Oxford Hot Grips

[philward]

I have recently installed some Oxford heated grips on my bike - a little early for you Northern Hemisphere types, but it's cold down here.  There's a few modifications that need to be made to get them on, so I have made a wiki entry for anyone that decides to go down a similar path.

Hot Grips Wiki Install Guide

What do I think of them?  They're great. 

I'm a person that always seems to have cold hands even when the rest of me is warm.  So even big thick gloves don't do much because there isn't a lot of heat to begin with.  These heated grips are fantastic at warming my hands.  They actually cost less than my pair of winter gloves and now I find myself just riding with my summer gloves!  

They're also slightly larger diameter than the stock grips, which I find helps greatly with hand fatigue (anyone that has ridden a cruiser will understand how comfortable bigger grips can be).

[beRto]

Very nice wiki write up! Great stuff! 

[ATLRIDER]

Thanks for the write up

[kml.krk]

excellent write up. thanks!!

[bubba zanetti]

I put a set on when it started getting cold and reckon they're a must have, nothing like having toasty warm hands riding. 

[TonyKZ1]

I've had a set on my bike for a while now (put them on back in Nov/Dec 07), they work pretty good. I haven't had a problem leaving them on after turning the bike off, but with the electronic controller it'll shut them off automatically if you do.
Tony

[bubba zanetti]

I've got mine wired so when the ignition gets turned off, they go off, no worries about leaving them on.

[TonyKZ1]

Yep, I had them wired that way first but I was having problems with them shutting off when I'd be at idle and they didn't seem to be getting hot enough. I talked with the guys at Oxford and they said to connect them directly to the battery, not through a switched 12v supply, so I did that and it's been working fine for a long time. It's nice even when it's just a little cool & raining to turn those on and warm/dry your gloves and hands.
Tony

[bubba zanetti]

I've got mine switched through a relay, so they draw full power, but switch off when the ignition is turned off

[philward]

Just a quick update...

Originally I stuck my grips on with silicone sealant.  This worked for a while and then rotated - useful to find my preferred alignment, but turned out not to be a permanent solution.  This time I have put them on with 5min epoxy.  The wiki has been modified accordingly.

...oh and the extra heat is still a very welcome thing! 

[galahs]

Great write up 
\
What sort of drain do these put on the GS's little electrical system

[philward]

4A at full power - although I have never had them up that high, waaaaay too hot (they're designed for snowmobiles amongst other things).  They normally tick away on mine at 30%.

I did a bit of a power consumption audit and if you were to swap out your tail lights and instrument lights for LED, that would totally offset the drain from the grips.  Not necessary, but an easy option for the pedantic!