Blackjack heated vest

OneTrack

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I decided to buy a heated vest yesterday; it's a Blackjack brand (made right here in BC) and cost $99. The sales guy at the bike shop recommended a snug fit (I weigh 175 lb and bought a 42" chest size), and to wear it over a t-shirt as the "2nd layer". It has a regular SAE plug, so I just plugged it into the battery tender lead that is permanently attached to my bike's battery. I re-routed the cable from the battery along the left side of the frame just under the tank and pulled it through the natural gap in the frame just under the front of the seat. The cable is just long enough to reach the cable coming out of the vest, and I can get on and off the bike even with the cable connected. (Must remember to not walk away without disconnecting, however :eek: )
It was sunny but a bit chilly yesterday (8 deg C or about 46F) and I felt the vest warming up within a couple of minutes.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! :eek: I am absolutely astonished at how warm it kept me for the entire ride (a couple of hours). I used to mock people who wore heated garments on bikes......no more!! :rockon:
If you haven't tried a heated vest, I'd highly recommend that you do try one....you'll thank yourself for it.:thumbup:
 

Whirlygirl

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Where did you get it? I haven't been able to find one for under $150 bucks! I think it's a must-have (along with the heated grips) for my big trip in April...
 
H

HavBlue

There is a company in Errington, British Columbia, " Black Jack". No website, email is [email protected]. or ph 250-248-3575. Some of the Harley folks use them and apparently their quality is quite good for the price.
 

VEGASRIDER

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I have the opposite type of vest, it's a cooling vest. But this one you soak it in water. It would be nice if they had a vest that you could plug in and kept you cool like the heated vest. Maybe in the future. Hope the vest won't catch on fire.
 

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I decided to buy a heated vest yesterday; it's a Blackjack brand (made right here in BC) and cost $99. The sales guy at the bike shop recommended a snug fit (I weigh 175 lb and bought a 42" chest size), and to wear it over a t-shirt as the "2nd layer". It has a regular SAE plug, so I just plugged it into the battery tender lead that is permanently attached to my bike's battery. I re-routed the cable from the battery along the left side of the frame just under the tank and pulled it through the natural gap in the frame just under the front of the seat. The cable is just long enough to reach the cable coming out of the vest, and I can get on and off the bike even with the cable connected. (Must remember to not walk away without disconnecting, however :eek: )
It was sunny but a bit chilly yesterday (8 deg C or about 46F) and I felt the vest warming up within a couple of minutes.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! :eek: I am absolutely astonished at how warm it kept me for the entire ride (a couple of hours). I used to mock people who wore heated garments on bikes......no more!! :rockon:
If you haven't tried a heated vest, I'd highly recommend that you do try one....you'll thank yourself for it.:thumbup:
That sounds like a great bit of kit. Do you have any pictures of the battery conecoe install?

Neil
 

OneTrack

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Where did you get it? I haven't been able to find one for under $150 bucks! I think it's a must-have (along with the heated grips) for my big trip in April...

Burnaby Kawasaki on the north side of Edmonds, just east of Canada Way. :)
The vests are on sale for $99, the jackets for $159.
Don't bother with the temp control...you don't need it. It gets just toasty enough but never gets too hot.
 

OneTrack

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That sounds like a great bit of kit. Do you have any pictures of the battery conecoe install?

Neil

I don't have a picture of the connection...it's a simple positive/negative double wire connection at the batter with an SAE plug on the other end. I just plug my vest into it. I'm thinking of installing a proper PTO socket just under the left front of the seat for the vest.
I'll be installing a K&N filter and a Talon alarm next weekend, I'll take some pics then.
 

OneTrack

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There is a company in Errington, British Columbia, " Black Jack". No website, email is [email protected]. or ph 250-248-3575. Some of the Harley folks use them and apparently their quality is quite good for the price.

Yes, Blackjack vests are manufactured on Vancouver Island, just south of Parksville on the east coast of the Island. Probably a real hayseed outfit (if I know my Island People....Boneman excepted of course :D ), but the quality of the vests appears good for the money. The heating wires are quite large gauge, so the risk of bursting into flames is minimal.
A small rocker-type on/off switch would be a good accessory to install in the feed cable, which would be less expensive than a thermostat control.
 

bd43

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I thought I would chime in and talk a little bit about this Black Jack heated gear. In preparation for my trip this past summer, I decide to purchase a heated vest for those “just in case” moments. A friend recommended me to Black Jack because they are relatively cheap and effective. I decided on the heated collar vest, Black Jack Heated Clothing - Electrowear Manufacturing Ltd..

I picked one up at Heritage Harley Davidson store here in Edmonton, but not after trying them on, I realized that the regular fit was too short. I found out that you can special order a tall fit which adds 3” to the length of the vest and for the same price, so this was the one I special ordered and bought for $130.

At one point before the trip, I was looking to find a PWM heated clothing controller. I wanted to control the heat in the vest and the On/Off switch Black Jack had didn’t seem to fit the bill because we could not determine if it was water resistant, and some control over the amount of heat seemed to make sense. The PWM controller seemed to make a lot of sense at the time because it could be set to deliver a finite amount of heat precisely controlled by the controller and maintain a constant and low power load.

When I couldn’t source one quickly, I decided on the Black Jack BH200 temperature controller which is simply a thermostat that turns on and off at setpoint. At first I thought this was a bad idea because the bike would encounter bursts of full load from the vest which I thought might drag down the charging system, but after thinking this through it made better sense to me. I wanted to have heat come on when it gets cold and then shut off when it gets too hot. The thermostat style became obviously clear to me that this was the right choice.

Fast forward to post trip, I can say the vest and thermostat performed flawlessly. I was warm throughout the times I had it plugged in. As the day got warmer, I could tell that the thermostat was not kicking in the vest as often, and at some point, not at all.

I’ve been on one local trip in the cold morning with the vest since the trip and expecting to go out again tomorrow morning in the cool air. It hasn’t let me down and I anticipate that tomorrows ride will be just as warm too. I wasn’t a big believer in heated gear, but days of riding freezing my butt off are history. I would highly recommend this vest and heated gear for those cool morning rides. :thumbup:
 

TownsendsFJR1300

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I would strongly suggest putting in some sort of adjustable switch/variable control.

I've had my Widder heated vest and heated gauntlet gloves (plug into each other) for years and that set up will get way too hot if cranked up on high. If traveling for any lenth of time, its nice to be able to dial in a nice comfy temp for yourself depending on the conditions.

Besides the comfort reason, with the power output limitations on the FZ, I turn mine off if stopped at an intersection for any lenth of time.

But, yes, heated gear is well worth the money.. BTW, if you think your not sure or on the fence about wearing it that day, WEAR IT... You can always turn it off..

Just as a side note re the switch. When I purchased mine, I purchased the variable switch. I put commercial velcro on the back side of it and sewed velcro to the left side of my leather winter jacket. The switch simply plugs into the bike and the switch is right there on my left side that I can adjust easily, even with the much thicker, gauntlet gloves...
 
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