I bought a Electric vest from Aerostich. I have hooked it up to the wiring I had for the satelite radio. I had the satelite radio hooked to the headlight circuit so it only had power when the key was on. The vest came with wires to hook directly to the battery. Do I need to run it straight from the battery or can I continue to draw off the existing setup through the headlight circuit?

May be a coincidence butt...I have blown my hi-beam since using the vest. It has been in there for over 40k so I'm sure it was due.



I've just tried it out on a couple 40 degree mornings and it works great...

and it's a purple vest...

Josh, Anything that pulls a heavy current draw (amps) should have it's own circuit. Take the time to run a separate circuit for the vest. Volts x Amps = watts of power. Example: a 12V vest that is rated at 75 watts would draw approx 6 1/4 amps. Make sure that you install an inline fuse of the proper rating for it too. Hope this helps.

I would run it on a seperate circuit, a vest can pull several amps and there is a conversion factor that one of the electrical guru's on the site can give you. I am guessing the vest pulls 4 watts mabe one or two more and that may be enough to overload the headlight circuit.

Just get a powerlett and wire it to the battery with a fuse in line or you could wire the powerlett to a switched relay with the power coming off the battery.

I have one wired directly to the battery, I just plug the vest into it and always unplug before I get off the bike. The benefit of this method is that should I need to use the air compressor I can do so without the engine running. I also can jack the Battery tender into it when I am not riding.

I agree with the other replies: Don't run your vest off the headlight wiring. The vest will
pull several amps, so should have it's own, dedicated, fused circuit tied directly to the battery.

To clarify, it does have it's own inline fuse. I have the negative hooked to the battery - side, the positive wire gets the juice from the wire running to the headlamps.

It worked great with the XM radio having the power turn off with the bike, not as important for the vest because I wont be sitting in the cold with the bike turned off much.

Those aerostitch vests (and most others) draw between 3 & 4 amps/~45 watts.


Did you get one of the inflatable vests? That's what I'd buy if I was buying one today. I got the fleece vest w/on-off switch.

Hook it directly to the battery. I've had the Aerostich for a few years and no problems.

You'll pop your HB fuse alot if you are drawing another 6-7Amps from it.

Wire it off the battery direct, or use a relay.

To clarify, HOOK IT TO THE FUCKING BATTERY LIKE EVERYONE IS TELLING YOU...............FUCKO.

LMFAO....I needed that after last night.

Fuck it ignore everyone and ride home cold and in the dark

So do you get like a total body stereo now, or is it just better reception?

dude, just power the coil side of a relay from the headlight wiring, and get the current side directly from the battery... That way, you're only drawing about 1/2 watt from the headlight, but can get up to 20A directly from the battery, but it's only on when the headlight is on...

Mike