It was a long, cold winter with more snow than average. Kris was starting to worry about me when I would stare out the front window, watching the frozen outside world, for hours at a time. But when she found me, near hypothermia, in the garage almost frozen to the seat of the Triumph making motorcycle sounds, she knew she needed to take extreme measures and purchased a set of Widder ‘Lectric Vests.
I have no idea why we waited so long for these, but our new vests are probably one of the best motorcycle purchases we’ve made in many years. At just over $100, they are worth every single penny.
Wiring
them to the bike is simple. The pig-tail plug adapter, typically purchased separately,
attaches to the positive and negative posts of the motorcycle battery and the
plug will dangle out from underneath the seat. Installation for both of our
bikes took about 10 minutes total time. It’s that easy.
Once installed, the temperatures that you’ll be willing to ride in opens wide up. We used our for the first time on Super Bowl Sunday (we, unfortunately, missed the live presentation of Janet’s boob) when the roads were empty and the temperatures soared to 25-degrees above freezing. Great riding weather! Long johns, a warm shirt, leather jacket and basic riding gloves were all that was needed as long as I had the vest on and running at full warm. Even without heated grips, I stayed comfortably warm as a group of us wandered around Salt Lake looking for all the overpasses and onramps we could find to allow us to tip the bike into a gentle lean angle. With the body core staying warm, appendages never got cold.
The next time they were really used was for our first ride into Southern Utah, a full month earlier than we normally go. Many of the local mountain passes were still closed due to snow, but because of the vests we rode, wearing only basic protective gear, in relative comfort, despite 10,000 foot elevations and snow-strewn road shoulders. Instead of being cold, it felt like someone who loves you dearly is riding behind you giving you a big warm bear hug, pulling the chill out of you. Its delightful!
In the past, too many of our rides required so many layers of fleece and micro-fiber long-johns that we felt like Ralphie’s little brother in A Christmas Story: so bundled up that we couldn’t put our arms down and if we were to fall, we’d have a hard time getting to our feet by ourselves. The nicest part about this whole ‘Lectric vest thing is that we no longer have to wear so many layers of clothing to keep warm and we were able to wear the most protective of our gear and still have full mobility.
For the price, these vests are the best purchase we’ve made in years. They are amazing quality and Widder is known to have a fantastic customer service reputation. Installation is easy and the vests are so thin that they could either be warn almost the entire time, or folded nicely and squeezed into a tiny corner of a tank-bag or saddlebag. The only thing is to get a vest that is as small as you can manage. I had lost about 10 pounds from when we purchased the vest and when we started riding and the loss of girth is noticed on cold rides. I find myself taking gulping breaths to tightly fill the vest and suck the heat into my torso.
To summarize, if you live anywhere outside of San Diego or Miami, you need
an electric vest! We recommend Widder because
they support MSF instructors with a small discount (that we appreciate immensely)
and like to support any motorcycle business that supports the growth of motorcycling
by supporting motorcycle instructors.
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