[GoldDigger]

I am in the market for heated gear for me and the wife. Are the liners better to get than the jackets and pants? Do they come with thermostat controls? Which name brands is the most reliable? I have a '98 GW Aspy with a new Compu-Fire alternator and battery so it should carry the load.

 

[trike lady]

I just wear long jons and I'm good to go. Always warm no matter how cold it gets.
I also have a cheap GPS that works well, sort of an antique.
A little humor.
Merry Christmas

 

[fossil92]

GoldDigger.

I have gear for the Little Lady & I. We have a mix of
Gerbing/Firstgear.

I will send you some info for what I did. Once you get heated gear you won't go back to layers believe me. You are correct with the Compufire there will be no issue.

 

[GoldDigger]

Fossil, do you have the liners or the jacket/pants. I understand if I get the liners that I don't need heavy outers over it, correct? Can you mix Gerbing and First Gear? Do they all connect to a like plug to the battery or is one brand specialized to the plug? What do you do about your feet?

 

[fossil92]

GoldDigger I have the liners. You are correct you don't need heavy outers.

Yes you can mix Gerbing & FirstGear. Same plugs are used.

I personally don't have heat for my feet, but my Little Lady has socks that work great. For me my Tourmaster S/C boots with regular socks have never been a problem. Remember it starts with keeping your core warm & then the blood flows well to your extremites. That's the key,

 

[jamnjim]

A fellow winger friend of mine has First Gear heated gear and I have Powerlet heated gear. We compared them and found the Powerlet heated gear appears to constructed VERY similar to the First Gear heated gear and both brands appear to have the same connectors and controllers. I'm wondering if much of the heated gear available is made in some sweat shop overseas and at the end of the line, goes left for First Gear labeling and packaging, straight for Gerbings labeling and packaging, and right for Powerlet labeling and packaging.

I have the old style of Powerlet heated liner and gloves and I'm very happy with them. I don't have pants yet and don't know if I'm going to buy them. If it's cold enough to don the heated gear, depending on the anticiipated temperature, I'll wear light, medium, or heavy weight long johns under my leathers and that combined with the heated liner and gloves has kept me warm in temperatures right at freezing.

I'm giving my medium liner to my wife as it's a bit tight on me and I purchased Powerlet's new design liner in a large. I haven't received it yet, but am anxious to try it out as Powerlet is claiming it's much improved over their previous design.

 

[Badrider]

Hi Golddigger, I have been using for the past 5 years or so a vest made by Black Jack. I know at least 5 people in our club that has them. A matter a fact my buddy had problems with his and even though he's had it for a few years they fixed it and sent it back no charge to him.
When we were in Americade last year my wife bought a Gerber inner liner jacket and controler. So far she likes it. Once the weather gets real cold I end up ridding solo. We did do a trip to the Ottawa Valley in November and it was dame cold. She was fine with the jacket.
Also the Gerber has the round type of connecter, and my vest has the older style flat plug

 

[fxrshog]

i am in the market for heated gear for me and the wife. Are the liners better to get than the jackets and pants? Do they come with thermostat controls? Which name brands is the most reliable? I have a '98 gw aspy with a new compu-fire alternator and battery so it should carry the load.

1-Liners should be sufficient
2-Yes
3-GERBINGS
Absolutely, the compu-fire is more than sufficient

 

[detdrbuzzard]

i have synergy jacket and pants liners that work great for me

 

[Rex]

Golddigger, I have been using the Gerbings gear going on 4 years. Works great.
I have the linnings for the Jacket and pants, also have the gloves and the heated insoles. I have the thermoststs that control it all. It is mounted on the left sige of my jacket. I find that this works very well for me. If not needed I do not turn it on. Gets too warm and I can put it in the saddle bag without taking up a lot of room. I had a problem with the thermostat controller last year and they replaced it on the spot with no questions.

 

[GoldDigger]

Rex, do you use one controller for all of this or do you use the dual? Do you use a splitter? Which ones are controlled together? I notice that everyone talks about the sizes not being normal. Did you find this to be true? Is there anywhere that give a better deal than others?

 

[Rex]

I have the dual controller. One controls the gloves and pants and the other one controls the jacket and insoles. You need to go in with your normal riding gear and try these things on. They want you to get them to fit tight, but I found that a little lose works better for me. I don't like the tight fitting jacket liner and pants liner and ended up buying a little looser fitting set. I don't think I would try and order them on line. I recommend that you try them on. You will want longer pants liner than you think so they do not ride up on you and get your shins cold. Getting ready to head home from work and it is about 25F -30F outside now. It was in the teens when I left the house this morning.

 

[LarryinSeattle]

Gerbing, dual controller with coat liner, gloves and boot inserts. The gloves and the coat does it for me. I have yet to use the boot inserts as my feet have never been a problem.