Heated grips

Thinking of getting some for the cat.
Any suggestions/ recommendations?

Cheers
Billy

Firstly I'd recommend them, as to which ones, not sure. I've had two of pretty much the same design.

Oxford, very good but mine suffered a problem with the electronic controller whereby it used to battle to turn on or off, but in between worked very well. Later versions this problem was apparently fixed.
They got a bit pricey so for the second 'Cat I went for Hein Gerieke's branded grips, exactly the same from what I can see apart from the label on the controller is upside down .. On the Oxford the + is bottom left with the lights to the right and on the HG + top right and the lights (leds) to the left.
Reason for mentioning that is I have found my glove obscures the leds so turning it on is a bit hit and miss, I'm sure I'll figure it out.

I've not fancied the rotary switched version, Yamaha use that style in their branded grips - maybe they know something I don't.

problem I found with heated grips is that they tend to keep your palms warm and not so much your fingers
bought some heated gloves last year, not cheap but they are brilliant
ride all year round, 38 mile daily commute round trip, and no longer have cold hands
chris

I complained to Ride magazine that I had not received my subscription freebie, as compensation they are sending me some heated grips!

After riding home last night in the dark and in the fog I am looking forward to trying them when they arrive.

I had Oxford on my 'cat & they were brilliant once I'd had the duff control box replaced (faulty batch)
I'd recommend fitting a relay too.
The only issue I had with mine was that if I had the lights on & turned the grips on the grips would turn themselves off due to lack of electrical power, result was to turn the grips on before the headlight.

i had roxters on my old vardero 125 this look the same as oxford grips.
when they work they are great but i did find firstly if left on they are meant to not drain the battery below a certain point (tosh) dont work had extra flat battery
also had problems with getting them to stay on, this could of been due to it only being a 125 and the charge was rubbish? well what ever the reason found them not very reliable

The freebie arrived from Ride Magazine:



Result!

robertcains wrote:
I'd recommend fitting a relay too.

Don't know anything about relays, are you able to give any guidance, thanks.

0ldcat wrote:

RELAY

You Tart!!!!

Best relay - Send three & fourpence, we're going to a dance.

Just bought some Oxford Grips off eBay, rrp £80, got them
For £50 and free postage, just waiting for my mate to fit them, he's done his but not mine!! :(

Yeah, the fitting was the bit I was not looking forward to. Will have to wait till Saturday when there is some decent light.

Fitting is quite straight forward, might be worth googling fitting to the Thundercat. Right hand side can be a bit fiddly and if you're not careful the throttle can stick and not return because the of the grip. A craft/Stanley knife sorts that problem out.

Regarding the relay; the instructions will have you connect directly to the battery, which is OK if you remember to always turn the grips off.
The alternate is to have the ignition switch supply the power to the grips on and off, but as there is a fair whack of power being drawn the switchgear can overload and stop working.

A 12v relay capable of switching a good few Amps (10 or 15 at least I'd say) would sort out this problem. You can also use the same relay to 'power' other items you may have - sound system etc. etc.
The relay coil is wired one end to the earth of the bike (battery or chassis) and the other end to the switched power on the fuse box , might be a good idea to use an inline fuse here - lowish Amp rating.

The relay contacts should be normally open (that's a term used to describe the state of the switch when it isn't being used). One side of the switch to the +ve of the battery via an inline fuse - this one must be rated lower than the relay switch capacity but high enough for what you want to connect (10 or 15A ought to be good), the other end of the switch is available for you to connect your load - in this case your grips.

I think you may just connect to the battery after that spiel !!

A possible relay suggestion you can use.

Hi Steve,
No, I appreciate the info. Yes, I may go direct to the battery to begin with but will certainly put a Relay in later so i don't get all my gear on to find the Battery flat on the Bike!

Thanks (and for putting a link to a relay).
John.

As Steve says, saved me going through all the ins & outs.
Basically its the safest way to connect the grips through an ignition live and bypassing the switch you connect to, most relays come with a wiring diagram so just ask if you get stuck mate.

Thanks Nick.

I have hot grips which are wraps on my ZX6R. Fantastic but so easy to forget to turn off. Had them on my Superscoot and was caught out 3 or 4 times with a flat battery and you can't bump them as they are automatic

Well 2 weeks down the line my mate hasn't come through and fitted my heated grips, the only option being to do it myself. Problem with this is I cant lay my hands on my test light. Can anyone point me in the direction of a reliable ignition live feed, save me buying a new test light, thanks

Hi Steve,
from what I have read, the best live feed is off the indicator switch, the reason being that if you manage to blow the fuse while out and about the indicators are not critical to you getting home.

I will be hopefully fitting them this weekend so I will try and take pictures and let you know.

John

Manor69 wrote:

I will be hopefully fitting them this weekend so I will try and take pictures and let you know.

John

That would be great John, really appreciate that.

Steve

This howto link may be of help fitting your grips.

(Thanks Kev for the write-up and hosting it for us)

SteveCat wrote:This howto link may be of help fitting your grips.

(Thanks Kev for the write-up and hosting it for us)

Hi Steve, I had found that linke myself and printed it off ready. I also bought the Halfords Relay kit that was suggested.

My plan it hook into the indicator power feed that comes from the switch. I have a haynes manual so should be able to find the correct one so that the grips don't just heat up when the indicator is on - LOL.

I am going to solder the connections and us some self amalgamating tape to protect them (love the stuff).

Got my tools in the car ready to drop of at the brother-in-laws tonight so I take the bike over tomorrow and crack on - with plenty of coffee being fed by his wife.

John.

There fitted and working.

Took me about 4hrs in the end. The bigger diameter grips make the bike a lot more comfortable on the hands.




I mounted relay under the seat:


and the little blackbox that's part of the grips I stuck on black box under the the fuel tank (See pics below.)




The wires were run pretty much as per the link by Steve, but since all the wiring was under the seat it seem easier to run the trigger + for relay from the back light (Re/Blue Wire) instead of the front indicator.This left it easier to keep the wires neat at the front of the bike.


Had to trim throttle Grip as it did stick like people had said. Also the left hand side took some effort getting it to stick, seemed to be a layer of something on the handlebar - a previous glue?

One of the biggest hurdles was getting your head round how the relay works and were you are going to splice it in. Once you have got your head round this then it is fairly straight forward - just time consuming.

Thoughts: I love them. Cannot use them on full (and that was in 6deg. temp.). Stopping at traffic lights etc makes your hands get very warm. The bigger diameter makes throttle control and comfort a lot better. Would put them on any other bike in the future.

Found the cable damaged at the controller so wrapped some of the self amalgamating tape around which should keep it safe.

Watch your leads at the head stock, check movement of the steering before fixing wires so that you don't stretch them.

Any questions, please ask.

Thanks for the info it will be a grea help