NancysToy
Motorbike Professor
In response to Michigan's impending winter, Nancy bought herself a Gerbing heated jacket and gloves last weekend. My job was to make it all work. The Spyder presents some challenges there. First, be aware that there are two types of Gerbing jackets. The old ones had wires for hooking to the controller. These ran out of the jacket. The new jackets just have an outlet inside the lower left front. This means the wires from the power and controller must be lomger, or you will have to buy the Gerbing extention cords. Don't know the arrangement of other brands of heated gear.
There are several options with the heated gear. You can use either a portable controller (single or dual), or a fixed controller where you mount the control knobs to the vehicle. You can also use a switch, but I don't recommend it. We chose the portable, dual unit. The fixed controller wires are far too short to reach the jacket without extension cords. For the same reason, I was unable to mount the portable controller on the handlebars, as some folks do. As it is, the portable control unit itself will barely reach to the thigh with the newer jackets. Nancy expects to attach it to the thigh pocket on her riding pants. We bought the leather pouch to assist in this. Powerlet makes a controller with fairly short battery wires, but extended wires to the control knobs. This way you can mount the knobs on the dash, but have the power outlet under the seat. There appeared to be a possible clearance problem under the seat for the controller itself, however.
The next challenge is to wire the power cord. It is not overly long, either. A power harness and fuses come with each article of clothing. The harness is none too long, either. I figured I could run it straight off the battery, and (barely) reach the front of the seat. This is not a bad spot to attach to the controller. The end of the power cord ends up curled next to the gas cap, though, and I was not comfortable with this arrangement. I chose to run the harness to the auxilliary power bus I had mounted in the trunk, in front of the coolant tank. Just enough wire to reach. I wired it to the hot terminal, since it is already fused, and you are unlikely to remain attached when the Spyder is turned off. It could just as easily been wired to the ignition switched terminals on the auxilliary panel. BTW, Gerbing recommends hooking up or turning on after starting the bike, and disconnecting before you turn it off. Some computers will have problems otherwise. I tested it, and the Spyder didn't seem to care.
I ran the power cord out under the dash display, where the cables run. It can be neatly tucked out of sight when not in use. I did not attach to the cables, since they shorten in turns. I tie-wrapped the cord to the metal cable guide, instead. Between the power cord and the controller, there is just enough wire to reach to the jacket. The wire does lay on the bodywork, but is rubber coated, and shouldn't cause any scratches. As a last step, install the properly sized fuse, as per Gerbing's instructions. The whole thing took about an hour, including thinking about it. The smile on Nancy's face as she rides warm and cozy will be worth much more than that.
-Scotty
There are several options with the heated gear. You can use either a portable controller (single or dual), or a fixed controller where you mount the control knobs to the vehicle. You can also use a switch, but I don't recommend it. We chose the portable, dual unit. The fixed controller wires are far too short to reach the jacket without extension cords. For the same reason, I was unable to mount the portable controller on the handlebars, as some folks do. As it is, the portable control unit itself will barely reach to the thigh with the newer jackets. Nancy expects to attach it to the thigh pocket on her riding pants. We bought the leather pouch to assist in this. Powerlet makes a controller with fairly short battery wires, but extended wires to the control knobs. This way you can mount the knobs on the dash, but have the power outlet under the seat. There appeared to be a possible clearance problem under the seat for the controller itself, however.
The next challenge is to wire the power cord. It is not overly long, either. A power harness and fuses come with each article of clothing. The harness is none too long, either. I figured I could run it straight off the battery, and (barely) reach the front of the seat. This is not a bad spot to attach to the controller. The end of the power cord ends up curled next to the gas cap, though, and I was not comfortable with this arrangement. I chose to run the harness to the auxilliary power bus I had mounted in the trunk, in front of the coolant tank. Just enough wire to reach. I wired it to the hot terminal, since it is already fused, and you are unlikely to remain attached when the Spyder is turned off. It could just as easily been wired to the ignition switched terminals on the auxilliary panel. BTW, Gerbing recommends hooking up or turning on after starting the bike, and disconnecting before you turn it off. Some computers will have problems otherwise. I tested it, and the Spyder didn't seem to care.
I ran the power cord out under the dash display, where the cables run. It can be neatly tucked out of sight when not in use. I did not attach to the cables, since they shorten in turns. I tie-wrapped the cord to the metal cable guide, instead. Between the power cord and the controller, there is just enough wire to reach to the jacket. The wire does lay on the bodywork, but is rubber coated, and shouldn't cause any scratches. As a last step, install the properly sized fuse, as per Gerbing's instructions. The whole thing took about an hour, including thinking about it. The smile on Nancy's face as she rides warm and cozy will be worth much more than that.
-Scotty
