Best Heated Grips + Switch?

[NathanF]

Any thoughts on what the best set of heated grips is? Also, how about the slickest switch to turn them on and off?

It's 32 degrees here in Portland right now!

[Jiggles]

Symtec heated grips

Also get a relay so you don't kill ur battery

[setasai]

Haha I remember this conversation. I emailed you a bunch of info last time. I still stand by it.

[NathanF]

Originally Posted by setasai

Haha I remember this conversation. I emailed you a bunch of info last time. I still stand by it.

OK, in my defense, the e-mail was a bunch of accolades, but no where did it mention the brand or model. The reason for that is when I originally asked you I was referencing a post you had made on here....which I've since misplaced, and could not find when I spent 30 seconds looking yesterday.

I'm kind of interested in those $6 eBay ones someone posted about a while back. Might be worth a try. I don't usually like buying things straight from Asia though since I'm so damned impatient. Usually, I'll spend a month thinking about it, then get angry I didn't order it a month ago since I'd have it by now.

[setasai]

Originally Posted by NathanF

OK, in my defense, the e-mail was a bunch of accolades, but no where did it mention the brand or model. The reason for that is when I originally asked you I was referencing a post you had made on here....which I've since misplaced, and could not find when I spent 30 seconds looking yesterday.

I'm kind of interested in those $6 eBay ones someone posted about a while back. Might be worth a try. I don't usually like buying things straight from Asia though since I'm so damned impatient. Usually, I'll spend a month thinking about it, then get angry I didn't order it a month ago since I'd have it by now.

Haha Fair enough. No biggy. Symtec ones are the ones I've got installed.

Jiggles has a set of the $5 ones off ebay and as far as I can tell, they'll work just fine. Doesnt look very different at all. The only thing I noticed that might be different is the heating element on the symtec is denser for the clutch side because some of the heat will dissipate into the metal whereas the throttle tube is slightly insulating plastic. Honestly, I have noooooo idea how much of a difference this makes but in theory I suppose it could.

Also, the symtec has a choice of the metal or black plastic rocker switch. I got the one with the round black plastic rocker switch and put it in the small flat spot on the left side of the dash next to the tach. It perfectly blends in with the fairings.

Have you considered heated gloves? At some temp, it's going to be far more comfortable than heated grips. I highly recommend you either use heated grips or heated gloves. I would not use heated grips with thick winter gloves. Thick gloves insulate too well and heat from the grips will not be as effective. You'd be better off with thin gloves and heated grips.

As always, let me know if you have any more questions about it.

[NathanF]

Originally Posted by setasai

Haha Fair enough. No biggy. Symtec ones are the ones I've got installed.

Jiggles has a set of the $5 ones off ebay and as far as I can tell, they'll work just fine. Doesnt look very different at all. The only thing I noticed that might be different is the heating element on the symtec is denser for the clutch side because some of the heat will dissipate into the metal whereas the throttle tube is slightly insulating plastic. Honestly, I have noooooo idea how much of a difference this makes but in theory I suppose it could.

Also, the symtec has a choice of the metal or black plastic rocker switch. I got the one with the round black plastic rocker switch and put it in the small flat spot on the left side of the dash next to the tach. It perfectly blends in with the fairings.

Have you considered heated gloves? At some temp, it's going to be far more comfortable than heated grips. I highly recommend you either use heated grips or heated gloves. I would not use heated grips with thick winter gloves. Thick gloves insulate too well and heat from the grips will not be as effective. You'd be better off with thin gloves and heated grips.

As always, let me know if you have any more questions about it.

Thanks for the additional info.

I have considered heated gloves, and I imagine they are quit a bit more effective. The wires would be a pain though...I suspect they work best when you've got a heated jacket with plugs on the end. I bet I could rig something up with my current jacket though.

My gloves are not winter gloves, but they are fairly thick leather of the gauntlet variety. So that is a concern.

I think I'll go ahead and order the cheapo eBay grips, and see if they work. If not, no harm, and I can look into heated gloves.

[setasai]

Thick leather is fine. Its the insulated winter gloves that pose a problem. They work well to keep some cold + some heat from passing through. Wiring heated gloves without the jacket could be a problem... What if you got a heated jacket liner as well? You'd be set for the worst of the winters.

Yea the $5 grips look worth it to me. Let us know how it turns out.

[NathanF]

Originally Posted by setasai

Thick leather is fine. Its the insulated winter gloves that pose a problem. They work well to keep some cold + some heat from passing through. Wiring heated gloves without the jacket could be a problem... What if you got a heated jacket liner as well? You'd be set for the worst of the winters.

Yea the $5 grips look worth it to me. Let us know how it turns out.

Done and ordered. Will report back when they arrive 6-9 months from now.

As for the jacket liner, I'm not likely going to be doing enough winter riding to justify the cost, since my core usually stays decently warm with my Olympus jacket as it is.

[cuong-nutz]

Cycle gear sells heated ones as well similar to the symtec ones.

[dubojr1]

I had mine from the original eBay seller in 10 days. The new seller is in the same location so I wouldn't anticipate much more of delay than 10-14 days.

[leed]

Just an idea:

I have the Trackside heated grips from CycleGear (not worth 30 dollars, but oh well). I tried them for a day or two, and the difference in temperature between the right grip and left grip is way different because they do not incorporate an extra coil to accommodate for the thicker grip and the direct heatsink of the bar. To reconcile this.. I bought a throttle tube on eBay with a throttle grip and used some temporary glue and electrical tape to hold it onto the left bar. Has been working like a charm!

[dubojr1]

Originally Posted by leed

Just an idea:

I have the Trackside heated grips from CycleGear (not worth 30 dollars, but oh well). I tried them for a day or two, and the difference in temperature between the right grip and left grip is way different because they do not incorporate an extra coil to accommodate for the thicker grip and the direct heatsink of the bar. To reconcile this.. I bought a throttle tube on eBay with a throttle grip and used some temporary glue and electrical tape to hold it onto the left bar. Has been working like a charm!

Isn't this the reason why the eBay set comes with rubber shrink tubing to insulate the bar/throttle tube before installing them?

[Nemesis]

Why don't you guys just wear insulated thermal gloves?

[heylookitsfranco]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Why don't you guys just wear insulated thermal gloves?

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Why don't you guys just wear insulated thermal gloves?

cuz you cant turn them off

[leed]

Originally Posted by dubojr1

Isn't this the reason why the eBay set comes with rubber shrink tubing to insulate the bar/throttle tube before installing them?

I'm not really sure why they do, because heat shrink tubing is a horrible insulator for heat. Especially when the pads sold get pretty darn hot. It's way too thin. I tried heat shrink + electric tape + road bicycle innertube, and it made absolutely no useful difference. Regardless, the bigger issue is that the non-throttle grip is literally 3 times thicker than the throttle grip.

[Momaru]

Originally Posted by NathanF

Done and ordered. Will report back when they arrive 6-9 months from now.

As for the jacket liner, I'm not likely going to be doing enough winter riding to justify the cost, since my core usually stays decently warm with my Olympus jacket as it is.

Been looking into some heated gloves for my winter rides as my circulation sucks to begin with and I've got insulated winter gloves so heated grips isn't a great option, but the gloves only keep me warm for so long and only to about 40F.

Downside to heated gloves can be cost. The least expensive, quality-made ones I've been able to find are about $89 on clearance.

FWIW, Gerbing makes some of the best heated stuff on the market (so I'm told) and they have an outlet store for older merch that they haven't cleared. http://heatedclothingoutlet.com/index.shtml Picked up some heated socks a couple years ago and they work great.

[setasai]

Originally Posted by leed

I'm not really sure why they do, because heat shrink tubing is a horrible insulator for heat. Especially when the pads sold get pretty darn hot. It's way too thin. I tried heat shrink + electric tape + road bicycle innertube, and it made absolutely no useful difference. Regardless, the bigger issue is that the non-throttle grip is literally 3 times thicker than the throttle grip.

I actually ended up using aluminum duct tape. Sticks well and spreads the heat out like a fat heatsink. I should also mention that I also wrapped my handlebars with electrical tape first and then put the grip heating elements on. I figured if I can insulate the elements a little bit from the metal bars and then use aluminum to spread the heat out, heat would spread out evenly.

No idea if it made a difference but I'd like to think it does and that's all that matters.

[cuong-nutz]

Originally Posted by setasai

I actually ended up using aluminum duct tape. Sticks well and spreads the heat out like a fat heatsink. I should also mention that I also wrapped my handlebars with electrical tape first and then put the grip heating elements on. I figured if I can insulate the elements a little bit from the metal bars and then use aluminum to spread the heat out, heat would spread out evenly.

No idea if it made a difference but I'd like to think it does and that's all that matters.

What about putting the the heating element on the outside of the grip? Maybe some heavy duty double-sided tape on the grip, heating element, and the shrink warp or something over?

[leed]

Originally Posted by setasai

I actually ended up using aluminum duct tape. Sticks well and spreads the heat out like a fat heatsink. I should also mention that I also wrapped my handlebars with electrical tape first and then put the grip heating elements on. I figured if I can insulate the elements a little bit from the metal bars and then use aluminum to spread the heat out, heat would spread out evenly.

No idea if it made a difference but I'd like to think it does and that's all that matters.

[IMG]http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/36/36de8ef5-b926-4abc-91e1-1943fa14001f_300.jpg[/MG]

I thought about doing that, but part of the issue is that the bar is aluminum (I have clipons)to begin with! Aluminum is a terrible conductor of electricity, but a great conductor for heat. Problem being that it works like a heatsink (like you said). If your hands were on aluminum and not more than an 3/16" of rubber, it would be perfect. Things, in general, take the path of least resistance. So when heat reaches aluminum, it goes there, and as a result doesn't go through the rubber.

But then there's the alternative theory, where aluminum flashing tape reflects heat (much like foil does when baking pies), and as such prevents the heatsink action of the bar.

Who knows. My method worked for me, your method worked for you -- who cares!

[setasai]

Originally Posted by cuong-nutz

What about putting the the heating element on the outside of the grip? Maybe some heavy duty double-sided tape on the grip, heating element, and the shrink warp or something over?

You could but I wanted to be able to swap grips whenever I wanted to without having to possibly damage the heating elements.

Originally Posted by leed

I thought about doing that, but part of the issue is that the bar is aluminum (I have clipons)to begin with! Aluminum is a terrible conductor of electricity, but a great conductor for heat. Problem being that it works like a heatsink (like you said). If your hands were on aluminum and not more than an 3/16" of rubber, it would be perfect. Things, in general, take the path of least resistance. So when heat reaches aluminum, it goes there, and as a result doesn't go through the rubber.

But then there's the alternative theory, where aluminum flashing tape reflects heat (much like foil does when baking pies), and as such prevents the heatsink action of the bar.

Who knows. My method worked for me, your method worked for you -- who cares!

I dont think there is wrong way to install these things. They're designed to get warm enough that you can feel them through the rubber. The problem I have is I use grip puppies and they definitely prevent heat from reaching my gloves. I'm actually considering removing them but I liked the extra foam padding so I'm torn.

[NathanF]

Originally Posted by NathanF

Done and ordered. Will report back when they arrive 6-9 months from now.

Fail.

These $6 heated grips are absolute garbage, and I don't recommend anyone wasting their time on them. My first set had a bad connection which I could not repair, so they sent me another one. I also ordered a second one for a friend at the time, so now I have two "good" sets.

I carefully installed one on my bike, and the results are in: it just doesn't put out enough heat. I can barely feel it after 5 minutes. So, I got out the multimeter and checked both sets. They only pull .6 amps when powered up. The Symtec model pulls 3 amps by comparison! Huge difference.

In short, stay away! I should have known better, but oh well. I dreamed the cheap man's dream...

PS: The overall build quality, wire gauge, etc.. all suggests that these $6 grips are built by a drunken man in a garage somewhere. There are different gauges and different color wires between sets and the heating elements are flimsy junk that are more open space than they are heating element.

[Slono]

Originally Posted by NathanF

Fail.

These $6 heated grips are absolute garbage, and I don't recommend anyone wasting their time on them. My first set had a bad connection which I could not repair, so they sent me another one. I also ordered a second one for a friend at the time, so now I have two "good" sets.

I carefully installed one on my bike, and the results are in: it just doesn't put out enough heat. I can barely feel it after 5 minutes. So, I got out the multimeter and checked both sets. They only .6 amps when powered up. The Symtec model lists 3 watts! Huge difference.

In short, stay away! I should have known better, but oh well. I dreamed the cheap man's dream...

PS: The overall build quality, wire gauge, etc.. all suggests that these $6 grips are built by a drunken man in a garage somewhere. There are different gauges and different color wires between sets and the heating elements are flimsy junk that are more open space than they are heating element.

Thanks for the warning. I'm still looking for a set. I ride when the temperatures are below zero *Celcius. People take pictures of me when I'm on the highway because they think I'm a freak.

[setasai]

Yikes. At below zero I'd recommend heated liners for EVERYTHING! Grip heaters aren't going to cut it.

[Slono]

Originally Posted by setasai

Yikes. At below zero I'd recommend heated liners for EVERYTHING! Grip heaters aren't going to cut it.

Yeah, I don't have any winter riding gear at all. My body can only stand about 25 minutes of riding on the freeway before my fingers hurt and burn - most likely the onset of frostbite - and I have to quickly take the nearest exit, pull over and heat my hands using my exhaust, LOL.

[NathanF]

Here's what I ended up going with: http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showt...070#post443070