New Synergy Heated Gear

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Joe
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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/pgroup_list/apparel/418_Tourmaster/

The prices seem reasonable and the separate controllers is pretty attractive..​
 
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They appear to have the same connectors as my Gerbings liner. If so, I'll bet I can use their gloves.

 

Blue STreak

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

Gene

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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 !!
 
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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?
 

Gene

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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.
 

Gene

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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
 
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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.
 
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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
 
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Joe
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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

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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.
 
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Joe
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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.
 
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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.
 
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Joe
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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

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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.
 
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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..
 
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