Heated grips are not warm enough :(

[isutty5]

Hi Guys,

I was wondering if someone has some experience with the issues of heated grips?

I installed these Oxford Hot Grips on to my 2012 YBR 125

http://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/101832

I found them to be an issue at first when wired directly to my battery, as they flattened it overnight even when off, perhaps drawing current for some reason.

Anyway, I wired the positive wire to my back brake light with inline fuse and negative to battery, they now come on when i turn the bike on, and stay on at both brake light states. the lights don't dim when switching the grips on and off, which to me suggests I'm not pulling too much current, maybe not enough current!

I find the heat to be sufficient at low speeds, but when I am at high speeds, they loose their heat pretty quickly, especially in this cold weather, my hands feel no better off, and the pain just kills me with the cold.

at the low setting, there is almost no heat even when stationary. When I turn them on from cold, at stationary and high setting, I'd say they are taking around 10-15 mins to heat up to a good temp, but I have a feeling they should get much hotter as i can still comfortably fully grip them with bare hands.

Everyone else seems to say even these mid-range grips provide heat that can sometimes be too hot on high setting, whereas i see the opposite.

So I have to find out why, Unfortunately I dont have a voltmeter, so I can't tell what current is available at the brake light.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Should I wire them elsewhere on the bike for better current draw?

Any help is greatly appreciated, even if anyone has additional suggestions for warmer hands in winter? I couldn't bare the painful hands again.

Kind Regards,

Jordan

Edited October 29, 2014 by isutty5

[Mr Fro]

Maybe wire them directly to the battery with a relay driven from the brake/side light.

[Tango]

Maybe also get some bark guards to cut the wind chill factor too....

[RantMachine]

+1 to that, I barely ever have to resort to my heated grips because my guards cut down windchill so much. And I do a lot of motorway miles and a lot of early morning/late night riding, so I'm certainly a prime candidate for cold hands! You don't even realise how much of a difference they make until you take your hands out from behind them and it suddenly gets blown backwards

If you're not convinced, there's a cheap alternative you can give a try before investing in a proper set:

http://i.imgur.com/jVKKYc7.jpg

Just need to stick something vaguely rigid to the inside to reinforce them - a strip of metal from the offcuts bin at Homebase bent to shape and a drop or two of superglue ought to do it

[Pete]

FFS, genius!

Paint those black and charge £50 for them!

[wr6133]

Muffs. Warm and weather proof.

[Guest]

I've seen it mentioned on some of the forums that a few people have had their heated grips rendered next to useless after changing over handlebars... rather than warming the 'grips' the metal used in the bars draws away all the heat. maybe this is the problem you're having - the handlebars simply aren't suitable.

The 'cure' seems to be using the other form of heated grips.. the name of which escapes me, but.. instead of being integrated in the rubber.. they wrap around the rubber.. so are more effective as the underlying rubber insulates the metal.

[Pete]

I've seen it mentioned on some of the forums that a few people have had their heated grips rendered next to useless after changing over handlebars... rather than warming the 'grips' the metal used in the bars draws away all the heat. maybe this is the problem you're having - the handlebars simply aren't suitable.

The 'cure' seems to be using the other form of heated grips.. the name of which escapes me, but.. instead of being integrated in the rubber.. they wrap around the rubber.. so are more effective as the underlying rubber insulates the metal.

 

+1

I've had this problem before, namely that the left side doesn't get as hot as the right side. Reason being (I imagine) is that the left side goes straight onto the metal bar as you mentioned, whereas the right side slides over the nylon throttle bar which acts as insulation.

[pointblank0]

I had the same issue with my oxford grips. They were never perfect but I had mine wired direct to the battery and never had a drain problem whilst they were off. Maybe a bad ground or something. I gave up with them in the end, too much hassle.