Heated Suits

After serious study and deliberation (actually, after near freezing to death in a snowstorm in Utah), we decided to purchase Gerbing’s Heated Gear. This includes heated jacket liner, pants, gloves and socks. The Little Woman and I got it all, save the socks.
The product, originally designed for the military, plugs into a cigarette port on your bike, or they provide wiring and instructions to hook it to the battery.
We toddled (wow, an old person term. Maybe we jetted) off to Leather headquarters and looked the gear over. Theresa helped us with decisions like whether to buy the jackets or liners and helped with fitting, ordering a few items that they didn’t have in stock. She kept us apprised of our order, and in a few days she called with the news that everything arrived.
This time we brought the bike, so we could plug everything in and make sure it worked. This isn’t like buying clothes, no no. Because of the power, jackets must be plugged into pants, and gloves into jackets. A splitter with two thermostats allows one to adjust the upper and lower to different temperatures.
Here’s the rub. The myriad plugs, colors and options proved too daunting for Theresa, and Stephanie jumped in to help. Finally, we all felt it seemed correct. Toddle ( yes, toddle, with all that gear on!) off to the bike, and whoa! The cigarette lighter (I thought it was!) actually had female plugs similar to trailer lights, apparently to power intercom, radio, CD player, CB, and the garbage disposal. Hmm. The very expensive and high tech suit won’t power off the very expensive high tech bike! Stephanie assured me that the Honda dealer could provide the adapter to make that work. But wouldn’t Gerbing’s provide the adapter? After all, they want their suit to work off the biggest selling, most popular touring bike in the country, right?
Well, after dropping almost two grand on the suits, (way cheaper than your heating bill for a year- think about it), we brought them home in bags instead of wearing them.
So, not the best experience. I believe the girls are a little green on the Gerbing’s gear, and that’s okay. But it would have been nice to just plug it in like I expected. The heated suit saga continues. I have a feeling that they are going to be wonderful.
Later, it dawned on me and I said, “Darling, take a look at those bags. We just added two full bags of more stuff to carry around for a year.”
Oh my. The squeeze continues too.