Hand warmth

Participant said:
My SV came with Oxford heated grips and I've found them fantastic, much more comfortable and as said it somehow makes your whole body feel better. Bit like the effect wearing socks and slippers can have in the winter. It's got battery voltage detection to avoid discharging when the engine's off (probably standard).

The only niggles I've noticed so far are that 1. the buttons are hard to press on the move with thick winter riding gloves and 2. the right hand grip gets noticeably hotter than the left, for some reason.
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Its quite common for the right hand grip to be hotter than the left as it is insulated from the metal bars by the plastic throttle twist grip. The left hand heated grip is directly contacting the metal bar so the bar in effect acts as a heatsink so some heat is wasted heating the bar up.
 
muffs are better than heated grips.

Remember that you lose heat from the back of your hands and fingers, heated grips, heat the inside of your hand, and although they work, they're not massively efficient.

Muffs, though you look silly, are exceptionally warm if you get decent ones (Tucano Urbano). The other advice is to keep your core warm, heating extremities is wasted if your core is cold as that is where the blood is coming from.
 
A compromise if heated grips and handguards like Barkbuster Storm's. Moving the wind is deflected from your hands. A lot of people seem to like this option.
 
My R&G heated grips have just been dispatched that should give me something to play with at the weekend and should mean unless it gets really crappy I can stick to my nice summer gloves that I actually have some clutch control in.
 
It must be just me as I find the R+G heated grips rubbish. They don't get that hot and don't really keep the very tips of my fingers from going numb. Doesn't help its when I commute and the fingers are on and off the grips on to the levers.
 
The wind chill is the biggest factor hence why muffs work so well. So long as your gloves are warm enough for the ambient temperature you'll be warm with them. I'll probably go with heated grips and hand guards if I get a shiver, should be good enough to keep the cold off.
 
Heated grips are a waste of time.
I've ridden in -7ºC standing temperatures which, at motorway speeds with the wind chill, put it down to -35º.
I was wearing thick, waterproofed winter gloves and had heated grips on full blast - the inside of my hands were almost burning and certainly sweating (good idea in winter, eh)... but the backs of my fingers were still painfully cold and touching the levers felt like ice.

Large handguards or muffs to keep the wind off will be far more benficial than heated grips... but will also make your bike look stupid.
 
Doesn't matter so much if the back of the hands are cold. The nerves and important bits for riding are all in the front of your hand. Heated grips are wonderful.
 
Thanks for all the advice.
Ordered oxford premium sport grips for £49.99 (hopefully they fit, sure they will) and some hand guards also to create a nice heat pocket around my hands.
I'm only commuting 20-30mins there and back so it should be fine.
With the default YBR bars you have to cut them off as its all one big rubber bar covering the end and they dont have bar ends as far as I can tell, just rubber covering the end which is a bummer.
So will have to buy some bar ends as-well from somewhere....
 
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ttaskmaster said:
Heated grips are a waste of time.
I've ridden in -7ºC standing temperatures which, at motorway speeds with the wind chill, put it down to -35º.
I was wearing thick, waterproofed winter gloves and had heated grips on full blast - the inside of my hands were almost burning and certainly sweating (good idea in winter, eh)... but the backs of my fingers were still painfully cold and touching the levers felt like ice.

Large handguards or muffs to keep the wind off will be far more benficial than heated grips... but will also make your bike look stupid.
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Have to agree with you, to a point. I've used heated grips for a few years and on extremely cold days for long periods of riding my hands still go numb, even tho the grips are hot.

On a reasonable commute of 30-45 mins they are very good and keep the chill at bay. So I wouldn't say they're a waste of time.

Combined with bar muffs I imagine it's the warmest your hands will be. Like most people say tho, they look naff, but honestly who cares about looks in winter?!

I currently use Keis heated inner gloves, but I find them uncomfortable with my thick winter gloves, so I really need to get another pair of winter gloves one size larger, never ending spend this biking lark :D
 
Participant said:
Doesn't matter so much if the back of the hands are cold. The nerves and important bits for riding are all in the front of your hand.
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It matters when your hands are so cold that your fingers seize up and you can't open them to grab the brake. The grip heat warms the inner surface of your hands, but the cold still permeates from the back.

Less immediately, you're still losing body heat through those hands and getting cold blood heading back into your core, especially if you're on an unfaired bike.

Obviously this matters FAR more if you ride long distances, but at those temperatures and even with heated grips on full, I was losing all feeling within half an hour.
Heated clothing, a vest at least, is a far better option in my findings, but they do cost...


wazza300 said:
if only they could funnel the exhaust through the handlebars :D
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Some people have tried this. The problem is that you cannot easily regulate the heat and you go from momentarily cold to outright burning.
 
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