Cold Hands | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Cold Hands

Forum Sponsor
WestBrantKid said:
So, connect both hot and both neutral to the same outlet, and that would draw power from both legs to spread the load?
Click to expand...
No. The wiring is more complicated than that. I'm not going to lay it out. It's one of those things that if you can't figure it out on your own, you probably shouldn't make it as you can hurt yourself, equipment or the house.

In a past power limited situation, I ran the compressor close to power and a hose far to tools. Compressor in basement with a 1/2" line to garage will be cheaper wiring. Add a surge tank to garage with a regulator so connecting hose pipe matters less.
 
Remember that if you implement a mickey mouse electrical solution and don't get an ESA inspection pass that if you have a fire you're most likely completely screwed from an insurance perspective. Save $3,000 - $4,000 in electrician / upgrade costs and lose $50,000 and up to a fire.
 
GreyGhost said:
I'm not saying it's a good idea but if you have outdoor circuits on both legs, you can make an adaptor that plugs into two 120V extension cords and gives you 240V/15A. I don't know if it is even a code violation as it is a temporary use item. The potential downside is you could blow one leg and have the other still hot.
Click to expand...

240v breakers have bars that link the two legs of the circuit breaker for this reason - a trip on one leg should cause the other half to kick off as well.

Anyhow, back on the topic of gear, to be blunt, there's no replacement for good gear. You can try bodges like rubber gloves under summer gloves etc etc as has been discussed, but there's ultimately just no replacement for proper gear for the job when it comes to cold weather.

I picked up a nice set of Thinsulate gauntlet riding gloves at the Highway 400 flea market last fall and they've turned out to be pretty freakin good for the $30 I paid for them, no complaints. Just got back from a 1 hour ride at 7-8c and my hands were toasty.
 
WestBrantKid said:
With the weather warming up, I'm looking to commute, on nicer days, on my bike. I didn't get my winter ride re-assembled this season, and without winter tires I didn't want to ride on cold wet roads, so I'll be using my summer ride without the heated grips and Bark Busters. I could move my Bark Busters over to my summer bike, but I want to avoid that if I can.

My question is, what are some tips, or tricks you all know of for keeping your hands warmer on long commutes, without spending cash or accessorizing the bike (I did that to my winter bike). The clutch hand is easy, just sit on it. But the throttle hand has to stay exposed.

One great tip I heard, which doesn't work on my Katana, is to place your hands on the engine every time you're stopped in traffic.
I also tried latex gloves under winter gloves, but that didn't work.
Click to expand...
My personal experience with neoprene gloves has been great upto -5°C. I can still ride beyond it but it's no fun. Having said that I'm limiting myself to work and home when it's below 0 which is about 30 minutes on the road.

Plus the neck gaiter immensely helped.
 
GreyGhost said:
I'm not saying it's a good idea but if you have outdoor circuits on both legs, you can make an adaptor that plugs into two 120V extension cords and gives you 240V/15A. I don't know if it is even a code violation as it is a temporary use item. The potential downside is you could blow one leg and have the other still hot.
Click to expand...
It is a violation. Strictly speaking, every device (appliance, etc) plugged into circuits has to be "listed" for the purpose and used for the purpose listed. No way there would be a product that would let you draw from 2 legs that would bypass a common overcurrent disconnect (i.e. 2 leg breaker with the "bar" joining them).
 
RC-31 said:
It is a violation. Strictly speaking, every device (appliance, etc) plugged into circuits has to be "listed" for the purpose and used for the purpose listed. No way there would be a product that would let you draw from 2 legs that would bypass a common overcurrent disconnect (i.e. 2 leg breaker with the "bar" joining them).
Click to expand...
Thanks. That makes sense.
 
I finally bit the bullet and got myself some Macna heated gloves, and man, do they keep my hands toasty!

I decided to hook them up directly to the battery instead of using external batteries. After taking them for a test ride, I realized I've got a ton of extra wire between my seat and the tank. Right now, I've just run the wire through my jacket and out at each sleeve, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to deal with all this extra wire. If anyone else uses heated gloves connected directly to the battery, how do you manage the excess wire? Any tips would be awesome!
 
PacoT said:
I finally bit the bullet and got myself some Macna heated gloves, and man, do they keep my hands toasty!

I decided to hook them up directly to the battery instead of using external batteries. After taking them for a test ride, I realized I've got a ton of extra wire between my seat and the tank. Right now, I've just run the wire through my jacket and out at each sleeve, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to deal with all this extra wire. If anyone else uses heated gloves connected directly to the battery, how do you manage the excess wire? Any tips would be awesome!
Click to expand...

Zipties if you want to tie them up semi-permanently.
Velcro straps if you need to unravel them and tie them up off and on.

If you're handy, cut the wires to size and resolder the connections.
 
PacoT said:
I finally bit the bullet and got myself some Macna heated gloves, and man, do they keep my hands toasty!

I decided to hook them up directly to the battery instead of using external batteries. After taking them for a test ride, I realized I've got a ton of extra wire between my seat and the tank. Right now, I've just run the wire through my jacket and out at each sleeve, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to deal with all this extra wire. If anyone else uses heated gloves connected directly to the battery, how do you manage the excess wire? Any tips would be awesome!
Click to expand...
not exactly sure what you have or are describing.
I run basic setup
  • power wire from battery to controller
  • controller in jacket pocket
  • wires from controller through both sleeves to gloves
there is some extra wiring i think from the controller to batt. and from one of the sleeves. they are (not so) neatly coiled and held running through the velcro for the back protector pocket. i don’t feel it, if it’s cold enough to need the heated gloves then i wearing 4-5 layers anyway.
 
Last day with 20+ temps in GTA for the year.

What are y'all doing today?
 
hymnz said:
Last day with 20+ temps in GTA for the year.
What are y'all doing today?
Click to expand...

Low of +8°C up at the top of the mountain.

DSCN6194-X2.jpg


Still riding.

Heated handgrips good for about 0°C at highway speeds. For anything much below that, I break out the heated gloves.

-15°C at 120 km/h was the point my hands started feeling cold, but that was with heated grips + heated gloves.

In town, I can ride at any temp with only the heated grips.
 
Relax said:
How far is your main panel from the garage? You could just run a new 30A circuit for the heater. The 30A breaker for my panel was $23 from this place:

www.canadabreakers.ca

Canada Breakers - Buy Circuit Breakers Online

Free shipping on orders over $49. Shop our wide selection of Siemens, Eaton Cutler-Hammer, GE, Square D, Federal Pionerer, Homeline, & Commander circuit breakers.
www.canadabreakers.ca www.canadabreakers.ca

10M (30 ft) of 10/3 NMD90 is $92:

I went with 30M (100 ft) of AC90 for $135:
Click to expand...
Price aluminum wire, it’s likely what’s running into your main panel. Cheaper and more flexible when running to a second panel. 20m of #2 aluminum is under $200.
 
WestBrantKid said:
My compressor is a 240v 60 gallon Husky. That sounds really cheap for copper wire.
I would need about 150' of 2 awg to reach from box-to-box. Apparently you can have a junction, it must be one continuous piece.
Click to expand...
150’ is a lot of wire. I’m guessing based on your aerial shot, 90-100’. That would be #4 copper, #2 aluminum.
 
Mad Mike said:
150’ is a lot of wire. I’m guessing based on your aerial shot, 90-100’. That would be #4 copper, #2 aluminu
Click to expand...
WestBrantKid said:
It's a long way away, unfortunately. I'm gonna start setting money aside to upgrade it. I priced it at close to $2000 for the wire. If the government were to let us keep more of our hard-earned money, I'd like to take down this garage and build three bays across the back of my yard. I like to dream...
Click to expand...
A 100A feed to a single car garage is a little overkill in my opinion. Save yourself some money and use #4 aluminum Teck cable for a 60A feed to your garage. You can run it exposed on the ceiling or walls of your basement
(no drilling) and bury it directly without conduit. Very tough, durable stuff. That will easily run your 5kw heater, compressor, welder and what have you for half the price.Check Facebook Market Place or Kijiji, it’s commonly used for temporary power on large construction sites so long runs are easy to find.I would offer half of wholesale price of new cable.
 
Last edited:
Bobo said:
A 100A feed to a single car garage is a little overkill in my opinion. Save yourself some money and use #4 aluminum Teck cable for a 60A feed to your garage. You can run it exposed on the ceiling or walls of your basement
(no drilling) and bury it directly without conduit. Very tough, durable stuff. That will easily run your 5kw heater, compressor, welder and what have you for half the price.
Click to expand...
That’s what feeds my detached garage, it works fine. I run a 24k btu heat pump, 80gal compressor, and I can run a welder when both of those are running with power to spare.
 
hymnz said:
Last day with 20+ temps in GTA for the year.
Click to expand...

Never say never. It wasn't that many years ago that it was 21 degrees or something like that on Christmas day.
 
Lightcycle said:
Low of +8°C up at the top of the mountain.

DSCN6194-X2.jpg


Still riding.

Heated handgrips good for about 0°C at highway speeds. For anything much below that, I break out the heated gloves.

-15°C at 120 km/h was the point my hands started feeling cold, but that was with heated grips + heated gloves.

In town, I can ride at any temp with only the heated grips.
Click to expand...

I gotta stop buying the same bikes as you two.

Snapshot.JPG

And apparently we both need to set our clocks lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom