Heated Clothing - Vest Or Sleeved?

Sleeved.

I’ve had both, in fact probably still have both. If I remember rightly the sleeved version allows you to plug in the gloves.

I have Keis never had a problem. I bought a second lot with the gloves when there was a discount for blood bikers. I haven’t tried any other brands.

 

I have the sleeveless one, really good but make sure you have the heat controller so you can switch it up and down.

I’d say if you can get the sleeved vets then it would probably be better.

Motoledgends were selling off all their Macna heated gear as they were stopping stocking it, might be worth a look?

 

I bought an Avade vest. It's basically a long sleeved t shirt with heat panels accross the chest and one down the centre of the back
Never had it off the lowest setting on this setting the battery lasts all day.
Sadly they ceased trading at the beginning of covid (Australian company)

 

In theory a heated core will help keep extremities warm(er) , so sleeved or vest probably depands on what you wear it under & does it need to act as a wind break layer (for arms?) . If I were to follow Moto-legEnds advice & do layering with a breathable jacket & Scott/similar water proof layer, I’d say get full sleeves . If you wearing a full goretex jacket you may not want the added bulk of sleeves (personal preferences)

 

short answer get the sleeves

bit longer
I don't have the Keis but have the long sleeve warm & safe base layer, went with W&S because of the Bluetooth controller. As it's thin I can wear it under my leathers so I get to use then longer in the year, I used to use a scott over the top but this is much more comfortable. In the winter when switching to gortex I can leave the thermal liner out which I like a lot. had this for the last four years and just added the socks to the list, I'd never go back now.

 

If you are interested (and of the right size) I have a Kies sleeved vest I'd part with.

 

The decision between sleeved jacket or sleeveless vest is actually really simple.

Jacket is much more toasty. Vest is much more packable.

Question is when you're touring, where will you put your heated jacket/vest when you don't need it?

Keis jacket is close to being unpackable. Keis vest folds quite flat.

End of...

 

I wouldn't say that's end off really, maybe if you're locked into Keis gear it is, My warm and safe long sleeve rolls up just like a standard sweatshirt

 

Fair point. TBH I've been thinking about the W&S gear as an alternative because it looks more packable. For day rides, I don't care but on longer trips, where the heated gear won't be used all the time, packability is important. I can get my Keis vest into an Eagle Creek compression cube that just sits inside a pannier. The jacket - no chance...

 

Heated seat, then wear Rukka with the down jacket under.
Never thought a heated seat would be worth the expense, but had it on my last GS. Apart from the obvious ‘comfort’ from certain parts being warm there is a high blood flow in that part of the body which makes a huge difference.

 

Good point. I had one a few years back on an RT and thought it was fab...

 

https://amzn.eu/d/a3fRCRT

Just 40 of your English pounds will get you one of these, which is much cheaper than the Keis kit. I’d be willing to place a small wager that Keis take the same item, add the wiring to enable connection to the bike battery, stick their own badges on it and charge almost 5 times as much.

I’ve got something similar. A 5,000mAh power pack lasts a couple of hours on the medium/low setting. If I was so inclined I imagine it wouldn’t be too difficult to add the wiring for connection to the bike battery.

 

Avade kit also, sorry to hear the Australian company has gone.

 

Is heated clothing reliable, does it ever fail? I was thinking about this when I was out riding the other week in near freezing temperatures, I just wear lots of layers but if I’d had a thin heated layer on and it failed when I was 80-90 miles from home I’d have been in trouble.

 

I’ve bought about half a dozen of those heated gilets over the past 5 years or so for me and others. Two have had problems. One stopped working and the zip broke on the other, but that wasn’t unexpected as it was very tight because I’d bought the wrong size. One thing to note about the items on eBay and Amazon is that they are sized for the Asian market and so their “XXL” is about the same as a UK “L”

 

Yes the sizing caught me out once, I ordered some cargo shorts in a medium and when I tried them on they were like hot pants