Wiring into the ignition

[-Savage-]

I have heated grips, but fear leaving them turned on some day and flattening the battery.

Can I take the +ve wire and attach it to a +ve wire coming from the e.g. headlight? Or is it the -ve wires?

Should i use one of those little connector clips which cut into the wires to join them?
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My Bikes - - - Royal Enfield 500 with sidecar, VFR800, CBR600FX,
Peugeot Speedfight 100, Kymco Hipster 125, GSXR750K5, Jawa TS 350

[Kickstart]

Hi

I would use the +ve feed for the rear brake light switch. Use this as a trigger for a relay which turns on / off the current wire from the battery to the grips.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[TUG]

The front brake switch has a constant live and i'm sure you can find an earth?
Ones constant the other is push to make.
This is the easiest way bar hacking into your loom. Its up to you.
And no... dont use scotch locks, for fuck sake just strip the coating back and neat solder the wires and tape them up nice and neat like i do, the customers love it, and to remove is more simpler.
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Haz ER-5, innit!

[-Savage-]

Thanks guys
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My Bikes - - - Royal Enfield 500 with sidecar, VFR800, CBR600FX,
Peugeot Speedfight 100, Kymco Hipster 125, GSXR750K5, Jawa TS 350

[stinkwheel]

I would use a rear brake switch too, more room and protection for the relay under the seat and you have to run a wire up from the battery anyway.

[-Savage-]

Cool, thanks stinkwheel, I'm not sure what terminals are used for the switch, but I'll take a look tomorrow, hopefully it's a simple job with either a bullet or blade.

Thanks for the help
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My Bikes - - - Royal Enfield 500 with sidecar, VFR800, CBR600FX,
Peugeot Speedfight 100, Kymco Hipster 125, GSXR750K5, Jawa TS 350

[unitybiker]

whatever live connection you use just remember to put an exclusive inline fuse in the grip power cable to the correct amp rating .by doing this it means if they ever cause a short then it wll blow its own fuse rather than the main ign fuse so wont disable the bikes electrics.the power rating is important ,more power means thicker cables. extreme case.....a club member added a twin headlamp unit to his custom and just wired it into the normal bike lights ,the bulbs used more power than his standard ones and the extra power through the wires melted his switch terminals and wiring loom and burnt his lighting coil out. if it was me i'd use the ign switch live as this is a thicker wire.Id wire it to the ign+ terminal (mostly red?) so that power will flow when the ign is turned on with the key and so be immune from forgetting to leave them on.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Advantage of using the rear brake light feed is that it is normally a short seperate wire as part of the switch that you are chopping into. Make a mess of it and all you are repairing / replacing is a cheap brake light switch. Chop into the main loom and if you make a mess of it then it is a bit more serious to repair.

The just use a relay, using the standard heated grip +ve wire from the battery to the relay including the fuse.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[-Savage-]

Like this?
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My Bikes - - - Royal Enfield 500 with sidecar, VFR800, CBR600FX,
Peugeot Speedfight 100, Kymco Hipster 125, GSXR750K5, Jawa TS 350

[Kickstart]

Hi
Have the fuse before the relay.

And make sure you use the feed to the brake light switch rather than the line from it. First will be on all the time the ignition is on, the only will only be live when the brake is pressed.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[-Savage-]

Thanks Keith, I think I know what I'm at now lol.
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My Bikes - - - Royal Enfield 500 with sidecar, VFR800, CBR600FX,
Peugeot Speedfight 100, Kymco Hipster 125, GSXR750K5, Jawa TS 350

[Kickstart]

[stinkwheel]

Or get a relay with a built-in fuse. Two less joins to potentially go wrong and one less componant to attach somewhere. They take standard automotive blade fuses as can be purchased at every fuel station.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Good point, but if you are chopping the original wires for the heated grips they probably already have a fuse in the wire, and means that you can just pick up a cheaper relay (ie, probably for peanuts from a local car scrap yard).

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[unitybiker]

Savagekymco 's diagram is great ,i'd put the fuse on the relay feed rather than out put for tiny extra protection , and turning off ignition will disconnect power from brake light swithch so no flatty battys.

[TUG]

Making an easy job hard, theres 2 wires on your handle bars that feed the front brake switch, hide the wiring with a bit of tape after soldering the positive lead for your grips to the ignition live of the switch's wire, so the grips turn off when the ignition is off.
Leaving you loads of options on hiding the wiring.
Did it on a naked FZ1 and it was neater than an OCD patients room.
Edit: normally come fused grips, if not just wire one in, nip your local bike shop and ask for a spare fuse wire from an alarm.
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Haz ER-5, innit!

[stinkwheel]

[unitybiker]

stinkwheel is right /Apologise for some missinformation ......'in the bathtub of history etc.........it's so true...
you could install the grips on their own thicker wires with a fuse and a 10 amp relay inline to the battery and use the ignition or brake light circuit with a seperate fuse for the relay switching coil. What bike is it as a small bike means harder work for the battery?

[TUG]

[unitybiker]

not if your ign switch wire is the right thickness ,

it usually goes direct to battery but if we add a main beam headlight and taillight at the same time then it could go over the current rating although lights generally draw their power through a seperate circuit from the genny

.SO USE INDEPENDENT POWER WIRE THAT COMES WITH GRIPS direct to battery via relay terminal and fuse. you can also extend these wires if needed by adding new wire ,and only use bikes wiring harness to supply the smaller relay coil current from brake light or ign (with smaller fuse).

I;d worry on a small bike that i'd be overstressing the charging system as the grips may use more power than the lighting system yet be supplied by a slightly smaller charging output coil ,but in practice it's the battery and regulator that has to sweat up a bit to charge at near full capacity to keep your digits warm .

I 'd be amazed if a 125 battery would last a winter based on a 1 hour daily commute ,if you have electric starter,battery will be bigger.

Personally I'm a muff man myself .

[xgoodyx]

Thanks to all the posts above. After some more digging around I found the below link which is very good.

https://www.r1200gs.info/howto/relay.html