O.K., so now it's a challenge to ride as far into the Fall/Winter as I can despite the bit of frost I saw on my car when I pulled the bike out this morning.
Then there was the smell of fireplaces and fallen leaves in the air on the way home from work tonight...
The insulated Gore-Tex H-D winter jacket I bought at the Sauk-Prairie H-D outlet store in Wisconsin a few weeks back is excellent, and I finally put the shorty helmet in the closet and dusted off the full-face cranium armor.
Biggest problem so far has been cold fingers. I considered the H-D Stealth heated grips, but after looking through some posts here I decided that wasn't the way to go.
I found this site called cozywinters.com and ordered a pair of Warm Gear heated gloves for $129.95. I added a $12 on-off toggle for convenience and a $5 SAE adapter that I'm hoping will plug right into the battery tender pigtail that's already on my Sporty (the pics look like it just might).
Compared to the price of H-D heated gloves, the C-W price seemed pretty good, the shipping was free, they say the heating elements are warranteed for 5 years, and they shipped the same day.
The plugs are also supposed to fit into other brands of heated gear as well.
I'll update this post on the overall vendor experience and what I think of the gloves once I get them, but so far the ordering process was smooth.
In the meantime, has anyone else ordered from them, or used anything made by 'Warm Gear'? Has anyone dared to use this SAE battery tender pigtail for any accessories?
Just curious.

 

Using the battery tender plug is fine. While I don't use/need a battery tender, I do use my heated gear plug to power a short corded cigarette lighter socket. I can put the socket in my saddlebag and charge my phone on the road. When, I get around to it, I'm also going to make a trouble light on a 6 ft or so wire that I can plug into the heated gear harness. I figure it would be good for road side repairs, store smaller than a flash light and do away with the need to worry about having fresh batteries in a flash light.

 

guitarenigma,

Sounds like you're headed for a great setup! DO keep us posted on whether or not you can plug into your Battery Tender pigtail to power them and how you like those gloves once you've got them wired.

 

You just made me realize how fortunate I am to be living here in the South...

No ice... snow...

Gloves a couple times during the winter months at most...

Good luck...

Charlie D.

 

Got to try the Warm Gear heated gloves from cozywinters.com for my commute home last night and again this morning. Toasty! What a difference having warm fingers on the controls makes. And these things get really warm; had to turn them off both times after about 30 mins. of riding.
I know I shouldn't do it without an inline fuse, but I plugged them right into the battery tender pigtail with an SAE connector and it's fine; although if I add any additional heated garments, I'll definitely wire in the fuse.
Also got a pair of Gore-Tex pants from Cabela's for $89.95. They're not insulated and are actually advertised as work rain gear, but they're made of a heavy nylon, do an excellent job of cutting the wind, and have zippered lower legs and several zippered pockets. And they're big enough to put more layers underneath than I'll probably ever need.
So far, so good. Now bring on the cold...

 

Man Im still trying to get used to riding in the 40's! I just got some chaps, Goretex riding gauntlet style gloves and a neck warmer. Next up is a windshield, so hopefully I wont have to actually store my bike for the winter but get some rides in over this Michigan winter. Sounds liket he heated gear is very nice, thanks for the heads up!

 

cool, been looking at the same thing myself. Wondered about the bat tender connection. Sounds like it will work for me as well.

 

I have a heated vest that I plug into my bike's factory plug in and I love it. The vest is crucial for keeping your core warm. The vest also comes in a long sleeved version too.

I also plug in a HD purchased trickle charger when I'm not riding. I've pulled the key out a couple of times on ACC and the battery went dead.

Good luck, and let us know about the heated gloves !

 

do the gloves run true to size? I wear large gloves.

 

GE Sounds great man. Now you've got me thinkin. I rode 75 miles with the Teutles at OCC this weekend and while it was a great experience it was rough on the hands. The posted temp was 35F and the wind was 10-20mph. I bought a Balaclava and some skiers/climbers under garments which worked amazingly well. I also bought polar fleece glove liners for my gauntlets but my hands suffered horribly. My throttle hand felt like a solid block of ice by the time we were done. I think I am going to give the heated gloves a shot. The rest of me felt great, but the hands made the ride tough to take. Thanks for the inspiration.

~Andy