Heated grips installation: opinions?

Hi,
sorry if this has been discussed already. I'm thinking of installing a set
of Oxford Hot Grips on my GS500. Daily use for London commuting, 40 mins
more or less each way. Something like that:
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/OxfordHotGrips

I've seen also Oxford HotHands, they seem easy to install but they look a
bit bulky and unstable:
http://www.webbikeworld.com/r3/heated-motorcycle-grips/

Experiences/opinions?
Thanks,

F

 

I'm just about to fit some Daytona ones to the gixxer, looks easy
enough. As Vass says, watch where the cables run.

 

Dunno what they're like.

I had some similar to those (but not Oxford), & whilst they got toasty
warm, I never really got on with the bulk & slightly remote feeling
they gave to the throttle.


--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

Don't buy Oxford ones, the controllers are useless and the grips go
open circuit, and I've seen too many complaints on the forums saying
this.

Buy Daytona ones - I've had them fitted to four or five bikes and been
very happy with them.

 

Yeah I would second that on the Oxford ones. The wiring, where it goes
into the grip looks poor too.

I would also suggest you look at a pair of Gerbing heated gloves first
though.

 

Most aftermarket heated grips I've seen have been pretty shoddily
wired and/or installed. Not a patch on the OE ones you get from BMW or
Triumph. I'd second Hog's advice: try some heated gloves first. The
good thing about them is you can transfer them from bike to bike.

 

You've never seen the ones I've installed then? Nige...tell him.

 

He will, just as soon as he's had the burns treated.

 

I've heard bad things about the new push button type ones and my
original post was really about those. They cut off too quickly and if
you're running with lights on and a sat-nav installed they hardly ever
work.

 

Oxford grips are shite. I never had problems with the switches but the
wires broke where they entered the grips and even on "start" they were
never hot enough.

 

The Daytona ones Loz fit to the Trumpet looked & worked ace to be fair.
Thats why i bought a set for the gixxer.

 

What he said - these Stormshield gloves rock:
http://www.exo2.co.uk/exo2.html#stormshield

Steve

 

Thank you all.
OK, so it seems heated gloves are the answer... (btw IHM, the Italian
equivalent of ukrm, is mostly against heated grips and in favour of gloves).
A question: how complicated is it to wear these gloves? Do you leave a
wire in your jacket and then connect the ends to gloves + some input
somewhere at the bottom of the jacket?

Thank you again,
F

 

Yes

 

Yep - you end up looking like your mum tied your mittens through your
coat so its best to disconnect them when you get off.
And remembering to unplug yourself from the bike as you walk away
prevents embarrassment too...

Steve

 

I've tried both and found gloves were best too. The other problem with
grips is that the cold comes from the back of the hand so the heat
from the grips can leave you with hot palms but cold fingers.

 

Never had any trouble with mine. Oops, that's a lie actually, the controller
went tits up so Oxford replaced it without question. The grips have been
fine though.



--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Sounded like a good idea, so I checked out: http://www.gerbings.co.uk/

They've got this message at the top of the page:

We no longer stock Gerbing Heated Products
mainly due to reliability and availability issues

Hmmmm....

Tim B

 

Mine were really comfortable regarding temperature but I did wear
inner gloves as well. I suffer badly with cold fingers so being able
to just hop off the bike and roll cigarettes proved they were good
from that pov but I only use them when it's really cold so I don't
know how they'd last if they were in daily use.

My only complaint after buying a body warmer and gloves was that the
connections were crap and I even went to the extreme of taping over
the ones that weren't in constant use to avoid them coming adrift and
me losing the heat.

Another minor one is that if you forget to plug your gloves in when
you set off after a fuel stop you have to stop to plug them in because
there's no way you can do it on the run.

Overall though I'd say it was money well spent and at least with the
exo kit you can wash it which is more than Gerbing will tell you is
possible.

 

They do, and they don't.

Mine look distinctly secondhand after use over one winter (I guess
8-10,000 miles.) They've even worn through the leather where my thumb
cancels the BMW indicators.

However, they are nice and warm and *quite* waterproof. Had expected
them to be a bit longer lasting though.