heated grips

[Keystone19]

My hands have been finding it a bit chilly these last couple of mornings and I was wondering about getting some heated grips. I'm a bit of a nana in the cold and find that using the clutch and brake a little awkward when I can't feel my fingers.

Are heated hand grips any good and how difficult are they to fit and remove? I am planning a bike upgrade sometime in the next year and wondered if I could transfer them to a new bike or would I be better to wait and just get them when I get the new bike.

[Odin]

One thing that might stop you tranferring heated grips to an new (presumably bigger) bike could be the diameter on the handlebars.

[vifferman]

Are heated hand grips any good and how difficult are they to fit and remove? I am planning a bike upgrade sometime in the next year and wondered if I could transfer them to a new bike or would I be better to wait and just get them when I get the new bike.

Yes. They are any good.
How difficult fitting and removing (or fittal and removal) is/are depends on what type you fit, what the wiring loom on your bike is like, how proficient the person doing it is, and what phase the moon and planets are in at the time of the alleged heatedgriptomy.
It will be getting warmer sooooon, so if you can hold off and fit them to you new bike, it would save the risk of them getting damaged and/or impact on your wallet/purse.

But it's easy for me to say all this, as I have heated grips already, and didn't need to fit them.

You could just buy a Beemer or summat with them already fitted...?

[Joni]

Yup... I got me some of them Bless Jrandom wherever he is....

If memory serves me, he had them installed at Mount Eden Motorcycles... they work a charm, altho I have been called "soft" because of them

[vifferman]

I have been called "soft" because of them

That's a euphemism for "lucky; very,very lucky".

[Oakie]

In the meantime, try some old fasioned 'ladies' silk gloves worn inside your gloves. That does the job apparently although I can't confirm it as I couldn't get some silk gloves big enough to fit my man-hands. You'll be right though. You can probably pick 'em up for around $5 or $10 from those shops that sell old bits and pieces. Cheaper than heated grips and only takes about 6 seconds to install (although you do have to install them at least once a day during winter).

[Beemer]

Heated grips are wonderful, you won't want to live without them once you have them! The Beemer has them, the Goose doesn't, and once I decide what I'm doing with the handlebars, it will have them too.

I had them fitted to a Honda XRB200 that I travelled around the South Island on and they were great. Depends on what sort you have, but usually they require some form of glueing I think, so I'd wait until I had the new bike as I doubt you'd transfer them easily.

In the meantime, try some thermal gloves (thin, polyprop ones) under your gloves - they make a huge difference.

[Devil]

Remember theres a couple of types of heating methods. You can have the fixed ones, that inside the handlebars, OR theres wrap-around ones you can get, its like a heated sleeeve that velcro's around the handgrip so you can just pull them off and unplug them when its summer again. Whatever happens, wiring needs to done.

[Lou Girardin]

Oxford do two types; the wrap around type @ $101.00 inc and complete replacement grips @ $105.00 inc. Wiring is quite simple, all instructions included. We've sold a lot of these at AMPS and people seem very pleased with them.
Baehr do heated gloves which are the ultimate handwarmers.Waterproof Goretex liners etc.
$399.00 inc. or $569.00 with an adjustable rheostat.

[Groins_NZ]

There's a few options available, each having there pro's and con's. For ease of installation and transfer to another bike I'd say the Oxford wrap-around heated grips would be a good option. Haven't used them myself though and they do add approximately another 5ml to the handlebar circumference.

There was a KiwiRider article on them a couple of months back and I remember the product evaluation wasn't too bad. Atleast I can't remember anything bad that was said about them. The best feature is that you can remove them from the handlebars in seconds (or a bad thing, as anyone could do this).

http://www.lockitt.com/AccessoriesGrips3.htm
"Oxford Hot Hands"

[vifferman]

I've no idea what kind mine are, but they're the ones that come with grips and an adjustable heat controller (Daytona??).
When I first got the bike I found them a bit fat, but I got used to that rather quickly, and the first time I turned them on, it made me smile (no easy feat, I can tell you!) They heat up in less than a minute, and once the heat gets through my (thin) gloves, I turn them down to "LO" or off, as they stay warm for ages. One slight disadvantage of this last characteristic is that in summer the grips heat up in the sun, and take quite a while to cool down. Meanwhile, I'm repeatedly checking I haven't inadvertantly switched the controller to on (done that a couple of times).

[Eurygnomes]

Baehr do heated gloves which are the ultimate handwarmers.Waterproof Goretex liners etc.
$399.00 inc. or $569.00 with an adjustable rheostat.

:envy:

I want these suckers! Like Keystone19, I'm having a real hard time keeping my hands warm. So far, I've tried two different pairs of leather gloves (one with kevlar, one without), one of which had thinsulate (which didn't!), and polypropylene gloves underneath that. Yesterday I picked up some silk gloves from a tramping shop, and then rode home - only about a 4k trip home, but my fingertips were already icing up again.

I'm gonna look seriously at these heated gloves when in Europe, it's very very disarming riding along with no sensation in your hands - my gear changes suffer! I wonder if they do heated boots too...

[Keystone19]

[QUOTE=Groins_NZ]they do add approximately another 5ml to the handlebar circumference.



Hmm, the circumference thing could be interesting. My hands are not the largest in the world (although size is not indicative of function ).

I currently use polypropelene liners under my gloves, but like you Eurygnomes, my fingers are still numb within a pretty short space of time.

Anyone with smaller hands had any problems getting used to the grip size?

[Devil]

Hmm, the circumference thing could be interesting. My hands are not the largest in the world (although size is not indicative of function ).

I currently use polypropelene liners under my gloves, but like you Eurygnomes, my fingers are still numb within a pretty short space of time.

Anyone with smaller hands had any problems getting used to the grip size?

Women and their dodgy circulation problems!
I've got a pair of winter gloves you can try. They kinda thick...so you cant feel anything...and you need a bit of strength to bend the fingers but they work!

[Beemer]

[QUOTE=Keystone19]

they do add approximately another 5ml to the handlebar circumference.



Hmm, the circumference thing could be interesting. My hands are not the largest in the world (although size is not indicative of function ).

I currently use polypropelene liners under my gloves, but like you Eurygnomes, my fingers are still numb within a pretty short space of time.

Anyone with smaller hands had any problems getting used to the grip size?

I've got fairly small hands and I didn't have any problem - in fact I found it more comfortable with the slightly fatter bars.

As for heated boots - yes, and suits! We met up with a foreign biker in the South Island a few years ago and his suit, boots and gloves were all heated - luxury!