Heated gear power cords

[Mike0123]

Can I put the Gerbing plug leads directly to the battery on a 2021 RTL, like on my bike?
Thanks ... gotta keep the bride warm!

Mike

 

[JayBros]

I do not know any details of the 2021 wiring but directly to the battery is the only place I would put them on my '14 RT-S. I'll wager the '21 wiring is essentially the same as the '14.

 

[Mike0123]

Makes sense. Thank you

 

[Fatcycledaddy]

That is what I just did on the 2020.

 

[pegasus1300]

that is the only place Gerbing recommends

 

[2dogs]

Be sure and fuse your lead.

 

[bluewoo]

Back of the alternator is closer.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Back of the alternator is closer.
.....

Not trying to be picky here, but back in the day I was taught that connecting anything electrical besides the battery straight to the alternator risked destroying the alternator & maybe more if you blew up &/or shorted whatever you'd connected that way, potentially even if that connection was fused!! And I've certainly seen a few auto & 4WD alternators (& vehicles too!) destroyed that way!! :shocked:

By connecting relatively high demand devices like your heated suits to the battery via a fused connector instead, my understanding is that you should not only be protecting the alternator from damage, but just so long as your total load on the system isn't above the electrical system's peak capacity, you'll also very likely be 'ironing out' any potentially fuse blowing spikes in demand/supply as things get turned on &/or off & the electrical demands vary!! The battery effectively acts as a secondary fuse/circuit breaker (I reckon it IS generally cheaper & easier to replace a battery than it is an alternator! ) and it'll also act as a big 'shock absorber/spike leveller' for the entire electrical system.... but by connecting anything direct to the alternator, you risk feeding all the power fluctuations & any spikes directly back into the most critical component of your charging system!?! :gaah:

So maybe it'd be better to connect your heated suits either directly to the battery, or to an otherwise isolated & protected fuse block/circuit breaker that's connected directly to the battery specifically for your suits?! :dontknow:

Just sayin' :thumbup:

 

[bluewoo]

For me its safer not having a + cable anywhere around the steering system not much room. From experience I am confident that my set up would not cause an issue and hasnt for years. No way the heated gear would over amp that + battery cable or a spike would be any different from the same cable 2 feet away.
If your old enough the starter relay on the fender was the popular + tie point and now on all electric fork trucks/pallet jacks... you tie into the first point of the positive and negative and that's on the main control boards not the battery it self.

*I think the "connect directly to battery is a legal protection statement too not have us tie into a small gauge + wire like the 12v in the trunk of the 2019 and older models or anything else.

Its also just a jacket the boss wears and I agree if your going full heated everything the of course a separate power point makes sense.

No problems with a healthy conversation right:2thumbs:

 

[Usnretired]

Have one connected to battery 17 RTS. Jacket gloves insols. Works great. It doubles as my battery tender connection also.

 

[samewok]

Mine is to the battery

 

[Mike0123]

Thank you all!