New: Oxford HotVest 12v heated motorcycle vest

Here's the deal: I ask Oxford if I can try out their HotVest and the moment it arrives, the weather turns from cold to mild, so I can safely say: it works!

Aged 32 and rapidly approaching old age, I no longer shun the idea of heated clothing. It's funny; 10 years ago, when a certain former Editor of mine, a Mr Simon Hargreaves, was raving about heated kit, I smiled politely and thought to myself: 'I hope I never get THAT old'.

Well here I am, 10 years later and I am that old, well, in mindset at least. I wanted a piece of heated kit I could transfer from bike to bike, so that's heated grips off the menu and really, the only sensible choice is a heated vest, as I can mix it up with other kit. A heated jacket on the other hand, you're stuck with.

Oxford make a Lithium battery-powered vest which means you don't have anly trailing cables but I've gone for the wired in 12V version, as I'll never remember to charge the battery in the other model.

The 12V HotVest comes with an in-line temperature controller with 4 heat levels and comes with a battery harness (which I'll wire into my ZX-10R and you can buy an additonal 12V 'fag lighter' plug which I'll use to connect up to the SH300's 12v socket.

I'll let you know how I get on. Bring on the cold weather!

Model: Oxford HotVest 12V

Cost: £149.99 RRP but can be found online for £80

Contact: www.oxprod.com