Wire management for heated gloves

[nwguy]

My California Heat heated gloves arrived yesterday with a controller and wiring harness. I don't have any other heated gear currently. For power I'll run its wires to a fuse panel I installed for aux things such as my air cannon horn, voltage meter and charging pigtail. It seems there are two ways that wires could be routed to the gloves:

1. Run wires up to the handlebars from the fuse panel, then have a wire going to each glove from the handlebars.
Pros: No need to route wires through my jacket
Cons: Seems unsafe due to wires getting tangled and restricting steering movement. Also what to do with the loose wires when not using the gloves?

2. Run wires up through my jacket and then down the sleeves to the gloves.
Pros: Seems like a cleaner, safer install
Cons: Hassle to pull wires through my sleeves every time I want to use the gloves

I'm leaning towards #2 and semi-permanently routing the wires down my sleeves.

Is there a "normal" way to route these wires?

[Perazzimx14]

My California Heat heated gloves arrived yesterday with a controller and wiring harness. I don't have any other heated gear currently. For power I'll run its wires to a fuse panel I installed for aux things such as my air cannon horn, voltage meter and charging pigtail. It seems there are two ways that wires could be routed to the gloves:

1. Run wires up to the handlebars from the fuse panel, then have a wire going to each glove from the handlebars.
Pros: No need to route wires through my jacket
Cons: Seems unsafe due to wires getting tangled and restricting steering movement. Also what to do with the loose wires when not using the gloves?

2. Run wires up through my jacket and then down the sleeves to the gloves.
Pros: Seems like a cleaner, safer install
Cons: Hassle to pull wires through my sleeves every time I want to use the gloves

I'm leaning towards #2 and semi-permanently routing the wires down my sleeves.

Is there a "normal" way to route these wires?

Get a heated jacket or jacket liner and there will be plugs at the ends of the sleeves to plug your gloves into. There will also be plugs at the waist of the jacket in case you get heated pants or pant liners.

Even better return the gloves buy a set of Hippo Hands and some heated grips and do not deal with heated gear wires and have toasty warm hands while using summer gloves most of the time. 

[draco_1967]

#2 is probably the better option.

If you do get a heated jacket liner, they usually have the glove connection built in. Before I had that, I took the glove splitter cable and sewed it to my liner. It only took a few loops along the length of the splitter cable to keep it in place and out of the way when putting the jacket on.

But I would recommend option #3: Get a heated jacket liner. They are so nice to have!

[bad Chad]

Why didn't you buy heated gloves with a self contained power source?   I have a pair that run on 7.2v LiO and last longer than I want to ride when it's cold out.

[nwguy]

I had a heated vest for a while but found that I was warmer if I just used a down jacket inside my motorcycle jacket and omitting its zip-out liner. On long trips I needed the down jacket anyway, and not having to bring the heated vest or the zip-out liner saved space in my saddlebags and top case.

I have an aversion to battery powered things for a variety of reasons. Don't want to rant here about that.

I do have a pair of "handlebar muffs" that are an econo-version of Hippo Hands. I modified them to have pins going into the handlebar ends so they don't get blown backwards at higher speeds and depress clutch or brake levers. They work well but are bulky to store in my bike's luggage while not in use. I do use them locally though. The heated gloves look like good winter riding gloves even without the heat on. My old winter gloves needed replacing anyway.

Long ago I bought "Hansen Hands", which were a very good clone of Hippo Hands:
http://nwguy.fun/mc/winterHands/index.html

I think I'm going to route the wires through my sleeves. For me, the more uses or modes of uses for anything I'm bringing on a long trip means simplicity and less stuff to bring.

[kingoffleece]

Now you really need to monitor your electric system.  That's draw on an older machine that was not designed for it.
I don't know offhand what the stated output is but I'd imagine someone will pipe up shortly  You draw xxx amount just to run the bike and can use what's leftover.
At idle you may be in a negative state so check that.

Again, better to know in the garage than on the side of the road, at nite, cold, and raining.

[BRG-BIRD]

I have ran headed glove liners on a 1978 BMW R100S with no problems keeping the battery charged. It was however mostly highway riding and would turn them off in stop and go riding.

#2 option was used

[Perazzimx14]

I had a heated vest for a while but found that I was warmer if I just used a down jacket inside my motorcycle jacket and omitting its zip-out liner. On long trips I needed the down jacket anyway, and not having to bring the heated vest or the zip-out liner saved space in my saddlebags and top case.

I have an aversion to battery powered things for a variety of reasons. Don't want to rant here about that.

I do have a pair of "handlebar muffs" that are an econo-version of Hippo Hands. I modified them to have pins going into the handlebar ends so they don't get blown backwards at higher speeds and depress clutch or brake levers. They work well but are bulky to store in my bike's luggage while not in use. I do use them locally though. The heated gloves look like good winter riding gloves even without the heat on. My old winter gloves needed replacing anyway.

Long ago I bought "Hansen Hands", which were a very good clone of Hippo Hands:
http://nwguy.fun/mc/winterHands/index.html

I think I'm going to route the wires through my sleeves. For me, the more uses or modes of uses for anything I'm bringing on a long trip means simplicity and less stuff to bring.

A jacket will outperform a vest. More of your body being heated. Vest heats your core, jacket heats your core, arms and neck.

Several years ago I was going to Dayton bike week and needed everything from heated gear to shorts. Temp swings were teen's to 90's. I was concerned about taking my Hippo Hand Alcans as they are big. Turns out when we reached some warmer climate I took them off the bike and nested them together then  put them in the pannier and filled them up with what was in the pannier. They actually took up very little space. By the time we reached Southern South Carolina my winter riding pants were too hot so I took them off folded them up along with my heated jacket liner then took the Alcans slid them over them to encase them. Then I used a bungee nets to secure the neatly packaged heated liner/pants and Alcans to the pillion plate. 

 

[nwguy]

I have a voltmeter on my bike and will check the draw when I test the gloves. Maybe tomorrow.

That's an interesting idea about storing stuff inside your Hippo Hands.

I did go with routing the wires inside my jacket liner and down my sleeves. The controller hangs just outside of the lower edge of my jacket like the one did for my old heated vest. The plugs for the gloves barely protrude from the ends of my sleeves. I have an industrial sewing machine and sewed some short seams so the wires are secured and the plugs won't retract into the jacket.  Also sewed some velcro inside my jacket and sewed velcro around the end of the main controller plug so i can velcro the controller up inside my jacket when I'm not using my heated gloves.

I should have mentioned in my original post that I'm mostly concerned about using these on long trips where luggage space is at a premium. Thanks for your thoughts on this.

[jrt]

I'd go with Option 2. In fact, that's what I did when I was running wired gloves.  One word of warning-  don't be like me and forget to unplug the wires when you are dismounting    It pulls on everything and is very disconcerting.
Nowdays, I don't ride very long in very cold weather, so I use battery powered snowmobile gloves.  They work reasonably well and no wires at all.  Downside is they are limited to 2-4 hours (depends a lot on the gloves and the setting)

[nwguy]

I'd go with Option 2. In fact, that's what I did when I was running wired gloves.  One word of warning-  don't be like me and forget to unplug the wires when you are dismounting    It pulls on everything and is very disconcerting.
Nowdays, I don't ride very long in very cold weather, so I use battery powered snowmobile gloves.  They work reasonably well and no wires at all.  Downside is they are limited to 2-4 hours (depends a lot on the gloves and the setting)

Yeah, I didn't want to be limited by battery life.

[Moparnut72]

For mine I have the connector mounted on the handle bars. A short harness connects to the gloves. For short trips where I am on and off it is a pain but worth it. Most shorter trips the gloves are warm enough to go without the heat but I have another unheated pair that I usually wear under those conditions. The heated gloves are used for longer rides. I had heated grips for a while but the gloves are so much better.
kk

[kingoffleece]

I'm with Prezz here-not that you asked!
Heated jacket much better than vest-for me. More versatile. Body gets plenty of wind protection but arms are out in it all the time.
Gloves plug into jacket-I use a wireless control with separate dials for jacket and gloves-get both where they need to be.

In addition, my electric jacket has no insulation.  Why?  When you need heat plug it in.  Gets warmer but not T-Shirt weather under the jacket -all set.  Doubles as an evening overcoat for whatever is needed for that evening.  Covers a lot of bases and takes up little room.

[Bulldog9]

The only heated gear I've really ever used are gloves and a vest. I always had the outlet by my left hip under the seat. I don't have a vest anymore, only gloves and I run the lines down the inside of my jacket between the jacket and liner and then clip the controller to the lower edge of my jacket. I've seen a couple setups where they Mount the controller somewhere on the bike and then have leads at each hand grip to plug the gloves in, but I liked the left hip area the best.

But if I'm going to be completely honest, I've lost the desire to ride super cold weather on purpose. It's funny how metal implants in your hip knee and back. Can rob you of enjoyment and cold weather.

[Moparnut72]

I have a jacket liner that I can plug in then the gloves are plugged into the jacket. Inconvenient for sure if I have to get off and on.
kk