Good afternoon, loyal reader(s)!
It's time for another one of my very sporadic 3-Ride Reviews. Today I am reviewing a Harley-Davidson heated jacket. I'm not exactly sure of the model as it is an older one given to me by a friend probably a year and a half ago. I didn't immediately put the pigtail on the battery as last winter I wasn't riding as much as I plan on this winter due to a different job.
First, a description of the jacket. It's a black lightly insulated jacket with a windbreaker like exterior and wiring throughout-the front, back and sleeves are all wired. It zips all the way up to a closed neck (good) and has light elastic cuffs and bottom. There are plenty of extra plugs for gloves and probably heated pants liners too. On the inside left is a pocket that holds the lead to the wiring harness on the bike, and it had an on/off rocker switch when my friend gave it to me. The front outside right has a plasticized H-D patch that is tasteful and I could likely get off if I really wanted to (I no longer own a Harley) and the back center has a 1x2 inch or so Harley eagle and "AN AMERICAN LEGEND" patch sewn on. I'm not sure I'll ever run this jacket without some top layer, so these patches are no big deal.
My first ride in this jacket was Sunday morning, and it was 36 in my garage, 39 per the official weather app on the phone. Jacket warmed up quickly and I could feel the welcome heat at in town speeds. About 10 minutes later I was on the freeway and cruising along for about 25 minutes at California early morning freeway speeds-so plenty of cooling wind. I was wearing an Aerostitch suit, but the top zipper is malfunctioning and opened partway through the ride. No big deal, as the liner kept up and I never was chilled. Riding home at 10 AM I plugged in the liner, so test ride 2 was at more moderate temperatures-roughly high 40s/50ish. This time I had to cycle the liner a few times, as I kept the suit sealed and the liner generated more than enough heat.
Ride three was this morning. Again, the temperature was below 40 when I left the house. I kept the suit sealed better this time, and once I got off the freeway for the last ten minutes riding to work I kept the switch off. I was only wearing a light dress shirt under the liner and could really feel the heat after about a minute, and then for the rest of the ride.
This liner is an XL, which might be one size too big for me (I'm 5'10" and 180) but also allows easy layering under and above, which might not be possible if it was a large. Considering it was a gift, I'm quite happy with the size!
Pro's-plenty of heat, easy hook up to battery then one plug, quality construction
Con's-A bit extra wiring in leads (at least the way my bike is laid out), ripstop outer construction requires outer layer
