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Review: Heated electric riding gear from exo2
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Ken Bingenheimer, the National Motorcycle Examiner, asked me about three weeks ago if I was interested in reviewing a set of electric gloves and heated vest from exo2 The Heat Inside. At the time, I'd just completed repairs on my 1996 Ural Sportsman due to a failed alternator (see link at end of article) and was looking at some cold riding ahead since the Ural did not come with heated grips.
So, the timing of the review was great and I readily agreed. I've always been a heated grips guy since both my Beemers had come with them. They're nice to have on those cold riding days and coupled with a cheap ATV-type grip cover, can extend one's riding in the cold greatly.
I got the stuff from Ken and it took me less than 10 minutes, with just a brief glance at the enclosed installation instructions to hook up the wiring harness comprising the heat controller and the wiring onto the Ural. Since I am running a Total Loss Electrical System, I hooked up said harness to my "spare" motorcycle battery so I would not drain the main battery while using the gear.
Since this was a review unit, I temporarily mounted it to my sidecar's windshield frame where I could easily reach it to adjust temperatures and turn it on/off. The controls are easily manipulated with the gloves on by the way. The LED is nice and bright and visible even in direct sunlight.
Here's Ken's great review of the gear with pictures, I can't do any better than he did in terms of a basic overall review. My review is of using this gear while riding a Ural Sidecar Rig, which as you might surmise, is a bit of a non-standard motorized conveyance!
Overall, this is very good heated gear! I rode in cold weather, with packed snow on the ground and temperatures as low as 17 degrees with no issues and warm digits when using the exo2 gloves. I plugged in the vest once and it was very nice and toasty around my core but it's so well insulated by itself that I rode afterwards without plugging the vest in and stayed warm on the Ural.
I ride with layers and couple that with the Ural's large fairing and leg protectors, the vest was warm enough by itself and my outer windproof insulated Tex-Mesh jacket liner. My outer riding gear is completed vented so it does nothing to keep the cold out. You have to use liners/layers and heated gear if you're going to be out for a long time.
The only niggle, and that's all it was, a niggle....is that the medium size gloves were just a hair too large for my fingers. My fingertips would sometimes slip when releasing the clutch handle resulting in a bit of a lurch forward on the Ural but that was the only issue I encountered. The gloves themselves are nicely insulated as well, have great armor protection on the outer layer and nice leather pads on the inside to help you hold the grips. They warm up pretty fast too once you turn on the controller!
Note, these are gauntleted gloves so you'll have to adjust your riding jackets sleeves to be able to slide into the gloves. I found it easiest, since you end up "wired" into the motorcycle, to take off the gloves completely when dismounting the vehicle for whatever reason. Hooking up the gloves can be cumbersome at times and there were times when I was getting off and on the bike several times to take pictures and such.
Once you reach your destination, you unplug the gloves, drape the wires on the handlebar or in my case, stow them under the sidecar's tarp, and you walk away.
A very nice set of heated gear and it is priced accordingly. As Ken mentions, a smart consumer shops around and if possible tries out other brands as well. However, if you can afford it, you do get a top-notch product from exo2.
Ken Bingenheimer's Review of this gear.
The manufacturer's website: exo2
Dealing with the Ural's failed alternator - the beginning
Ride Safe, Ride Aware
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