how to heat your seat

There's nothing worse than a cold, wet butt when the sun sets and there's still 40 miles between you and a hot shower. There are plenty of clothing products on the market to insulate or resist moisture. But when you're cold,and it's dark there's not much that'll really keep you happy. We've foundone product which actually creates warmth: The Hot Ride from Quiet Ridge.

The concept is simple enough, a flexible circuit pad covered with quality cordura nylon, attached to your sled. Think of it as a big hand warmer for your posterior. We ordered the deluxe setup with the optional mounting kitand the hi/lo upgrade.

This is a very simple kit to install. With two people, it took approximately 45 minutes. Here's what we did:

Step 1: Remove the rear seat bolts. Slide all three straps from the optional mount kit under the seat, being careful not to pull out thetail light wiring harness.

Step 2: Place the Hot Ride pad on the seat. Try to position it where you spend most of your riding time, either front or rear- it won't affect heating performance.

Step 3: Lace straps into the buckles, trying to maintain an equal amount of strap on either side of the seat.

Step 4: Decide which side of the dash you want to mount the controls.We opted to go with the left side for simple operation while on the go.Make sure the power plug is on the correct side. The instructions note that the optional rheostat will get hot under use, and that it should not bemounted on plastic. However, Karl Becker, Quiet Ridge's President, explained that the high density polyethylene used to make the dash area on most sleds will withstand the heat and poses little danger of melting. DO NOT installthe controls on the gas tank- bad things will happen!

Drill a hole so that each unit fits snugly. Do not drill too large of a hole, the controls will not mount properly.

Step 5: Tighten seat straps and either tuck the excess back under the seat, or trim off.

Step 6: Thread the connector wire from the pad up into the engine cab. On our volunteer's Evolved chassis Polaris, we were able to sneak itin between the plastic molding and the fuel tank. We zip tied the wire to the foremost strap, to keep it out of harm's way.

Step 7: Locate your power source and your ground. On our testsled, we used the yellow wire as power, and the brown for the ground. If you are not sure which is the best line to use, consult your dealer.

Step 8: Split the Hot Ride power cord so it is just past the mounting holes while still reaching the power supply. Cut one wire, near the desired control mounting position and strip a quarter inch of insulation from theend. Solder this end to the center pin on the optional hi/lo rheostat. Cuta 4-inch length off the excess wire and strip a quarter inch from both ends.

Step 9: Solder one end of the wire to the right side post of therheostat. Solder the other end to the on/off switch.

Step 10: Solder one end of the fuse holder line to the open endof the on/off switch. The wiring harness is now complete.

Step 11: Connect the wire with the controls and fuse to the powerfeed (yellow on our sled) and the solid wire to the ground (brown). You can choose any method of splicing, however, we have found that a simple parallel guillotine splice connector, commonly known as a "3M clip"works the best.

To use a 3M clip, place the wire you're splicing into in the fully open groove, nearest the hinge. Close the plastic housing. Clip the end of the accessory wire down to the insulation. Slide the accessory wire into theremaining groove until it goes no further. Using a pliers, clamp the metal guillotine into the wire, and snap the plastic cover into place to holdthe connection. Wrap this with electrical tape to avoid corrosion.

Step 12: Mount the controls onto the dash using the supplied hexnut. If you've made the holes too big, you'll need to add a thin washer.

Step 13: Tie the wiring up and out of the way of any moving parts.

It's as simple as that. In 45 minutes or less you can have a hot butt, guaranteed. Becker is so confident that consumers will like his product,he offers a full, money back guarantee. While we didn't have the cold weather conditions last season to really scrutinize the Hot Seat, it did do everything we asked of it.

For info, contact: Quiet Ridge, 24 Crescent St. # 105, Waltham,MA 02154 · 888/797-4343