choices
 

Gerbings - excellent :thumbup1: but draw power. Good too for walkabouts
....but do you really leave your favourite bike jacket in your tent/hostals:confused1:

Rukka Air-Vantage Goretex jacket - can't really get much better IMHO
- no power draw at all! you blow air into the jacket through a tube- air-cells insulate you.:thumbup1:

Hey Bert,
This guy is as poor as a Church Mouse. He's whinging about paying 100ukp
for a elec. jacket!! How's he gonna come up with 350 ukp for a Rukka??:eek3:

BTW, Rukka's are very well made, lots of good features but the jackets are just a bit stiff IMO and very cold weather oriented. A friend wore his BRAND New $650 Rukka on a desert ride. He hit the ground...jacket destroyed by gravel and he still hurt his elbow. My opinion? Over priced, over rated...not good in any temps over 70f. Too thick, too heavy, poor venting. Great in Norway? or Finland?, where it used to be made. (or still is?)

BTW, you mentioned Gerbing draws power......brilliant!:rofl: Yes they do!....as do all electric jackets. But at 70 watts this won't burden most bikes. Even my DR650 which only puts out 200 watts total, can handle it. If I want to run both my Gerbing and heated grips I have to turn off my headlight (I installed a switch).

If you run both jacket and grips with headlight on you find the jacket and grips don't get that hot but they DO work (and help). In five hours you'll have a dead batt.

With headlight off (daytime) it runs both jacket and grips at nearly full temps....but you MUST use the Heat Troller for the jacket which is a Reostat which continually cycles the current on/off. This is more effecient and does not draw down the Batt or strain the charging system nearly as much, yet keeps the jacket very warm, good down to below freezing. (this according to designer Mike Coan) Email him and ask him for more details about his products.

One of the main advantages of the electric jacket is Lack Of Bulk. You no longer need multiple layers. If I'm going out in Zero C conditions this is what I wear up top.

Very Thin, synthetic ($Capoline$) long sleeve thermal top
Gerbing jacket (always best close to you...slightly snug fit)
Synthetic high quality dirt bike jersey or thin Merino wool sweater
(Yes! worn over the elec. jacket!!)
Riding jacket (my liner is OUT...never use it) vents closed.

That's it!

If it gets colder I can add a layer but at this point its normally hands and feet that suffer. Synthetic or Silk Glove liners help. In rain, rubber utility glove over your riding gloves really work. Nylon waterproof booties help with cold feet. keep feet dry on long rides! Thin sock then thick sock, Gore-Tex boots. (My hands and feet still hurt in cold due to multilple frost bite in earlier life)

ymmv, IMHO, yada yada yada

Patrick:mchappy:

Maxwell
If you are not wanting to spend a lot on heated gear do what Mick and myself have done and make one yourself.Mine is made from an old sleeveless bodywarmer.O.K. the heat can only be controlled by turning it on or off or by altering the amount of clothing under/over it but it works.You could always try this for a while and then buy a 'proper' heated vest/jacket if it suits you.

Right i will have to research into this a bit more but i will try and make myself a heated jacket with some sort of collar and possibly some sleeves. I will have to look into what i will need apart from a jacket for the heaters to be attached to.

I have looked at the heat4jackets.com website i like the sound of the kit, basically buy the kit, get a jacket and some time on your hands and its done. Any on used this website and are the products good?

Also i have just bought the yamaha XT660R from my local dealers, which i am sure will be colder to ride than my deauville over winter but s**t happens its still a great bike. Anyway as i have just started uni and have a course that you have to go to and do work after i dont really have masses of time on my hands so a post when i have finished my jacket could take a while.

Technically, that is not a rheostat. A rheostat is a variable resistor that converts the unused power to heat. Sorry, I'm just picking nits...

I'm sure you're right....Mike Coan used the reostat example saying it was "kind of like a reostat"...something about it cycling on and off constantly which somehow required less amps and still managed to heat the jacket up? I'm not really a electronics guy....even though being a sound tech I should be. :blushing:

Patrick

Alternatively
 

You might like to have a full touring fairing. I had an Avonaire tourer on all my old Brit bikes. First a 200cc tiger cub :) ( for two years) then a Triumph T100 500cc twin for five years, lastly into civillian life with a 1970 Triumph 650cc Trophy. At that time I was in the forces and used to go home at weekends when posted in teh uK. I was never late back to base, and never had a breakdown. The thing with a fairing is it stops teh wind chill factor altogether. Plus you get a little heat from the motor swirling about in teh relatively still air. You also do not get any wind buffeting which can be tiring as speeds increase.

This is one reason I now have a BMW R80RT. If you could see the number of dead insects splattered all over it you would not ask why. Even here in France when in the summer temps have gone to about 50C ( in the shade) a bit more on the roads.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the thought!!

Hi Grant, is this discount still available? Unfortunately the link is broken.

Garry from Oz.