Heated Handle Grips Yes or No

Man of Honour
Joined
1 Nov 2007
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4,403
Location
Christchurch UK
oops as in I couldn't help get a gadget for bike :)

they took about 45mins to fit... only problem I had was with throttle cable exit on grip, as my brakes are so spongy on max throttle you cant get the lever right back... but I guess no one uses 100% brake on 100% throttle so no worries.

they take some time to heat up, but after 3-4 mins got to hot to touch with bare hand, will be trying tonight on way home.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
1 Nov 2007
Posts
4,403
Location
Christchurch UK
well made a noob mistake.. was half way down pitch black b road on way to work at 5am and headlights suddenly go out. lucky I had DRLs still on to light my way or I would not of made it to work

i had powered hotgrips from lighting circuit, so with 55watt HID and 55watt main that was 7.58 Amps at 14.5v... plus the 3-4 Amps from hotgrips :(, enough to blow 10A fuse

just chucked a 15 Amp fuse in and all is well... plus with this method I can never leave them on by accident
 
Soldato
Joined
4 Nov 2006
Posts
2,752
Location
Yorkshire
Just a word of warning for all those using the newer version of Oxford's Hotgrips, the little black box seems to be non water tight as it should be, thus resulting in:

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It's not mine, but a chap I know. He only spotted the smoke by luck, if he had left it any longer, he might well have returned to his bike in flames

I never found them useful for fingertips anyway, they only ever seemed to heat my palms. Best mod for my hands was stopping the wind chill by fitting some MX hand guards on, made such a huge difference
 
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Soldato
Joined
31 Oct 2006
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9,701
Location
Wiltshire / Winchester
I used some on an oldish BMW few years ago, not sure I really liked them on their own, my palm was hot but the outside of my fingers were still freezing, though this was prob - numbers with wind chill and on the motorway, the only time I liked them was when using the over muffs :p Not very fashionable I know but works on an old 1100R.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Mar 2005
Posts
5,043
Finally got my heated grips fitted 2 weeks ago and omg it made a massive difference. Shame that the finger tips and thumbs still get cold.

Still it was £100 well spent.
 
Associate
Joined
6 Oct 2004
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1,921
Location
London
I love having them when it's a bit nippy, combined with bar muffs you can wear summer gloves underneath :)

If you don't like the look of bar muffs, then hand guards do a similar job (though not as well) but I wouldn't put them on a sports bike. (My sports bikes are reserved for fair weather use :p)
 
Soldato
Joined
4 Nov 2006
Posts
2,752
Location
Yorkshire
Your finger tips get cold still because of wind chill. What I did when I use to commute was get some handguards from an MX shop, and just bolt them on to the bars, stopped the wind chilling hitting your finger tips, you will be amazed at how much difference they make, yeah they spoil the look of your bike when you have them on, but if it stops your fingers been blue by the time you get to work, all for it!
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Nov 2006
Posts
4,922
Just got my Oxford (standard not sport - feel they suit my er-5 better, cos it's not too sporty) grips fitted today! Ride into town my hands were sore as, ride out they were fine and just a bit cold on top! £100 fitted and in 45 minutes :)
 
Associate
Joined
8 May 2010
Posts
426
Location
London
Loving that Blade.. black IS the best colour :D

Re heated grips. I was a courier for Courier Systems a few years back and after fitting them to my work CB500, I then fitted them to my other bikes. If you can't feel your fingers you are thinking about that rather than the road ahead. Anything that makes you feel more comfortable is making you safer. Anyone that says you are gay it entitlted to their opinion, but I would rather be 'gay' than dead ;)
 
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