The last time I went out for a ride in weather below 50° F I didn't feel any heat from my seat; however, my grips were almost too hot to hold on to them.
I recently checked that the seat was actually plugged into the wiring harness; which it was - so, I'm wondering if others have experienced anything along the same lines as me, or perhaps if there is something that might be inhibiting the seat from warming up.
My last ride was pretty short (8 miles), and I probably didn't go over 60 mph; so, thinking the electrical management system didn't have enough to heat the seat due to the low engine (alternator) rpm and or time? Again, grips were almost too hot to hold.(Set at 3), Seat was set at 4.
If you are only traveling 8 miles, my hunch is the heating elements didn't have time to get up to temp yet. A seat is a larger surface area than grips, so it will take longer to warm up. Also, your hands are much more sensitive than your seat area, so you'll notice the temp faster with your hands.
I find the grips on the R18 at highest settings get very warm. I have an R18 Classic & only need to put the grips on 3 if I ride in 20-30F temps. In the upper 40s, 1 is plenty, while 2 is good from around freezing to mid 40s. This is augmented with battery heated gloves, so the tops of my hands which are fully exposed to wind blast can be warm. If you are on a B or TC the fairing blocks a lot of direct wind blast on the hands, so just heated grips can work fine. My GSA has hand guards which keep a lot of wind off the hands & it only has low & high heat on the grips. I only need high heat when it is <20F in that setup & only need low when it is in the 30s. The high heat on my GSA is not as warm as the highest on my R18 though.
In warmer temps like mid 40s, I typically don't even turn on the heated grips or heated gloves on my R18 if the ride is <20 miles. It does take a few minutes for them to warm up, but my hands won't really start to feel cold until I've been out in the temp for at least 30 minutes. Also, I'm on the lowest setting in that temp anyway, so it's not a big deal. In colder weather like 20s or 30s, I do turn them on when I start riding as you'll feel the cold much quicker. 50F & warmer, I never use the heated grips or heated gloves, as just the insulation of the glove is plenty when it's so warm.
With all the above said, the assumption is you are using good quality winter/cold weather riding gloves. These will have both insulation (often Thinsulate), but also wind proof to avoid the wind chill impact. If you try to use summer gloves in cold temps, all the air flow meant to keep them cooler in summer will freeze you in winter. I typically have 3 variations of gloves (live in the Northeast USA), for summer, spring/fall & winter. Older winter gloves were quite bulky and had negative impact on control feel, but modern gloves are much thinner & have better feedback as a result.
