Will a heated vest or jacket work with a 1982 XS400?

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ADavis

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Hello.

I have a 1982 XS400J. I am thinking about buying an electrically heated vest or jacket liner for late fall/early spring riding.

My question is can this bike's stock charging system handle it? How many amps does it put out? How many amps does it require to keep it running? Everything is stock.

The jacket comes in either 65 watt or 90 watt versions, which should be about 4.5 amps or 6.5 amps. Can this bike handle either one?

It is mostly ridden on the interstate for a 45 minute commute to work.

http://www.firstgear-usa.com/Heated/CSSHeatJacketLiners.html

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Alan Davis
North Baltimore Ohio
 
That is a hefty increase in amps. If you do some customizing with LED bulbs in the turn signals and stop/tail lamp, you would reduce the amp draw and compensate for the increase caused by the gear. Since the majority of your riding is high speed cruising, you might get away with it, though.

Are all vests and jackets rated the same? I ask because a few years ago I put heated grip pads on a motor scooter with the same limited output as our cycles. I found a pair that had a lower amp draw than most others.

BTW, welcome to the forum and how about a little more of an intro!
 
As Oliver said, going with LEDs will help. I also think a 35w headlight would be necessary. Even then, I think you would be right on the edge.
 
get a waistcoat with loads of pockets . Put those reusable handwarmers in there, zero amp draw.

Better still get two microwavable hot water bottles and wear them!
 
I realize this is a really old thread, but thought I'd chime in, in case anyone reads through the archives like me.

The original owner of my bike wired it for heated grips and a heated vest. I know nothing about the vest, but obviously it can be done. And to my knowledge, everything on the bike is stock, definitely no LEDs (yet… lol). I don't have a vest to plug in, but the heated grips work beautifully.
 
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