View Full Version : $5 ebay heated grips


Socal5646
November 8th, 2011, 12:01 AM
Just got them in...lol...3 weeks later! Install was a breeze...they get pretty warm! Opted out of using the heat shrink...just put the grips right over the heating element. The element itself has an adhesive back that sticks good enough for you to get the grips back over without moving...bring it winter!:thumbup:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-Heated-Grip-Pads-Handlebars-Black-12V-/180745503064?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2a15458158


Edit link updated to a different seller! I have not purchased from this seller!

Jiggles
November 8th, 2011, 01:26 AM
Wow, I just installed mine today. Mine were $40 and have an off lo hi switch. I just ordered this $5 one for my other bike, lets see how well they work!

dubojr1
November 8th, 2011, 06:09 AM
I took the leap and ordered a set. I'm wondering if the switch is weather resistant though... :idunno:

Bosgarage57
November 8th, 2011, 06:42 AM
You could always buy a better switch @ autozone or somewhere couldnt you? Do these go over the grips or under them? I have a hard enough time putting grips on as it is, without having to worry about these pads, but for $5 its worth a shot. Keep is updated!

Socal5646
November 8th, 2011, 07:21 AM
I used my original grips! Just used a really skinny flat head and got it all the way under the grip...then just spin it round and round (breaking up the glue underneath) until it comes off! Stick on the heating element and the grips slipped right back on 80%. A couple of whacks with a rubber mallet finished the job!

choneofakind
November 8th, 2011, 08:46 AM
I used my original grips! Just used a really skinny flat head and got it all the way under the grip...then just spin it round and round (breaking up the glue underneath) until it comes off! Stick on the heating element and the grips slipped right back on 80%. A couple of whacks with a rubber mallet finished the job!

compressed air works better than a flat head for getting them off. they literally float right off the bars

Socal5646
November 8th, 2011, 09:03 AM
43F this morning heading into the office.....new grips work GREAT!

Jiggles
November 8th, 2011, 10:26 AM
compressed air works better than a flat head for getting them off. they literally float right off the bars

setasai and I used WD40 to get the grips off and hairspray to get them back on :D

Socal5646
November 12th, 2011, 08:05 PM
Pic of grip switch installed! Thinking about getting a 3 way toggle and add a resistor For the "low" setting...maybe. Otherwise...bike got soaked a couple times this week with no I'll effects!

k-os
November 12th, 2011, 08:13 PM
I'm guessing the title of this thread is supposed to be $55. I got a little excited when I read $5.

setasai
November 12th, 2011, 08:16 PM
That's an interesting location for the switch. Not bad at all. Coat the electrical connections with dielectric grease if they arent weather sealed.

Do you have them tied into an existing circuit or do you have a relay?

C L
November 12th, 2011, 08:16 PM
They were $5 up until just now it seems. If you go look at the seller's past auctions, its the same item for $5. The dude must've caught on

Socal5646
November 12th, 2011, 08:22 PM
Wow! What a price hike!!!

Socal5646
November 12th, 2011, 09:24 PM
That's an interesting location for the switch. Not bad at all. Coat the electrical connections with dielectric grease if they arent weather sealed.

Do you have them tied into an existing circuit or do you have a relay?

They are hooked up to the factory accessory lead (10amp) which I added a relay to so it's only hot with the key in!

Socal5646
November 12th, 2011, 09:30 PM
They were $5 up until just now it seems. If you go look at the seller's past auctions, its the same item for $5. The dude must've caught on

I'm guessing a good amount of people ordered from this thread coupled with winter coming got this guys wheels turning. Don't worry...he's in china. He's got a buddy two doors down that's gonna start whoring them out soon enough;)

Socal5646
November 12th, 2011, 09:34 PM
Like this guy

www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-Heated-Grip-Pads-Motorcycle-Handlebars-/120783134118?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item1c1f3c5da6

Or this guy

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-Heated-Grip-Pads-Handlebars-Black-12V-/180745503064?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2a15458158#ht_3175wt_802http://

Skippii
November 29th, 2011, 09:04 PM
1.5 watts for each bar doesn't sound like a whole lot of heat.

I'm not sure what mine were on the V-strom, but I think they were a bit more than that.

I've got Gerbin gloves now, so don't have any need for these, but they definately look like they're worth trying for the price.

Jiggles
November 29th, 2011, 09:07 PM
1.5 watts for each bar doesn't sound like a whole lot of heat.

I'm not sure what mine were on the V-strom, but I think they were a bit more than that.

I've got Gerbin gloves now, so don't have any need for these, but they definately look like they're worth trying for the price.

Where did you get 1.5 watts from? They are 36 watts.

Skippii
November 29th, 2011, 09:08 PM
They are hooked up to the factory accessory lead (10amp) which I added a relay to so it's only hot with the key in!

From what did you run the relay? On my V-strom I ran it in parallel with the backlighting for the tach/speedo, which worked great and kept it all really close to the dash where the switch was mounted.
One word of warning...relays can sometimes fail "on". Took me a while to figure out why I had a dead battery after leaving my bike parked after a rainstorm...I'd always just left switch on the high position, since it was never above freezing temps all month.

Skippii
November 29th, 2011, 09:09 PM
Where did you get 1.5 watts from? They are 36 watts.

From the original ebay link at the top of this page.
I'm guessing it's a typo and it should read 3 amps?

That would be 36 watts, but that would be a lot of heat for grips!
IIRC, I think my gerbing gloves are only 20 or 30 watts, and that's wrapping each finger, palm, and the back of my hand.

Jiggles
November 29th, 2011, 09:13 PM
From the original ebay link at the top of this page.
I'm guessing it's a typo and it should read 3 amps?

That would be 36 watts, but that would be a lot of heat for grips!
IIRC, I think my gerbing gloves are only 20 or 30 watts, and that's wrapping each finger, palm, and the back of my hand.

Yea their power is off "power: 12V 3W"

Still don't see 1.5 watts though :rolleyes:

But yes that should say 12V 3A

Skippii
November 29th, 2011, 09:19 PM
Yea their power is off "power: 12V 3W"

Still don't see 1.5 watts though :rolleyes:

But yes that should say 12V 3A

3 watts total = 1.5 watts per handlebar.

dubojr1
December 5th, 2011, 08:07 AM
Price is back down to $5.39 with free shipping. :eek:

dubojr1
December 5th, 2011, 09:07 AM
Anyone know what resistor would be needed to do a high/low setup?

EDIT: Looks like this one will be it.

http://www.bikesax.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=EHUN95012&Store_Code=B

Skippii
December 5th, 2011, 01:00 PM
Anyone know what resistor would be needed to do a high/low setup?

EDIT: Looks like this one will be it.

http://www.bikesax.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

That link doesn't show a resistor.
The easiest way is to do a parallel/series switch, then you don't need a resistor, but it does make the "low" setting a good bit lower than otherwise
(25% of the high).

It all depends on how powerful the gloves are. If we assume 25 watt gloves,


12.5 volts from the bike times the current drawn = wattage of the gloves (25w), so the current drawn must be 2.
Ohms law tells us the 12.5V divided by 2 amps of current is a resistance of 6.25 ohms.
For 50% power (12.5w), we want only 1 amp to pass through the gloves at 12.5 volts.

With a 2.5 ohm resistor, the total circuit resistance is 8.8 ohms
This draws 1.42 amps
since the gloves make up 71.5% of the resistance, they dissipate 71.5% of the 17.6W total circuit power, so the gloves will run at ~12.7 watts, or half the power as without a resistor. The other 5 watts is wasted as heat in the resistor, so make sure your resistor is rated for at least 5 watts.

This is a pretty inefficient way of doing things. Using a 555 chip and a power mosfet would be much more efficient.

You could also just buy one of these for 23 cents, which would give simply run your gloves at 10 watts.
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/STMicroelectronics/L7908CV/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtUqDgmOWBjgLulMc5AC7ohxYmnKIvA6xE%3d

Here's a good resistor for 44cents:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Xicon/280-CR5-27-RC/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtbXrIkmrvidD02xufTG9TVFJzN7fG%252b3Rs%3d

dubojr1
December 5th, 2011, 01:09 PM
That link doesn't show a resistor.
The easiest way is to do a parallel/series switch, then you don't need a resistor, but it does make the "low" setting a good bit lower than otherwise
(25% of the high).

It all depends on how powerful the gloves are. If we assume 25 watt gloves,


12.5 volts from the bike times the current drawn = wattage of the gloves (25w), so the current drawn must be 2.
Ohms law tells us the 12.5V divided by 2 amps of current is a resistance of 6.25 ohms.
For 50% power (12.5w), we want only 1 amp to pass through the gloves at 12.5 volts.

With a 2.5 ohm resistor, the total circuit resistance is 8.8 ohms
This draws 1.42 amps
since the gloves make up 71.5% of the resistance, they dissipate 71.5% of the 17.6W total circuit power, so the gloves will run at ~12.7 watts, or half the power as without a resistor. The other 5 watts is wasted as heat in the resistor, so make sure your resistor is rated for at least 5 watts.

This is a pretty inefficient way of doing things. Using a 555 chip and a power mosfet would be much more efficient.

You could also just buy one of these for 23 cents, which would give simply run your gloves at 10 watts.
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/STMicroelectronics/L7908CV/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtUqDgmOWBjgLulMc5AC7ohxYmnKIvA6xE%3d

Wait.... no gloves here. I bought the heated grip kit from the eBay source but it only comes with an "ON" and "OFF" switch. I'd like to make it a "LOW" and "HIGH" setup which I know I will need a resitor to do that. I fixed the link above for the resistor. Here it is again:

http://www.bikesax.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=EHUN95012&Store_Code=B

Now I also know that if I change this setup to HIGH/LOW that I will also need a switch that will toggle to ON/OFF/ON and a new wiring setup. Will this setup calculations be similar to the calcs for gloves?

dubojr1
December 5th, 2011, 01:11 PM
I like this switch. Small and simple. Seems a bit expensive though.

http://www.murphskits.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=469

http://www.murphskits.com/catalog/images/grip%20heater%20switch_edited.jpg

Bosgarage57
December 5th, 2011, 01:46 PM
I ordered a couple sets to try, Also Murphskits is a great guy to buy from. He is the person I buy all my Connie goodies from :)

Skippii
December 5th, 2011, 03:25 PM
Grips, gloves...same principals.

Skippii
December 5th, 2011, 03:29 PM
Switches:
http://www.mouser.com/Electromechanical/Switches/Toggle-Switches/_/N-5g2jZscv7?P=1z0z2xmZ1z0z26cZ1z0yy98Z1z0z27bZ1z0z2qcZ1yzshawZ1z0s21uZ1z0s226Z1z0r vv3Z1yzshejZ1z0s22k&Ns=Pricing|0

mikesova
December 10th, 2011, 10:58 AM
Bought a set for my KLX250s. We'll see.

Socal5646
December 10th, 2011, 11:54 AM
On my second set now...2nd set came with a broken switch...wasn't gonna wait for a switch so went to radio shack and picked one up. $3.50 for the switch! Lol. Still under 10 bucks!

mikesova
December 31st, 2011, 10:57 AM
I just installed the left side and temporarily hooked them up on my KLX250 they work! Did you guys use Huge heat shrink tubing? I don't get what that is for. I just wrapped the bars with some electrical tape, put the sticky stuff on the heaters and wrapped them on the bars. I didn't do the throttle side yet, since I'm out of WD40 to get the grip off the throttle tube.

So far...so good. that switch bracket fits perfectly on the bolt that the clutch lever pivots on. I didn't want to do a permanent mount on these cheapies.

k-os
December 31st, 2011, 12:07 PM
I just installed the left side and temporarily hooked them up on my KLX250 they work! Did you guys use Huge heat shrink tubing? I don't get what that is for. I just wrapped the bars with some electrical tape, put the sticky stuff on the heaters and wrapped them on the bars. I didn't do the throttle side yet, since I'm out of WD40 to get the grip off the throttle tube.

So far...so good. that switch bracket fits perfectly on the bolt that the clutch lever pivots on. I didn't want to do a permanent mount on these cheapies.

Trying using compressed air to get the grip off the throttle tube.

Oaklandish
January 13th, 2012, 09:41 AM
Did you guys use Huge heat shrink tubing? I don't get what that is for....

I ordered a set as well and would like to know what the black tubing is for

setasai
January 13th, 2012, 05:10 PM
I ordered a set as well and would like to know what the black tubing is for

I believe it is for insulation on the clutch bars so that heat doesnt so readily get dissipated into the metal bars. I used electrical tape when I installed mine and then I wrapped it in aluminum tape to help spread the heat and secure the grips onto the bars.

Oaklandish
January 13th, 2012, 05:14 PM
I believe it is for insulation on the clutch bars so that heat doesnt so readily get dissipated into the metal bars. I used electrical tape when I installed mine and then I wrapped it in aluminum tape to help spread the heat and secure the grips onto the bars.

I still don't understand where it goes. are you saying it goes on the break and clutch levers to keep from heating up? what are clutch bars? you put aluminum tape over or under the grips?

k-os
January 13th, 2012, 08:12 PM
I still don't understand where it goes. are you saying it goes on the break and clutch levers to keep from heating up? what are clutch bars? you put aluminum tape over or under the grips?

I believe it goes on your bars BEFORE you put the heating strip on. That way the heat is more likely to travel through the grip, rather than being absorbed by the metal bar.

setasai
January 14th, 2012, 12:14 AM
I still don't understand where it goes. are you saying it goes on the break and clutch levers to keep from heating up? what are clutch bars? you put aluminum tape over or under the grips?

I believe it goes on your bars BEFORE you put the heating strip on. That way the heat is more likely to travel through the grip, rather than being absorbed by the metal bar.

Exactly. After you remove your stock grips, you have the bare metal handlebars. It's a little more important on the clutch side because the throttle tube is plastic and works relatively well as an insulator.

The aluminum tape is over the heating elements and under the grips. If you do decide to wrap aluminum tape, wrap it in the direction you'll be twisting the throttle or else it might unravel over time.

bkh2
March 17th, 2012, 06:06 PM
I just got these and I'm kind of confused. I've taken off both grips and I assume you put the shrink tube on first to insulate from the bars, then peel the heat pads to expose the sticky backing and stick them on? Once these pads are on, do I use the tape provided to cover them? If not, will they melt the grips when I put them back on?

Or do I use the tape provided (which looks more like electrical tape than aluminum tape..) to wrap the bare bars first, then stick the heat pads on, then put the shrink tubing over that, before putting the grips back on? =[

leed
March 17th, 2012, 06:36 PM
It was to the better of my understanding that the heat shrink goes onto the bars to provide insulation (keeps the heat from transferring directly to the bars).

I am not sure about the tape provided, it may be to hold both ends of the adhesive heat-pad down and prevent it from coming undone when putting the grips on. Needless to say, the grips should not melt, even on the highest setting. I've had mine on all winter without issue.

bkh2
March 17th, 2012, 08:42 PM
Thanks. Also, is there a connection point closer to the front of the bike that I can attach the leads to? Because the wires are way too short to reach the battery, should I extend them? Sorry for so many questions...

BlackNinja8
January 14th, 2013, 06:28 PM
So what was the final verdict on these things? Did they last, burn out, short in the wet? Jiggles, dubojr1, anyone else?

bkh2
January 14th, 2013, 06:52 PM
They don't get hot enough for my liking. It's a good thing I bought two, because I layered them and that allowed it to get hotter. Definitely usable now, but still not as hot as I'd like.

Poor wiring caused mine to short out, but that's totally my fault. The pads were fine, just the wiring got damaged. I'm going to redo the wiring soon. If you're super cheap and don't mind using a little finesse, I would recommend these.

BlackNinja8
January 14th, 2013, 07:14 PM
They don't get hot enough for my liking. It's a good thing I bought two, because I layered them and that allowed it to get hotter. Definitely usable now, but still not as hot as I'd like.

Poor wiring caused mine to short out, but that's totally my fault. The pads were fine, just the wiring got damaged. I'm going to redo the wiring soon. If you're super cheap and don't mind using a little finesse, I would recommend these.

Thanks, sounds like one of those "you get what you pay for" deals. Super cheap? Check. Finesse? Not so much.

Amazon has what looks to be very similar model for $20 and the reviews seem great. May go that route rather than buying 2 ebay cheapos and keeping my fingers crossed.

Jiggles
January 14th, 2013, 08:00 PM
So what was the final verdict on these things? Did they last, burn out, short in the wet? Jiggles, dubojr1, anyone else?

I gave them away :rolleyes: