Heated Clothing

[Pain]

I am looking to keep rding a little longer this year, and am looking at heated clothing, that run off the bike.

The widder gear (www.widder.com) draws less power than most of the stuff, and I know that my 1980 xs11sg is not setting any records for output. The gear will draw 101 watts when everything is connected and drawing.

Has anyone tried this before? Will it work without completely sucking the battery dry?

-Pain

[macnut xj]

Well according to the formula, amps = watts divided by volts. So 101 watts divided by 12 volts would equal roughly 8.5 amps. That's quite a bit for the charging system on one of these bikes, especially when you add in the amp draw of the lights and ignition. Doesn't look promising to me.

[xj11DAN]

I have been kinda partial to Carhart coveralls, I have ridden in the twenties and not had any problems. nice sunny day, stem coming with every breath and 65 mph what a day.... of course i prefer to ride in my tank top and a nice hot sunny day but gotta do what you can to stay on the road. several years ago i bought a cheap snowmobile suit that was nice and warm no matter what it was like outside but it did not seemto grow as much as i did over the years.

[rockjok]

My favorite time to begin a ride is in the early morning, several hours before sunrise, which is usually the coldest part of the day.

A heated vest (Widder) is my primary source of heat. The vest should be snug but not tight when worn over a t-shirt and light long sleeved shirt.

Second is heated grips. I use aerostich grip wraps but there are several other styles available.

I've made several pairs of heated jeans from appliance wire and Dickies blanket lined jeans. These worked well but note that it's best to use too much wire than too little. If you consider trying this make sure that no wire can contact your skin and INSULATE any areas where the connectors exist. This link gave me the idea:

http://www.shadowriders.org/faq/electricvests.html

I've got a pair of widder electric chaps but they are a pain to put on with all the velcro strips etc, so I don't use them much.

This year I tried an aerostich electric fleece liner and it works well in warmer temps but is too loose to provide much heat if below about 40 degrees. I think a better option would be a tighter long sleeved liner worn in the same way as a vest.

Luck,

Rob

[Underdog]

The wife & I have the widder vests and arm chaps and they are first rate. We ride two up both pluged in with no problem on my Heritage. It puts out 32 amps but has more lights than the Yamaha also. I couldn't find a spec for the Yamaha output. Perhaps someone else has it? Maybe widder can help advise you also. For the best effect you need to wear the vest over a long sleeve tee and put any other clothing over top...sweatshirt, jacket. We've never had to turn our up past 3 on the 1-10 control. I would imagine the higher you turn it up the more current draw. Hope this helps.

[Dennyz]

My dad did some experimenting with heat gear on the XS. He found that at cruising speed and a good charging system, the XS could power a heated vest and grips. But, it was very marginal. He built a circuit that turn off the current to his gear when the charging system dropped out of charge. He found that it only took a short amount of time (minutes) riding around town with his heated gear on to drain the battery and kill the motor. Aux lights where out of the question.

[D. P. Larmee]

I made my own out of an old fleece vest and the heating wire from an old salvation army electric blanket. If I remember correctly, a length of about twelve feet seemed to be about the right resistance for a 12 volt system. It seemed to take three of these twelve foot loops to keep you nice and toasty. The nice thing is that you can adjust the draw by adding or removing circuits. I don't seem to have any charging problems as long as I don't plug it in untill after the bike is already running.

[pgg]

New age motorcyclists eh. Tough bikers don't need that stuff. A few sheets of newspaper stuffed down the leather jacket does the trick. If ya hands get cold, wrap 'em round the exhaust.

[xj11DAN]

yeah the exhaust works. At sturgis this year i found out how much of a wus i am, it is about 29 degrees out and i am freezing my hind end off looking for a place to get warm when some guys stop for gas at the station indeadwood wearing leather chaps, tanks tops and flip flops ( i think they were practicing the old JIMBEAM heater but what ever works to keep you from freezing right.....

[ratbyk]

Keeping Warm

Hunt around for a good used snowmobile suit. Add heated grips and bush buster guards to handle bars. Works for me down into the low 20's and I'm old. Keep speeds reasonable and you can ride for a long time in the cold.
Ken/Sooke
78E Ratbyk
82 FT500 "lilRat"