Heated grips

[DrDonnyBrago]

I know this has been done before but what is available changes, products fail/continue to impress and we are all a year older/wiser...


So, heated grips, which ones are best?


Tempted by the £5 sets but I don't want them to break in the middle of December leaving me cold until I can buy some more. Anyone have any experience of the Symtec ones?


Any brands to avoid?


Cheers me ol' muckers.

[neatbik]

I have a set of Oxford ones, had them for 4 years and have never let me down.

[Dilyan]

A tat off-topic: I'm considering heated gloves instead. IMO they seem to slow down the arthritis Warming up your palms won't help your knuckles
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[Marmalade]

[Rogerborg]

[G]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Had the Oxford ones on quite a few bikes. Normally the control units seem to fry first (got 2 which are now just wired through a switch).

Got some heated gloves as well but not that happy with them. They cooked (and burnt) the knuckles on my thumb.

All the best

Keith
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[DrDonnyBrago]

How long do normal (i.e. not heated) grips last before they wear out, I've never had to replace any?


I'm tempted by the symtec because it means I can replace the grips without having to shell out £60 again. But if the heating element/wiring etc wont outlast the rubber grips themselves then I may as well save some effort and fit the oxfords.



Also there seem to be several types of oxford hot grips, what is the difference between the original and sports? I'm not concerned about the appearance but I intend to fit them to a CBR600f.



EDIT: One more thing, are ROXTERs (ebay clicky) the same as oxfords but rebranded?

[The Artist]

I got the cheap £5 ones last winter, had them on the bike and been using them when travelling at night, even now when it isn't that cold they are a god send. Never had any issues and all the switch and wiring is exposed on my bike.

May I suggest getting 2 sets so in an emergency, you can swap them over if one set breaks. They are very simple, just wires and a switch going to the pad which is just more wire in a laminated sheet.

[stinkwheel]

Mrs. stinkwheels symtec ones are still going strong. If/when they go I'd expect them to go at the wire going to the throttle side which sees a lot of movement. I made sure to put a nice wide loop in the wire to help with this and taped that end of the pad down securely.

As far as I can work out though, they are the same as those cheap chinese ones on ebay. Frankly, for £3.99 delivered, they've got to be worth a punt. The only real difference is that the symtec ones have high and low settings which is achieved by having them in series on low and paralell on high. To do this you'd need a three position switch rather than the one they come with.

If Mrs. stinkwheels ones fail, I'll just replace the pad with a chinese one, just be a case of popping the grip off, sticking the new pad on and plugging it in.
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[JonE]

I just fitted a set of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DR-BIKE-HEATED-GRIPS-MOTORCYCLE-MOTORBIKE-KEEP-WARM-UNIVERSAL-FIT-HAVE-HOT-HANDS-/140606131058?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item20bcc74b72

I tested them on the way to work this morning (even though it wasn't cold!) and they get lovely and hot.

Apparently they are the same as the old style Oxford ones with the rotary controller and are just branded differently.

Cheers

Jon

[DrDonnyBrago]

Hmmm, I am mighty poor atm... think I might just go for two sets of the chinese ones.


If the first set are reliable then I'll position the spare set in my seat to keep my balls warm .



Is there anyway to bolster up the wires on the chinese ones to stop them breaking? How many miles have you had with yours fitted artist?

[The Artist]

About 5k miles.

They are so simple if they break, you could easily bodge back together unless one of the pads breaks but I see no reason they would. I have come off twice since I fitted them, twisted the forks, bent the bars, broken mirrors etc and they still work.

[Marmalade]

[Beelzebob]

[swampy]

I've got Roxters on my Viffer. Warm as toast, and wont turn on unless there's enough juice in the battery to run them.

Only probs with mine is the control has up and down buttons (like the one's on a ZX81) rather than a dial, which makes it a bit tricky to use with gloves on.

Think they are re-branded Oxford from the (limited) research I've done.

Mild threadjack, but does anyone have any tips for adhering them to the bars ?I was thinking hairspray, but wondered about flammability issues...
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[P.addy]

[The Artist]

The £5 ones just have on/off switch, no fancy dials.

[P.addy]

This year im going for a set of Tucano Urbano muffs, G's looked fantastic and seem roomy enough in there.. Plus possibly symtec stuff...but it will be when I have some spare funds... muffs are only £38 so combine with cheap heaters, toasty winter

Mr Moss, do they get pretty warm given there is no temp control?

[The Artist]

I bought some muffs on ebay for £10 delivered, no need to spend 4 times that on branded stuff.

Yes they get nice and toasty. If it isn't that cold and I have them on just cus I can then yes I will need to turn them off because of the heat. On a cold day though, no need, they keep my hands nice. Although it is a weird sensation if you don't have muffs on and you do a long journey. Nice hot palms, cold tops of hands.


One thing I would point out, I suppose it depends how you fit them. I just wrapped them round my existing grips with the heatshrink over that to get maximum effectiveness. The only problem is the pads don't go all the way around so on the throttle one, make sure the little gap with no heat is not where your fingers are, make it so all the heat is where your hand will be when cruising along.

[Beelzebob]

Plus - see Stinkwheel's handy guide on wiring up accessories with a relay so you can't forget to turn em off - thus sparing winter flat battery woes.
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[The Artist]

[Beelzebob]

[The Artist]

Yeh, I take no responsibility if your bike catches fire or something.

TBH mine aren't even done this way, mine is wired straight on to the battery, only because it was that week or 2 last winter when it was -10, I had a 30 mile journey, it was dark and needed heat and just haven't bothered doing it properly.

[ms51ves3]

I have the cheap Chinese ones wired into the sidelight. Never had any issues with them. The throttle wire snapped, but I've re-soldered with some better wire.

Still got my spare set sat in a box.