Fitting Heated Grips

I'm not a dry warm weather only biker. Given this summers weather, that is probably a good thing. Last year, with the EN, although I would have like heated grips, the bike did not have enough extra capacity in the alternator for them to run. As the Hornet has a larger alternator (with it being a larger bike), there is enough power, so this morning I (with a little assistance from my OH) finished fitted heated grips to the Hornet.

Heated grips do exactly what they say on the tin. They are replacement grips (the black rubber bits on the handle bars) with a heating element which warm the fingers. A temperature controller gets fitted to the handlebars, allowing control over the amount of heat that's generated. The advantages of heated grips is I can wait later in the year until I need to wear my thicker gloves (thicker gloves make it harder for feel the controls) and I can ride my bike more comfortably in colder weather.

The grips I was recommended to buy were made by a company called Oxford. My OH had fitted then to other bikes he had owned (the Pan came with heated grips fitted). Also, Oxford make a lot of aftermarket motorbike accessories and have a good reputation. During my research (to ensure their quality was still as high as it had been and to get the best price), I came across a brand caller Roxter. Their heated grips seemed identical to the Oxford Hot grips, but about half the price. I searched various advice forums and talked to my brother-in-law (who is also a biker) and they looked identical as they are identical. Roxter are made by Oxford. As you can imagine, for 50% of the cost for the same thing, I bought the cheaper version.

To start, I removed the bar ends, cut off the original grips and polished up the bar to remove the excess glue. I then test fitted the new grips to get them in a position I could reach all my controls and they aren't fouling anything (i.e. brake and clutch levers). The best positions I found were as shown in the following pictures:




It's clearer on the photo of the offside (right hand) bar. The bit that sticks up at the end of the grips is the wiring. With it in this position on the offside bar, it would not foul on the front brake and the throttle would also operate correctly (motorbikes' throttles are operated by twisting the offside grip. The nearside grip was fitted with the wiring under the bar. On top wouldn't allow me to operate my full-beam switch properly.

To secure the grips, the instructions stated to use grip glue and some was supplied. My OH had not used this in the past, as it dries very quickly (or can) and them final positioning of the grips would not be possible. He had used Impact adhesive in the past, as he has friends who used to race bikes and apparently this is the best thing. Usually when using impact adhesive, the glue is applied to both surfaces and allowed to dry before both surfaces are impacted on one-another. With the grips, about 2/3rds of the bar was glued and the grips slid straight on, without waiting on it to dry. We were particularly careful when fitting the offside grip as if glue had got into the throttle mechanism, I would have issues!

At this point, before the wiring was inaccessible, we plugged the grips into the controller (there are, quite literally little plugs). There's also a wire that goes directly onto the battery to supply the power. This was attached to the battery via the optimate cable I've fitted to the bike (and another one of those plugs). We plugged the power supply into the controller unit, started the bike and...


nothing

no, absolutely nothing happened.


There's LEDs on the controller and these light up to show the grips are on and to indicate how high the temperate is, They weren't lighting up. We checked the instructions. No, we didn't appear to be missing anything. We checked the power supply, battery and alternator using a volt meter to ensure the bike was delivering sufficient power. It was. We checked the grips for resistance. This was fine. Blast, the controller is goosed. So we e-mailed the supplier to ask for another controller.

He replied very quickly and said try pressing the on switch of the controller for around 5 seconds. That sounds dubious, but it worked. Wouldn't it be nice if they said that in the instructions. It's a useful safety measure, as the switch can't be knocked to accidentally switch the grips on.
The controller is attached to a small bracket with the 2 screws and the bracket is attached to the handlebar via the assembly that holds on the clutch lever (see photo). Supplied with the grips are 2 pairs of bolts to replace the bolts which hold the clutch assembly. I needed to use the longer pair. As you can see, to looks very neat.

The power supply cable was threaded under the tank, in the gap the other bike wiring is in. This was accessed by lifting the tank at the back of the tank (that is, the end of the tank furthest away from the front of the bike. To lift it, switch the fuel tank off (that's the middle position; before reserve). Remove the seat and the 2 grey side panels at the rider's knees position. Under the back of the tank is a bolt that holds the tank to the frame. Remove this and now the tank can be tilted. This is best done just before the tank needs filled!

I have a Haynes Manual, so it made working out where the wiring runs and how to lift the tank easier to work out. Probably the best £20 I've spent on the bike. It's already paid for itself and I've only had it for 4 months.

That's the grips fitted. I could do with a couple more cable ties to tidy everything up, but I used it today and everything seems fine. Only one small problem. I could get the nearside bar end back on, but not the offside one, as once it was on, the throttle wouldn't turn. Not a major problem, it just looks a little odd. The new grips are a little longer than the original ones. I'll just need to get a new set of bar ends. I had been thinking about it, as the ones I have are a little scuffed.

Now, I'm ready for winter.