Kemimoto Handlebar Mitts

[rjs987]

Since buying my Kymco AK 550 I've been looking at finding out a way to NOT install my Gerbing heated gloves controller setup on this new bike. The AK 550 has factory heated grips so it makes sense that I shouldn't need heated gloves also depending if I can make the grips work by themselves. I do prefer to minimize what farkles I install and only install what I need to provide some feature not already available.

After much personal research on the options I concluded that I needed to be using handlebar muffs or mitts. With just the heated grips my hands were plenty warm when temps were down to around 27F (-2.8C) but anything below that my finger tips were not getting the heat and would start feeling, well, actually not having any feeling due to being frigid. Since I ride in temps that sometimes range down well below zeroF (below -17.8C) I needed more than just the heated grips alone.

I tried a few lower priced handlebar mitts. They were well insulated and would likely keep my entire hands warm at any cold temp but all of those suffered from the same major problem. Even with my lightest summer gloves I was not able to slip my hands into them when they were mounted on the bars without using another hand to hold them from being pushed off the bars. Kinda hard to do when one hand is in and the other hand needs help getting into them. Besides, that becomes a hazard should I need to pull out a hand for some reason while riding and then need to put that hand back in. Those also were a bit confining inside so would pose a problem operating all the controls on the fly. Those would just not work. I did read of one user who tried them and he put a stiff plastic panel folded in them to hold them open. I wanted something better than that since I wasn't going to trust any added plastic stiffener to stay put.

One member on the ST-Owners forum recommended a set that he has used and liked really well. He recommended the Kemimoto Universal Touch-Friendly Winter Gloves (handlebar mitts).
https://www.kemimoto.com/products/kemimoto-atv-mitts-motorcycle-gloves-b0106-00101bk
They have a phone pouch on top the right mitt with a water resistant zipper closure that you can operate a cell phone through the window. They also have a stiff foam rib that runs around the opening where you stick your hands into that does really well to hold them open. My AK 550 has a rather bulky handlebar cover and these easily fit over that so I would say these will fit on any motorcycle handlebar with or without a plastic cover. There is plenty of room inside to operate all the controls around my grips including the controls that my AK has on the front side, top and back side of the control clusters. I had no problems operating the brakes and all other controls with these mitts. For those with a DCT and a parking brake on the bars, my AK has a parking brake lever just inboard of the left grip, the mitts will likely have to be taken off to use that. I don't usually use the parking brake on mine but if I wanted to the mitts are easy to remove and put in a top case or saddlebag to use the parking brake lever. I went on a 22 mile test ride with them this morning with temps from 7F (-13.9C) to 10F (-12.2C) and I ended up having to turn the heated grips down from high to low since it was getting a bit too hot on high. To be fair I was wearing my TM PolarTex gloves but I'm certain I would be plenty warm at those temps wearing my summer gloves.

My gloves can slide right in without any problem. There is also a stiff rubber front guard on the mitts with a stiffer rib on the outer edge that keeps them more open inside.

I ordered these directly from the Kemimoto web site link above. It took 15 days to arrive. Kemimoto still has a 15% discount that pops up on the web page after waiting a minute or two.

I also do recommend these handlebar mitts for cold weather riding.

[aschrauth]

I ride all year round as well and have been looking for something to keep my hands warmer. I have an offbrand pare of winter gloves that are winter and rain proof but with the windchill, my hands always end up freezing inside the gloves even with glove liners they are still cold. I wanted to purchace handlebar mits but was afraid that they would limit my movement when riding. Seeing is that I never ended up purchacing them I was afraid of one of them spilling off. Do they attach to the handlebars?

[randyo]

quickly, they look like to do the job with just heated grips, my son found some off brand muffs that worked well for his application

In the past ,Hippo Hands  has been the gold standard, personally, I use grips and gloves + handguards that deflect wind (works better for my personal range of motion & ergonomics

[rjs987]

I ride all year round as well and have been looking for something to keep my hands warmer. I have an offbrand pare of winter gloves that are winter and rain proof but with the windchill, my hands always end up freezing inside the gloves even with glove liners they are still cold. I wanted to purchace handlebar mits but was afraid that they would limit my movement when riding. Seeing is that I never ended up purchacing them I was afraid of one of them spilling off. Do they attach to the handlebars?

If you click on the picture I included you'll see a larger version of it. There is a draw cord around the inner end of the mitts that enables you to tighten that end on the bars. There is enough extra cord that you can tie them together in the middle if you want to ensure the mitts don't slip off but I think it is highly unlikely that will happen.


To put them on the bars there is a zipper all along the inner side of the mitts (should be able to just make it out if you look real close) that you unzip all the way to the outer end to slip the mitts on the bars and then zip it up all the way once they are on. Though I really think I could have slipped the mitts on my handlebars without unzipping the mitts.


I think these mitts will keep your hands from freezing depending on how cold you ride even if you don't have heated grips. The biggest threat to keeping hands warm or at least tolerable in very cold riding is the wind. I did not feel any wind at all inside these mitts. So if you have warm winter gloves but don't have heated grips I think these will still keep your hands comfortable.

[rjs987]

quickly, they look like to do the job with just heated grips, my son found some off brand muffs that worked well for his application

In the past ,Hippo Hands  has been the gold standard, personally, I use grips and gloves + handguards that deflect wind (works better for my personal range of motion & ergonomics

I considered Hippo Hands and looked at them initially. But they cost way too much. These cost me just over $43 shipped to my door, close to some off brand muffs that tried last month. As I mentioned I was unable to get my hands into those off brand muffs without an extra hand to hold them from being pushed off the bars in the attempt. These work perfectly. With these I will not need to install my heated gloves controller harness.

I also considered hand guards but at the temps I ride in hand guards would just not be close to enough even with heated grips. In the past I have ridden at temps down to -15F (-26C). Hand guards might work out OK in temps above 23F (-5C) but not do much below that.

[randyo]

I considered Hippo Hands and looked at them initially. But they cost way too much. These cost me just over $43 shipped to my door, close to some off brand muffs that tried last month. As I mentioned I was unable to get my hands into those off brand muffs without an extra hand to hold them from being pushed off the bars in the attempt. These work perfectly. With these I will not need to install my heated gloves controller harness.

I also considered hand guards but at the temps I ride in hand guards would just not be close to enough even with heated grips. In the past I have ridden at temps down to -15F (-26C). Hand guards might work out OK in temps above 23F (-5C) but not do much below that.

I didn't look at the prices, good to know, I do recall Hippo Hands being pricey, We have ridden in the same temps, my coldest ride was -12f at the warmest, but mostly a few degrees lower (FWIW, I consider a "ride" nothing less than a tank of gas, 200mi more or less) I did go out once at -25f  but barely long enough to get the motor warmed up and test my theory of COLD AIR = FREE HORSEPOWER 

I don't have any special harness for my gloves, as I wear a heated jacket liner too, sleeves have connector there for gloves, kinda nice too, you can take a glove off and let it hang off the cord, like little kids mittens

[rjs987]

I didn't look at the prices, good to know, I do recall Hippo Hands being pricey, We have ridden in the same temps, my coldest ride was -12f at the warmest, but mostly a few degrees lower (FWIW, I consider a "ride" nothing less than a tank of gas, 200mi more or less) I did go out once at -25f  but barely long enough to get the motor warmed up and test my theory of COLD AIR = FREE HORSEPOWER 

I don't have any special harness for my gloves, as I wear a heated jacket liner too, sleeves have connector there for gloves, kinda nice too, you can take a glove off and let it hang off the cord, like little kids mittens

I don't have the heated jacket liner so my gloves connect to a cable that runs out the bottom of my jacket to the controller I usually mount on the front somewhere. The harness I was referring to was from the battery to the controller where the cable for that runs under the plastic most of the way. I don't actually connect to the battery though, but rather I install an Aux fuse block that is connected to the battery and run the heat controller cable off of that.


With the handlebar mitts and heated grips combo I won't need to add an extra cable into the bike. I prefer that if I can go that way.

[aschrauth]

If you click on the picture I included you'll see a larger version of it. There is a draw cord around the inner end of the mitts that enables you to tighten that end on the bars. There is enough extra cord that you can tie them together in the middle if you want to ensure the mitts don't slip off but I think it is highly unlikely that will happen.


To put them on the bars there is a zipper all along the inner side of the mitts (should be able to just make it out if you look real close) that you unzip all the way to the outer end to slip the mitts on the bars and then zip it up all the way once they are on. Though I really think I could have slipped the mitts on my handlebars without unzipping the mitts.


I think these mitts will keep your hands from freezing depending on how cold you ride even if you don't have heated grips. The biggest threat to keeping hands warm or at least tolerable in very cold riding is the wind. I did not feel any wind at all inside these mitts. So if you have warm winter gloves but don't have heated grips I think these will still keep your hands comfortable.

Good to know, another question if I may ask, does it impede or make it impossible to access the handlebar controls such as the starter or turn signal?

[Stig / Major Tom]

Good to know, another question if I may ask, does it impede or make it impossible to access the handlebar controls such as the starter or turn signal?

No they don't.
They're certainly not sleek, but most get the job done....keeping hands warmer and/or dry.
Pretty awkward to use if you have to wipe your visor often in the rain or fog while riding.
Stig

[rjs987]

Good to know, another question if I may ask, does it impede or make it impossible to access the handlebar controls such as the starter or turn signal?

It is obviously not as open as having nothing over the controls. But no, I didn't have any problem with accessing all the controls on my AK 550. I could get to the switches and buttons on the front of both control clusters as well as on top and the rear side where the turn signals or starter or kill switch are located. Plenty of space inside for that. I was able to operate the dash display and Noodoe display switches without issues. The switch for changing between the Noodoe or dash LCD display is located on the front side of the right control cluster and the toggle and select button for those displays is on top the right control cluster. I was able to operate all without any trouble. As I mentioned in the first post the only function I cannot operate with the mitts installed is the parking brake lever. But the mitts are easy to remove if I need to use that. Not having handlebar mounted mirror stalks makes that an easy task. The slot for handlebar mounted mirror stalks is closed at both ends so these will not be a quick removal if you have those. Goto the web site from the link I provided to see more detail about that.

[randyo]

I don't have the heated jacket liner so my gloves connect to a cable that runs out the bottom of my jacket to the controller I usually mount on the front somewhere. The harness I was referring to was from the battery to the controller where the cable for that runs under the plastic most of the way. I don't actually connect to the battery though, but rather I install an Aux fuse block that is connected to the battery and run the heat controller cable off of that.


With the handlebar mitts and heated grips combo I won't need to add an extra cable into the bike. I prefer that if I can go that way.

I just use a velcro patch to mount my controller, heated gear is only accessory wired directly to the battery, every thing else is thru an auxiliary fuse block, rather than an inline fuse

results of my seat of pants dyno cold air = free horsepower experiments, with a '99 Suzuki 650 and my 325lb lard ass
90f - I could wind the piss out of it, and clutch up a whimpy wheelie
65f - wheelies easy from a stop, and going into 2nd if the suspension is unsettled just right
25f -wheelies freely in 1st, 2nd into 3rd
-25f roll on wheelies in 3rd and sometimes a little helium in 4th too

[rjs987]

I just use a velcro patch to mount my controller, heated gear is only accessory wired directly to the battery, every thing else is thru an auxiliary fuse block, rather than an inline fuse
...

Same here. My heat controller would be mounted using 3M Dual Lock (like Velcro on steroids) onto the dash. But I would run the power line from my Aux fuse block since it only needs to be on when the engine is running and only needs a 3 amp fuse for just the gloves.


I simply have wanted to not have that cord running through my jacket any more for the heated gloves since I now have a bike with heated grips. It is very nice to not need to plug in for heat and just slip my gloved hands into the mitts and turn on the grip heat... since that is available now.

[rjs987]

These worked great with the heated grips on my 168 mile ride out and 165 mile ride back yesterday for a RTE. Even many times of taking a hand out of the muffs when needed and sliding back in without any issues at all. Temps ranged from a start of 21-22F to a high of 42F at the end. They were too warm, really, for the grip heat to be on at the warmer temps. But perfect for keeping the grip heat on low at the lowest temps.

I'll be taking them off for the season now, and only maybe put them back on for one or two days if the temps are lower than forecast. The forecast into mid March calls for temps ranging from high 30sF to mid 60sF. I really don't see needing the muffs at those temps. I might not even need any grip heat at those temps since my gloves alone do well keeping my hands warm at any temp above mid 30sF.

I look forward to continuing my cold season riding next fall and keeping my hands plenty warm with these.

There has been some question about if these muffs blow back on the levers partially engaging the brake light but these don't do that. I was able to verify that while running down the Interstate highway at 70-75 mph (about 112-120 kph).