Heated Grips for $6 and 5 minutes

[EdChen]

So I usually ride the 5 miles/30 minutes to work up until it there's snow/ice on the ground. This year, with no snow, it's just been cold. I did some research on heated gloves and grips and decided that grips might be enough, and more economical.

I came across these cheap heating pads on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/170939221150) for about $6. That includes some wires, a switch, the left and right heating elements and some heatshrink. It arrived surprisingly quickly, 5 days from China to Chicago.

I had them shipped to work and was eager to get them tested out, plus I didn't want to freeze on the way home so I get them "installed" with some electrical tape while parked on the side of the road.

I have a direct connection from the battery already pulled out for trickle charging, so I got lucky there. I just extended the included wires and just taped the heaters to the outside of my grips.

They work very well, getting almost too hot to touch when stopped at lights, but better while at speed. I haven't decided how to mount it permanently yet. I'm considering leaving it outside the grip, and just putting down a layer of black self adhering tape for grip. I might swap out the included DPST switch and wire it so that there are two heat levels, with the pads getting full 12V, then putting them in series at 6V. I definitely need to tap into a switched line for when I forget to turn them off.

Ghetto fabulous, but works at keeping my hands moving!

[weedahoe]

Interesting. Down here we dont get that cold that often and never snow or ice but I admire those who do want to ride when it is that cold to need grips like that

[EdChen]

Oops! Just noticed that I put this in the wrong forum, meant to put it in the builds and projects forum. Mod, please move! Thanks!

Weed, where are you located?

[crzydood17]

Don't ghetto rig it, get new/redo your grips and do it right. They are "super" hot because they are designed to be inside the grip.

[weedahoe]

I'm down in Albany GA. Our winters are very mild. I did spend a Christmas week in Chicago once and loved the city but HATED the cold.

[EdChen]

Don't ghetto rig it, get new/redo your grips and do it right. They are "super" hot because they are designed to be inside the grip.

Yeah, I probably won't leave them as it, I just wanted to get them hooked up and try it out. I'll probably end up pulling off the left bar and turning it down a tiny bit at the end, then layering it up with heat shrink to insulate. I'm running '89 clip-ons with solid aluminum bars, so I'm afraid they'll really suck away the heat (they sure do suck the heat out of my hands!).

I'll be updating the thread when I get that done!

Thanks for looking!

[The Buddha]

I dont see why manufacturers dont put a wire in the grip itself to start with.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Nugent]

So I usually ride the 5 miles/30 minutes to work up until it there's snow/ice on the ground. This year, with no snow, it's just been cold. I did some research on heated gloves and grips and decided that grips might be enough, and more economical.

Have you had any voltage problems with your headlights (hi/low), turn signal and brake light all energized at the same time with the heated hand grips? I've noticed at night my high beams pulsing a little with the added draw from the turn blinker amoung the other stuff and wonder if heated handlebars would be too much of a stress on the electrical system...

[BockinBboy]

This could be an issue with your battery or your reg/rec ... Your bike is equipped well enough for its stock setup, and then some without issues.

- Bboy