Lots of us use heated gear with no problems. My wife and I have used our heated jackets/vests at the same time (different circuits), along with the heated grips front and rear, and I have used my vest and the heated grips together, too. The only thing I would recommend is that you keep the rpm up. The Spyder only develops about half its rated electrical output at 4,000 rpm. Running around at three grand, or keeping the heated gear on high during stop-and-go traffic, is probably not advisable.
I like the idea of a smart controller, that can dial back the heated gear settings when the battery voltage drops, but it would be hard to achieve. By the time the battery voltage hits substandard levels, the draw has already been too high for too long. If you could separately monitor the magneto output, that would be ideal. No more pesky dialing back the settings at a traffic light. Maybe some smart electronic genius can come up with a solution someday.
Remember that heated gear has to fit snugly, over a minimum of under-layers, to be the most effective. It is best to size the gear in the store, if possible. Gerbing has a lot of sizes, to fit you to a tee, and they often have fit seminars at selected stores and shows...it is that important. Powerlet does the same at shows. One advantage to the correct size and base layer(s) is that the gear needn't be turned up so high, lessening the electrical draw. In fact, I often ride with my vest without turning it on. It is a real effective warmth layer without the heat.
hyea:
