Hello Everyone,
I have fallen in love with my first pair of gloves, which are a type of Rev'it summer gloves. They are thin leather gloves with good protection, but no padding and some perforation around the sides of the fingers. They have served me well since I started riding in August last year - through lots of rain (they dry out real fast), some mildly cool weather (Sydney), and some heat. I like that I retain good dexterity even while wearing them. If standing up I can fish things out of my kevlar jeans pockets.
I will get to talking about heated grips eventually. I have been considering options for windscreens to address the buffeting issues I am getting on my Downtown. One such screen was a large Givi screen and feedback suggested that it had some features (wider near base) that deflected some of the wind/rain off the hands when on the move. I don't generally feel the cold much and last year my hands were OK as almost all my commuting is 15km max in one direction - not really long enough to get really cold hands in Sydney weather. Having said that a little extra protection would not go astray, so I then started thinking about purchasing a set of separate hand wind deflectors or guards to protect my hands (if I didn't end up going the Givi option).
This eventually led me to consider heated grips. Oxford seems to be a well known brand and I have read reviews here and elsewhere about them. Couple of things:
* if I get them I will set them up with a relay and no connect them directly to the battery --> hopefully minimise probs with drained batteries etc.
* based on feedback elsewhere the Downtown battery potentially is a weak point and may need to be upgraded before hooking up the grips to ensure stability/performance
* if I go with the Oxford ones, which model to buy? There looks to be ones for scooters 50-250cc, ones for sports bikes, etc.
* have any of you any experience with any of the other established heated grips brands, like Hot Grips?
* I have not real experience hooking up electricals, but I can follow instructions and have a bit of common sense. Is this the sort of job I should attempt or leave to the professionals?
* if I can only get one - either hand guards or heated grips - which one would you recommend?
Thanks for any wisdom shared.
Ride safe.
I've had all brands that could be bought in Europe so far.
Most grips last one, at best two seasons, usually the wire gets broken in the point where it is entering the grip itself.
Right now I use Oxford grips (the ones that are tied using velcro and can be removed). A friend of mine uses them also.
Despite the hype these grips are absolute crap when it comes to the quality. The wire also gets easily broken and it is very difficult to solder back. Sometimes impossible, my friend had to discard them...
I've had mine soldered twice so far, and this is their third season. I have a spare set waiting in the drawer.
Whichever you buy, buy a spare set. Of course, right one dies usually the first because it is being twisted. Left ones last forever.
Sometimes, the heat conductive wire inside will burn out... Had that happen to me too. When I removed the grip, I cut it in half with the knife and found out that a piece of the wire was carbonized/burnt.
Btw. no relay is necessary, no battery upgrade is necessary. Also there are two diameters of handlebars, 22 or 25.4 mm. Usually scoots have 25.4, Harleys for example have 22. Be careful to buy ones with the right diameter. Also, right grip has smaller diameter than the left one. So, this heated handgrip is a science in itself...
As for the installation, with scooters that have water cooled engine, it is a mess because you have to tear apart front end where the radiator is and Tupperware of the floor board... I hate working on scoots because of this... with air cooled scoots it is much easier because front Tupperware is easier to tear apart...
Additional problem is where to install the ON/OFF switch. On scooters there is no place, because they are made to be installed (grips) on motorcycles, not scoots, that do not have free space on handlebars. On Agility I had to made a custom base to be bolted to plastic part of the fairing. On Beverly I placed it in the glove compartment in the front and also made a custom base. On People I have placed it using again custom made ring around right rear view mirror base.
So, while it seems simple, it is quite a nice little project to fit heated grips on scooters...