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Heated vest

Bcsmith

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Good morning NC riders. I am considering adding a heated vest to extend my riding season. I am wondering if others use ones that connect directly to the motorcycle. The concern I have is how much power I would be able to draw as well as what would be a good vest to purchase. Any help in this regard would be much appreciated.
 
Yes, I've used elec vests of both of my bikes without any problems. My other bike is a 2010 Honda NT700V. Mine is a vest not a jacket so the amp draw is only around 6 amps max. Jackets have a high draw because the sleeves are also heated. The NC produces around 14.2v when riding and the vest might knock that down a hair so there isn't a concern that I'm draining the battery.

I have an Eastern Beaver accessory outlet that is relay-controlled and wired to the battery so doesn't rely on any factory wiring. Up on top, I use a Powerlet plug that is both durable and waterproof - it is not a cigarette lighter outlet!
 
When I setup my bike I installed a voltage meter partly for this purpose. Turned out the jacket wasn't a problem but the meter's handy for checking the state of the battery/charging system too.

I went with a Black Jack heated jacket - no complaints. It's a BC company offering made in Canada products-
 
I prefer a jacket over a vest - the jacket doubles as a insulating layer even when unheated and can be worn when off the bike, saving packing clothing items on trips. It costs more but is more practical for me. If you add heated gloves later the glove connectors are right there sewn into the wrist area.

From experience and observation of voltage monitors on my NCs the NC has plenty of excess electrical power to run a jacket, gloves, grips and small auxiliary LED lighting. Not to worry and it's easy to connect the supplied 12 volt harness to the battery and lead the connector out from under the front edge of the seat.

My heated gear is original Gerbings. They sold out of the business for a while and are back under the Gordon's name, a good name with happy customers. Warm and Safe is another good name in heated apparel.
 
I’ve been considering heated gear. Honestly I can usually keep my core warmer than my arms. My upper arms get cold. I thought about vests but am convinced a heated jacket is what I need to extend my season so I can keep my arms warmer.
 
I’ve been considering heated gear. Honestly I can usually keep my core warmer than my arms. My upper arms get cold. I thought about vests but am convinced a heated jacket is what I need to extend my season so I can keep my arms warmer.
I've read that the more skin area heated the easier it is to keep the core warm. Blood going out to the hands returns cooler to the core than when leaving the core in a jacket compared to a vest.
 
So I decided to go with Gerbing heated vest and heated gloves. They came with all the wiring needed to hook up and get riding. I think I got a pretty good deal $300 Canadian for both. What do you guys think? Did I make the right decision?0E27CD04-2CE1-4B2A-BFFD-DB3CE7AFB728.jpeg
 
Seems like great prices to me; especially since you typically pay more for stuff north of the border.

Did the jacket come with a heat controller or just an On/Off switch. If it came with the latter, I'd suggest a heat controller which is a lot more convenient.
 
Seems like great prices to me; especially since you typically pay more for stuff north of the border.

Did the jacket come with a heat controller or just an On/Off switch. If it came with the latter, I'd suggest a heat controller which is a lot more convenient.
So I haven’t had time to read the information package yet but I don’t see any heat control switch.
 
So I haven’t had time to read the information package yet but I don’t see any heat control switch.
There has to be a switch of some sort between the wiring harness to the battery and the heated article. I've seen people try to live with an on/off switch but the way to go is to have a rheostat type of controller that allows heat from 1% to 100% and with jacket and gloves the way to go is a dual controller as the hands require different heat amount from jacket amount.
 
There has to be a switch of some sort between the wiring harness to the battery and the heated article. I've seen people try to live with an on/off switch but the way to go is to have a rheostat type of controller that allows heat from 1% to 100% and with jacket and gloves the way to go is a dual controller as the hands require different heat amount from jacket amount.
Some brands have the switch on the jacket or pants. Plug them in, control them with a 4 level switch that is on the garment itself.

Off-Low-Med-High

Eliminates the possible battery drain from a faulty controller, also substantially cheaper since there is no added cost of a controller. Trade offs include less specific control of temp and if the switch fails the garment would likely need to be replaced.
 
Soooooo now I guess now I will purchase the gerbing wireless dual temp controler and might just as well get a battery minder so I can do all wiring at the same time. One question I have is where is the best location to route the wiring from the battery to an accessible location to plug in? Can it be done without drilling any panels?
 
So the white wire for the vest the yellow wire for the gloves what is the 3rd smaller wire for?
 

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Soooooo now I guess now I will purchase the gerbing wireless dual temp controler and might just as well get a battery minder so I can do all wiring at the same time. One question I have is where is the best location to route the wiring from the battery to an accessible location to plug in? Can it be done without drilling any panels?
I don't know exactly how the Gerbing system works, but if it was me I would open the FRUNK and then open the battery hatch cover. Wire the Battery Tender wire directly to the battery, route the wire out of the battery hatch cover and re-attach the cover. There is enough flex that you don't have to drill or cut anything. That is how I wired my Battery Tender's wire out of the battery compartment. That leaves a standard SAE connector in the FRUNK.

I would then use the SAE connector to connect up to the Gerbing system to the SAE connector inside the FRUNK, just pull the wire out and close the FRUNK when you need to connect the vest. I do that with my phone cable. Pretty sure there is a Gerbing SAE adapter available. The rubber seal has plenty enough room to seal and still allow the wire to run out of the FRUNK.
 
I don't know exactly how the Gerbing system works, but if it was me I would open the FRUNK and then open the battery hatch cover. Wire the Battery Tender wire directly to the battery, route the wire out of the battery hatch cover and re-attach the cover. There is enough flex that you don't have to drill or cut anything. That is how I wired my Battery Tender's wire out of the battery compartment. That leaves a standard SAE connector in the FRUNK.

I would then use the SAE connector to connect up to the Gerbing system to the SAE connector inside the FRUNK, just pull the wire out and close the FRUNK when you need to connect the vest. I do that with my phone cable. Pretty sure there is a Gerbing SAE adapter available. The rubber seal has plenty enough room to seal and still allow the wire to run out of the FRUNK.
Perfect I definitely do not want to start drilling anything. My only concern was I have heard complaints that the frunk locking mechanism can break so I want to be cautious of that. The wiring for the heated jacket is quite a bit thicker than a phone cord.
 
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