Positive - this is an effective, warm and easy to use heated jacket with a mid-market price.  The people at Exo2 are easy to deal with, answer any queries promptly, and were genuinely good people to do business with.

Negative - you really do need the optional thermostatic control, which goes from 1 to 6, with 6 being lightly roasted to number 1 being you don't really know that it is on.

Ease of Use - It wires straight into the ignition feed, connect a plug and away you go.  It is easy to use, and there has clearly been some thought gone into the product.  If you step away from the bike whilst still connected the plug slides out very easily, without dragging the wires out with it.

Would I recommend it? - Yes, undoubtedly, if you ride all year or commute all year then this piece of kit will make the biggest difference to your riding comfort short of waterproofs.  Given a choice between having waterproof boots or the Exo heated jacket I would go for the Exo heated jacket.  If your core stays warm, all of you stays warm, and as somebody who has experienced hypothermia twice, once on a motorcycle and once during a military exercise, for the all year round rider this is an essential piece of both comfort and safety equipment. 

Background - I bought the Exo2 Storm Rider after having got frozen to the core in January 2008.  I was probably dressed in a good quality Hein Gerike gortex winter suit, thermals and snow boarding layers, Alpine Star waterproof boots, winter gloves and hot grips.  I started recognising the early onset symptoms of hypothermia whilst riding in January, and decided that I was not prepared to do this again, so I reviewed the market for various heated jackets, and went for one which looked like it was mid-market in prize, good quality, and ideally from a British manufacturer.  Eventually I plumped for the Exo2 and it is a choice I have to say I haven't regretted.  I rode in March 2008 which was a very cold and snowy March, which went right through to the April, and what I found was really nice about this particular heated jacket was that I can lose layers, which can be quite important, especially if I have to ride in a business suit under my waterproofs.

The jacket lives in the top box of my R1200 GS, which also means that when I am riding in warm sunlight I can dress for that weather.  But even through a summer mesh suit which I have been wearing in April and May 2008 I know if I get caught out by a sudden drop in the temperature I can put this heated jacket on and even through a mesh suit I am warm.  I also don’t have to dress up like a trainee sumo wrestler and have to walk through doors sideways just to stay warm.  I have not compared this against any other comparable heated jackets.  I did buy a couple of cheap ones from various unbranded shops, and I might as well have simply burnt my money.  This is definitely a good piece of equipment, but if you get the opportunity to try one on under your leathers, do so as it does bulk you up a bit.

"I have been riding motorcycles for just over 30 years and the heated kidney belt/back support belt must be the next best biking gear I have bought next to my leathers.

With age, unfortunately comes lower back problems, and I have suffered with my lower back for approximately 15 years, and does it get worse in Winter !!!

Fortunately, every dark cloud DOES have a sliver lining and your heated back support belt sure works it’s magic. Whenever I am on the bike I will be wearing your belt. It’s not always that I use the heated functionality, but on cold mornings, when the back is tender, you can bet I have it switched on, and within less than 30 minutes, the pain would have subsided to something which will be more like a niggling pain instead of the crippling pain it would normally have been by then.

Another BIG bonus I have discovered, and any man with two women at home can attest to this, come “that time of the month”, man does this belt work some magic!!!!!!!!!!!!! My wife and daughter suffers from sever menstrual cramps, a few months ago I had my daughter try “THE BELT”. Other times, she would be in bed with some pain killers, this time round she was up and about well within an hour of wearing the belt and getting the benefit of it’s infra red heat treatment, Now that she and the wife have tried and tested “The Belt”, it’s now the ONLY time I CANNOT wear it when riding. PEACE IN THE HOME……. AT LAST!!!!!!.... it’s a price I am very willing to pay.

Thanks for a great product that not only keeps the back in check, put at last here’s something that can keep my girls happy as well J. Next winter guess I be using the heated gloves too…"

Regards
David Jason - Cape Town, South Africa
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Review by "Burn" for webBikeWorld
It seems like just yesterday that Bill and I wrote the dueling reviews of the Gerbing heated jacket liner and the Chilli heated vest for webBikeWorld.

It's so hard to believe that almost exactly one year has passed.  It seems like we just finished writing articles about how to keep cool in the blistering D.C. summer and here we are worrying about how we're going to stay warm this winter -- and it's shaping up to be a real chiller.

So how has technology treated us in the interim?  Well, we have some super news to report on the heated clothing front, but first, some background:

The Gerbing and Chilli products didn't quite do it for us last year; our complaints revolved mostly around their poor performance when used with low energy charging systems, like the wimpy 250 Watt alternator on Lori's (the webBikeWorld Women's Motorcycle Clothing editor) BMW R65. 

We also weren't thrilled with the "hot spots" in the Gerbing jacket, due to the internal wiring that distributes the heat.  And the frou-frou taffeta outer fabric was definitely not our cup of tea.

Our experience with heated clothing prior to those reviews was nil, but we expected more from two of the biggest names in the business.  How could they be improved?  Well, if we were asked to put together a list of the features for the "perfect" heated vest, it might look something like this: 

First on the list would be some type of heated fabric that spreads its warmth evenly but has no internal wiring.  Who wants to ride around with the guts of a toaster wrapped around your back?  Besides the hot spots, there's always the worry about breaking a wire. 

Next, as long as our dream heated vest works without internal wiring, we could have fabric that could be folded, washed or generally mishandled with no problems.

Then the vest would be made from a soft, comfortable and heavy-duty external fabric without the dreaded "taffeta" Nylon windbreaker material on the outside.  And while we're at it, how about a nice, comfy liner? 

The perfect heated vest would also have to work well at low Voltages so that any bike, old or new, large or small, could power it.

Bonus points would go for a breathable membrane to let the moisture escape; a stretchy fabric that helped the vest cling to the rider's body, thereby keeping the heat where it will do the most good; and a robust wiring system and controller for connection to the bike.

The Bronze Filigree with Gold Oak Leaf Cluster would be awarded for some real out-of-the-box thinking, like maybe if the vest could run on a rechargeable battery pack that fit in the pocket, or how about solar power?  And last but not least, what if the fabric was self-regulating; that is, if our wireless heated fabric maintained a constant temperature, with or without a controller, never burning the rider?

Sound like a fantasy?

Well, guess what - I've just described the new EXO2 StormRider heated vest!  This vest is so far beyond anything else we've tried that it's no contest.  From its quality design and construction to its warm, even flow of heat around the rider's body, the StormRider is wonderful. 

The Fabroc material is some new type of wireless "self regulating" heating fabric that's supposed to be incredibly efficient and transmitting heat at very low Voltage.  Like many of these high-tech products, it was developed for the aerospace industry and is used in things like deep-sea divers' dry suits, back supports and even in flooring and walls to provide warmth.

The stuff is light in weight also -- the entire vest in size large only weighs 1.5 lbs.  (680 grams).

I'll admit that I had my doubts about it when we ordered it, but using it during the last week of mid-30's (F) weather, it has proven to be a phenomenal piece of equipment. 

For example, I was saddling up in the garage today when the UPS delivery person drove up and she couldn't believe I was about to go for a ride on a motorcycle.  The thermometer read 37 degrees (F) and the wind has been blowing all day with 30 mph gusts. 

All I had on was a pair of REV'IT! X-Vent lined pants, a cotton turtleneck, the StormRider vest and the Tourmaster Advanced jacket, which isn't really the last word in cold weather clothing by any means.  Top it off with the Roadgear waterproof and windproof gloves, which work great, and I was nice 'n toasty warm, staying out for way longer than I would ever imagine in this type of weather.

The downside? 
Well, the StormRider vest isn't cheap. But as tight as I am, I'm going to say that I think it's worth it.  It doesn't show in the photos, but the quality of the StormRider's construction is first-rate; it really does seem like it will last for a long, long time.  A a few bucks could probably be saved by not getting the controller, but it's hard to imagine using any heated vest or garment without being able to control the temperature.  Without the controller, the vest works on a simple off/on switch.

The StormRider comes with a nicely made wiring harness that can be fitted to the motorcycle.  It is well made and easy to install.  The basic vest includes an on/off switch, and the heat to the vest is controlled by turning the power on and off.  This seems like a crude solution, so I purchased the optional digital controller.

Installing the wiring harness is easy -- attach the positive and negative terminals to the motorcycle's battery ( the positive (power) cable includes a 10 amp fuse), route the cables for the controller and that's it.  The vest connects to the wiring harness via a cable with a round connector in the right-hand pocket.  I routed the corresponding connector from the wiring harness so that it hangs out the right-hand side of the Tiger with about 24" of cable.  The right-hand pocket also includes two smaller cables that are used to connect the vest to the portable battery pack, which I did not purchase.

The controller is a small waterproof box with an on/off switch on top and a digital readout on the front.  It has a flush membrane-type button to push, and it cycles from 0 (off) to 9 (full power).  The only problem is that if you're at, say, setting number 7 and want to to to 5, you have to push the button all the way around through 9, then 0 then up to 5.  But this isn't really a big deal, to be honest.

The controller comes with a metal L-shaped bracket, and I found a convenient spot for it on the Tiger.  I loosened a handlebar mounting bolt and mounted it there.  I did have to drill out the roughly 1/4" hole to 5/16" to fit the bolt, but otherwise it went very smoothly.

The StormRider heated vest does have all the other capabilities I mentioned above.  A separate rechargeable battery pack is available.  The instructions say that the battery pack will last for a continuous 3 hours, but it's recommended that the vest is switched on and off only when heat is required.

The hot tip (pun intended) with any heated clothing is to wear a relatively stretchy jersey over it to keep the heated fabric close to your body for best results.  The size large StormRider fits about like a U.S. men's size 43, which means that it is just snug enough on my size 44 chest to keep the heat where I need it.

Conclusion
It's my opinion that the EXO StormRider heated vest addresses all of the faults we found with last year's heated clothing reviews.  It's just like wearing any other type of comfortable vest, except it puts out a nice, even blanket of warmth with no hot spots like the wired types.  I think the quality is great; the product feels substantial; it's as flexible and "crushable" as any other type of non-wired street vest and even the two slash outer pockets have nice zippers with big pulls.
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