I'm looking at getting the First Gear 90w heated jacket. I can't take not riding in this PA weather. :icon_confused:
see gerbings thread above, it uses 7 watts and thats self contained battery.
I have the feeling 90W is pushing it on the GS. That's why I've been looking at Gerbing's jacket liner (77W, $200) or Gerbing's vest for even less power (54W, $140). Still not sure if a vest (sleeveless) is good enough w/ less bulk, or if I would regret not getting the jacket liner (w/ heated sleeves).
The answer is no, the GS pushes out around 200W max which is barely enough to meet full load and keep the battery charged. You might get away with 10-20W extra but not 90W.
I have Firstgear 65W jacket ,Gerbings gloves and have made rides lasting 1 hr without draining the battery completely .I make sure to recharge the battery with a battery tender after rides.
Just make sure you buy the jacket one size smaller than your actual size cause I bought my actual size and is not very effective in keeping me warm,guess a near snug fit will work better.
I think the self contained battery powered vest is better as they are micro-wire type heating element and not old copper wire based as in Firstgear and definitely jacket is lot better than vest.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=50758.0
Manoj
None of this can be good for the load on the electrical system; then again, I don't use that stuff considering I live in GA. Ha!
There are things you can do to reduce the power drain, depending on your technical level, and what you're wanting to spend. Still though, running a 90W jacket liner is most likely too much. Warmnsafe makes those vests and jacket liners for Firstgear and Powerlet. I've got one of the WnS 65W jacket liner and while I can run it a little while, it's really more power than my bike's electrical system can spare and keep the battery charging, at least until I do some more electrical upgrades.
You might want to look a 35-55W vest (Widder's vests are 35-40W and Powerlet have some that are 55W) instead as that would be easier on the electrical system. I've got a 35W heated vest made by Widder - it works pretty good, even though they've since closed their doors you can still find them for sale in different places.
Tony
does anyone know what the cdi consumes?
I might look more into a lower powered liner. I don't really want to go with the vest. I plan on riding again, the second there is no snow on the ground, so I want to be warm.