Heated grips with Grip Puppies - experiment inside....

[Interference Fit]

I fitted Grip Puppies to my CBR with the primary objective of making the grip thicker and more comfortable, with the added bonus of easier fine throttle control - they achieved both of these very well, highly recommended.

 

As the cold weather hit us, I found myself only having short rides as my hands and fingers were just too cold to be comfortable and I guess safe due to diminished dexterity, so I installed OEM Honda heated grips - what a revelation.

 

I then questioned whether the two could work together or whether the Grip Puppies would insulate too much of the heat, and decided to conduct an experiment to find out.

 

I installed one Puppie and left the other grip bare and turned on the heated grips, measuring the temperature with a surface probe frequently until the temperature stabilized at the maximum temp on both sides.

 

Here are the results....

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusions....

 

1) Honda OEM heated grips get exceptionally hot on max setting - like holding a fresh mug of hot tea or coffee, almost too hot to hold without a glove, fair play Honda. 

2) The Grip Puppies do insulate the heat by a material amount, but still let the grip get hot enough to be useful.

3) Out on the road without the puppies, the max setting is almost too hot, with the middle setting more appropriate to still feel good heat through a thick leather glove

4) With the Puppies on, max setting is required, but this is like having the middle setting without them, so still perfectly useable.

 

Hope this is helpful to someone.

Edited December 16, 2023 by Interference Fit
Typo

[Capt Sisko]

I use Grip Buddies (rather than Puppies but the principle is the same) on my R1250RT and find plenty of heat still comes through the foam, however on the RT you've got a bloody great big fairing blowing the worst of the cold air away from you, so maybe a slightly skewed view of things.

[rob m]

Nice experiment but you’re over thinking it. I judge heated grips by feel. I’ve had Grip Puppies on my last 3 bikes and they’ve all let the heated grips work well for me. Got a set on my latest K1300S. BMWs have great heated grips and have two main settings:

 

1. Ooh, that’s nice. My hands are pleasantly warm. 

2. Send help. My hands are on fire and I’m in fear of first degree burns. 

 

The Grip Puppies take some of the heat out of the second setting, which is welcome. 

[Gerontious]

The heat has to go somewhere. The problem is often the amount of insulation between the heating elements and the metal of the handlebars, if it’s not good enough then the heat gets sucked away. And on some bikes its definitely not good enough.

[Interference Fit]

28 minutes ago, rob m said:

Nice experiment but you’re over thinking it. I judge heated grips by feel. I’ve had Grip Puppies on my last 3 bikes and they’ve all let the heated grips work well for me. Got a set on my latest K1300S. BMWs have great heated grips and have two main settings:

 

1. Ooh, that’s nice. My hands are pleasantly warm. 

2. Send help. My hands are on fire and I’m in fear of first degree burns. 

 

The Grip Puppies take some of the heat out of the second setting, which is welcome. 

 

It was more to help others who may have wondered if or what the difference was. The Puppies were going back on either way as riding without them showed just how good they are.  

[Fleck]

My left grip isn't as warm because it's straight onto the metal handler, which acts like a heatsink

[onesea]

Another thought do you actually want to get your hands that hot?
 

I have cheap Chinese heated grips with copy grip puppies on top, they do not get as hot as Oxford which I have had previously. However my hands are never really cold.

 

my hands do not get sweaty in my gloves which I find keeps my hands much warmer, than when I had hot Oxford grips.

The other factor not accounted in the above photo is the insulation effects of your hand on the grip, which will allow the grip to warm further.

 

 

 

[S-Westerly]

Thanks for the experiment. I'm still not sure about putting puppies on my new bike. Doesn't vibrate as much at the bars as the Multistrada did. Probably will but not yet.

[Interference Fit]

48 minutes ago, onesea said:

Another thought do you actually want to get your hands that hot?
 

I have cheap Chinese heated grips with copy grip puppies on top, they do not get as hot as Oxford which I have had previously. However my hands are never really cold.

 

my hands do not get sweaty in my gloves which I find keeps my hands much warmer, than when I had hot Oxford grips.

The other factor not accounted in the above photo is the insulation effects of your hand on the grip, which will allow the grip to warm further.

 

 

 

Agreed, it was more to show a like for like comparison from a with or without perspective. 

 

As long as my fingers don't hurt with cold, we're good.

[Interference Fit]

26 minutes ago, S-Westerly said:

Thanks for the experiment. I'm still not sure about putting puppies on my new bike. Doesn't vibrate as much at the bars as the Multistrada did. Probably will but not yet.

 

I got cramp in my hands, especially the throttle hand as the grips are just too slim. Having the extra diameter just feels so much more comfortable, I'd not be without now. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I have Grip Puppies on both bikes. Not because of vibration but because they are just more comfortable and I found that both bikes handle better with them on. I can't explain why that should be but having fitted them to one I was amazed at how better the bike felt so bought another pair for the other bike.

[Capt Sisko]

Similar, to increase the diameter of the grips a little. Sometimes small changes like this make the world of difference to comfort.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Capt Sisko

[Gerontious]

Same. It’s an exaggeration - but holding standard grips is like holding 2 pencils. Not comfortable at all, especially as I often do fairly big miles and so being comfortable becomes rather more important. If they affect the heated grips this is of no concern to me - I ride the bike much more frequently with them off than turned on. Adding them is the first task. When I ordered the bike I got home and immediately ordered the grips. And put them on the moment I got the bike home.