65w vs 90w heated jacket - opinions sought

[szurszewski]

I've got two heated jackets now - both bought used and both the wrong size (one two small and one too large). I've been looking for a  Warm n Safe  jacket in medium, but am generally too poor/cheap to buy new...BUT right now their 65w "waterproof" version of the jacket is on sale for $160 with free shipping. Anyone have the 65w or better have tried the 65 and 90w versions? The one I have that I wear now is a Tourmaster synergy and I can't pin down the actual output, and it probably wouldn't matter anyway as construction is different etc. etc....

 

I'm about to sell the 'stich liner I have that's too big over on ADV and that will get me almost enough to buy the 65w - but the 90w is $280. Is the 25w difference worth $120? This year was the first time I've had/used a heated jacket, and it's great but I am not a "cold" person so I'm thinking I'd be ok with the "lesser" model...

 

thoughts?

[elkroeger]

Gerbings may have changed their design since I got my jacket.  But their website shows the jacket at 77Watts.  Asuming mine is indeed 77W,  I've found it plenty for winter commuting in seattle.  But as usual, the answer is:  Drumroll please...  It depends.

 

My commute, at it's worst, was 1.5 hrs each way, 1100RS (reasonable fairing coverage), at 45 - 75 mph.  I wore a full aerostich, long johns, Lectric jacket, fleece sweater and various odds and ends.  Heated grips, but no electric gloves, socks or pants.  I would generally bail out much below freezing because of ice, but I did plenty of sub-freezing rides.  The electric jacket made it reasonably comfortable.  But it was no Ford or Dodge.  Generally, I could dress properly without the electrics to get the job done, but it would get unpleasant.

 

By contrast, a co-worker had a 15 minute commute, 30-35mph, on a road king.  Leather jacket/chaps, electric jacket/gloves/pants.  He didn't ride below 40F.  

 

So I'm not telling you anything you don't already know:  alternator output (how many extra lights or electrified passengers you got?), fairing size, your general ability to dress for success **without the help of electrics**, trip length, average speed, humidity and temp are all big issues.  Oh, rain too, will suck a lot of heat out of you.  Heavy rain, of course sucks more (literally and figuratively).

 

I would suggest that if you're on the bike every day, and you know you won't just take the car when it gets crappy out, just spring for the upgrade.  If your bike is more of a pleasure vehicle, saved for a nice twisty on a cold weekend, the lesser wattage will probably do the job just fine.

 

So having said all that, I got a 77W jacket you can borrow.  I might need to dig around for a cord tho.

 

Edit:  One other thing to ponder is the addition of electrified pants/gloves/socks, down the road.  Some people swear by all that stuff, but regardless, you can add quite a lot of warmth to a basic jacket.  And perhaps it's more comfortable warmth, being that you're not singing the hair on your neck to keep your toes warm....

[Rougarou]

I ride into the single digits, I did the trade up with warm and safe and feel it's worth it.  I got the yellow because it was the least expensive of the lot (along with red) and it's waterproof and 90watts.

[Hosstage]

It's easier to turn it down if it's too hot than not be able to turn it up if not warm enough due to the lower rating. But then I ride in weather well below freezing. Mine are pleasure rides, no commuting, so I can stop when cold. Commuting does not give you that luxury, if you get cold, you stay cold.

[Pappy35]

43 minutes ago, Living the Dream said:

I ride into the single digits, I did the trade up with warm and safe and feel it's worth it.  I got the yellow because it was the least expensive of the lot (along with red) and it's waterproof and 90watts.

 

I am heading out on my first commute with my new W&S waterproof 90 watt liner in about 20 minutes. I got mine in red because it, and the yellow, are on sale (evidently they're phasing them out so get them while you can). I opted for 90 watts primarily because it's easy to turn down excess heat but impossible to add more if you need it. In my short testing in the garage though it gets very warm.

[TEWKS]

Anyone know if the Gerbing's controller is compatible with Warm & Safe jacket? I've pretty much given up with sending my Gerbing liner back for repairs of the "hotspots" issue. 

[Chris K]

Pat, I am still using my Gerbings controller with my warm & safe liner. 

[Rougarou]

26 minutes ago, TEWKS said:

Anyone know if the Gerbing's controller is compatible with Warm & Safe jacket? I've pretty much given up with sending my Gerbing liner back for repairs of the "hotspots" issue. 

 

Yes, it is,.....I'm wireless with the Gerbings controller with the Warm & Safe liner.

 

Also, EffBee, knows this guy if you want to use him for diagnosis and repair of your woobie

[Hosstage]

11 minutes ago, Living the Dream said:

 

Yes, it is,.....I'm wireless with the Gerbings controller with the Warm & Safe liner.

 

Also, EffBee, knows this guy if you want to use him for diagnosis and repair of your woobie

 

 

I used that guy to repair my Gerbings, had a bad cord. Great service, quick turnaround, a fair price.

[szurszewski]

Alright - I guess that was liking asking if “x” was enough horsepower or if I should opt for “1.25x” instead. 

 

@elkroeger I appreciate the loan offer but I think my better fitting jacket puts out about that power, which I find more than sufficient under a regular textile

jacket, but not quite sufficient under my motoport mesh. I was thinking the “waterproof” warm n safe (which I have read is only sort of waterproof) might be less breathable than what I have and thus be ok with lower power. 

Since commuting requires a job to which one commutes I guess that’s not a factor now - I’ve only been using the electric jacket for trips - too much bother to plug in and such for trips around town. 
 

I’m totally fine layering for For comfort and am generally not cold until it’s really quite cold, but like the electric heat because it lets me be lazy in choosing layers, and it also means fewer layers to pack for travel (and fewer stops to change layers, or if you’re lazy like me being able to be comfortable more of the day when you won’t take time to stop and change). 

Based on all of your enabling I’ll look at overspending on the 90w. Thanks

 

 

[Dennis Andress]

So...  Some History regarding Gerbings.

 

TL;DR

Gordon Gerbing was the founder, his kids resurrected the family business. It's now https://www.gordonsheated.com/

 

[wbw6cos]

15 minutes ago, Dennis Andress said:

So...  Some History regarding Gerbings.

 

TL;DR

Gordon Gerbing was the founder, his kids resurrected the family business. It's now https://www.gordonsheated.com/

 

 

Thanks for doing my research for me.  I am on my 3rd pair of Gerbngs heated gloves.  The first pair lasted about 5 years and in 2013, one of them quit heating.  I found the original receipt (yeah, I got lucky) and they swapped them out for the next generation under their lifetime warranty.  Free. 

 

Another 4 years, or so, that pair had one go bad and I sent them back for the warranty, but after a few long weeks of customer-no-service, I finally got a hold of someone to give me an update.  $35 for the "repair."  Say what?  Strange, I thought.  Lady said we can take payment via paypal, but the email address sounded fishy as it did not include the company name.  I got the feeling it was a personal account being used and instead opted to mail a check in the company's name.  Sounds like 2014 is when they went all corporation on me.  Sad.

 

When my current gloves give up the ghost, I can now order a new pair from Gordon's.  I clicked the link and discovered that the gloves come in colors other than black.  Sweet!  They even have Mars Red Metallic colored gloves to compliment Miss Grace!  It does not get any better than that.  Just sayin'

[Lowndes]

18 hours ago, szurszewski said:

Alright - I guess that was liking asking if “x” was enough horsepower or if I should opt for “1.25x” instead. 

 

@elkroeger I appreciate the loan offer but I think my better fitting jacket puts out about that power, which I find more than sufficient under a regular textile

jacket, but not quite sufficient under my motoport mesh. I was thinking the “waterproof” warm n safe (which I have read is only sort of waterproof) might be less breathable than what I have and thus be ok with lower power. 

Since commuting requires a job to which one commutes I guess that’s not a factor now - I’ve only been using the electric jacket for trips - too much bother to plug in and such for trips around town. 
 

I’m totally fine layering for For comfort and am generally not cold until it’s really quite cold, but like the electric heat because it lets me be lazy in choosing layers, and it also means fewer layers to pack for travel (and fewer stops to change layers, or if you’re lazy like me being able to be comfortable more of the day when you won’t take time to stop and change). 

Based on all of your enabling I’ll look at overspending on the 90w. Thanks

 

 

 

Szurszewski,

 

Reading all the above comments got me interested in the WnS products so I looked them up and read some very interesting history/development:

 

https://www.warmnsafe.com/pages/different-heated-jacket-liner-generations-explained

 

From the above page, this may be of interest to you: 

 

When we say 90 Watt and 65 Watt, that is at 12.8 Volts. But a running motorcycle or car will be at 13.8 Volts minimum. That means the Watts of heat are closer to 106 W and 85 W.

 

If you have an AGM battery and an AGM rated volt reg (14.7v) would mean even more heat (over 100w) for the "65 Watt" liner.