I don't know how much juice the VT700 draws on its own, just to run, but I think I've added it together to be around 130 watts. Mind you, I had to make some guesses about the ignition system draw, fuel pump and things, but 130 watts should be close enough. I have an '86 VT700 also, and this morning, as I was doing my 42 mile ride into work, at 31 degrees, I was thinking that heated gloves would be really nice. (A windshield would have been nice too!)

So, since the VT700 can crank out 340 watts, and since the stator in these bikes is known to be a little on the frail side, I would de-rate that to about 280 watts, just to be sure. That still leaves you with 150 watts left over. A jacket liner at 77 watts and gloves at 22 watts still leaves you with over 50 watts left over. I think you can hook it all up without any trouble!

--Justin

 

Once again, Tubes, You are the man with answer :wink:

I believe the Gerbing draws 77 and that seems to be the way to go from I've been reading.

Yeah, gloves would go nicely as well.

My "cold" weather gloves really aren't much warmer than my "regular"weather gloves

Thanks again!

 

Thanks for the compliments! But don't speak until you've hooked it up and things work the way you want them to! :wink:

My riding gloves for the winter as a bit ugly, but they work pretty good down to about 35 degrees. I have a cotton work glove that fits well . Then I put a latex glove other it, and i put a gauntlet-style leather work glove over that. The latex is a 100% wind block, and the cotton wicks away any moisture from indies. The leather outer is there for additional insulation, weather-proofing, abrasion resistance, etc, and the gauntlet seals around my jacket pretty well.

Like I said, good down to about 35 degrees, but this morning at 31, I was wishing I had something electric! Also, the extra layers means that when I put my hand up to the engine to warm up, the heats takes a loooong time to make it to my hand!

--Justin

 

Howie & tubes rock,

Your numbers for the electric stuff is close and I think your numbers(output) are pretty close as well. From Howie's sig he mentions that his bike is "stock". I hope that means no extra light/s. If so, the bike electrics can handle this load. BUT, I would add an on/off switch instead of the normal temp controller. More my personal choice...mostly to cut the power IF one spends lots of time at traffic lights, slow traffic, etc.. If I remember, most of the Honda's electrical systems don't put "juice" back to the battery till the RPM reaches about 2500. SO, if your battery is weak and then you spend a lot of time in traffic, etc....your battery will not be able to start the bike in colder weather. Just my experiences and opinions.

Bullzeyet

 

Hey Tubes,
I have a 83 VT750C and would like to use a few electrical goodies. I wondered if a after-market stator might be better at putting out voltage than the stock one. I just bought one from a Canadian Mfr It won't go in untill I have to park the bike for a while, so I don't know for sure yet.
Rocksolid.

 

I've been kicking around the idea of eventually getting some electric heated clothing (which means it will be a year from now before I actually do something about it), but was wondering if my 86 VT 700 would be up to the task of powering it.

I have a new R/R from electorsport and its been working great.

If the stator output is somewhere around 340 watts, how much is used up by the bike normal power needs and how much would be left over to keep me nice and cozy on a cold morning commute to work?
(and of course, not drain my nice new battery 8) )

I think you have gotten some good info as to what you can do, I have an 02 Sabre and run Electric Jacket Liner, Electric Gloves and use the controller, so far I only have needed about 1/4 turn on the controller to keep comfortable, they all work great, I do have a windshield and also Engine Guards which I put Chaps on the Engine Guards and this really cuts down on the wind, I do ride with all my leathers and only need to wear a t-shirt under a long sleeve mock shirt with the jacket liner and stay nice and warm these are the gloves http://cozywinters.com/shop/wg-hclg.html and here is my jacket liner
http://www.warmnsafe.com/ now I do have auxilary lights (55w ea) hooked to my low beam so they don't get used that much, basicly only for night riding, I do watch what and when I use all the stuff at the same time, so far no problem, I do run a GPS and a Sirius Radio, so I'm sure at times I'm at the limit but like I said no problems as of yet, I also keep the battery on a battery tender when not riding.

 

I beleive Warm and Safe gives the amp draw for there different item, I know Gerbing does, take a look at Gerbings life time guarantee, got me Gerbings stuff in 96 and it still going strong, they have a unique repair policy, if it's too old to fix right they replace it,,,including postage :lol:

http://www.gerbings.com

 

Gerbing does list their wattages. Remember that the wattage listed is the "full power" draw of the item. if you have the temperature controller (and I highly recommend it) then the 77 watt jacket liner will only be drawing 15 watts if you have it turned down. This is what bullzeye was talking about. Be sure that you wire it up so you can turn it off off you need to, but use the temp controller too, since that will lessen the total draw on the system when you don't need to be running it at full power. (It will also save you a lot of sweat if you can turn it down, since I read somewhere that these things can get very, very warm if you're only out riding at 45 degrees.

He's also right about the bike running off of the battery until the engine revs up. On the 1986 Shadow, the point is around 1,500 RPM. On my Nighthawk, it's around 2,500. But if you ride around in stop and go traffic a lot, you'll want to turn your heat off because it will kill the battery if you're just sitting at a red light frequently.

I have read that some of the after-market stators are wired with heavier gauge wire to make them more reliable, however, I have not read much to indicate they they provide more juice. A charging system is more than just the stator. The rectifier and voltage regulator need to be able to handle more power also, and for that reason, I think it would be unwise to try pushing more power through an after-market stator, even if it does have better wiring.

If I was wiring this all up, I would put an ammeter on the battery. I tend to overdo things, so this would be in suit. I would hook the ammeter right inline with the main fuse (the 30 amp one) so that I could see where the power was going at every point in my trip. Remember the old cars and tractors that has the ammeter that read from -30 to +30 and the needle would be pointing at 0, right in the middle when the switch was off? This way, if you saw that the needle was pointing in the negative area, you should either throttle up at the stop light, or shut off the heater. When riding around, you should see that it's in the positive area. This way, you'll always know of your heater is running off of the battery, or whether the battery has enough power to charge properly. These meters are about $20 at AutoZone or any other car parts shop. It would be cheap insurance to prevent yourself from getting stranded somewhere. And beside, more gauges always looks cool!

--Justin

 

My bike is stock, meaning no light bar or other extra lighting.

Tubes, do you have an ammeter on your vt700?
I'd be real curious to see photos of it hooked and mounted up. (I like gauges too :lol: )

With the controller vs on/off switch: does the controller always provide some juice or does it have an OFF position?

 

No, I don't have an ammeter hooked up, since I don't have anything other than the stock electrics on the bike. I'm not worried about running outside of the design limits. If I added anything that ate up more than a few amps, I'd be wiring it on.

Thinking about where I would put it, there's some space between the clamps that hold the handlebars on, so long as it didn't interfere with the swing of the bars, and as long as it didn't scratch the fuel tank as I steer. Also, since I don't have highway pegs, but do have an engine guard, I might put the ammeter on the top of the engine guard. I'd have to measure it out.

Since all of the bike's power will be going through the meter, you'll want to use heavy gauge wire, and keep the wires as short as possible.

In any case, you would want to make the meter waterproof, as well as the connections to it.

--Justin

 

My bike is stock, meaning no light bar or other extra lighting.

Tubes, do you have an ammeter on your vt700?
I'd be real curious to see photos of it hooked and mounted up. (I like gauges too :lol: )

With the controller vs on/off switch: does the controller always provide some juice or does it have an OFF position?

The controller can be turned off, mine has a little red light on it to tell me when it's on, I clip mine to my pocket on the tank bib where I can see it, as Tube said, if you are only running it on low then watts used will be less, these things can really warm you up, with just a long sleeve T shirt and the jacket liner under my leather jacket it keeps the arms and back nice and warm, that is why the thermostat is so good because you can adjust it, works the same with the gloves, with everything warm you don't need so much wattage and I can even turn it off for awhile, especially in stop and go traffic and still stay warm.

 

Once you have tried heated clothing you will wonder how you managed without it! I used to commute 70 miles each day, whatever the weather and Gerbing kept me warm!

 

Now I'm torn about what to put on my Christmas list for Santa....
Combat lite touring boots or a Gerbing liner.

 

Go with the Gerbings. The boots can wait or use some neoprene socks or put your rain gear boots on in cold weather. Easy to do and keeps the tooties warm without bulk. :wink:

Bullzeyet