Heated clothing ideas

gggGary

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Doing the Slimey crud run crud today and trying to extend the season a bit.

I snagged some old widder gear aways back, came with a leather jacket I wanted, haven't tried it, so today is the day. Will be interesting to see what the stock XS charging system can handle, I taped one of the little LED indicators by the ignition switch so I can keep track of charging.
I think I'll wear the vest and the chaps under a pair of flannel lined jeans and use one or the other, see which seems to work the best.

I ordered an "8 amp" chinese PWM motor controller to modulate the heat and keep the load down but it's not here yet. So for today it's just the on off switch.

$_57.JPG


http://www.ebay.com/itm/131147152783

Found these

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http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004JVHWO8/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Looks well built with heavy wire and fully water sealed components. I like that they are fused. one slipped right in under the seat on the 79.
and bought 5 sets can plug in the charger and use them to power accessories on the various MCs and other toys around the ranch. At 5 for $18 shipped, seems like a no brainer.

I changed the Widder cord end to match the SAE plug.

Anyone else running heated clothes? What are you using? How's it work? Is it worth the hassle? It's just a bit of a season extender here, some time in November the salt truck will end all MC riding 'til rain washes the roads clean in late March or April.
 
Gary,
I am planning to run my heated gear on the 79 this winter. I had run it before on my 82 xs400 Maxim. The setup is totally home made. A friend built the jacket and gloves using carbon fiber yarn embedded into the jacket and gloves. (His wife sewed it in) And he also built a 3 channel controller box, complete with circuit board, all programmed by him. He's a wiz with computer stuff and the real world application of it. (Built his own remotely controlled sprinkler system from scratch)

I had a volt meter on the bike and the charging setup kept up decently. I would have to adjust the controller to keep the volts up, but I was riding in 26F at least one day last winter.

I am looking at upgrading to the PMA setup before I run the gear on the 650. If my rotor did not just die I would have tried it with the stock system.
 
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I've used electric heated socks. The Brits were keen on these, offering a plug-in on the Nortons. Plenty of them out there.

I got frostbite as a child, digging snowcaves in Wisconsin winter, and have needed gloves/socks ever since. Mostly used the heated socks during hunting. Best gloves I've had so far were for skiing.

Remember those JC Whitney exhaust cutouts? Can't tell you how many times I've wished for those, rerouting the exhaust thru the handlebars, into the gloves, then up the shirtsleeves and into my jacket...
 
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I tried the chaps first I think they were working for a while, my legs felt warm, but a connector came unplugged. Above 2K the charging was neutral, above 3K it was charging fine. about the same as without any heated clothes At idle with a turn signal going it was sucking on the battery a bit but no running problems.
Oxide hand warmers worked just fine.......

Will update when I mess with it some more.

Yeah 2many I frosted the extremities as kid too. The first 15 minutes cross country skiing is brutal till the rising core temp sends blood to the extremities.
 
...Yeah 2many I frosted the extremities as kid too. The first 15 minutes cross country skiing is brutal till the rising core temp sends blood to the extremities.

Yep, overzealous warm-weather Texas kid flash-flown to Racine for Xmas. Never seen snow before. Didn't know how cold it could get up there.

Once my fingers and toes go cold, they'll never 'light off', unless I can bootstrap them warm during the cold exposure. Then, they may stay mildly warm during exertion, or not...
 
Gary,
Did you ever think to try something in the light weight snowmobile one piece suits?

Moderately cold weather we found rain gear a great benefit. Light weight, easily packed and weather tight. Then layers underneath.

Hand protection was always the hardest to deal with. Heated handle grips on snowmobiles worked for that environment.

ATV folks have a giant hand guard, much like the ones use by snowmobilers, to both protect from the wind and help to hold heat while allowing controls to still be worked.

Some have even tried alcohol with varying results. lol

These people and others have great gear.
.
 

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In a pinch newspapers stuffed in between you and the outside layer works.
Been there got the t-shirt 40+ years ago.

Hey gggGary got any more numbers for how the stock system is handling the load?
 
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