Heated Grip install write-up (lots of pictures)

Well aware of what you said before, I was hoping a work around may have been figured out. Guess not.

Really too bad though.

 

Great write-up. Thanks for that. Ever since i touched a friends BMW (heated grips "ON") one day on a cold ride, i decided i needed these.

Im a bit unclear on the connections at the horn and where you connected them on the other side. I guess the horn has a constant power supply, and thats where you got the power for the left side. What wiring are you tapping into for the right side ?

 

jerry 1 ab, the picture under your name appears to be a very clean mid-70's Honda CB450. Is that yours? I still miss mine occasionally.

Sorry for the turn into left field, gang. I'm new to the user-group & forum thing, so please bear (bare?) with me.

 

you tap into the brake light swith on the right grip

 

yeah that was mine my first street bike. i miss it too....

 

Hey... out of the blue, twice now the grips have decided not to work. The control box lights up as it should. It doesn't show the low voltage warning and I can select any setting as if it's all good. The only issue, the grips aren't warming. On one ride they didn't work, after about 40 minutes I cycled the switch and then they came on. This morning on my ride home I couldn't get them to warm for the life of me. Cycled the switch lots. I was on the highway so there was lots of volts to spare but nothing.

I haven't dug into it yet to see what it, just curious if anyone else has run across this problem. The connectors I checked, there all intact. I will put a meter to the grip wires and see if I get anything and check the output of the control box as well. What a PITA! Why can't stuff just work?

 

Nice writte up, How is it work so far?

 

Heated grips are an awesome add on. I adapted some snowmobile "adhesive card" style heaters to my ST1100 several years ago (reusing the stock grips). I intend to do the same to my VFR.

Just a couple comments...Every bike I've ever ridden with heated grips the throttle side is a bit hotter...probably because the left side has to heat the whole metal bar while the right side "lives" on that plastic slide.

If you have an air compressor with a rubber tip "blower"...you can easily remove the grips by inserting a small flat blade on one end, insert the "blower" rubber tip and give it some air...they pull right off.

 

Nice write up with great pictures. Are these Honda heated grips or are they after market and if they are after market which ones? Will the above work on a 5th generation?
Thanks.

 

It's possible that some water or corrosion got either into the switch itself, or one of the connectors. The first thing I would check would be the connectors again.

Don't just look at them, unplug them, and do a quick inspection. Clean them up with a wire brush if needed, and then maybe add some dialectric(sp) grease to keep them from corroding again. Next, check all of your ground connections. If niether of these fix it, then I'm sorry to say it must be the switch, and I don't believe you can fix that. I'll look at it when I get home from work.

These things are awesome. We had a fairly cold winter here, but I only put the bike away for about three weeks when there was a lot of snow and ice. The best part about these grips in my opinion though, is that they're always there! You don't have to pack extra gloves for chilly Spring/Fall mornings.

I replied to your PM. Sorry it took so long. I haven't logged on in a while. Cute kid by the way.

 

Jerry, thanks for the post. I did what you mentioned the other day and found a connector that came apart easily when I was unwrapping the tape. I am hoping that it was the issue. The connectors are a bit of a pain. Some connected securely and some didn't. The ones that didn't I took apart and manually jammed and crimped them shut. They better stay now or I am will replace all the connectors with something better.

The kit itself is awesome. On the coldest days, I have never been on the full hot settings. The grips heat up quickly and evenly. The low voltage light and cut off is AWESOME. I can even use it as a low voltage warning for the entire bike. The red lights on the control panel are a little on the bright side but it's alright.

I'll advise if the connector rebuild fixes it.

 

Glad I could help. Let us know how it turned out.