By - Jeff Lewis, Vice President, Vespa Club of America
As we get into the cooler months, those of us that are not ready, want to keep riding. When I was younger I thought heated seats, in a car, were just a useless luxury. As I grew older I realized that, the more comfortable I was the more I enjoyed myself.
One of the guys, from my scooter club bought a BMW scooter. It was big and fancy and I was not jealous, until I found out it came with heated grips and heated seat. This year I decided to make myself more comfortable.
I’d like to let you know my thoughts on a new heated jacket, I just tried out. Warm & Safe’s, Generation waterproof 65 watt Heated Jacket Liner. ( $229.95, currently on sale $159.95) I have used other Heated liners, that use a battery pack, but wanted to have a unit that used the Scooters battery. I have found that battery packs are heavy and tend to run out, when you need them.
Warm & Safe uses a “Heat-Troller” to control their liners and seat covers. This high end controller seems very well made and was surprisingly easy to install. The instructions, for this unit were fairly easy to follow, and their website warmnsafe.com has videos, for those of us who are visually oriented. They also have a very friendly technical dept. I recommend that you get the duel controller, ($139.95) even if you don’t think you will use more than one unit, it’s better to pay $40, more now, than $99, and regret that later.
After installing the controller, I checked out the liner. Compared to other liners I found the liner well constructed. The seams were consistent, good attention to detail. The fit of the liner, is comfortable, though I found that I liked, the liner, one size larger than I usually wear, in my shirts. This gave room for my shirt, or shirts and still snug enough, for good heat transfer. The liner heated up rather quickly, and after getting used to the controller, I was comfortable. The receiver was larger than I expected, but still lighter than battery packs.
I know there are those that think heated gear, is unnecessary, or for wimps. Please don’t let that keep you from being comfortable and getting the most enjoyment, you can from your ride. If you are relaxed and comfortable you will not only enjoy, your ride more, but you will be more aware and hopefully safer.
Safety and fun are important year round but cold weather can be especially challenging. Set yourself up for success by considering easy ways to make your ride more comfortable. When you're comfortable, you can focus on just having fun on the road. Warm & Safe’s Generation 4 Heated Jacket Liner allows you to keep warm on cold days and to just ENJOY YOUR RIDE!!