Utility of heated seat

[ejworthen]

Russ

Get the heat pad built in the seat. Do not let them wire anything to it. That way you will only be paying for the heat pad and a few dollars more for their efforts. Do not let them talk you into an on/off or High/Low/Off switch. Have them drill through the seat pan and dangle the pigtail. You then need to get a HeatTroller with a remote panel mounted knob to make it work. There is a model HeatTroller designed for heated grips - get that one. This is the way I have my Bill Mayer saddle configured. At 10% on time with the HeatTroller it will pump out plenty of heat to take the chill off.

As you know I commute by your house almost daily at around 5:30 in the morning. I can't tell you how nice it feels to realize "Hey I forgot to turn it off last time, Gee that warmth feels nice." When it's 52 degrees out and you only have your light weight gear on for that half hour commute, it's worth it !

The neat thing about having it built in is it is a passive system - you don't have to put it on or take it off and stow it.

Trust me, it's a nice thing to have, and you can have it for a whole lot less than the $170 that RDL charges for a complete system.

If you have any questions, call me. You have my number.

Brodie

Brodie makes a lot of good points. I have a Corbin with heat and have thought about removing the switch and installing a heat troller. Quite often I find myself turning it off and on because it gets too hot. On the Corbin the switch to a heat troller would be an easy modification

As was mentioned above, the great thing about a heated seat is when you are lightly dressed and hit cold weather. Just flip on the seat and it provides instant warmth without stopping and gearing up. Combine it with some heated grips and you're golden.

I think most peoples view of a heated seat as extreme cold weather only gear is short sighted.

 

[mab864]

Russ

Get the heat pad built in the seat. Do not let them wire anything to it. That way you will only be paying for the heat pad and a few dollars more for their efforts. Do not let them talk you into an on/off or High/Low/Off switch. Have them drill through the seat pan and dangle the pigtail. You then need to get a HeatTroller with a remote panel mounted knob to make it work. There is a model HeatTroller designed for heated grips - get that one. This is the way I have my Bill Mayer saddle configured. At 10% on time with the HeatTroller it will pump out plenty of heat to take the chill off.

As you know I commute by your house almost daily at around 5:30 in the morning. I can't tell you how nice it feels to realize "Hey I forgot to turn it off last time, Gee that warmth feels nice." When it's 52 degrees out and you only have your light weight gear on for that half hour commute, it's worth it !

The neat thing about having it built in is it is a passive system - you don't have to put it on or take it off and stow it.

Trust me, it's a nice thing to have, and you can have it for a whole lot less than the $170 that RDL charges for a complete system.

If you have any questions, call me. You have my number.

Brodie

Brodie makes a lot of good points. I have a Corbin with heat and have thought about removing the switch and installing a heat troller. Quite often I find myself turning it off and on because it gets too hot. On the Corbin the switch to a heat troller would be an easy modification

As was mentioned above, the great thing about a heated seat is when you are lightly dressed and hit cold weather. Just flip on the seat and it provides instant warmth without stopping and gearing up. Combine it with some heated grips and you're golden.

I think most peoples view of a heated seat as extreme cold weather only gear is short sighted.

I have found that to be true with heated grips. Because they're always there and very convenient, I used them even on cool summer mornings. I'm sure a heated seat would have the same convenience. You wouldn't even have to stop if things got a little chilly. I think a heat troller is a must. Being able to control the BTU output would improve the seat's utility. Otherwise, you'd be running it only when it was really cold.

 

[puppychow]

<Thread Jack Rant>

Just get a Gen I. No heated seat necessary. This thing is a fire breathing beast. Except for heated grips, I never needed any heated gear throughout winter.

On the downside, on Tuesday when it was a 104 in Sonora, I drank 4 liters of water in 7 hours and mostly just sweated it all out. I was pretty sure I was going to find blisters where my legs met the tank - it was burning up! Didn't seem like that heat shield under the tank was doing anything, but I can't imagine what it would have been without it.

</Thread Jack Rant>

 

[Harald]

I suppose everyones butt is different, but I haven't found a need for seat heating. I've ridden in temps as low as 17 degrees for 45 minutes and over 3 hours at 25 degrees and my butt felt fine. I would have been miserable without my heated liner, Vstrom handguards and heated grips though. Despite those features, I still had cold fingers.

Of course, it's probably like the heated seats in the wife's car; I use them because they are there. It is nice to have prewarmed leather while the heater is getting up to speed, but I always turn the seat heat off as soon as the heater starts working because a hot butt makes me uncomfortable (okay a hot female butt evokes different feelings :lol: ).

 

[LDRydr]

I love the heated seat on my Gen II Russell (so does my wife). I don't use it that often (sub 30 deg days) but as others have said, it's there if you want it. Start with a heated jacket liner and gloves or grips though. The seat seems to help my toes from getting cold, most likely from pumping blood through my butt down to the toes.

 

[FJR Rich]

I have the leather seat covers. For me the heated seat:

- helps dry out the seat when I forget to put the rain cover on!

- helps when my Sciatica flares up every now and then (not due to the seat!). Warms/loosens up the Piriformis muscles.

- takes the initial chill out on very cold days.

Rich

 

[dbx]

Here's another vote for Brodie's approach.

If you were to get it with an On-Off switch, or even an On-Low-Hi switch, then I'd say forget it since the chances of any of those heat levels being just what you want is pretty slim. (The same applies to things like heated grips and heated jackets/vests. Just say no to toggle switches.)

On the other hand, if you use a Heat-Troller I think you'll be much more likely to use it because you'll be able to tailor the heat to exactly what you want.

On a somewhat related note, my car has heated seats and both my wife and I use the feature frequently. Would we die without it? No, but it's there and it adds to our comfort, so we naturally use it. I think you will to.

 

[carlson_mn]

Here's another vote for Brodie's approach.

If you were to get it with an On-Off switch, or even an On-Low-Hi switch, then I'd say forget it since the chances of any of those heat levels being just what you want is pretty slim. (The same applies to things like heated grips and heated jackets/vests. Just say no to toggle switches.)

On the other hand, if you use a Heat-Troller I think you'll be much more likely to use it because you'll be able to tailor the heat to exactly what you want.

On a somewhat related note, my car has heated seats and both my wife and I use the feature frequently. Would we die without it? No, but it's there and it adds to our comfort, so we naturally use it. I think you will to.

The high/low/off toggle switch for my HotGrips works perfect. If it's cold out you leave it in the high position. The Low position works fine for moderate days. No complaints at all with those two settings. If I had the heat troller option I would not be using it, it'd just be in the high position or somewhere in the low area for days in the 50s/60s. YMMV

 

[russperry]

Russ

Get the heat pad built in the seat. Do not let them wire anything to it. That way you will only be paying for the heat pad and a few dollars more for their efforts. Do not let them talk you into an on/off or High/Low/Off switch. Have them drill through the seat pan and dangle the pigtail. You then need to get a HeatTroller with a remote panel mounted knob to make it work. There is a model HeatTroller designed for heated grips - get that one. This is the way I have my Bill Mayer saddle configured. At 10% on time with the HeatTroller it will pump out plenty of heat to take the chill off.

As you know I commute by your house almost daily at around 5:30 in the morning. I can't tell you how nice it feels to realize "Hey I forgot to turn it off last time, Gee that warmth feels nice." When it's 52 degrees out and you only have your light weight gear on for that half hour commute, it's worth it !

The neat thing about having it built in is it is a passive system - you don't have to put it on or take it off and stow it.

Trust me, it's a nice thing to have, and you can have it for a whole lot less than the $170 that RDL charges for a complete system.

If you have any questions, call me. You have my number.

Brodie

I finally got around to filling out the necessary paperwork and came across the bad news. Russell wants the entire $170 for just the heating pad and wiring, even if they don't install the switches. With that news I think I'll just pass and count on engine heat!

 

[dbx]

The high/low/off toggle switch for my HotGrips works perfect. If it's cold out you leave it in the high position. The Low position works fine for moderate days. No complaints at all with those two settings. If I had the heat troller option I would not be using it, it'd just be in the high position or somewhere in the low area for days in the 50s/60s. YMMV

I believe the usual way of installing a Heat-Troller is to wire both heating elements in parallel so they both work all of the time. That way, turning the H-T control to max provides MUCH more heat than the toggle switch approach. Of course, since the H-T is continuously variable, you can dial it back to exactly what you need and don't have to rely on the big steps you'd get with a toggle switch.

When I put heated grips on my son's Nighthawk I used two toggle switches, one for low heat and one for high heat. In severe cold he can flip both switches on, something you can't do with a single toggle switch.

 

[carlson_mn]

The high/low/off toggle switch for my HotGrips works perfect. If it's cold out you leave it in the high position. The Low position works fine for moderate days. No complaints at all with those two settings. If I had the heat troller option I would not be using it, it'd just be in the high position or somewhere in the low area for days in the 50s/60s. YMMV

I believe the usual way of installing a Heat-Troller is to wire both heating elements in parallel so they both work all of the time. That way, turning the H-T control to max provides MUCH more heat than the toggle switch approach. Of course, since the H-T is continuously variable, you can dial it back to exactly what you need and don't have to rely on the big steps you'd get with a toggle switch.

When I put heated grips on my son's Nighthawk I used two toggle switches, one for low heat and one for high heat. In severe cold he can flip both switches on, something you can't do with a single toggle switch.

No, in the 'high' position the two grips are directly connected to the battery. In the 'low' position it introduces a resistor into the circuit. On high they draw 32 (16/grip) watts and on low they draw 24 watts (8 per grip and 8 to the resistor). Just in case someone is reading that doesn't know, I wanted to get that info out there. The grips pretty much do nothing to the bike's electrical system that I can tell even in high position - absolutely no dimming or dip in the idle. They get a little less warm at idle due to less voltage from the alternator of course.

 

[stoggy]

everyone is different. There is no correct answer. My core never gets cold, these other people are just pussies. My feet get cold though, everything else feels fine but sometimes even in Texas weather my feet get so cold I cant move/feel them, this sucks when stopping.

A Heated core makes sense because eventually all your blood goes there. But there may be reasons why its not the best place for you to put heated gear. Your core is the warmest place on your body to begin with. When it drops or raises much temperature you die. It also doesn't lose heat fast. Your head is responsible for most of your body temp loss.

1. Your feet will pump more blood in your life time then your heart will. Heated socks. These are cheap + 9v battery. How well will that fit on your stator? They obviously thought this one out...

2. You may be short and can hide behind the windshield/tank and not need a heated jacket.

3. Your hands although don't pump as much blood as your feet also have lots of blood in them. They kind of stick out there too. Your body wont be able to keep your feet and hands warm on long exposures to cold. They get frost bite first. If my hands and feet are getting frost bite, I dont care if i have a heated vest im pulling over.

4. Heat rises and unless the rest of these guys are different your ass should be below your head, after reading some of the responses I wonder, probably just keeping their ears warm though. Unless you got a real thick butt, it will get to your core.

5. Heated jackets don't fit all people. Some are too big in the middle.

A salmon shark, the only shark that lives in sub 0 degree water, because sharks are cold blooded. Stays warm by circulating its expired blood, which has been warmed by swimming, with the oxygen it breathes. This can raise its temperature by 30 degrees.

6. Heated helmet/facemask? Also cheap +9v battery. All your blood goes through your oxygen.

noobs.

 

[dbx]

The high/low/off toggle switch for my HotGrips works perfect. If it's cold out you leave it in the high position. The Low position works fine for moderate days. No complaints at all with those two settings. If I had the heat troller option I would not be using it, it'd just be in the high position or somewhere in the low area for days in the 50s/60s. YMMV

I believe the usual way of installing a Heat-Troller is to wire both heating elements in parallel so they both work all of the time. That way, turning the H-T control to max provides MUCH more heat than the toggle switch approach. Of course, since the H-T is continuously variable, you can dial it back to exactly what you need and don't have to rely on the big steps you'd get with a toggle switch.

When I put heated grips on my son's Nighthawk I used two toggle switches, one for low heat and one for high heat. In severe cold he can flip both switches on, something you can't do with a single toggle switch.

No, in the 'high' position the two grips are directly connected to the battery. In the 'low' position it introduces a resistor into the circuit.

The two brands usually mentioned here on the forum, Dual Star and Symtec, stopped using resistors quite a few years ago, I believe around 2005. Since then, each of the two grip heaters actually consists of two heating elements, one for Low heat and the other for High heat. Technically, it's a single heating element with a center tap. It's easy to wire both halves of each element in parallel to get maximum heat, but you'd only want to do that if you were using a Heat-Troller.