Heated gear choices.

[Eric R.]

boy this is driving me nuts. I have a 2015 R3T, and I would like to purchase heated something. I can't decide whether I should get the battery, or electric heated gloves, or heated grips. Or maybe a heated jacket liner.
The more I read up, the more confused I get. I favor simplicity, but quality.
Just how much of a pain are these glove wires? And how about the bulk of the gloves themselves? I'm looking at the Tourmaster Synergy two gloves. But , I like the simplicity of battery use too.
I would like to do the Triumph heated grips, but I'm afraid of their reliability due to all the negative press they receive. Why can't they improve on their heated grip design if they are obviously flawed?
My wife says just don't ride when it's cold out. Problem solved. She just doesn't get it!

 

[ThePhoinix]

I've got gloves that plug into a liner that plug into the bike and I love them. I don't have any hand guards so the gloves will prevent frostbite down to around 20F, and are downright comfortable at anything above 32F. The liner is fantastic - I actually get a bit warm in freezing temps. But more importantly, with the liner you can just plug in the gloves the sleeves so you don't need to arrange a set of wires to run through your jacket to power them.
I personally don't want to deal with having to charge a battery which is why I went with the wired version, but the functionality should be the same (until you run our of charge at least).
There are a lot of options. I've got the First Gear stuff and I like them. in terms of bulk, the gloves are the same as any other heavy glove and the liner is a windbreaker-type of thing.
good luck!

 

[Troy]

I have some Lincoln electric stuff that I have had for years. I plug the controller into the bike and within seconds the vest is heating up. I do have wires that connect to the vest that go down to the gloves, but it has never been a problem. The gloves are a little bulky, but are warm enough in there own if I don't want to plug them in. I have ridden in 20deg weather and my upper body was nice and toasty. My legs on the other hand did get cold.

 

[idk]

Gerbing heated gear. Get the jacket (with sleeves), gloves, and a temperature controller. Hook it up to the bike and you will never look back. If you are really doing some longer cold riding, then get the heated pants and socks as well. You will be toasty warm all day.

 

[BigNorm]

I want to install heat demons in my bars. I want to upgrade to a metal throttle tube first though. I have had good luck with heated gloves but currently I can't find the cable.

 

[Joesmoe]

Gerbing heated gear. Get the jacket (with sleeves), gloves, and a temperature controller. Hook it up to the bike and you will never look back. If you are really doing some longer cold riding, then get the heated pants and socks as well. You will be toasty warm all day.

What @idk said. The only caution I would add is that we are creatures of habit, and getting off the bike the first few times, you may forget the cord is attached, and the cord I have has an SAE connector that happily separates under those conditions without damage.

Donning the gear is just a couple of extra steps we all go through (or should). When I'm prepping to leave the house, I remove my shirt to the t-shirt, and put on the heated vest so it's closer to the skin. The vest will have pig tails hanging out the sleeves. I put the shirt back on over the heated vest, and add a sweater. Then I insert ear plugs, and don the balaclava. Then I put on the winter riding jacket (pants have gone on before, with the main feed wire through the fly, so it looks as if I have a pee tube attached). At this point, I connect the controller, and put the other end in an upper pocket I can reach with my gloves on. I put on the helmet. Now I'm looking at the pig tails coming out of both sleeves, and I connect each glove in turn, and I'm ready to go. I make sure the controller is set to 'OFF', and I plug into the bike. I mount, start the bike, turn on the controller, and turn on the heated grips. I also happen to have heated seat, and turn that on as well.

I added Oxford heated grips for $90. And I've installed @Bedifferent 's handlebar wind deflectors -- just waiting for the next decent rain to wash the salt off the roads and go for a ride.

 

[TRIIICK]

Gerbing heated gear. Get the jacket (with sleeves), gloves, and a temperature controller. Hook it up to the bike and you will never look back. If you are really doing some longer cold riding, then get the heated pants and socks as well. You will be toasty warm all day.

Idk...is spot on. There is a lot more info on this subject if you go back into the archives. JM2C...If you go all the way by adding paints and socks your going to fry without the temperature controller. I tried that route and ended up returning the pants. It was putting me to sleep something about a warm body and breathing in cold air relaxes you to the point of nodding out. There was a great Gerbing dealer in Acton Mass but he went out of business, i go to Max's BMW in NH..it's a long ride for you but Rose the girl that works there makes it worth the trip . She's hotter than the Gerbing suits. Word to the wise it's best to try on the jacket and gloves to make sure they're comfortable.
MAX BMW Motorsport - E-Rider Apparel

 

[Joesmoe]

Maybe it's just me -- I never found the need for heated gear below the waist. I do wear wool socks, and long johns or lined pants though. You are correct in that the controller is really mandatory.

 

[BigNorm]

I frequently wear a heated cup with accessory fan to prevent sweaty balls.

 

[mully95]

Gerbing Heated Gear is the one to purchase if you want quality. They have some type of patent on the wire "mesh" technology that the other brands don't use. Heats up faster and will last much longer (wire breaking etc....)

I don't have any heated gear but when I do get some it will be plug into the bike. I like the piece of mind knowing the battery isn't going to die on me. Gerbing has hybrid versions however..... battery and plug in at the same time.

I'm not a heated gear expert but I did stay at The Holiday Inn last night.