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Heated grips

Discussion in 'Yamaha 250cc In-Line 4's' started by koma, May 16, 2006.

  1. koma

    koma New Member

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    Just wondering if anyone has fitted heated grips to their bikes?
    I've been offered a set of the Saito heated grips at a decent price (~$100), whilst the Oxford ones are available at $140, i keep thinking that it's more money than i'm willing to part with for such a simple piece of electronics and as such am contemplating DIY'ing it. There is a cheaper option over at BikeBiz for $60, but they don't come with the replacement rubber grips (as pulling of your old ones is almost certain to end with a hacksaw or carving knife).

    So if you do have heated grips on your bike or are interested in me putting up a DIY how-to for making your own heated grips, say now. The intention is to hook up 2 coils per grip so that i can simply enable 1 coil for low, or both for high. If i can manage to get the old grips off, the entire project shouldn't cost more than about $10-15.

    ... and before someone makes a crack about sissy wanting heated hand grips, after riding to Warrnambool at 7:30am through mist and fog on a 9º morning (minus windchill @ 100km/h... i'm damn well getting something to warm my hands up!
     
  2. dave

    dave Well-Known Member

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    NOW
    I did a repair job on an ex-workmates heated grips. The story went that while he was touring on the north island of australia he decided to get heated grips and had them fitted at a bike shop. The first time he tried to use them the smoke came out of the electronic unit. He promptly returned and got a replacement unit.

    After using them he was not convinced they were working properly, thinking they were not getting warm enough, so eventually when he got home he asked me to look at them, seeing that electronics is a bit of a specialty for me. He brought the electronic unit around for me to test. He mentioned that the LED indicator did not come on.

    On the test bench I connected a 10 ohm 5W resistor to simulate the grips and powered up the unit. It worked perfectly, cycling on and off with the duty cycle varying with the pot position. I got him to bring the grips around (complete with bike) and checked the grips. They looked good, 14 ohms each.

    I then checked the power wiring to the unit and found the red was hooked to negative and the black wire was hooked to the positive from the key circuit. So it was a happy ending for electronic unit no2, surviving the reverse polarity connection.

    The moral of the story is bike shops do make monumental c@ck-ups

    Anyway MR KOMA, I am interested to see how you make the heater elements.. sounds like a good simple project
     
  3. Boz

    Boz New Member

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    I'd be interested in your progress... especially if you can get it down to that price!
     
  4. Casso

    Casso New Member

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    to get the rubber grips off, go buy some heavy duty penetrant spray from the hardware store (like WD40, but much better).

    Slide a thin screwdriver up between the grips and the handlebar as far as you can, then spray some penetrant spray down the gap. Slowly work at it with the penetrant spray and the screwdriver and it'll slide off fairly easily.
     
  5. Casso

    Casso New Member

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    oh, meant to add - I had heated handlegrips on my ER5 - they were the oxford ones, and they were OK but not fantastic. My main problem was that they got too hot, even with the different settings.
    By the time I got to work (30 - 45 minutes) my hands were sweaty and didn't smell too good :p


    I guess it's your choice though - too hot or too cold.

    Maybe consider buying a good set of winter gloves instead? Winter gloves + neck warmer + balaclava + waterproof jacket lining and thermal lining + waterproof pants and thermal lining = nice and snug <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
     
  6. FZR Dude

    FZR Dude New Member

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    Joe Rocket Meteor jacket
    First Gear HT Overpants
    Alpinestar SP3 gloves
    Alpinstar SMX3 boots

    I stay plenty toasty and I ride year round. I take the thermal liners out for summer and I still have the protection.
     
  7. Boz

    Boz New Member

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    I've never put the liners in mine (I took them out the first day).
     
  8. FZR Dude

    FZR Dude New Member

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    Yeah, but I ain't from Canada either.... I'm from the South.
     
  9. dave

    dave Well-Known Member

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    CRIKEY -- all he wanted was $15 heated grip and you lot have spent his financial years drinking budget. <!-- s=0= --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_2gunsfiring_v1.gif" alt="=0=" title="Gunfire" /><!-- s=0= -->
     
  10. koma

    koma New Member

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    <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->

    Instead of buying all that gear, i'd much rather go ghetto with $15 grips and then go buy a track bike. Drinking money is far better spent on buying new toys or modifying the existing ones.
     
  11. Casso

    Casso New Member

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    ... or on drinking :p
     
  12. FZR Dude

    FZR Dude New Member

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    Well, I look at it like this. The electrics on the Yamaha's are skittish at best. You start adding another load to a system like this and......

    How well are heated grips going to protect you in a crash?

    I only paid about $350 for all the gear I have listed (ebay).
     
  13. koma

    koma New Member

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    Oh, don't get me wrong... i have gear. Lots of gear.
    I've got an Rjays Daytona leather jacket, a Dianese all weather jacket (nice and warm just not quite enough protection for my liking), Draggin Jeans (buying leathers next), 2 pairs of gloves (neither warm enough! I like to feel the bars not the padding), Thomas Cook boots, and a partridge in a pear tree.

    I'm still going to give this a shot, just waiting until after all my uni submissions are out of the way before i get the soldering iron out. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
     
  14. dave

    dave Well-Known Member

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    How are you going to make the heaters ??? Thats what I am interested in.. The electronics would be the easy bit.
     
  15. koma

    koma New Member

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    Ok, i'll spill the linkage so you can all have a read...

    Home Made Hot-Grips
     
  16. koma

    koma New Member

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    Ok, but of an update on the heated grips.
    I've been scouting around and asking questions with everyone i know who's either bought them or made them. Stumbled across an even better DIY guide from one of the guys who rides a ZX6R.

    Simple yet effective switching mechanism... but i'm not overly convinced so i might rig something else up.

    ZX6R Homemade Heated Grips
     
  17. Dan

    Dan New Member

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    hey sounds like fun, riding to work on a wintery dunsborough morning gets kinda chilly, id be interesting to see how they work, and some photos would be kinda cool!
     
  18. Katatonic

    Katatonic New Member

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    Hmmm interested in heated grips as well. Damn it gets cold.

    My gloves don't do enough, either that or it's the gap where my neck is / just wearing jeans which is causing me to get cold :p

    It's hard enough keeping the bike running yet alone buying gear.

    Ah well, I'll get there, only 4 ish months to go <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
     
  19. Ciaran

    Ciaran New Member

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    Mate, get a neck warmer. Even if you buy it at a bike shop it will only cost you $20max. At this time of year its one of my most prized bits of kit.

    I get the shits with winter gloves, so I just wear my normal ones. I found that if you are warm enough everywhere else it doesn’t matter so much.
     
  20. Casso

    Casso New Member

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    Personally I reckon someone needs to invent nipple warmers. I have a theory that if your nipples are warm, the rest of you will be warm too <!-- s:-? --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_Eyecrazy.gif" alt=":-?" title="Eye Crazy" /><!-- s:-? -->
     

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