whats the best heated grips?

[faylogan]

Looking to buy some winter handlebar grips for the bike to ride through the year.. anyone got experience with heated grips? Good and bad? Whats good for the money? And how easy are they too fit?

[The SussexFactor]

Look at machinemart.com they sell Oxford heated handle bar grips got some on my bandit do the job extremely well

[Pete]

A word of warning on Oxford grips - they look great (and indeed have worked well for me in the past) with the flat "digital" buttons, and less cumbersome than the twisting knob version of Dr Bike grips. However, the push buttons on the Oxfords have been known (it's happened to me!) to split, which lets water in, which knackers the parts inside. When it happened to me I just kept the grips themselves in place and changed the control unit to a Dr Bike version. Never had a problem, very sturdy and worked well.

My advice - get the Dr Bike ones, ever if it is a stupid name.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DR-BIKE-MOTORCY ... B0034BHC44

[Cpt_Tact]

I know not what you're asking directly but I was in the same boat as you

I considered grips and also tried a friends bike with them on but without a wind brake the tips of your fingers and back of hand still get a little cold and if you're cruising on motorways the ones from Oxford actually did nothing for me apart from when sat in traffic- also they take a few minutes to warm up.

I ended up investing in a new set of ski gloves as I had used these down to about -20 + windchill and was still lovely and toasty on the ski-doo ramping it through the wilderness. Dexterity is still very good from what is a bulky glove and I found my hands didn't get at all sweaty even with all the exertion. £30 is a bargain On the 3rd day it was mindbogglingly cold so had to put on merino wool inners and just wow on how toasty my hands were. Dexterity was still fine too.

http://www.mountainwarehouse.com/ski/sk ... x?cl=BLACK

[Pete]

Decent gloves are definitely worth the investment. For me it has to be heated grips and winter glove combo. The backs of your hands do still get cold as you say, but I couldn't be without heated grips now!

Merino liners sounds good. I've got some thin polyester liners that I got from Hein Gericke a few years ago that help but probably aren't as good as merino.

[The SussexFactor]

A word of warning on Oxford grips - they look great (and indeed have worked well for me in the past) with the flat "digital" buttons, and less cumbersome than the twisting knob version of Dr Bike grips. However, the push buttons on the Oxfords have been known (it's happened to me!) to split, which lets water in, which knackers the parts inside. When it happened to me I just kept the grips themselves in place and changed the control unit to a Dr Bike version. Never had a problem, very sturdy and worked well.

My advice - get the Dr Bike ones, ever if it is a stupid name.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DR-BIKE-MOTORCY ... B0034BHC44

 

I think that must be as on my Bike because it has a three position twist control knob yet the grips and end caps are oxford works too well sometimes they are roasting if using a lighter sports leather glove

[125learner]

I was going to ask this too, I had oxford grips on my 125 and miss them on the cbr, going to get some for Xmas, how much is reasonable to pay for labour to have them fitted?

Thanks

[Pete]

It's about a half an hour job, an hour maximum if there are any niggles. So £30-£60 depending on labour costs of whoever does the work + cost of parts.

In all honesty though it's not a hard job and is worth having a crack at yourself if you fancy it. Only potential issue is getting them onto the bars quick enough before the glue dries, but if you prepare them (heat them up by turning them on) to full temp it'll loosen the rubber and slide onto the bars nice and quick.

[Guest]

I have R&G. If it's ~5 degrees Celsius, then it'd take me around 15 minutes to feel the heat (on full power).

They're much cheaper than Oxford.

[OhJay]

When I was reading round a lot of the reviews rated the R&G ones easier to fit than the Oxford ones, far fewer wires snaking back and forth along the bike. The controls of the R&G ones look a lot easier to use on the move than the Oxford ones, it's just one big red button

 

I was going to ask this too, I had oxford grips on my 125 and miss them on the cbr, going to get some for Xmas, how much is reasonable to pay for labour to have them fitted?

 

One location, one friendly forum member and an endless supply of cups of tea

[Dav3y]

I got the cheapest going grips from J&S at Motorcycle Live last year. Branded Dr bike with a small black control box with 5 leds and one red button to cycle through the power settings. Have seen the same grips on ebay with different names on but despite being cheap they worked like a charm if not too hot on maximum. Trickiest part about fitting was getting them to stick. Ended up using surgical micropore tape on the throttle side as the glue gave way a couple of times. Didn't need any glue in the end with the right amount of tape underneath them.

Word of warning, but wire them to an ignition switched live. If you don't, you will forget to turn them off sooner or later and will then need a battery charge or old fashioned bump start to get on the move again.

Missing them so kuch now on the new bike I'll definately be buying some more next week.

Easiest way to remove the old grips without cutting off is with a long thin phillips/crosshead screwdriver between old grip and handlebar/throttle slide and slowly turn it while working around the whole circumference of the handlebar. It will break all of the old glue away from the original grips so that they come off fairly easily.

These were the ones I got

These are exactly the same grips R&G branded for more money. Why pay more ?

[Marmalade43]

Roxter ones on ebay. Less than £30 delivered.

They are differently branded oxford ones, they even turn up occasionally with Oxford branded stuff in the box.

[Glorian]

Got some Dr Bike ones yesterday for £25 from J&S. Once i fit them i will post a review =)

[Joeman]

Do you think that filling your bars with expanding foam would make the heated grips warmer? Less heat loss through the metal bars..

[Dav3y]

Got some Dr Bike ones yesterday for £25 from J&S. Once i fit them i will post a review =)

 

Got myself another set on the Saturday and faffed around fitting on the Sunday. £5 off normal price of £29.99 is currently a bargain.

Had to butcher the throttle slide with a Stanley knife to get the right hand one fully on as there was an inner and outer lip locating the original grip that were in the way. After a battle getting the wires under the tank (without loosening it), I hooked it into the supply wire to the fusebox for accessories (couldn't find the accessory plug meant to be up front). One wrap of micropore tape on the throttle slide before fitting and no glue needed at all. Throttle side twisted on and clutch side tapped on with a rubber mallet.

They work like a treat. Wack them on max to begin with then turn down to three lights once warm. The most noticeable difference is at speed where max is fine but gets too hot once back to normal traffic speed.

[Glorian]

Got some Dr Bike ones yesterday for £25 from J&S. Once i fit them i will post a review =)

 

Got myself another set on the Saturday and faffed around fitting on the Sunday. £5 off normal price of £29.99 is currently a bargain.

Had to butcher the throttle slide with a Stanley knife to get the right hand one fully on as there was an inner and outer lip locating the original grip that were in the way. After a battle getting the wires under the tank (without loosening it), I hooked it into the supply wire to the fusebox for accessories (couldn't find the accessory plug meant to be up front). One wrap of micropore tape on the throttle slide before fitting and no glue needed at all. Throttle side twisted on and clutch side tapped on with a rubber mallet.

They work like a treat. Wack them on max to begin with then turn down to three lights once warm. The most noticeable difference is at speed where max is fine but gets too hot once back to normal traffic speed.

 

Sound good! Still waiting to fit mine had some issues with immobiliser took up time Gonna fit them this weekend with my new bulbs.

[Guest]

Bringing this topic up again...

My friend and I rode around the other day.

He has Oxford and I have R&G. Turns out his grips warm up alot quicker than mine, and don't require leaving on full temp all the time.

If I were to buy new heated grips I'd definitely go for Oxford.

[Guest]

Bringing this topic up again...

My friend and I rode around the other day.

He has Oxford and I have R&G. Turns out his grips warm up alot quicker than mine, and don't require leaving on full temp all the time.

If I were to buy new heated grips I'd definitely go for Oxford.

 

its a fair comparison if your bars are made from the same material... grips fitted to steel bars will heat up more quickly than aluminium alloy - and hold the heat a lot better too. so.. both grips could be heating at the same rate. but because the oxfords are fitted to steel bars - they will appear to heat up quicker... because the heat isn't being lost. Your R&G could be just as good.. but if they're fitted to aluminium alloy bars.. the heat will be lost - drawn away from the bars much quicker and need to be on full simply to counteract this loss.

This has been seen time and time again when people have changed their bars and noticed that the grips don't work as well as they used to. because the new bars are made from a different material.

It could be.. that the R&G simply aren't as good. but that may not be the case. for all we know they could be exactly the same product - just rebadged for the various makers. but actually made in the same factory to the same specs. the difference being the bars they are fitted to.

something to bear in mind. these differences aren't always obvious.

[Joeman]

I reckon filing your bars with expanding foam will help with the heat loss.

Not sure but my heated grips appear to be speed related. It seems the faster I go the hotter they get. Could be my imagination though.. Anyone else heard of this?

[Guest]

Bringing this topic up again...

My friend and I rode around the other day.

He has Oxford and I have R&G. Turns out his grips warm up alot quicker than mine, and don't require leaving on full temp all the time.

If I were to buy new heated grips I'd definitely go for Oxford.

 

its a fair comparison if your bars are made from the same material... grips fitted to steel bars will heat up more quickly than aluminium alloy - and hold the heat a lot better too. so.. both grips could be heating at the same rate. but because the oxfords are fitted to steel bars - they will appear to heat up quicker... because the heat isn't being lost. Your R&G could be just as good.. but if they're fitted to aluminium alloy bars.. the heat will be lost - drawn away from the bars much quicker and need to be on full simply to counteract this loss.

This has been seen time and time again when people have changed their bars and noticed that the grips don't work as well as they used to. because the new bars are made from a different material.

It could be.. that the R&G simply aren't as good. but that may not be the case. for all we know they could be exactly the same product - just rebadged for the various makers. but actually made in the same factory to the same specs. the difference being the bars they are fitted to.

something to bear in mind. these differences aren't always obvious.

 

There must be a few factors! Gloves aswell

Anyone know what sort material bars the Sprint ST 1050 has?