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Just before Christmas one of the moto vlogers that I follow posted about her experience with some inexpensive heated gear; specifically battery powered gloves, socks and a vest. I have zero interest in riding in the winter (because of sand and salt on the road, not to mention ice), but every spring I do wish that I could get out a little sooner. I'd like to ride when it's a nice sunny spring day in the 40's F - but I typically get cold-soaked in about 20-30 minutes and I'm miserable - making me wait until it's in the mid-50's to get back out again. Some years this can be late April or early May. Last year it was mid-May...and I was so unhappy about having to wait that long to ride.
So on Lali's recommendation I purchased the following items from Amazon:
Kemimoto Electric Heated Ski Gloves for Men Women, Waterproof Heating Snowmobile Gloves 2400mAh 7.4v Rechargeable Battery
Kemimoto Electric Heated Socks Men, 2600mAh Remote Control Rechargeable Socks
Kemimoto Heated Vest Lightweight with Battery Pack
All in I made an investment of $150...pretty cheap if you ask me. All of this gear is made in China, so long-term durability is an unknown. I do have opportunities to use this gear for other purposes than motorcycling, such as sitting on my tractor when I'm blowing snow and skiing when it's near zero. So if the gear lasts a season or three, I think I will have gotten my money's worth from it.
So how does the inexpensive gear work? Well, like I mentioned above, I don't ride in the winter - but today was kind of a Goldilocks day. It has been near 40F for the last few days and Friday evening we got a lot of rain. Enough rain that all of the sand and salt has been washed away from the roads. It was sunny and windy Saturday and that dried off the roads nicely - no standing water at all. Today the temperature only got up to 37F and it is partly sunny, but the roads were pristine - a perfect day to check out the battery powered heated gear. If the gear works well today, it will ensure that I have a early spring (and late fall/winter) riding season.
One more thing, I purposely didn't go over-the-top and bundle up - I let the gear to the work. I did wear a basic Costco balaclava to keep my head and neck warm. On my upper body I wore a thermal long-sleeve shirt, the heated vest, a turtle-neck/pullover and a leather jacket. My jacket does have a liner, but I rode with it removed to assess how well the vest worked. On my legs I wore my bicycle leggins/tights and a pair of Levi's. On my feet were my AlpineStar SMX 3 over-ankle boots and the heated socks. The socks and the tights overlapped by about 4 inches.
I powered everything up and set all three items to "medium". Each item has 3-way temperature control. They default to High (red) when turned on, and then cycle through low (blue) and then medium (green) and then back to high as you press the power button. The socks actually have a remote control (like a key fob) so you can make adjustments without reaching or looking down. The key fob even gives you the color-code to let you know the selected temperature - no guessing. Nice!
With everything turned on, and me pulling on the aforementioned extra clothing, I thought to myself - this gear isn't doing shit. I didn't feel any benefit from the gear. And rather than turn everything up to the high setting, I decided to set out and see what happens. I woke my FZ6 up from it's mid-winter nap and finished getting my balaclava, helmet and heated gloves on. As I pulled out of the garage I immediately noticed that it was a fairly windy day - windy enough to push the bike around. Other than the pristine roads, this was a rather miserable day to ride. Undeterred, I set out for my favorite roads. After a mile I noticed that my knees were cold from the fuel tank...but at 35-40 mph, I was comfortable. As the tires warmed and the road opened up I found myself at a 45-55 mph pace and I was still comfortable (my knees warmed up the tank or the tank wasn't as cold as I first thought). Thirty minutes in, and on a straight section of back road doing 65 mph...I was not cold...not shivering...I was comfortable. Having warm feet kept my legs warm. Having a warm chest and hands kept my arms warm. This stuff is working. It's worth noting that my FZ is naked - I'm riding with 100% wind blast.
After about 45 minutes I stopped at my wife's cafe to get a cup of coffee. Everyone there asked me the same thing; "you're riding today?" "It's nice out" was my reply. As I sat there sipping my coffee I still noticed that the gear really wasn't warming me the way that I would have thought. Maybe the base layers were all I needed and the electronics weren't doing anything. So I turned everything off, and in just a minute I could feel the temperature drop. The medium setting on the gear doesn't really "add" heat as much as it allows you to retain your heat. When I turned the gear back on, I kept it in the High setting to see how that felt. In the high setting, the vest was warm - like sitting with a fleece blanket warm. Almost heating pad warm. Out on the road I didn't really notice the added benefit of the high setting on my hands and feet - but the temperature was dropping and it was no longer partly sunny...it was cloudy. The gauntlet style gloves would be warm by themselves (they are every bit as nice as my ski gloves), but the electronics kept my fingertips nice and warm. My hands tend to get very cold on a ski-lift when it's near zero...and the boost from the electronics would be nice. I could turn them off down hill and turn them back on when on the lift.
With another 30 minutes of riding in, and needing to pee from the coffee, I pulled into my garage and put the FZ6 away again for the winter. But instead of putting it away for 3-4 additional months...I think this year it will only be 10 more weeks. The inexpensive gear did its job - it kept me from getting cold-soaked and miserable. In fact, it kept me happy. Had I been wearing the same gear (less the electronics) on a day that was 10 degrees warmer - with this wind - this would have been a 30 minute ride and I would have been asking myself why did I even bother.
So on Lali's recommendation I purchased the following items from Amazon:
Kemimoto Electric Heated Ski Gloves for Men Women, Waterproof Heating Snowmobile Gloves 2400mAh 7.4v Rechargeable Battery
Kemimoto Electric Heated Socks Men, 2600mAh Remote Control Rechargeable Socks
Kemimoto Heated Vest Lightweight with Battery Pack
Amazon.com: kemimoto Heated Vest for Men, Heatable Winter Warming Heating Vest, Heated Hunting Vest, BATTERY NOT INCLUDED, S : Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry
Amazon.com: kemimoto Heated Vest for Men, Heatable Winter Warming Heating Vest, Heated Hunting Vest, BATTERY NOT INCLUDED, S : Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry
www.amazon.com
All in I made an investment of $150...pretty cheap if you ask me. All of this gear is made in China, so long-term durability is an unknown. I do have opportunities to use this gear for other purposes than motorcycling, such as sitting on my tractor when I'm blowing snow and skiing when it's near zero. So if the gear lasts a season or three, I think I will have gotten my money's worth from it.
So how does the inexpensive gear work? Well, like I mentioned above, I don't ride in the winter - but today was kind of a Goldilocks day. It has been near 40F for the last few days and Friday evening we got a lot of rain. Enough rain that all of the sand and salt has been washed away from the roads. It was sunny and windy Saturday and that dried off the roads nicely - no standing water at all. Today the temperature only got up to 37F and it is partly sunny, but the roads were pristine - a perfect day to check out the battery powered heated gear. If the gear works well today, it will ensure that I have a early spring (and late fall/winter) riding season.
One more thing, I purposely didn't go over-the-top and bundle up - I let the gear to the work. I did wear a basic Costco balaclava to keep my head and neck warm. On my upper body I wore a thermal long-sleeve shirt, the heated vest, a turtle-neck/pullover and a leather jacket. My jacket does have a liner, but I rode with it removed to assess how well the vest worked. On my legs I wore my bicycle leggins/tights and a pair of Levi's. On my feet were my AlpineStar SMX 3 over-ankle boots and the heated socks. The socks and the tights overlapped by about 4 inches.
I powered everything up and set all three items to "medium". Each item has 3-way temperature control. They default to High (red) when turned on, and then cycle through low (blue) and then medium (green) and then back to high as you press the power button. The socks actually have a remote control (like a key fob) so you can make adjustments without reaching or looking down. The key fob even gives you the color-code to let you know the selected temperature - no guessing. Nice!
With everything turned on, and me pulling on the aforementioned extra clothing, I thought to myself - this gear isn't doing shit. I didn't feel any benefit from the gear. And rather than turn everything up to the high setting, I decided to set out and see what happens. I woke my FZ6 up from it's mid-winter nap and finished getting my balaclava, helmet and heated gloves on. As I pulled out of the garage I immediately noticed that it was a fairly windy day - windy enough to push the bike around. Other than the pristine roads, this was a rather miserable day to ride. Undeterred, I set out for my favorite roads. After a mile I noticed that my knees were cold from the fuel tank...but at 35-40 mph, I was comfortable. As the tires warmed and the road opened up I found myself at a 45-55 mph pace and I was still comfortable (my knees warmed up the tank or the tank wasn't as cold as I first thought). Thirty minutes in, and on a straight section of back road doing 65 mph...I was not cold...not shivering...I was comfortable. Having warm feet kept my legs warm. Having a warm chest and hands kept my arms warm. This stuff is working. It's worth noting that my FZ is naked - I'm riding with 100% wind blast.
After about 45 minutes I stopped at my wife's cafe to get a cup of coffee. Everyone there asked me the same thing; "you're riding today?" "It's nice out" was my reply. As I sat there sipping my coffee I still noticed that the gear really wasn't warming me the way that I would have thought. Maybe the base layers were all I needed and the electronics weren't doing anything. So I turned everything off, and in just a minute I could feel the temperature drop. The medium setting on the gear doesn't really "add" heat as much as it allows you to retain your heat. When I turned the gear back on, I kept it in the High setting to see how that felt. In the high setting, the vest was warm - like sitting with a fleece blanket warm. Almost heating pad warm. Out on the road I didn't really notice the added benefit of the high setting on my hands and feet - but the temperature was dropping and it was no longer partly sunny...it was cloudy. The gauntlet style gloves would be warm by themselves (they are every bit as nice as my ski gloves), but the electronics kept my fingertips nice and warm. My hands tend to get very cold on a ski-lift when it's near zero...and the boost from the electronics would be nice. I could turn them off down hill and turn them back on when on the lift.
With another 30 minutes of riding in, and needing to pee from the coffee, I pulled into my garage and put the FZ6 away again for the winter. But instead of putting it away for 3-4 additional months...I think this year it will only be 10 more weeks. The inexpensive gear did its job - it kept me from getting cold-soaked and miserable. In fact, it kept me happy. Had I been wearing the same gear (less the electronics) on a day that was 10 degrees warmer - with this wind - this would have been a 30 minute ride and I would have been asking myself why did I even bother.
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