New Gerbing Coreheat 12 Jacket/Pants review

[Backroad Mike]

Russ wanted a verbose report, so here goes....

I've had the old style wire heated socks, jacket liner and outerwear pants for many years. I still have the socks, but they are now relegated to back up as I'm using the insole boot liners that don't feel like I'm walking on wires.

Since I sold my heated outer wear pants to Warren sometime back, I've been using my FXRG leather pants when chaps are not enough. With the temps dipping below 30 and newer technology out, I decided to invest in some new Gerbings.

Enter the new Coreheat 12's. Jacket and Pants. These are the microwire mesh elements that are more efficient and without the wire feel through the cloth. The heating elements are now contained in a zip out liner that can be removed to wear just the shell, or as a liner in another jacket if you wish.

The jacket has 4 outside pockets. Two are normal location on the font sides of your belly. The third is on the right chest and contains a waterproof wallet holder. The 4th pocket on the left breast is too small to hold a current smart phone, but work good for holding your bike key or maybe a garage remote. The liner has one pocket under the left breast. There pads in the elbow's, and one in the middle of your back, all of which can be removed. Two separate vents, one under the arm pit extends down the sides, with a second smaller vent more on the front. a draw string around the waste can be adjusted on either side and quickly draws the bottom in tight around your torso to eliminate any air infiltration. Wiring hook ups are the same as previous versions. The jacket sleeve now has a sewn in extension what covers the wrist area with a hole to slide your thumb out. This eliminates any exposed skin between the end of the sleeve and your gloves. The only issue is extracting your arms from the jacket take a little time as the liner fits tight around your forearm and wants to pull out with the removal of the arm. All I wore under the jacket today was thin long sleeve shirt. The jacket is heavy and will get warm quick if your indoors. I left it in the tourpack during breakfast.

The pants are sleeker than the previous union ridge stuff. function is about the same, but the heat seems much more intense. They only have two pockets, both with zippers. As like the jacket, the liner can be removed from the pants. The legs have armor just below the knees that protect the shins, as they surely do nothing for the knees. Your not going to put these on easily while wearing boots however. I also did not wear any jeans under them as a good pair of under armor or long johns is what Gerbing recommends wearing under them. Today was the first time I've not worn jeans, and will never again if I'm wearing these pants. It was much easier slipping them on/off. Like the FXRG leathers, you can zip the jacket and pants together. I did this today, and as long as you can reach the back of your waist, you should be able to zip it together. Just do it before you try to zip up the jacket. I was comfortable, without being overheated wearing them to breakfast

The Gerbing web site says these items run small, and they do. Gerbing says they're working on a new size chart, but my suggestion is to try them on in person and not order them through the mail. I did speak with one person who stated he experienced a draft between the pants/jacket, but he also stated he did not cinch up the draw strings around the bottom. I did notice a little colder band around the mid section, but it wasn't a show stopper. If you have the older union ridge jacket with the longer skirt, you may not like this jacket as the union ridge will overlap the pants a good 6 to 8 inches. The new stuff, maybe 1-2 inch overlap is all your going to get.

I purchased my jacket/pants combo at a local retail BMW store near the house. They have always treated me well and merely by asking, gave me an instant 15% discount..

Oh, warranty: 1 year on workmanship.. Heating elements/wiring for life.

Russ is headed down tomorrow to spend some money.

[Bone Stockman]

I'm so proud of you......

[Infidel!]

Nice review. I'll have to check them out at the Dallas IMS show

So you say "can I have 15% off" and they give it to you? I'm going to try that

[Backroad Mike]

Originally Posted by Infidel!

Nice review. I'll have to check them out at the Dallas IMS show

So you say "can I have 15% off" and they give it to you? I'm going to try that

I commented that they didn't appear to be on sale. He said we can work something out. The 15% is what he came up with. Pretty much in line for what I've seen them have sales in the past, or what you can get at the Timonium Bike Show from the Gerbing dealer who shows up there.

[orbit]

Mike,

What does all that list for?

Do the pants and jacket run off of one controller OK, or do you use the dual?

Thanks.

[BillyB]

Nice review Mike

[Backroad Mike]

Originally Posted by orbit

Mike,

What does all that list for?

Do the pants and jacket run off of one controller OK, or do you use the dual?

Thanks.

Pants are 299.00, jacket is 399.00. I was out the door with tax for 625.00.


I only use a two button controller as I'm using gloves and boot insole heat as well.

[Bone Stockman]

Well, I hauled butt down to Morton's today (sorry I didn't call Mike, it was a last-minute rush) and looked at their new Gerbing's stuff. My jacket liner and gloves are so old, they're pre-MicroWire, and the gloves are brutally cold when my hands aren't behind a fairing. The jacket is only $150 more than a liner, and the jacket's liner is removable, meaning it could be used in other jackets as well.

Unfortunately, the jacket was not to be. It's a spectacularly nice jacket, and it's a bargain at $399. It's got a lot of great features, and it's built really well. But the forearms are tiny. I wear a Large in most jackets, so I started there. I'm not really a big guy, but I couldn't get my arms into the jacket. OK, on to XL. Same problem, though with some struggling I managed to get my hands to come out of the cuffs. Body-wise, the XL was the correct size. But it took me close to two minutes to put the jacket on and take it off, and I was in fear of tearing the liner apart when I tried to extricate myself from it. XXL fit my arms better, but I was swimming in the body.

No joy, so I got a new jacket liner. The new ones don't have the Thinsulate that my old one did. Not a big deal, but it was always nice having that little bit of insulation. Then again, since the gloves are on the same circuit as the jacket when you're running pants, having the need for more heat in the jacket makes sense, since my hands are always colder than my body. There's a nice zippered compartment for the plugs, and there's room enough in there for the Powerlet wireless receiver. The MicroWire does seem to heat up quicker, and the jacket itself is much nicer-looking than the old one. Unfortunately, there's no more heat in the collar, which I missed on the ride home.

And I picked up a pair of their new EX gloves. I'd love to tell y'all how well they worked, but my dumb ass forgot to run the wires from the jacket liner out the sleeves of my leather jacket, so they were unplugged the entire way home (yes, I'm too stubborn to stop and fix it). With that said, they're very comfortable and very warm. It wasn't until the temperature got into the low 40s that I regretted not having them plugged in. They're "water resistant", they've got a visor squeegee on the left index finger, there's a slider on the heels of the palms to prevent compression fractures, and the liner is a super-comfortable velour-ish fabric. They lack any sort of knuckle armor, which is a Good Thing as far as I'm concerned. The sizing is consistent with my old G3s, but they're much less bulky. The only knock on them I have so far is that the cuffs are small....It's work getting them over the cuffs of my FXRG jacket. Probably less of a big deal with a textile jacket, but (oddly) utterly impossible to get over the cuffs of the Gerbing's XE jacket.

The guy who took care of Mike took care of me too, and he was impressed that I rode all the way down there just for motorclothes (they don't call them that at BMW dealerships, but so what).

I also got to see a guy on a brand-new squeaky-clean 2015 GS who had ordered one of everything from the Touratech accessories catalog and was easily wearing 5 grand worth of brand-new squeaky-clean gear. He looked heartbroken when I pulled up next to his world-class Adventure Bike on my big touring sled that's covered in mud splotches and road dust. He consoled himself by buying one of everything from the Gerbing's display (I'm not kidding, he bought everything from sock liners to insoles to two different kinds of gloves and glove liners. He packed them all into his brand-new squeaky-clean Ortleib drybag ('cause that's what Adventure Riders use), then gingerly rode away.

He seemed happy though, and I'm happy for him.

[Ancient Iron]

Have you guys been writing for J Peterman again?

[BigTOE]

I hope you got his number so we can help him liquidate when he scares his ass.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bone Stockman]

Originally Posted by BigTOE

I hope you got his number so we can help him liquidate when he scares his ass.

Whenever I see people like that I hope that they have friends who will help them through their first scare and get them to learn to love to ride.

[orbit]

Originally Posted by Backroad Mike

Pants are 299.00, jacket is 399.00. I was out the door with tax for 625.00.


I only use a two button controller as I'm using gloves and boot insole heat as well.

Thanks, Mike. I'm gonna have to look into the pants. Probably the boot insoles, too.

Originally Posted by Bone Stockman

I also got to see a guy on a brand-new squeaky-clean 2015 GS who had ordered one of everything from the Touratech accessories catalog and was easily wearing 5 grand worth of brand-new squeaky-clean gear. He looked heartbroken when I pulled up next to his world-class Adventure Bike on my big touring sled that's covered in mud splotches and road dust. He consoled himself by buying one of everything from the Gerbing's display (I'm not kidding, he bought everything from sock liners to insoles to two different kinds of gloves and glove liners. He packed them all into his brand-new squeaky-clean Ortleib drybag ('cause that's what Adventure Riders use), then gingerly rode away.

He seemed happy though, and I'm happy for him.

Cubic dollars to be a motorcyclist. This boggles my mind. I'm sorry, but I'm boggled.

Originally Posted by BigTOE

I hope you got his number so we can help him liquidate when he scares his ass.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Bone Stockman

Whenever I see people like that I hope that they have friends who will help them through their first scare and get them to learn to love to ride.

This.

I hope all of his friends aren't members of the cubic dollars to be a motorcyclist club.

[BigTOE]

Yeah, that could happen. That would be awesome. You're bogarting the number aren't you?


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[orbit]

Originally Posted by BigTOE

Yeah, that could happen. That would be awesome. You're bogarting the number aren't you?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, Russ probably made sure that that guy was his exact size.

No doubt........

[Bone Stockman]

Ken, in addition to the insoles, they offer sock liners. I toyed with the idea of getting a pair, but figured that it was rare that I was riding Vader in the dead of winter, and that the insoles I already have would suffice. The sock liners really need a silk liner underneath, and a thin sock over top of them, which means you need to have some serious room in your boots.

I can't say enough how awesome the pants are. Mine are the older XE pants, but the principle's the same. The nice thing about mine (and I assume the new ones are the same) is that they're insulated as well as heated. On a Harley with a fairing and lowers, it's gotta be really cold to need to use the heat, and you really don't need to turn it up much.

Heated stuff is expensive, but the ability to ride comfortably in crazy cold weather makes them worth every penny I've spent.