Gerbing 12V EX Heated Jacket

For my winter jacket solution, at the beginning of the winter i bought a great Rev’It Horizon jacket, and a gerbing heated liner to go under it. I loved the combo. The only thing that bothered me was that they didn’t zip together. but still, it was great. The zipper on the Horizon broke. Revzilla helped me deal with Rev’It. Since they no longer made the jacket anymore, they offered to repair it, replace with a newer model Rev’it, or give me a store credit…

After some research, and realizing Rev’it didn’t have anything similar to the Horizon where the outer shell was waterproof on its own,  i ended up deciding to get a store credit. I put it towards Gerbings new motorcycle jacket. I believe its the first one they ever made. I had to spend $50 more to get the gerbing jacket, but i still have the liner that i no longer need. I should be able to sell it for around $200 which means this new solution actually costs less.

I like the jacket overall.

• It fits well
• the included liner zips in to the outer shell.
• The outer shell is waterproof on its own.
• It heats well.
• Its got a bunch of very useful pockets and small other features. I love the breast pockets. 
• The collars velcro off to the sides on nice days
• Cool enough to ride with just the shell in spring / fall. So far tested in 70 degree weather and was cool enough.
• Overall great price.

A few small gripes.

• The liner is hard to get back in to the jacket properly. The button snaps in the sleeves are hard to get to when trying to secure the liner in.
• The outer shells jacket extends over the riders hands, looping around thumb. I’m sure this is great in the cold winter, but its annoying so far. It makes it harder to get my gloves on. It makes it harder to get the jacket on. It makes the motorcycle grips feel wider which hurts me a bit. I wish they made them removable, or at least attached them to the liner instead of the shell. During spring or fall riding, i still have those hand covers attached and they are not needed. I end up tucking them back in to my jacket every time i wear it. I’m thinking of cutting them out, but I’m waiting until next winter to decide if they are worth keeping in or not.

I’m happy with it,  and it was a pleasure to ride on a beautiful spring day yesterday, and it kept me very warm on 30 degree days a few weeks back. I haven’t had it in extreme cold yet, but I’m sure it will keep me just as warm as the previous gerbings liner did for me through this winter.

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Cold winters day. Ready to ride.

Road to the city today in 25 degree weather. Coldest I’ve ridden so far. It was nice. Need wind guards for my grips. Stopped by BMW they will have them for me tomorrow.

Gerbing Controller Wiring

when i first got my gerbing liner last week, i quickly hooked it up to the battery so i could start using it. as i used it, i noticed having the controller in my jacket pocket got really annoying. too many wires going back and forth to the bike and not clean at all. i wanted to find a good way to wire it all together. here’s how i did it …

im not sure if what i did is really the right way to do it, but i think it works well. let me know in the comments if you think otherwise.

i took the battery lead that came with it and routed it down under the main black plastic covering (fake gas tank), and down under to the seat area.. ending up right in front of the tool kit.

i then connected the controllers input to the battery leads output, coiled it up, through a few zip ties on it and even added a little electrical tape around the connection point to make it a little safer. im sure heat shrink would have been better but i dont have any.

i placed the controller on the side of the bike below where the seat ends in a spot that my legs wont hit. not 100% sure about a passengers legs but i think it should be ok for them too. its in a place where i can easily reach it when riding just by feel and memory.

i then routed the output of the controller back in under the seat area, and forward towards the front of the bike so it would pop out where the front of the seat met the bike… right where the lead from my liner comes out.

i used scotch dual lock velcro to attach the controller to the bike. it did not like that surface at all. i believe thats the gas tank. ill need to find something better. maybe just really tough double side 3M tape. the controller came loose after an hour of use. i’ll have to revisit that later.

i threw the seat back on, tested out the positioning and it was great. i had enough slack so that i could ride normally and it would not pull out.

the original battery lead thats now tucked under the seat had a nice end cap to it. i could not slip it off, and i wanted to use it on my controller output by the seat since its going to be exposed to the elements when not in use. i ended up cutting it off and zip tying it in place on the controller output. it holds well, but the cap does not fit perfectly on top. it fits, but does not stay tight. i think that it should still be ok for when its parked, as i tuck it in the seat crevice with the cap on just enough.

let me know what you think, if you have any ideas, criticism, i would love to hear it.

EDIT: the velcro backing did not stick to the gas tank. i ended up getting this and it seems to be holding much stronger.

Visit to Revzilla Headquarters - Winter Gear

i finally got some heated gear!

i was looking for an excuse to get out to Phili so i could visit the Revzilla store. i’ve watched so many of their product videos but never bought anything from them. i knew being there in person id really get to try out a variety of products to see how they fit in person.

We happened to have a business service call 15 minutes from them today, and so i went and spent! they were great. bob helped me, and old jewish dude who only races these days. no casual riding. he’s 62 with a bit of a limp, and showed me some crazy photos of him on a race track. would never expect it from him just by looks. he helped me try on jackets, helmets etc and made great recommendations.

i’ve been researching heated gear, looking at gerbing mostly. i tried on the jacket liner under my current REV’IT Levante jacket. it fit ok, but seemed a bit much. with my Levante, i would need to have 2 liners on. the Gerbing, and the REV’IT waterproof liner. after all that i couldnt even zip my jacket up all the way up to my neck. to be clear, the outer jacket of the levante is not waterproof. its actually a very breathable summer layer. the liner it comes with is water proof and at the same time provides the warmth. but without that inner revit liner i would not be waterproof.

i decided to get a more dedicated winter jacket that would work well with the gerbing. i went with the REV’IT Horizon. the horizon has a waterproof exterior, meaning i dont need to use the liner that came with it. i can use the horizon on the outside and use the gerbing as the liner. fits perfectly and its more geared for the winter. the Levante will fall back as my summer only jacket.

Gerbing 12v Heated Jacket Liner

Gerbing 12v Portable Single Temp Controller

REV’IT Horizon Jacket

Rounding out the winter gear...

I wrote about my Initial Gear earlier this month, which mostly consisted of warm weather equipment. well its getting colder out, and im going on my first non work related day trip this sunday so i want to be prepared. being equipped with more rain / cold gear, along with my new side cases, i should be ready for anything.

my jacket was a 3 season that should hopefully last through the winter, but current gloves and helmet seem to not cut it in the cold. i also needed pants so i can protect myself in case of a fall, and stay dry in the rain. i went with rev’it gear once again. they make great stuff… im a fan. and again, all from union garage. here’s what i got:

rev’it enterprise trousers in black. they fit well, go over my day clothes, and are water proof. they are also padded at the knees and upper thighs. im not sure how they’ll do in the summer heat, but i wore them for a bit around town today. it was 75 out and it felt fine. more important though is rain and winter.

Next up, i got a pair of warmer gloves. My current rev’it gloves are great but are not meant for cold at all. i went for urban style gloves that arent too long, and are easy to get on and off. between those and my heated grips i should be ok. they are the rev’it carver gloves.

did i mention they work with iPhones, just like my other ones :)

the last thing i bought is for my neck. my current helmet is great, but again really geared for summer. the entire under chin area is wide open so it gets cold quickly. i bought a wind blocker for my neck. the rev’it karma windcollar. i should have bought a second helmet that is geared for the winter, but its not in the budget. this is a nice hold over.