Heated Gear for Cold Rides on a Cruiser (and What the Shadow Spirit 750 Can Power)
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Heated gear stretches the season on both ends. Before you plug in, check whether your charging system can keep up.
What the VT750C2 makes
From the Honda service manual:
- Alternator capacity: 0.35 kW (350 W) at 5,000 rpm
- Headlight: 12 V 60/55 W
- Brake/taillight: 12 V 21/5 W
- Main fuse: 30 A
That 350 W is at 5,000 rpm. At idle and low cruise it makes less. The lights, ignition, and fuel system eat a chunk of it first.
Check your service manual for the charging voltage spec, then measure at the battery with your gear plugged in and the engine at cruising rpm. If voltage drops below spec with gear on, you're pulling too much.
Rule of thumb: add up the watts on the labels of everything you plug in. Run one or two items, not a full suit plus grips, and watch the voltage. A voltmeter on the bars tells you right away.
Motorcycle voltmeter on Amazon
Heated gloves or glove liners
Hands go first. Wired 12 V gloves plug into the bike. Battery-powered gloves don't touch the charging system but run for a limited time per charge.
12V heated motorcycle gloves on Amazon Battery heated glove liners on Amazon
Heated jacket liner
Warm core, warm hands. A liner under your jacket does more than anything else. Get a heat controller so you're not stuck on full blast.
12V heated jacket liner on Amazon Heated gear controller on Amazon
Grip heaters
Heated grips stay on the bike. Check that they fit 1-inch bars and the throttle side. Wiring runs to the battery through a fuse.
Heated grips for 1 inch bars on Amazon
Wiring it up
- Run a fused battery lead (SAE or coax, matching your gear) straight to the battery.
- Use the fuse the gear maker calls for.
- Route the lead away from the exhaust and anything that moves.
- Keep the bike on a tender between rides if you run heat a lot on short trips.