Anyone bought Heated Gloves ?

[J.P]

I was bored (as world stock markets collapse around me) and was flicking through a February copy of Bike. One of the pieces of kit they tested was a pair of heated Gering gloves.
Thinking ahead to the winter months and thought to ask if anyone had them or similar.

I get terribly cold fingers when the temperature drops but don't find really thick winter gloves any good, so I's like to keep my thiner summer gloves.

Or is heated grips just a lot easier ?

[spanish biker]

never tried either so dont know , how do the gloves work do you fill em with hot water like a bottle !!!!!!!!!!!!!:scratch:

[J.P]

I think you'll find you plug them into the battery and the wonder of electricity heats the gloves. Well, either that or it's magic.

[spanish biker]

well now i just feel plain stupid sorry.!!!!:flamed:

[J.P]

Don't suppose you need heated gloves much in Spain.

[HotT]

Hi there
I'm guessing you mean the Gerbings heated leather gloves - yes, I had some and they are absolutely superb ... much better than heated grips which warm your palms up, but leave the fronts of your fingers chilly, especially on a Ducati with no handlebar protection!
I found the gloves got quite hot - uncomfortably so at times - but you can buy a little thermostat to plug between the battery and gloves, either to fix permanently to the bike or (as mine was) just as a 'portable' device to tuck in your pocket. The only gripe I had was that the thermostat cost a bomb (fifty quid from memory, which is pretty steep considering the gloves are only about a hundred!)

There are cheaper alternatives - Klan / Gialli make cordura heated gloves, but I'd approach with caution - I had an off wearing a pair back in 2003 - wasn't going more than about 40mph, but the cordura gloves had insufficient protection on the knuckles and ripped through .... skinned knuckles really really hurt (wimper). They may be better now, but do take a good look before you purchase.

The only other option (for complete girly wimps like me) is to get a heated waistcoat / jacket type thing. I now wear one in preference to heated gloves - if you can keep your "core" temperature up, then there is less blood rushing back from your extremities (pinkies and toes) to protect all those vital organs, & your hands actually don't get so cold (or that's the theory!). Really really nice for those autumn days when it's sunny as you go out, but after dusk when you are riding home and it gets a bit chilly at speed.
AND if you wear a heated vest instead of gloves, you don't look like a small child wearing mittens on bits of elastic, threaded through the jacket arms (which is the effect of heated gloves!).

[Or, you could just get cold, ya big wuss!]

Remaining thing to think about - ask "where do the wires go" on whatever gloves / jacket you're looking at? In many glove systems, the recommendation is to feed the wires across your back / shoulders and one wire leads down each arm. The wire has to find it's way OUT of your leathers at the other end to connect to the battery ... think about how it's going to do that, practically. It's probably OK if you have a gap between jacket / trousers but perhaps not with one piece leathers, & I couldn't use my gloves (or the heated vest) in the rain because my "baby-gro" oversuit doesn't have any holes to feed the wires back through. I am rambling - does this make sense?

Apologies for the long reply - hope it helps you make a decision.

Suz [girly wuss and proud of it!]

[Gadget]

I had a pair of Fieldsheer gloves when I was a courier, way back in the late 80's, they where superb. The contacts where in the gloves and there where 2 plates on your grips. When you held the bars they completed the circuit. No dangling wires just a switch to turn them on and off on the handle bars. Very comfortable and controllable unlike the thin innner glove type that burnt the insides of my fingers when they over heated in the rain.

[J.P]

Great ideas, thanks both of you.

[yellowfever]

Sure these gloves are a good option especially for really stupid/brave (delete as appropriate) riding to things like the elephant rally in middle of German winter. But I've got some oxford heated grips fitted to my S2R and whilst it is true they do not heat the backs of your hands, I've found these more than adequate for year round UK riding. But then I'm originally from the north of england were people wear t-shirts in the middle of winter, so even after living many years in London I may not quite be a southern softy yet :). Seriously if the rest of your kit is decent (core temp stuff is really true) and you've got reasonable gloves you'll probably be fine and certainly a welcome improvement on no heating. And cheap - only 40 or 50 quid for oxford version, has adjustable temp switch which can mount quite neatly to flat top of standard indicators behind fairing using small cable ties. Also has advantage they are always on the bike and available to use and that you can use your normal gloves - so can get gloves based on good protection/feel rather than just 'cos they have heating elements... Just make sure you wire to ignition circuit so you can't accidentally leave them on and flatten your battery...

Anyway hope that gives you another useful option to consider...

Cheers

Dave

[Nickj]

Only day I didn't ride last winter was one day, my excuse was I couldn't get up the drive to the road. I got myself a pair of those lobster mitts, and some cold stopper liners.
LOL Freeze my ass off, fingers stay just this side of numb. I do keep my body warm as I can. Oh and I try to keep exposure time low so unless it's really pants out I'm not much slower.