For a long time I’ve struggled with this winter riding question — heated gloves or grips?
Handwritten Notes
Heated gloves and grips were on my mind while sitting in a waiting room writing. I often start posts with notes, ideas corralled and collected for use later when I’m at a keyboard. On Sunday morning I conducted some research on heated gear.
Gerbing’s Electric Gloves
I’ve not tried my Gerbing electric gloves in over a year — dismissing them in favor of heated grips and Tucano Urbano muffs which keep the wind off my hands. The question of heated gloves or grips didn’t surface until my hands started freezing at 10F. Frustrated, I began looking at options and after some input from members of the ModernVespa.com site I decided to try the gloves again.
Off to Breakfast
A Sunday morning ride to Lock Haven for breakfast and a 37F temperature presented the opportunity to try the gloves despite being convinced they wouldn’t keep my hands warm. I was also convinced the generator on the Vespa couldn’t power the grips and the gloves simultaneously but some experts on the Modern Vespa forum informed me otherwise.
So I plugged them in and was pleasantly surprised that they were hot. Wired directly to the battery without a thermostat I had full power at my fingertips. Poor Paul, despite heavy gloves and heated grips on his Ducati was suffering loss of feeling in his thumb and fingertips.
Market House Restaurant, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania
By the time we finished the 45 mile breakfast leg of the ride Paul was frozen and I was sporting hot hands. So much so that I had a burn on my right hand — a small round burn that looked like someone put a cigarette out on me.
Still — hot hands! That was reason to celebrate despite the burn. I’ll track down that problem — perhaps a thermostat is in order. But I’m convinced now I can ride in some pretty cold temperatures again. Concern now has migrated from my hands to my feet. If I can get them warm I’m set.
Onward!
Oh, talk about your timely subjects…
As mentioned in another thread, I’ve kept my “extreme” cold riding to chore-running events, usually 10-15 minutes at a stretch. My regular riding gloves (Fulmer Sportysman) are pretty good down to about 45º F; below that I switch to Joe Rocket Sub-Zero gauntlets, which, contrary to their name, help me survive my short hops down to about 15-20º F. Don’t think I can survive longer jaunts in the saddle with these, but at $32 I won’t gripe too much. I did take interest in a pair of self-powered electrics Joe Rocket sells for about $130 the pair, but that’ll have to wait till next year.
Haven’t had any major issues with me feet so far: I’m wearing just-over-the-ankle Nunn-Bush boots I bought from Sears for about $70: comfy, water-resistant and apparently pretty well insulated. Currently looking at a pair of taller steel-toe boots Country Outfitters is hawking in an e-mail I got late yesterday, but for the life of me I couldn’t find them on their site! (The boots remind me a bit of the ones you inherited from your dad.)
And…I’m still marveling at the difference a full set of thermals make on my chilly rides.
I think every rider makes a personal decision regarding cold weather riding. Some evaluate every aspect carefully while others may just say, “It’s September — time to put the bike away until spring.”.
For me, the desire to ride, the need to ride, pushes me further than it might for someone who doesn’t have the same need. Or perhaps they address it differently. But once you make the decision to ride in the cold then all the details and schemes and techniques come into play. And forums and blogs have been an invaluable avenue of support for me. I seem to learn something new each time I raise a question and find so many people offering up their expertise.
The full set of thermals does make a huge difference!
The blessed answer to cold weather riding on a Vespa GTS, once you have muffs and heated grips, is a Tucano Urbano Termoscud lap apron.
It seals off the leg shield, trapping the hot air from the radiators, and keeps your lower body toasty warm.
It makes winter riding almost embarrassingly easy. With insulated riding pants, you could be complaining you’re too hot. Fortunately there are adjustable vents to alleviate that problem.
There’s a reason most of the Vespas (and even motorcycles) in Paris have them.
I love my Termoscud! Along with protection from the cold, here in rainy Western Washington it allows me to ride in the drizzle without having to pull on my rain pants.
What do you do with it when you park somewhere?
You aren’t the first person to point me to a Termoscud. They just seem so fussy to me and it was always my hands and feet that were the problem. But maybe I need to reconsider.
Do they have Termoscuds for Harleys?
Yay for the heated gloves allowing you to ride more in the cold….boo for the wires involved.
I read somewhere that in addition to a motorcycle endorsement on your drivers license you need to have some sort of mechanical or engineer certification to ride a URAL. Otherwise it may seem like a reasonable solution for cold weather. The Snap-on Tool dealer told me about the URAL system they sell to keep it running. Knowing how mechanically minded you have to be to pilot a URAL I’m surprised you’re fazed by wires!!??
Why yes, a willingness to do a lot of wrenching and troubleshooting is a desired certification for URAL ownership. As to wires …. hate them. I have found I forget to “unhook” when dismounting for a picture, or forget to hook up and have to stop….or best case, forget to unhook, and find yourself jerked back towards the motorcycle since the safety disconnect didn’t work. Good times.
I’ve walked off the Vespa “attached” — particularly if I run the wires inside my riding jacket. They are easy to forget.
A burn!?! You need a thermostat.
I love my heated grips. I got heated glove liners for Christmas, and a jacket liner, but have yet to try them out. Soon, I hope.
Yes, a thermostat or a check of the inside of the gloves. Or maybe some silk gloves to protect my baby soft skin.
Walmart – toe warmers, or just the regular chemical pack hand warmers. I used them when I rode to Daytona and back, along with hand warmer packs in my pant pockets over my thighs, Gerbing jacket and gloves.
I have a case of those now and stick them over my socks to both feet. They do the trick but after a few hours they start to lose their power. It will be cold this weekend. I’ll do some more on the road research.
People love talking about their winter wear for their motorcycles. I have a gloves “collection”. I still have my first pair of winter motorcycle gloves. The thick black leather ones with all the insulation and gauntlets. I have masking tape around a few fingers where they have split. You can’t operate the switches easily with them and you can’t hold on as well as with thin gloves or no gloves. I always like it when I spring comes and I can wear thin leather gloves. It always feels like a big jump in control.
Paul “Control Freak” Rubes
You probably wouldn’t like riding in big expedition mittens or trying to control turn signals with the Tucano Urbano mitts. You need to make big, deliberate motions with your hands to accomplish the task at hand. Even with the thin gloves.
I don’t have the control issues you do because I generally keep the speed below 90. I thought your name was Paul “Speed Freak” Rubes! 😉
I like the heated gloves instead of the heavy, insulated winter gloves for exactly the reason Paul Ruby mentions. Since they are heated, they are much thinner. Being thinner, you can not only feel the controls but you can feel the heat from your heated grips. With heavy winter gloves, the insulation is well insulating you from the heat from the grips.
I would recommend the temp controller as the wires in the Gerbing gloves get really hot and have gotten some minor burns from them when turned up. You may have noticed that there is no heat on the palm side so heated grips really are needed as well. Pretty nice way to incorporate today’s challenge.
I’ll check for a thermostat this weekend. I thought I had one but that might have been a dream.
Your thinking of gloves and grips is spot on. And with the hand grip muffs I keep the wind at bay. Should be toasty riding. I like toasty.
Having had both heated grips and heated gloves in times past, both are good, in their own way. Finally had what are called are now called Hippo Hands which fit over both the handle
grip and the various controls. You slip your hands inside, and ride.
In your case Steve, you’re now perhaps on some form of blood thinners hence your hands gets colder, sooner.
What cools the extremities is being in the wind itself, hence your friend Paul has a problem no gloves or grips will solve. Cut the exposure ot the winds and all will be warmer.
Heated gloves heat the back of the hand, rarely the palm and use umbilical cords.
Cords which can mess when getting on and off the Vespa.
Heated grips are nice too however they heat the inside of the fingers,
your outer fingers are still out in the breeze.
Ideally heated grips plus Hippo Hands seems to work best.
If you’re like me with enormous hands, the Hippo Hands works really well; and you can still manipulate the controls.
The Tucano Urbano mitts (muffs?) are exactly like the Hippo Hands. Only elegant in the way Italian design can be. And they help a lot.
The blood thinner must be doing something because I’m cold a lot more now. Whining is not far off.
I think when the temperature drops below 32F I will use the muffs, heated gloves and heated grips. Just need to get a thermostat. The wires, well, they’re just ugly and a pain. But no where near the pain of cold hands.
For the feet I am going to use the chemical packs a bit more aggressively. If that fails to do the work I’ll look into some battery powered socks.
Having heated gear turned on while running at higher RPMs is a lot different than running in stop-and-go traffic. You might want to install an inexpensive, waterproof LED voltmeter (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Motorcycle-LED-Digital-Panel-Display-Voltmeter-Waterproof-Measure-Monitor-/111912025026?hash=item1a0e79fbc2:g:q18AAOSwe7BWydF-&vxp=mtr) so you can monitor the charging output and turn off some electrical load if needed so that the battery stays charged.
That was why I was worried about running gloves and grips. Some experts advised me that I’ll be fine. And on short hops I don’t usually turn much on. And with the Vespa sipping on a battery tender all seems well. So far. If I were electrically inclined I might install the LED voltmeter. Perhaps my friend Paul, an electrical engineer, will do that for my birthday! Hah.
I have used heated grips and like their simplicity and warmth on rainy days Up North. Down here though these questions are academic. Mesh jacket and muffs on rainy days on longer trips.
Around here, the question is academic as well. I use all three and just add them as needed as the temperature drops. Heated grips, heated gloves and bar-end muffs all have their place and at times all needed at the same time.
The only time I have to deal with those sub-zero temperatures is when I’m in the ice cream freezer at the Berkey Creamery. I can’t ride my scooter there though.
Like Richard, you are on the far end of the curve living in the Keys. You do have alligators though…