How many watts available for heated equipment?

[gearjammer]

Michigan's dreadful winter's coming up and I am looking for help with some heated equipment I need. The gerbing jacket I have works very well, but I am planning on adding heated grips. Can anybody suggest a good pair? I found an interesting link to build my own grips but have to think about it a bit.
Heres a link :
http://webmaster10.com/ldr/DIY-heated-grips.html

The question is can I run grips, jacket and GPS off the battery, or will my alternator toast? I was also considering just buying the cortech scarab winter gloves so I can use it with the grips.

[txbanditrydr]

I can't answer the watt question with any degree (no pun intended) of accuracy BUT I run grip heaters, GPS, Gerbings liner AND pants with no problems.

My grip heaters are Symtec and they work great.... will absolutely cook you on high.  I recommend some heat shrink tubing be placed on the clutch bar end prior to applying the heater tape - it evens out the temperature due to the bare metal bar vs. the plastic throttle grip.

Edit to add.... if you can afford it I'd recommend the Gerbings gloves.  Grip heaters are great down to a point but the back of your hands will not get warm.

[Red01]

No problems here with a Gerbing jacket and Dual Star grip heaters... but that's all the electrical stuff I run.

The Dual Stars are pretty inexpensive at $30, and they work well.
http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Rider/heated_grip_kit1.htm

[gearjammer]

Thanks Txbanditrydr/Red01. I was probing around the forum and found out the stock alternator puts out about 400W with about 200-220 needed for engine operation. Im prepping the electricals with a relay/distribution box so I can hook up all the gizmos without running directly off the battery.

Yeah, the gloves are definetly worth it, although the price for gerbings are a bit on the high side. I am trying to figure out finances right now! I saw another company that makes gloves for a lot cheaper. Have you guys heard of WarmGear? Cozywinters.com stocks them and they are comparitively cheaper than Gerbings.

[gearjammer]

So I bit the bullet and bought myself a pair of warmgear gloves. Not too many reviews available on them. I hope they work!

[rmedmonds]

This may be a  little late, but just about any version of the 'hotgrips' heated grips would be fantastic.  I put a pair on my Sportster (yeah, I was one of those) and came to the decision that if you were ANY place north of the Mason-Dixon Line that heated grips were one of the first things I'd put on any bike I'd owned.  I love that I can wear the thinest gloves I own (I'll go for feel over thickness anytime) and still be comfortable on the bike.  They were the first thing I put on the B1250 and I was able to basically all winter long without ending the ride to work with blocks of ice for hands. 

Many Japanese wear the 'elephant ears' socks on their grips, but I may be parochial about liking being able to get hands off and on the grips quickly.  Heated grips are one of the best investments you'll make. (I'm off my soap box now.)

Cheers!