Toasty toes

Yesterday was such a lovely day that it was begging the motorcycle to come out. Thus, despite half of the pretty parts being on the floor of my garage (expecting auxiliary lights and a couple USB ports this week), I put the vitals back together and loaded up to get to ClaroKC (Spanish conversation group in KC). Part of my excitement for getting back on the bike was to test out my newly-installed First Gear heated riding gear. Yesterday evening around 6, it was a balmy 43°F here in KC, so heated gear wasn't necessary. I was just really hankering to see how it worked.

Unfortunately, when I first plugged it in: no dice. No indicator lights; no warmth. I was late, though, so headed in up to ClaroKC. After successful conversation, I looked the bike over and discovered that the in-line fuse that came with the heated gear wiring was blown. (Forgot that I had shorted it out right after the install.) Unfortunately, it is the only ATM (small blade) fuse, so I had no replacement. Due to the fuse block I just installed, this in-line fuse is redundant, so I found a scrap piece of wire and jumped it. I'll have to go back and remove it later...don't need to have superfluous things that can cause problems when we're far from civilization. That did the trick for the time being, though: the lights were on on the controller for the heated gear and my fingers had warmth, so I headed on up to Le Fou Frog to meet Sarah.

Later, I took the long way home, down I-35 to Hwy 69 and around 435. By then it was 35°F or so, so still not frigid, but more of a test of the system at highway speeds. It can definitely put out some heat! Seems a bit uneven, though, with sweltering hands and feet and warm torso and legs. I think this can be solved with more strategic layering, though. I was wearing a pair of normal pants over the heated pant liner and just the motorcycle jacket over the jacket liner, which then had a couple layers between it and my skin. For efficacious use, probably best to keep the heated gear close to the skin with thermal layers on top and a windproof layer last.

Yesterday was just an exploratory trial, though, and I'm pretty satisfied overall. The heated gear will keep me much warmer with much less bulk, both of which will be useful for the long trip ahead, during which we'll travel from frigid spring in Alaska, to sweltering summer in Mexico and Central America, to frigid winter in the mountains of far south South America.

I expect my moustache to frost more than once.

A frosty moustache, New Year's sunrise 2018.