no more ridin
- Thread starter tommyB
- Start date
Tommy B.....you can't put it away yet....! Yes, I froze too....then put some good gear on and rode this past weekend in the 30s and 40s......Mr. Busa loved the brisk 3 hour ride. Only thing cold was my fingers and I will have that taken care of soon.
Can't put it away until December!!! It is a major violation of Busa protocol to park it before Thanksgiving.
Can't put it away until December!!! It is a major violation of Busa protocol to park it before Thanksgiving.
smallestpilot
Registered
lovin the sweet hmf duals!
hope they sound as good as they look?
hope they sound as good as they look?
Here's one of the better manufacturers IMHO.
Gerbing Heated Clothing
They use the exact same plug as the battery tender. You hook a harness to your battery, then just plug in the clothing. The main line has a rocker switch you can turn on/off, and you can also get a thermostat if you want.
They are worth every penny if you're going to ride in the cold, and yes they are waterproof, so you won't get shocked in the rain.
Jim
Gerbing Heated Clothing
They use the exact same plug as the battery tender. You hook a harness to your battery, then just plug in the clothing. The main line has a rocker switch you can turn on/off, and you can also get a thermostat if you want.
They are worth every penny if you're going to ride in the cold, and yes they are waterproof, so you won't get shocked in the rain.
Jim
I come from a dark and evil land (Beemer country) where if you want to hang you have to be able to ride in any weather. Last winter when I was riding to work WHILE IT WAS SNOWING for the SECOND DAY IN A ROW I had my heated gear on and was thinking I was da man when lo and behond, flying off of a RT50 ramp with his sidecar in the air, was a dude riding a K100 wearing (I sh*t you not) a full length duster, a short helmet, and a pair of goggles.
I was humbled.
That having been said, I have a Gerbing's electric "jacket liner" and a pair of their heavy electric gloves, which plug into the jacket. Many days when the temperature is only around freezing, I can just wear the gear without plugging it in because it insulates well all by itself (at least when I'm doing a half-hour commute). I actually got this gear when I had a BMW so it already had the standard "Euro" BMW breakaway-cigarette-lighter-like plugs. As a result it made sense to me to install a jack for this stuff on my 'Busa.
A company called Jastek makes a very well put together, weatherproof jack, wiring, and fuse combination that you wire into your battery and mount on your inner fairing (one of their "sportbike specific" kits). I drilled the 11/16" hole myself first but didn't realize I should've started from the back and scratched it up. I replaced the fairing piece for about $25 (it's the black, textured stuff, not painted) and had the shop do it on their press. The Jastek kit itself is about $30, and will probably outlive me.
The advantage of using a jack is that you can't get hung up on it -- the plug will (probably) pull free if you walk away from the bike and not knock the bike over, but it won't cause you grief in an accident in any case. Plus, it's more water tight than a standard cigarette lighter plug and jack combination.
From extensive testing (by other people) on an '02 SE 'Busa, two of these liners (77w each) may be supported by the charging system, without killing the battery, so long as you don't use your high beam. With just the rider, you can safely use a liner, the gloves (12w), and maybe even the Gerbing's pant liners with the high beams on. It's been my experience, however, that the most crucial bit to keep warm is the torso followed closely by the hands because there's no wind protection on the 'Busa -- the body's core will keep the rest warm if it is itself toasty.
If you do lots of really cold winter riding and end up in traffic a lot, incidentally, you should consider getting a voltmeter installed on your 'Busa to keep an eye on the battery -- it has a large alternator for a sport bike (550w, I think?), but it's still not suited for a very heavy load at low engine RPMs. In any case, I have ridden for five hours on a sub-freezing day with this rig and good socks and really only had to worry about deyhdration -- nice and comfortable, all over. Definitely good for extending the riding season.
Oh, and IF you do this strongly consider Gerbing's or the BMW brand gear -- it's not that expensive as gear goes -- the heated vests by Widder and some others really suck. Oh, ALMOST FORGOT -- another nice thing about installing the jack is that several brands of battery tenders come with "Euro"/BMW plugs, so hooking the bike up to AC after a trip or whatever takes just a "click".
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might have run if I saw him sooner but I couldn't see through the ice inside helmetSimilar threads
