Suitable wires to tap into for heated grips?

I'm looking to mount up a set of heated grips. I don't want to wire them directly to the battery and risk leaving them on when I park. The heated grips draw about 2.5 Amps on high.

Anyone wired a similar accessory and know of a good pair of switched wires to tap into? I was thinking headlight wires, but I don't want the lights to dim when I turn on the grips. Additionally I don't want to overload the wires and blow fuses all the time.

I would slave the grips through a relay that sources right to the battery. Using your headlamp circuit is not an optimal idea because if there is a problem like a short you'll have no headlight. Also your circuit will be designed for the circuit with minimal voltage drop. Keep in mind you don't have a lot of headroom on the charging system to begin with. The relay will disconnect the grips when there is no key on.

Edit: I'm adding a PDF of a simple circuit you can build and where to tie in on your FZ6

Motogiro said:

I would slave the grips through a relay that sources right to the battery. Using your headlamp circuit is not an optimal idea because if there is a problem like a short you'll have no headlight. Also your circuit will be designed for the circuit with minimal voltage drop. Keep in mind you don't have a lot of headroom on the charging system to begin with. The relay will disconnect the grips when there is no key on.

Click to expand...

Interesting. So if the grips are connected right to the battery, how would a relay prevent the grips from draining the battery if I left them on? I'm a electrical newb, so if you could describe exactly what I would need to buy and how to wire it up, that would be excellent :rockon:

Use a relay so you can tap into any switched wire and not worry about taking current from it, at least any amount that would cause concern. It is pretty much the best way to go if you ask me. They are very simple to install aswell.

Edit: doh, beat by motogiro!

The relay will prevent the battery from draining because along with the direct connection from a battery it requires a switched power source to operate the grips. Without the switched source being turned on, the relay won't allow power to go to the grips from the battery. That's the beauty of it, so simple but so useful.

Sent from my ADR6350

outasight20 said:

Interesting. So if the grips are connected right to the battery, how would a relay prevent the grips from draining the battery if I left them on? I'm a electrical newb, so if you could describe exactly what I would need to buy and how to wire it up, that would be excellent :rockon:

Click to expand...

I added a pdf for you ^^^^^^^

Thanks a bunch guys! This forum never lets me down.

I have done this and I used the left side light to switch the relay. Wires run hidden nicely inside the fairing and there is room for the relay and spare wires in front of the battery.

Heated grips are brilliant btw

Can I use the same ground wire to ground the heated grips as well as the relay?

What I mean is if I take a wire from battery ground, attach it to pin 86, and then continue this same wire to the ground of the heated grips, will this work?

I hope you guys understand. Sorry I'm so bad at electronic stuff.

I got everything hooked up and its working flawlessly. Thanks for all the help guys!