New Synergy Heated Gear [Archive] - ST-Owners.com Forums

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Mellow

10-19-2007, 06:31 AM

Just got email from wingstuff and they are carrying this new gear by Tourmaster.

I've never seen this stuff before so I have no info other than this notice so if someone has some experience just chime in.

http://www.wingstuff.com/images//store1/pgroups/20110_image4.jpg

http://www.wingstuff.com/images//store1/pgroups/20164_image1.gif

http://www.wingstuff.com/pgroup_list/apparel/418_Tourmaster/

The prices seem reasonable and the separate controllers is pretty attractive..

Papa Bear

10-19-2007, 02:12 PM

Thanks for posting this Joe, it looks like good stuff!:yes:

Pete

UNTMatt

10-19-2007, 08:48 PM

From Tourmasters website:

Synergy Electric Jacket Liner
Tour Master Synergy™ apparel is designed to operate from a vehicle’s standard 12-volt electrical system to provide unmatched levels of warmth and comfort. With Synergy™ apparel, wearers can be warm without the bulk and discomfort typically caused by excessive layers of clothing. By providing increased warmth and mobility in cold temperatures, Synergy™ apparel helps reduce fatigue while increasing safety and enjoyment.

Each Synergy™ garment is heated by a series of durable carbon fiber heating elements, which generate safe, electronically controlled infrared heat. In addition to safe and even heating, carbon fiber elements are lightweight, flexible and safe to operate in wet conditions. It is carbon fiber’s light weight and flexibility that allows Synergy™ garments to fit comfortably under protective riding apparel.

Looks interesting...I like the heat controllers but TM's website doesn't go into how the units tie into each other. Also, those gloves suffer from what most other heated gloves suffer from, bulk. I'm looking at the Gerbing G3's (http://www.gerbing.com/heat/glovesg3.html) as they seem to be thinner than most.

kurt1305

10-20-2007, 07:18 AM

They appear to have the same connectors as my Gerbings liner. If so, I'll bet I can use their gloves.

http://www.wingstuff.com/images//store1/pgroups/20165_image3.jpg

Blue STreak

10-20-2007, 12:04 PM

I don't know about the controllers. I guess on a bike with no place to mount something they might make sense, but having to reach over with my left hand to adjust the controller on the right seems inconvenient, at best, unsafe at worst.

I prefer mounting the heatroller to the bike, where it's easily reached with the left hand. But at least Tourmaster's thinking about the issue.

kinzer1

10-20-2007, 12:53 PM

Anxious to hear replies from someone who has used this product. Interesting to see how it compares to Gerbing or Widder.

gene

10-23-2007, 10:55 AM

I just ordered a pair of jackets for Lisa and I for $319 so I'll let you know how they work later . With all the controllers and hook ups included I saved about $200 on the pair !!

kinzer1

10-23-2007, 09:09 PM

I just ordered a pair of jackets for Lisa and I for $319 so I'll let you know how they work later . With all the controllers and hook ups included I saved about $200 on the pair !!

Mind if I ask where did you order it from?

Mellow

10-24-2007, 06:45 AM

Mind if I ask where did you order it from?

I'm assuming gene used www.wingstuff.com, there's a link in the first post directly to the page w/gear.

gene

10-24-2007, 07:39 AM

Yep ordered from Wingstuff, the only thing is I called and they don't have ours sizes in stock but they are on order from Tourmaster and expected in the next 3 weeks. But at the discounted price and free shipping the wait is ok. They do have the vest in stock in all sizes.

kinzer1

10-24-2007, 08:05 AM

Thanks for info. You'll get it just in time for cool weather. Let us know how it works.

gene

10-25-2007, 04:06 PM

I'm still trying to find out how many watts these things pull ? I might have to turn a few lights off when using them :D

BlueFizzy

11-05-2007, 08:15 PM

Power consuption break-down from .pdf:

Item - Watts - Amps
Jacket - 76 - 6.7
Vest --- 52 - 4.5
Chaps - 43 - 3.8
Gloves - 24 - 2.1

I just bought the Tourmaster heated jacket liner last week. I went out twice so far. It was about 35 to 39 degrees and sunny. I was using the medium setting on the freeway at about 70-75, in town I had to turn it down to low. My arms and body were very warm and the liner fit under my regular jacket with no binding or bunching.

The liner was easy to hook up to my battery and comes with a quick connect cord about 18 inches long. The controller has a clip on the back that is designed to fit on top of your thigh with an included strap. I think this is a well designed product and definately worth the price.

jdsd-tourteam

11-09-2007, 07:59 AM

I purchased both the Tour Master Synergy jacket (liner) and the gloves at the local Honda dealer yesterday. With the Honda Rider's discount, it came out to be the exact same price as what you may see at online motorcycle accessory stores. I completely agree with BlueFizzy's comments (above).

Here are some comments of my own so far:

These products seem to be a "hot" item (sorry...) right now and are flying off the dealer shelves! I got the last jacket they had and I was fortunate it was the correct size. The Honda dealer did have multiple sizes in the gloves.

The folks at the Honda dealer were very helpful when I looked at the heated clothing. They went out of their way to hook the jacket up on one of the salesman's Goldwing. However, we did not see an "on" indicator light, so we then hooked it up to a cycle battery and all was well. I did not feel heat pouring out of the jacket or gloves but they felt "warm". I used to have a heated vest (back in the mid-90's) and the wire elements in that vest felt warm right away. The Synergy products use "carbon fiber" heating elements and the heating effects seem different than garments using wires. (A little more on that later.)

Each item comes with it's own power cord. You need just one (per person) on a bike. Since I got both the jacket and gloves, I have two cords - so one is either a backup or can be used on a second bike. If my wife gets a jacket, that jacket will also include a power cord too. I like having spares! The power cords have a fuse with a weather protect cap. One of the two power cords fuse appears defective in that it does not stay snapped on and protect the fuse. I can tape it but it gives me that nagging thought in the back of my mind of what else is defective or "cheap". There is a dust cap on the garment side connector. That cap seems like it's designed adequately but the manufactured dimensions seem off a little and it does not seem to attach firmly to the connector. Both cords seem to have the same caps. Minor annoyance, but there is seems to be a lack of attention to detail is places.

Each garment includes its own weatherproof temp controller - which is very nice. Both the glove and jacket controller electronic "package" seems identical - but the wires coming out of them are very different between the jacket and gloves. (I would guess the controller that comes with the pants has a different set of wires coming out?)

Note that like most (if not all) of Tour Master's products, these two items are made in China. My wife and I have Tour Master jackets (mine is a Transition) and pants and have put over 7,000 miles on them this year alone. I like them very much and they are also made in China. I feel they are fairly well made and an excellent value. Time will tell if the Synergy products are similar.

I would like to see a longer power cord. On my ST1100, about the only way to exit the power cord from the battery is either through the left side panel bodywork opening for the center stand hand lever (what I did), or between the top of the body work and the bottom of the seat. I suppose one could drill a hole or slot but I was not into that. If the cord was longer, I would entertain feeding up and into the left fairing pocket (would need a hole in there). In this way, it is "forward" accessible and can conveniently hidden when not in use. My current configuration allows me to just tuck the wire between the left side panel and left pannier when parked. If I want to ride without heating, I can pop off the seat and run the cord back towards the tail section.

I would also like the cords coming out of the sleeves (to connect up to the gloves) to be a little longer as well. I can just barely hold on to the glove connector with my hand as I slip my arm into my outer jacket while wearing the electric jacket liner. If I don't hold on to the connector, it is pushed up my forearm and is very difficult to fish out to then connect them to the gloves. On the positive, the ends of the liner sleeve have zippered openings so that you can tuck unused glove connectors into a zippered opening.

Hooking it all up seems very straight forward. All clothing connections are color-coded. (BTW - The connectors from a friend's Harley-Davidson's electric gloves are the same as the Synergy glove connectors so he is thinking of getting the Synergy jacket and using it with his HD gloves.) When attaching the gloves to the jacket, the controller in the (right) glove is not used and is completely removed. The controller on the jacket (rated at 150 watts total) then controls everything. Even though I had an electric vest years ago, it feels a little weird having to connect wires to me before a ride. I already have a wireless Bluetooth helmet system that allows me to talk to my passenger as well as hear voice commands on the GPS and do phone calls. I choose Bluetooth because it's wireless. Now I'm back to wearing a wire and I will need to get used to hooking myself up for cold weather rides.

The manufacturer states that the jacket should be "form fitting" over just a single layer of clothes for best heat transfer to your body. I like wearing at least a long sleeve T-shirt under my protective gear and I wear a size 40 sport's jacket and the medium (MD) size Synergy jacket - cut for a 40 relaxed abdomen - seems correct. I plan to wear a regular T-shirt and a long-sleeve dress shirt under the jacket when I commute to work and this arrangement seems to fit fine. The sides of the jacket have a wide elastic panel to make the jacket form fitted without bulk. The collar is heated and the jacket has two small hand pockets. If you don't mind having some wires and connectors dangling out from the lower left front of the jacket, you can wear the jacket by itself. The controller connector has a screw ring type safety connector. I am not sure how durable that connector is to repeated removal and attachments. For now, I'll just keep it always connected.

I just got the Synergy clothing yesterday and hooked it all up last night and went on a quick ride. The heat seems much more even than with wire-heated clothing and maybe that is why it does not seem "hot" - the heat is spread out and not localized over hot wires. I am not sure if carbon heaters are more energy efficient than wire. They both convert electrical energy into heat energy and I have not verified manufacture claims of current use and surface temperature. On the ride, my abdomen seemed "warm" when on the middle setting and it was in the low 30's (F). I had the visor of my full-face helmet cracked open a bit and could feel the cold air on my face. It was refreshing with the rest of me being warm and toasty. The right glove seemed to get warm quicker than the left glove. Maybe my hands are differently calibrated! Eventually, both hands seemed about equally warm.

The folks at Honda suggested I remove the zip-out liner in my Tour Master jacket when I wear the electric liner. I might, I might not. I have not decided which way I want to go on that and experimentation is in order. I think it would be nice if the jacket liner could zip (and snap) into the outer Tour Master jacket in place of the regular liner but this cannot be done as the zippers (and dimensions) between the standard non-electric liner and the Synergy liner are very different. Yet if it could be done, I would just have to hold on to the glove connecters once when inserting the heated liner into the outer jacket, zip and snap it all in place and then I could remove and put on the heated liner-protective outer jacket "system" without much fuss.

Jon

Mellow

11-09-2007, 08:10 AM

Thanks Jon, good info... I'd like to know more about the carbon heating elements, I haven't heard anything about that 'til now.

dparker182

11-09-2007, 08:13 AM

On wingstuff.com they have a chart comparing the watts, amps & temps of the synergy vs the gerbing. The gerbing values are incorrect on the amps & watts. The synergy temp says it get 165 degrees vs the gerbing 135. The 165 seems to high to me. The synergy & gerbing pull about the same amps & watts.

Mellow

11-09-2007, 08:25 AM

E the B

11-09-2007, 08:28 AM

Mellow

11-09-2007, 08:33 AM

On the ST, with your arms exposed to wind, get the jacket liner. I had a widder vest originally before I had an ST and on the Wing it was fine but on the ST I'd say go with arm coverage.

Not sure about the gloves. I've only used mine a couple times between the ST and the Wing and both had heated grips.. if you have a long ride you want to do in cold weather then yes, the gloves are great but if you are just commuting I'd say the heated grips and some winter gloves w/glove liner are good enough... I am in TX by the way so what little I know about cold is just that... a little.

dduelin

11-09-2007, 08:33 AM

The Gerbing G3's are very pliant (is that a word?). I never tried the Classics so I can't compare but the G3's are comparable to a pair of light Olympic gloves I have.

Mellow

11-09-2007, 08:39 AM

The Gerbing G3's are very pliant (is that a word?). I never tried the Classics so I can't compare but the G3's are comparable to a pair of light Olympic gloves I have.

Yeah, I'd rather pay 125 for the synergy than the 169 for the G3s but since everything I already have is Gerbing, I'd have to get all the other stuff as well or power it separately which is inconvenient. Hey... Christmas is coming isn't it.. he he he..

E the B

11-09-2007, 11:02 AM

I ordered the jacket, pants and gloves today from wingstuff.com. Everything is on back-order and they expect delivery in about three weeks. Act early if you're thinking about these for a Christmas gift.

jdsd-tourteam

11-09-2007, 11:40 AM

What were the gloves like? Stiff or did they have more of a broken in feel?

My Gerbing gloves are stiff... some Widder gloves I had a few years ago felt like I'd had them for years as soon as they arrived.

The gloves are made from goatskin and I like the feel of them - they are not stiff. They seem relatively supple and fairly well made.

Jon

jdsd-tourteam

11-09-2007, 11:45 AM

I'm in the market for my first set of heated gear, so I think I'll give these a try. First, I need your thoughts on a couple of questions:
- Heated vest or heated jacket? Pros and cons, please.
- Do I need heated gloves if I have heated grips?
Please advise.

I second what Mellow said:

If you have heated grips already, you probably do not need the heated gloves. You could always add them later if need be.

I found that my shoulders/upper arms and hands would be the first to get "cold" on the ST11, so I went the extra $$ for the jacket liner.

Jon

kingprawnokay

11-09-2007, 12:00 PM

Viggo

11-09-2007, 12:05 PM

I'm in the market for my first set of heated gear, so I think I'll give these a try. First, I need your thoughts on a couple of questions:
- Heated vest or heated jacket? Pros and cons, please.
- Do I need heated gloves if I have heated grips?
Please advise.

As Mellow said, I would recommend the jacket liner rather than just a vest. My arms get cold in the bicep area where they get the most wind blast.

Heated grips only heat your palms. Heated gloves heat the tops of your hands and your fingers. Most folks I know recommend having both.

jdsd-tourteam

11-09-2007, 12:07 PM

Thanks for the reviews. This product seems to have become popular quickly.

The dealer in Lompoc has this gear in stock. I'm trying to move to wearing my Joe Rocket 990 jacket year-round. It's silly but I don't feel safe on the bike anymore unless I'm wearing tight ceramic infused 1.2+mm leather. The vest liner looks compact. The jacket liner doesn't look like it will fit in a snug jacket.

I would say if you can fit a thick sweatshirt (no hood) under your Rocket jacket, the Synergy liner would probably work fine. If that would be tight in the shoulder / arms, perhaps just the heated vest version.

I found that the jacket is not bulky at all - much less than a thick sweatshirt. Probably because the liner is "form fitting" and a sweatshirt usually is not.

Jon

kingprawnokay

11-09-2007, 12:32 PM

Thanks.

I'll give both a try today if possible (saw the vest but not certain that they have the jacket liner).

Trekker

11-10-2007, 11:09 AM

Mellow

11-10-2007, 12:11 PM

Jon & all, Great info here. Thanks for reporting. These look very interesting to me. I'm a bit surprised Tourmaster did not design these to zip into existing jackets like the liners (unless I read this wrong). That would make these so much easier to use.

Actually, you can look at that from the other side, you don't have to have a TM jacket so odds are, they'd sell more that way.

Trekker

11-10-2007, 12:22 PM

Actually, you can look at that from the other side, you don't have to have a TM jacket so odds are, they'd sell more that way.

Good thinking Joe. Always consider the marketing angle! :D Your right of course. I assume different mfgs. of jackets are set up differently for the liners that zip in.

Putt

11-21-2007, 05:21 PM

Bump..

User feedback on the synergy gear??

Putt...

Mellow

11-21-2007, 05:26 PM

Bump..

User feedback on the synergy gear??

Putt...

I get the impression, you're starting to get exited about your new bike.. LOL:coolit:

clmixon

11-21-2007, 05:32 PM

Putt,

Webbikeworld has a favorable review of the vest and an unfavorable review of the gloves. http://www.webbikeworld.com

These guys are very hard on heated stuff, often attributed to weak electrical power on their review bikes.

I like what I hear, but my hands and arms are where I take a beating in the cold so I am gonna wait for some "other" reviews before i take this as gospel.

It may be cheaper than Gerbing and come with its controller included but I never hear that Gerbing did not keep someone warm. On top of that, can't mix and match like you can with some of the others like Warm and Safe.

Cold gear is hard for me to consider unless I ride north of I-30 most of the time....

I want heated gear, especially after Moonshine last year, but I want to get it right, I can;t afford to cheap out And have to invest twice.

Chris :06biker:

Putt

11-21-2007, 06:51 PM

Putt

11-21-2007, 06:52 PM

I get the impression, you're starting to get exited about your new bike.. LOL:coolit:

Actually, the gear would mainly be for the wife... I can stay warm behind
the windshield, but it gets a little drafty riding pillion...

Putt....

bradf

12-05-2007, 10:45 AM

I am about to buy some Tour Master Synergy heated liners and the ST1300 Dual Rear Powerlet Kit. I need a way to connect the liners to the powerlet plugs instead of the wiring harness supplied with the liners.

My impression is that the Synergy liners use a coaxial connector to their wiring harness, but I have not been able to confirm that. Powerlet offers the Liner Power Cable - PPC-005 (pictured below) that looks like the same connector used on the liner wiring harness. Can someone with the Synergy liner confirm this info please. I'm hoping that this setup will work.

http://www.bctf1.com/images/test/cable.jpg

E the B

12-05-2007, 11:57 AM

bradf

12-05-2007, 01:45 PM

My Synergy pants, jacket and gloves arrived yesterday, but it will be several days before I can put them to the test. The Powerlet setup above looks correct. I'm going to look for that connection locally first. Where did you get it?

I got the image from the Powerlet web site http://www.powerletproducts.com/products/power_cables.php

Putt

01-08-2008, 08:31 PM

Bump...
What is the prognosis??? Anyone have any first hand reports on
the Synergy Gear???

Putt..

thumperjdm

01-08-2008, 09:15 PM

I bought the gloves and jacket from Wingstuff, but the jacket is still on backorder.

Like others have said, the gloves are very supple from the start, and they're going to be my new winter gloves, whether I use the heat or not.

When using the gloves only, you're supposed to run the wires through your sleeves and down your chest, exiting your jacket bottom. Unfortunately, this doesn't work with a one-piece Aerostitch. So instead, I just ran the wires outside, and sat on the wires when on the bike, snugging up any excess underneath me. It worked in a pinch, and I didn't have to fish wires through my sleeves.

The warmth is great for the fingers (the elements are on the tops), but I wish the elements for the thumbs were moved to the front inside, because that's the part that's in the wind while holding onto a handlebar.

I'm very happy with the gloves, and anticipating the jacket.

ST-Brian

01-08-2008, 10:07 PM

I bought the gloves and jacket from Wingstuff, but the jacket is still on backorder.

Like others have said, the gloves are very supple from the start, and they're going to be my new winter gloves, whether I use the heat or not.

The warmth is great for the fingers (the elements are on the tops), but I wish the elements for the thumbs were moved to the front inside, because that's the part that's in the wind while holding onto a handlebar.

I'm very happy with the gloves, and anticipating the jacket.

Any thoughts on the how well the gloves will handle wet weather?

Road Dust

01-09-2008, 06:26 PM

I tried out the jacket liner and gloves last week. The temperature was between 38 and 42.

The jacket liner was almost too warm to use on low. However, to keep my hands warm I still had to use the heated grips. The gloves did help to keep the top of my hands warmer but they produced very little heat, especially compared to the jacket liner.

I am going to try using the Y connector next time and run the liner and gloves on their own separate thermostat so I can have the liner on low and the gloves on high.

When using the gloves separately, you have to remove the thermostat and replace it every time you take off and put on the gloves. Not a big deal, but it just seems that it could have been designed so that you could do a plug and play.

The connectors are very bulky and at first seem a little uncomfortable. However, after riding a few minutes I did not notice them being there.

All in all, I am very pleased with the jacket liner, but I found the gloves ability to produce heat to be very disappointing. Other than the heating factor, I thought the gloves were very acceptable.

Putt

01-09-2008, 06:42 PM

Thanks guys, keep the reports coming... My local STealer is "suppose" to get one of the jackets in pretty soon (XL) I want to see how the sizes run before I commit..

Putt...

thumperjdm

01-09-2008, 08:01 PM

Any thoughts on the how well the gloves will handle wet weather?

There's a nylon storm flap inside, with a draw-string, so I'm guessing they should do o.k. (although I haven't yet tested that theory).

sagedrifter

01-13-2008, 07:52 PM

What were the gloves like? Stiff or did they have more of a broken in feel?

My Gerbing gloves are stiff... some Widder gloves I had a few years ago felt like I'd had them for years as soon as they arrived.

I really like how the gloves fit. Right out of the box they were almost perfect for my big hands. I've got around 1,000 miles on my size 11 gloves and I like them much better than my Held Ice Breakers. I can still feel the controls and they flex very well. The Bad Part: They are not very good when it gets well below freezing. I rode down to 20 degrees on a DR650 with the gloves and they did keep my hands "warm" on the high setting, when it hit the teens my fingers were a bit cool.

The jacket liner is very warm and it kept up fine on the mid setting. On high at 20 degrees while snowing and with winds hitting 30 mph, the jacket was hot on high with a First Gear Killi 4.0 and a flannel shirt. I was riding my DR650over the mountains on TN Hwy 143, elevation was around 5K to 6K feet.

I'm very happy with the gear so far. I wish the gloves were a bit warmer for temps down in the teens or lower. They are water proof, above 40 degrees in the rain the low setting is plenty for me. It took the teens on my dual sport to get my fingers cool, I did not use glove liners.

I just put the power cord on the ST1100 as mentioned above, the center stand handle seems like a winner. I tuck it under the seat when its not in use.

sagedrifter

01-13-2008, 07:57 PM

Thanks guys, keep the reports coming... My local STealer is "suppose" to get one of the jackets in pretty soon (XL) I want to see how the sizes run before I commit..

Putt...

They run a bit small to me, I wear 2XL jackets and I needed the 3XL jacket liner. Inside it says 50", I think the 2XL was 48", XL was 46" etc...

UNTMatt

01-13-2008, 08:47 PM

I tried on the Synergy gear and two things killed it for me.

First, I didn't like the controller setup.

Second, the gloves were a horrible fit for me. The XL was too small in the left hand and perfect on the right. Move up one size to the 2XL and the left was perfect but now the right was pinching between the fingers. I wore the pair around the shop for a long while just to see if it felt like giving any at all. It didn't which made me wonder if their quality control was suffering at the price of keeping the cost down.

All in all, I decided the cost of the gear was far too much for me to drop $$ on only to find it wouldn't work for me. Even though it was less than the Gerbing, the negatives, to me, far outweighed the cost difference.