W&S heated gear questions . .

[EddyQ]

Well, I have made a descision that heated gear is long overdue and this fall I will be warm. After surfing the web, I am thinking Warm&Safe jacket with Gerbings T3 gloves and a dual temp controller. Nothing is cast in stone, but I think the W&S electric connections have an advantage over the gerbings PDU. I'm sure I will hear pros/cons with each since both brands are very good quality and I may in fact change my mind.

 

1) I've seen/read folks with great neat ways to mount and wire the controller to their roadcrafter. Somewhere there is a feedthrough near the left pocket?? I have a roadcrafter two piece and don't have a clue where this feedthrough is. How do you wire this gear up and make it neat?

 

2) W&S has a newer gen 4. Is it worth the extra? There are currently closeouts on the gen 3 and the cost difference is significant.

 

3) W&S has a remote wireless dual controller. Seems kinda slick and many folks think it is the way to go. But again, the cost is significant and wiring 12V from the bike is still nessessary. SO, again, is it worth the $$.

 

The cost difference from a gen 3, wired dual controller setup to a gen 4 wireless dual controller setup will get me the Gerbings T3 gloves for free. Just saying. . . What would you do? I'd like to hear your comments. . .

[moshe_levy]

Eddy-

 

With the exception of the controller, I use a W&S Gen 4 + Gerbing's myself. See http://www.mklsportster.com/Articles/mcnheatedgearraw.pdf for my complete test.

 

Re the Remote unit, see my test here http://www.mklsportster.com/Articles/mcnwarmnsafe.pdf and this also touches on the Gen 4 improvements, such as upgraded heating elements and the addition of reflective stripes.

 

You can't go wrong with the liner, and the gloves. Where I'd advise you take a different route is with the controller. Either of my suggestions of EXO (fixed) or W&S (remote) is head and shoulders above the old "dual-troller" in terms of ergonomics, mounting, packaging, and thus functionality.

 

-MKL

[moshe_levy]

A side note - for some reason my editor at MCN incorrectly stuck in Firstgear's contact info at the bottom of my test. I am not sure about right now, but at the time this test was conducted in late 2010, the controller and jacket were supplied by W&S direct. W&S supplies Firstgear as well, but in this case what I tested was W&S direct branded.

 

-MKL

[ednowicki]

The remote wireless is sweet.

[DiggerJim]

Well, I have made a descision that heated gear is long overdue and this fall I will be warm. After surfing the web, I am thinking Warm&Safe jacket with Gerbings T3 gloves and a dual temp controller. Nothing is cast in stone, but I think the W&S electric connections have an advantage over the gerbings PDU. I'm sure I will hear pros/cons with each since both brands are very good quality and I may in fact change my mind.

I have both the W&S liner & the Gerbings gloves. I ran them off the W&S connectors & controller on my 1150 and am running them off a pair of Gerbings controllers (hard wired into the bike) on the 1200 and haven't noticed any difference in controllers or connectors.

 

1) I've seen/read folks with great neat ways to mount and wire the controller to their roadcrafter. Somewhere there is a feedthrough near the left pocket?? I have a roadcrafter two piece and don't have a clue where this feedthrough is. How do you wire this gear up and make it neat?

I don't have a 2 piece RC but I do have the onesie. I run the wires for the liner/gloves out the left hand pocket flap - the one you can reach into your inner pants pocket thru. Not sure if the 2 piece RC pants have the same access pocket.

 

2) W&S has a newer gen 4. Is it worth the extra? There are currently closeouts on the gen 3 and the cost difference is significant.

I have both. Bought the Gen 4 for myself for Christma 'cause I figured the new carbon panels would be warmer. No discernible difference in heat for me (well, except maybe it doesn't seem quite as warm and there were hot spots in the elbows where I had to fiddle with the wires inside the liner to move them to where they don't burn me - before that I couldn't leave it on high for more than 15 minutes or so before it was too hot & left a red burn mark on my inner elbow). The reflective piping doesn't do anything for me - I wear the liner when I'm covered up with the 'stich. When I'm off the bike I'm still wearing the 'stich. On a rare occasion I might wear just the liner but the piping isn't a make it/break it for me. At the end of the day, I've got both Gen 3 & Gen 4 and I wear the Gen 3 and hung the Gen 4 up. When/if the Gen 3 dies I'll have a spare. I wouldn't find the Gen 4 worth the extra over the price of a close-out Gen 3, but that's just my opinion.

 

3) W&S has a remote wireless dual controller. Seems kinda slick and many folks think it is the way to go. But again, the cost is significant and wiring 12V from the bike is still nessessary. SO, again, is it worth the $$.

A friend has one. I have dual controllers mounted on the bike. Since you have to plug in anyway, unless you're planning to run it off a pocket battery sometime, I'm not sure what the value/usefulness is. I think it's easier being able to turn the knob while riding vs. his fumbling in a pocket for the remote & turning. Also, the little LED that comes with the hardwired controller tells me at a glance how "high" it is. No feedback from the remote. Again, I wouldn't pay extra or even go with the remote over the hardwired controller. Definitely go with the dual controller though - I know folks who have cheaped out and try to run both the liner & the gloves on the same controller but I usually run them at different settings because my hands & my body are different temps when riding. I usually run the gloves about 1/4 lower than the liner (and use the low heat setting on the grips).

 

The cost difference from a gen 3, wired dual controller setup to a gen 4 wireless dual controller setup will get me the Gerbings T3 gloves for free. Just saying. . . What would you do? I'd like to hear your comments. . .

I'd go Gen 3 with wired dual controllers & the "free" gloves

 

And I'm a guy who buys most every new dohickey & electronic gizmo on the planet.

[EddyQ]

A friend has one. I have dual controllers mounted on the bike. Since you have to plug in anyway, unless you're planning to run it off a pocket battery sometime, I'm not sure what the value/usefulness is. I think it's easier being able to turn the knob while riding vs. his fumbling in a pocket for the remote & turning. Also, the little LED that comes with the hardwired controller tells me at a glance how "high" it is. No feedback from the remote. Again, I wouldn't pay extra or even go with the remote over the hardwired controller.

 

Great feedback Jim. Thankyou. Your findings are similar to others I have found in that gen 4 isn't really better than gen 3. Sure, reflective patches are nice, but won't do much under the roadcrafter. I could always sew on reflective material, it is cheap in comparison to the gen 4 cost.

 

Yes, my two piece has similar left pocket and it resides in the pants. I'll check to see how that is gonna work with the wires. My hunch is that it isn't going to work too well with a dual controller mounted to the roadcrafter.

 

As for the remote, I think most folks mount the remote controller anywhere they like with velcro or such. I've seen one setup where it is on the clutch reservoir. Yeh, I'll have to check about the LEDs (I would think that feedback is required). It also has batteries and I cannot seem to find out how long they last.

[moshe_levy]

Ed-

 

Per my test, the remote's CR2032 battery should last a full season. Actually in my use it lasted longer - replacement is a few bucks at the hardware store.

 

Take a good long look at the EXO controller I recommend - it has a huge numerical digital readout instead of a tiny LED, and a dedicated metal mount instead of cheesy velcro. There's no comparo in my opinion. And you can buy two of 'em for less than one dual controller, if you want dual control.

 

-MKL

[EddyQ]

Take a good long look at the EXO controller I recommend - it has a huge numerical digital readout instead of a tiny LED, and a dedicated metal mount instead of cheesy velcro. There's no comparo in my opinion. And you can buy two of 'em for less than one dual controller, if you want dual control.

 

Thanks Moshe, I will consider the EXO controller. For a permanently mounted solution, it sure seems nice.

[RockBottom]

Definitely go with the dual controller though - I know folks who have cheaped out and try to run both the liner & the gloves on the same controller but I usually run them at different settings because my hands & my body are different temps when riding. I usually run the gloves about 1/4 lower than the liner (and use the low heat setting on the grips).

 

I've owned gloves for a couple of seasons and just got a jacket. I was planning to get a dual controller for the reason you mentioned but then it occurred to me that if I do that, I'll have to have the wires running to the gloves which I always disliked. One thing that appealed to me about the jacket was plugging the gloves into the sleeve connectors. So I think I'm going to try the single controller and then decide if I want to go dual.

[Paul Mihalka]

I run my jacket and gloves from a single controller. Never felt the wish for separate controls.

[moshe_levy]

I've owned gloves for a couple of seasons and just got a jacket. I was planning to get a dual controller for the reason you mentioned but then it occurred to me that if I do that, I'll have to have the wires running to the gloves which I always disliked.

 

No, not true. The jackets I tested, such as W&S, Gerbing's, etc. had separate inputs for gloves and jacket - meaning you plug your gloves into the jacket's integrated sleeve wires, but plug a separate controller wire to the jacket's separate inputs for jacket and gloves, allowing integrated control, WITHOUT having to run separate wires to the gloves. This is par for the course - nothing special. Follow the lin above to my test for pictures of Gerbing's or W&S pics of the wiring schemes.

 

-MKL

[dirtrider]

Morning RockBottom

 

On all the heated gear I have had over the years (lots) I haven’t EVER been able to run heated gloves & a heated jacket liner on one controller. The gloves always seem to need a much different heat level setting than the jacket liner.

 

If you have multiple bikes then a dual controller that stays with you is the way to go. That means only one wire between you & the bike & can plug into any bike you get on then ride off.

 

[RockBottom]

Yeah, you guys are right--I re-read the instruction manual and it is possible to connect the dual to the jacket and gloves separately.

 

I still think I'll at least try the single one that I already own before dropping $140 on a new one and having to disconnect and re-connect two wires every time I get off.

[tallman]

I run my jacket and gloves from a single controller. Never felt the wish for separate controls.

 

 

Me too.

If one part gets a bit warm, I turn it down a smidge.

When I feel colder, I turn it up.

A bit complicated, I know, but fiddling with 2 settings when I'm trying to stay warm

just never seemed necessary.

YMMV

 

 

[RockBottom]

I run my jacket and gloves from a single controller. Never felt the wish for separate controls.

 

Yeah but based on that article in BWM ON, all that gear shifting probably keeps you warm!

 

[EddyQ]

I run my jacket and gloves from a single controller. Never felt the wish for separate controls.

 

 

Me too.

If one part gets a bit warm, I turn it down a smidge.

When I feel colder, I turn it up.

A bit complicated, I know, but fiddling with 2 settings when I'm trying to stay warm

just never seemed necessary.

YMMV

 

 

I guess balancing the proper insulation could make the gloves and liner require the same setting. What I have heard (I have no real experience) is that gloves, being much less insulated require a higher setting. But, maybe that can be balanced out by opening a vent in your jacket or adjusting the layers under it? Or perhaps turning on/off the heated grips. Or perhaps letting your hands get a little cool. Interesting and certainly worth trying partictularly if you already have a single controller.

[RockBottom]

That's the reason I debated between a 65 and 90 watt jacket. But I went ahead and got the 90 and if doesn't work, will get a dual controller.