation. When we were kids racing cars, the slogan was "cubic inches count" meaning that bigger engines made more power. It's the same here, in that watts of power means more heat.

They all have wireless controllers now, which are great. I put a bit of velcro on mine and it resides to the left of my instrument cluster in colder weather. Karen keeps hers in a pocket and can loop the lanyard so she can't drop or lose it. It also makes it easy to use on rental bikes. There still needs to be the one set of battery connections attached for power, but the controller can be mounted anywhere with a tab of velcro and it's not dangling on the cord around your butt.

On the group buy, I think we paid something like $250-ish for each jacket/wireless controller set a year ago and this is a similar set with current pricing: http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/powerlet-rapidfire-jacket-liner-with-dual-wireless-controller-package

 

[TwoShots]

I found peace with Tourmaster's Synergy 2.0 jacket liner hooked to Gebring's T-5 gloves.

 

[fredz43]

I also have enjoyed the Tourmaster Synergy 2.0 heated liner. They come with a dual rheostat type of controller and a single is available. I use a single controller velcroed to the left black fairing side cover. Good performance and fit for a great price.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/14/67/904/41564/ITEM/Tour-Master-Synergy-2-0-Heated-Jacket-Liner.aspx?SITEID=Google_PLK%20Street%20Bike&WT.mc_ID=10001&WT.srch=1&gclid=CMDw0YzboLoCFYFhMgoddF4Agg

 

[EricV]

Something worth noting on the Tourmaster Syn. 2 is that it's a somewhat bulky liner. Good heat, but if you don't have a looser fit on the jacket, it can be a pretty snug fit under your jacket. It keeps it tight to the body, which aids heating, but can also leave you with that Michelin Man feeling with reduced movement flexibility.

 

[terrysig]

Just wired up all troller for the W and S. Use the Gen4 jacket and the First Gear Carbon gloves. I take the setup off for the warmer months and put back on in October. Was nice the morning. I find that with the warm torso and hands I don't need pant liners or sox.

 

[fredz43]

Something worth noting on the Tourmaster Syn. 2 is that it's a somewhat bulky liner. Good heat, but if you don't have a looser fit on the jacket, it can be a pretty snug fit under your jacket. It keeps it tight to the body, which aids heating, but can also leave you with that Michelin Man feeling with reduced movement flexibility.

Probably so, but works great under my Darien jacket. Since the Darien is unlined, this is a perfect combo for my use.

 

[EricV]

Probably so, but works great under my Darien jacket. Since the Darien is unlined, this is a perfect combo for my use.

Absolutely! One of the nice features of the Darien is being able to choose the liner that suits your needs. In warmer weather, I never used a liner at all. In cold weather, the heated liner went under the Darien.

 

[Wanderer]

Howdy,
Just a quick FYI, the wireless Heatroller works with the Gerbing's too. That's what I'm running. A big thumbs up on the wireless no matter what you run but I do like the high collar on the Gerbing's, it almost seals the gap between my helmet and jacket letting some nice warm air rise into my helmet.
Later,
Norm

 

[twinrider]

Howdy,
Just a quick FYI, the wireless Heatroller works with the Gerbing's too. That's what I'm running.

Yep, it works but because the Gerbing jacket lacks the internal pockets for the sender and wires, the "install" is a lot more awkward.

 

[Buelligan]

I've been using a wider electric vest, with the optional sleeves, and pants liner for ten years now. Still works like a charm, keeps me warm and toasty, the collar comes up high keeping my neck nice and warm also. I purchased mine through the IBA store. Great deal.

 

[sportsguy]

W 'n S for the win! Should arrive Tuesday, while I'm in Vegas.

 

[TreeMuncher]

If you order from W&S, there are discount codes for ADVrider and ST-owners that get you 20% off of listed prices. That's $100 off of a $500 order!

Great products and great customer service from those people. My remote dual zone controller gave out this year due to leaking batteries eating up the board components. I was able to "upgrade" my unit for $25 to a new unit. I did not have to ship the old one back, just sent a photo of the old one smashed up to verify it was no longer serviceable.

Everything they make works really well. With the remote controller, I just move the controller to each of my different bikes. All I have to do is install the powered pigtail on each bike so that it can be used with electrics. Now you can even purchase battery packs to take the chill off when in camp or other places.