Heated Vest

[gordiet]

Can tou tell me what you feel is the best heated vest out there? I don't need the heated arms. Thanks--

 

GT

[Ken H.]

I don't need the heated arms.

Yes you do. Not trying to be contradictory but the Gerbing jacket liner with heated arms is light years ahead of the vest. And you can where it as a stand alone jacket.

[drzep]

I have both a Kanetsu vest and a Gerbings jacket. I would honestly say the difference is equivocal unless its like 15F outside, at least on a full-fairing bike. That said, and Ken you may differ, I would not hesitate to buy a another Kanetsu vest.

[realshelby]

I am going to have to side with Ken on this one. If you need heat then you need the heated jacket, IMO of course! The jackets ( I have Gerbings gear ) are not much thicker than a good windbreaker so bulk is not an issue. And remember, on a bike with a windshield and some sort of lower protection like the fairings on RT's and fuel tanks on GS's your arms may get more direct wind than other parts of your body. Where better to direct some heat when cold? If you need to really turn up the vest to stay warm it is likely to develop hot spots. I think the jacket would be a lot less likely to do that for the same level of comfort. No matter which you choose the heated gear is a plus.

[keithb]

GT

Gotta agree with Ken and Realshelby on this one. Buy the Gerbings with the arms for sure. Wind is not your friend on a bike. Especially when you arms are hanging out in it all of the time.

[flyingreg]

Can tou tell me what you feel is the best heated vest out there? I don't need the heated arms. Thanks--

 

GT

Warn-n-Safe heated liners are the ticket. Light years ahead of Gerbing. And, don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with Gerbing, Warn-n-Safe is just better, better fit, better materials. A close fit is important with a heated jacket liner. Warm-n-Safe uses a stretch panel on the side panels of the liners to ensure a close fit. http://www.warmnsafe.com/

[hopz]

I just bought the BMW Motorad Vests from Sierra- on sale- great price- it may still be on.

The vests work great and with my leather outer jacket my arms are not cold. If I wear my mesh jacket with its liners then my arms are a little cold.

My vote goes to either- whatever you think you need.

 

For me and my wife, the vest alone gets the job done.

[tomk99r11]

If you are going the heated route, why in the world would you NOT want warm arms? There are several great options available for heated liners. I had just the vest and there is no comparison with the full liner. Just my opinion though.

[drzep]

I think that, at least for me, it comes down to what product you feel more comfortable with. I've used Gerbings for a long time and never liked the style. The nylon-type fabric and black styling just feels not-so-good to me. Do they work? Of course. They will keep you hot as all get-out. I prefer the feel of fleece over nylon, but thats just me.

 

I use a Kanetsu Gortex wind-stopper heated vest with zip-in [non-heated] sleeves and it is just as warm as my Gerbings jacket. Plus, IMO it looks a whole heck of a lot better when you wear it solo off the bike - a consideration if you do any touring/camping. It may sound vain but its certainly something to think about.

 

On the flip side and where I would agree with the pro-Gerbings crowd, is if you ride a lot in very cold temps, e.g., <20F. Then the Gerbings set-up (jacket / pants / gloves / socks) is certainly the way to go. Otherwise, I think its a bit of overkill.

 

Wind is not your friend on a bike. Especially when you arms are hanging out in it all of the time.

Hence wind-proof fabric. It works quite well, even without the heat on.

[BucksTherapy]

Here is another alternative. IMO much less money, more convenient and sleeves are inherent.

 

I have puchased a heated clothing kit on EBay for my last three jackets. The kit includes 33' of teflon coated nichrome heating wire with a total resistance of ~4 ohms. I then go to the craft store and buy a long darning needle and pull the wire through the removable liner of my jacket including a run down and back of the front of both sleeves. I terminate the heating wire by soldering on 10" lengths of 16 guage copper wire and cover the junction with heat shrink. I seww the termination into the liner in the location I want the wire to come out.

 

There are several choices for putting in a 5A fuse and a switch. I do this by buying a small project box and a push button switch, and an inline fuse. I get a simple two way connector like you would use for connecting trailer lights and terminate the jacket wires and the output from the switch to one of the connector ends making sure the positive coming from the box is the sheathed terminal.The source side of the switch I terminate with a standard male BMW plug.

 

The whole kit costs me under $60. The cost is not the primary reason I do this. The convenience is the key. You don't have to lug around another peice of clothing, you don't need to accommodate another layer, it's there when you need it even when unplanned and its not bulky.

 

You can do a search for "heated clothing kit" in EBAY or here is an example of the kit.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Motorcycl...sspagenameZWDVW

 

Any questions let me know.

[tomk99r11]

Had not seen this info, must have had my eyes closed. Thanks. Will keep this in mind.

[tallman]

Bob,

Very nice.

Practical and affordable.

Unfortunately we've got our Gerbings gear (jacket liner/gloves) already

and it has that pesky lifetime warranty, but I see a potential use for this with pants liners.

Thanks.

[vfrman]

The only vest I've had is the Widder... and it works great for me. No complaints.

My girlfriend also uses the Widder, and she's happy as well.... coming from a woman who's ALWAYS cold.

[eddd]

I have a Widder vest. I find that the vest is enough for me when riding on the RT. I find in cold weather keeping my torso warm keeps me relaxed so that I'm not hunching my shoulders, my biggest discomfort when riding.

[JR356]

Hi,

 

The BMW vest has served me well,have seen a number of dealers closing out the current blue colored one for $100.

As mentioned,Widder is a great vest,I know for a long time they made the BMW vests.

 

JR356

[vfrman]

Widder still makes them for BMW.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

I have all three. The Widder style vest (BMW branded) that is currently just taking up space in my closet. The new style, carbon BMW vest, a nice piece of kit and it will keep your torso warm but, I only use it for day trips to the northern part of Florida. For any serious long distance ride where cold weather is anticipated, the Gerbings jacket liner goes with me, along with 2 heat controllers. Warm arms, along with connections for my heated gloves make all the difference when you are doing 400 or more miles in a day and temps are not out of the 20's and starting in the teens.

[outpost22]

Yeah I only needed a vest too (so I thought). Well it gets darn cold here and the vest just isn't adequate (Widder), so I bought the arm chaps for it (another waste of money). Now I have a Warm n Safe liner and it is lightyears better than the Widder. I would guess it is capable of producing 50% more heat than the Widder if I was to let it. The first thing that gets warm is your arms, than with the Widder that NEVER warms your arms, even with the worthless "chaps".

 

Get a liner not a vest, unless you stay only in Florida

[motoguy128]

Why a vest? Because a jacket liner won't fit in the sleeves of my riding jacket. I have good circulation, and the heat from the vest warms my core which is spread evenly to my entire body.

 

The warm n safe liner sounds like a great design with the stretch side panels.

[outpost22]

Why a vest? Because a jacket liner won't fit in the sleeves of my riding jacket. I have good circulation, and the heat from the vest warms my core which is spread evenly to my entire body.

 

The warm n safe liner sounds like a great design with the stretch side panels.

It is also VERY thin like a polyester shell on a windbreaker. I have two tight fitting jackets with tight sleeves and barely notice the liner under them.

For excellent service and pricing check HERE .

(No affiliation)

[EffBee]

The warm n safe liner sounds like a great design with the stretch side panels.

 

Actually, while stretch panels pull the liner up tight to your skin, this is not the best way to get even heat distribution. In essence, when a liner is pulled tightly against you, there's no air gap between you and the heat source. With even a small air gap between you and the heat source, the liner is heating the air, which in turn heats you evenly. With the liner pulled tight up against you, the heating elements in the liner heat your skin directly where those elements contact you. It works, but it isn't an even application of heat. Your skin has to work as the distribution agent, spreading the heat from the warm parts to the cold parts, instead of receiving even heat everywyere. The difference isn't huge, but if you try the two types of liner in succession, you can feel it.

 

This is not to discourage anyone from buying what they want. And again, it's not to disparage anyone's products. Both methods work. It's only to explain the differences.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

My method to get the nice, even heating is a long sleeve polypro tee shirt as the first layer. Then the Gerbings liner then, if it is cold enough, the BMW windproof fleece over top of the liner. Finally, my riding jacket of the day.

 

BTW, I'm liking my Cortech GX-Sport more and more. Comfy in the high 70's riding out of Florida with all the vents open. Kept me warm and, more importantly, dry coming down out of Georgia 2 weeks ago at 37 and raining. The stock liner that came with it was quite effective as well, albeit a bit bulky. Works nicely with the Gerbings as a replacement liner. I paid $117 for it on close out at a bike shop in Huntsville, AL.

[motoguy128]

I'm riding 2 hours to the BMW dealer tommorrow for regular service. The weather is predicting 32-35 degrees in the morning so we'll see how well my layering works. This is at the limit of what I find is comfortable to ride in without having a full heated Aerostitch suit.

[Foxy]

Just to throw in my 2 cents. I have an old BMW vest -- at least 20 years old. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. I'm sure that there are differences in heating efficiency, power draw, etc. And much of it comes down to personal preference. The BMW vest has a full, stand up collar -- works well with some of my jackets but not others -- with my First Gear Killimanjaro which has a stand up collar, it is a bit restrictive in turning my head when I wear the vest and the jacket. The electricity is the thing. Having it to provide heat in really cold weather OR if you get stuck with a light jacket when the temp drops is really important. Heat loss at a certain point gets dangerous -- affects judgement, response time, etc. The one poster who mentioned wanting some space between you and the garment is right, heated still air inside your jacket, vest is important as an insulator, just like in a sleeping bag. It is also most important that your core be heated -- hence the vest. Your body naturally directs heated blood to your core when you get cold -- biological survival response. Keeping the core heated is really important. The sleeves would really help but in terms of importance, it is the core that really needs to be heated first. So if the bulk of a garment with sleeves was enough to keep the garment out of your basic fall-winter-early spring kit, then I would go with the vest. Also layering is important. ONe of the most effective things I've bought recently was an Underarmor mock turtleneck shirt. Took it on a VERY VERY VERY cold and windy ride in West VA about a month ago - on the bike or in the camp that damn thing rocked as far as helping to keep me warm. Have used other mfg shirts like it BUT that thing was damn fine! Thinking of getting the pants too to keep my 3 best friends nice and toasty!

 

Foxy