Got heated grips finally

[CHEMIKER]

I know the weather is way worse in other parts of the country right now, but after riding in the mid 30's (Farenheit) all week, I decided to upgrade to heated grips. It's just not working - even with undergloves. I gots to have my comfort!

After reading an awesome thread by Tom5796, http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/9031-heated-grips-less-than-50-a.html, I decided to go with the Symtec warmers.

I'll post up on how they work. If they live up to the hype halfway it will be an improvement over frozen fingers!

 

[OZXJR]

Soft !

 

[CHEMIKER]

Thanks Mick. I knew that was coming!

I am kind of sketched out about wiring a 3A accessory to my headlights. Anyone have good suggestions for where to tap into switched power than can handle that load?

 

[TSi Fly]

You could use use a relay. Use the headlamp wiring as a switching circuit and power direct from the battery. Simples !

 

[discgolfdude]

Thanks Mick. I knew that was coming!

I am kind of sketched out about wiring a 3A accessory to my headlights. Anyone have good suggestions for where to tap into switched power than can handle that load?

You could tap into the ignition, that is what I'm going to do with mine. I left mine on, I thought I turned mine off, and the battery was dead, and I had to bump start my bike.:spank:

 

[CHEMIKER]

You could use use a relay. Use the headlamp wiring as a switching circuit and power direct from the battery. Simples !

Simple if you know how to wire a relay I suppose :BLAA:

I'm willing to try this since I would love to tap straight off the battery. Can someone give me a bullet point how-to on this? What relay specs do I need? Also, what wire goes where? I'm confident that I could do this, but without experience would need a quick run down.

EDIT: I don't need a thesis, 30 words or less should be fine.

 

[DefyInertia]

Mine is straight to the battery...no relay. SO when you figure it out, you can let me know.

Mid 30sF ? It must be cooler down by you. Weather has been fantastic this month though, hasn't it?!?! I've been riding to work quite a bit as well, but my commute is only ~7 miles to it's hard to get cold.

IMO heated grips are a must for laying down long miles all year long in Northern California. I've even used them at certain elevations or next to the ocean during the summer.

 

[CHEMIKER]

Mine is straight to the battery...no relay. SO when you figure it out, you can let me know.

Mid 30sF ? It must be cooler down by you. Weather has been fantastic this month though, hasn't it?!?! I've been riding to work quite a bit as well, but my commute is only ~7 miles to it's hard to get cold.

IMO heated grips are a must for laying down long miles all year long in Northern California. I've even used them at certain elevations or next to the ocean during the summer.

I'll let you know what I come up with. I would do straight to the battery, but I know I'll leave it on and drain the battery. I love the relay idea.

 

[Motogiro]

I'll let you know what I come up with. I would do straight to the battery, but I know I'll leave it on and drain the battery. I love the relay idea.

Here's a little idea I whipped up.
This will power your grips and the grips will shut off when you turn your key off or from your grip switch.
Tap the + 12 volts from your original low beam.

 

[CHEMIKER]

Perfect, thanks Cliff. It will be obvious on the relay, what connector goes to the battery, accessory, ground, and switched power, or the diagram will be identical to the one you whipped up?

Also, if the system is rated at 3A, should I put a 3A fuse in, or go bigger?

Thanks again, hope it didn't take too much time.

Travis

 

[Motogiro]

Perfect, thanks Cliff. It will be obvious on the relay, what connector goes to the battery, accessory, ground, and switched power, or the diagram will be identical to the one you whipped up?

Also, if the system is rated at 3A, should I put a 3A fuse in, or go bigger?

Thanks again, hope it didn't take too much time.

Travis

Just took me a few minutes.....Just the way it's diagrammed should be good.
If the grip system says to use a 3 amp fuse go with that. If it's rated at 3 amps usage put a 7 amp in and you should be good. You can use a 10 amp relay but the 30 amps are cheap and popular/ easy to find.

If you need to I'll whip it up for you and you can PM me your addy. Just give the $$ for parts and shipping...

 

[CHEMIKER]

Just took me a few minutes.....Just the way it's diagrammed should be good.
If the grip system says to use a 3 amp fuse go with that. If it's rated at 3 amps usage put a 7 amp in and you should be good. You can use a 10 amp relay but the 30 amps are cheap and popular/ easy to find.

If you need to I'll whip it up for you and you can PM me your addy. Just give the $$ for parts and shipping...

Awesome, thanks again. I don't think I need a kit, it doesn't seem too involved. I know how to solder and that seems to be the only real skill needed besides being able to follow the instructions so I think I'm all set.

I'll post up on how it goes.

 

[mxgolf]

You live in California what the heck do you need with heated grips? :spank:

 

[TSi Fly]

Here's a little idea I whipped up.
This will power your grips and the grips will shut off when you turn your key off or from your grip switch.
Tap the + 12 volts from your original low beam.

Agree with this, not sure if US relays are numbered but a European relay would be
30. from Battery +ve
87. to consumer (grips +ve)
86. switched +ve (from headlamp/ign live)
85. Ground, -ve, earth point.
or lots of relays have a diagram on them as shown by Motogiro.
Simples!
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[CHEMIKER]

Simples! I'll give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen? I suppose if leave some of the connection from the battery lead exposed, it could short to the underside of my tank, arcing through and igniting the gas, causing an explosion of the vapors in the tank. But other than that...

 

[CHEMIKER]

You live in California what the heck do you need with heated grips? :spank:

I knew this was coming! I know, I'm a girl. :cheer:

 

[fzme]

MCN just printed an article on heated grips. Armen Amirian for NYC wrote in a nice point:

He used the ballast resistor, but added a relay so the grips would only get juice when the key was on. The ballast resistor wastes juice and adds a hot part somewhere on the bike. To fix this, he added handlebar mounted electric vest controller with a digital readout, elimating the need for a ballast resistor. He also wrote, "I've played with idea of using a DPDT switch and wiring the grips so that on HIGH, the grips run in parallel, and on LOW they run in series. I did an ammeter test, and it looks as though it would work. The grips see half the juice on LOW as each one uses the other as a resistor in the LOW position."

Yeah, I know...it's an explanation for the electrically inclined. I thought it might help...

 

[DefyInertia]

You live in California what the heck do you need with heated grips? :spank:

We have mountains! :Flip: They come in handy when you're riding for hours on end in 40 or even 50 degree weather.

 

[Motogiro]

MCN just printed an article on heated grips. Armen Amirian for NYC wrote in a nice point:

He used the ballast resistor, but added a relay so the grips would only get juice when the key was on. The ballast resistor wastes juice and adds a hot part somewhere on the bike. To fix this, he added handlebar mounted electric vest controller with a digital readout, elimating the need for a ballast resistor. He also wrote, "I've played with idea of using a DPDT switch and wiring the grips so that on HIGH, the grips run in parallel, and on LOW they run in series. I did an ammeter test, and it looks as though it would work. The grips see half the juice on LOW as each one uses the other as a resistor in the LOW position."

Yeah, I know...it's an explanation for the electrically inclined. I thought it might help...

The series/parallel is an excellent idea! Easy to do! I agree if you were going to use ballast you're wasting charging output on a hot device that you'd have to isolate.

We have mountains! :Flip: They come in handy when you're riding for hours on end in 40 or even 50 degree weather.

A few weeks ago Goop and I were riding out to Anza Borrego and had to pass by Lake Henshaw. It was very surprising to meet up with some pretty cold weather where we had to stop and warm our hands on the motors.We climbed to 4000 feet in Ranchita and it was actually warmer and then dropped into the desert where we rode in the 70's :BLAA:
So yeah, we can run into many different climates here in Cali. In fact to can go skiing and surfing on the same day! :rockon:

 

[jrevans]

Heated grips are awesome! I put on the ones that wrap around the handlebars under your grips and I am so happy with them.

They are especially appreciated on those days where it's warm when you go out and then get stuck coming home later when it's cooler out. The extra heat on the fingers makes a huge difference in my opinion. Plus, they are always there, unobtrusively waiting to help.