We were discussing heated liners for motorcycling. The heated jackets made by Gerbings are for snowmobile riding. They have no abrasion protection or armour unlike motorcycle jackets.

 

Years ago, Gerbing made a set of outer gear (coat and pants) that were heated and expensive but worked great. That all stopped when the company was sold and hasn't restarted as far as I know. Gordon's heated only makes the jacket liner, deerskin gloves, and a button type dual controller...That's all...but the quality is great.

 

Thing is, with heated gear, you really want the heat to be well distributed, and very close to your skin. So basically, heated outer gear sucks (i.e. heated glove liners are better than heated gauntlets) . Oh yeah - and you also need a good adjustable controller that is easily accessible.

 

I have a Tourmaster jacket liner and gloves. They've worked great for the 4 years I've had them.

 

 

Gordon's Heated Gear (gordonsheated.com) is great gear and 100% American Made for those who care. Their service is outstanding. Gordon Gerbing just passed away. Some of his family will continue to run the business. Here is a bit of history from his obituary.

After teaching junior high Math during the week and ministering on Sundays, he started a small machine stop business in Maple Valley, WA, about 25 miles south of Seattle. In the mid-1970's, he noticed in Winter his motorcycle riding employees arriving for work shivering and needing to take some minutes to first warm their hands before beginning work. Dad never rode a motorcycle, but he figured there must be some way to keep these guys warm. His first idea was to tap into the exhaust with a hose wrapped around the rider. Well, that did not work. After one night noticing our mother Marilyn's electric blanket, the next day Mom no longer had wires in her blanket. The heated jacket liner for motorcyclists was created. And so was Gerbing's Heated Clothing and the industry of heated clothing for motorcyclists that followed.

The idea caught on slowly, particularly since many bikes of that era had an under powered electrical system. Gordon had no money to start a business, supporting a family of 7 on not much of an income. But he could advertise the best way, to meet his new customers in person at many motorcycle rallies, especially throughout the summer. He attended as many rallies as he could, at first sleeping in his car and loading up on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before he left home. What he enjoyed most was showing how comfortable people could be, introducing the concept of heated clothing to his soon to be appreciative audience. He made many friends through those early years of the 80's and 90's, and enjoyed much for what was becoming his life endeavor.

In 2000 a great opportunity arose. He was invited to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to present his products to Harley-Davidson, with the likelihood of his heated jacket liner and heated gloves becoming official H-D products. The meeting was a success. Enjoying his newfound possibilities for growth and market-wide acceptance of heated clothing, on the flight back to Seattle tragedy struck. Dad suffered a stroke that almost took his life. As now a former minister, with no formal business training, and someone who basically enjoyed meeting people, talking and showing them how to be warm, he was not the kind of person who pursued the legal intricacies of his business. The result is that after his near-death, he lost his company. Still named Gerbing's Heated Clothing, there was only one Gerbing son left in the business as the rest were terminated. Dad no longer had any connection to Gerbing's Heated Clothing. In 2011 the company was sold and the dream of Gerbing's Heated Clothing vanished completely, with no original employees now left.

The good news is that Dad worked hard, as he always did, and achieved a remarkable recovery. By 2013 he, and two of his sons and daugher-in-law, were ready to once again move forward, to continue the profession that they loved and missed so much. That was the beginning of Gordon's Heated Clothing. After starting from nowhere, then growing Gerbing's Heated Clothing to a multi-million dollar business, and then losing everything, not even retaining a pension, Dad once again started a small, family business. Dad insisted that everything we ever sold would be made in the USA, the only heated clothing company to exclusively support USA manufacturing jobs and USA quality across the product line. We joked with Dad that he is one of the few people to have one business named after his last name and then another business that took his first name.

 

 

Well maybe not Gerbing but I picked up an abrasion resistant (12% Aramid), armored jacket by Gyde supply powered by Gerbing from Revzilla last yr on sale for 200 bucks. The liner is removable and insuated and the shell seems to me to be a adventure jacket type shell-it even has upper arm sleeve adjusters. Not a bad jacket except for some goofy bottom pocket flaps. Supposed to have some 30 temps starting this week in AM and I just dragged it back out. I have never ridden on a snowmobile.

 

I didn't read all the replies, so apologies if this is a repeat. As a Canadian, who wants to extend my riding season as much as possible, I have Gerbing's heated gloves and jfull acket liner. I wear an Under Armour Cold Gear compression shirt (long sleeve) under the jacket liner, and Under Armour Extreme Leggings (super duper long johns). This goes under Fox Creek Leather full leather over pants, and a Classic 1 Jacket with liner. I also put a neoprene mask on my face, and have Heat Holders socks in my boots. I also have Heat Demons heated grips. With this, I am good to well under freezing temps. As long as there isn't snow or ice on the ground, I ride.

Cheers!

 

Clammy man - I resect your Herculean effort to ride the iron in the cold. But c'mon, your Canadian. When it's that cold it's time to hop on the snowmobile!