Heated Grips Who Has The Best Price/quality?

So riding to work today I was a little chilly and rather than get warmer gloves I am going to install heated grips. and possibly an outlet for a heated vest. I spend a lot of time on my VFR and would like to do so in more comfort over the next months. So Has any one out here in the Pacific Northwest installed heated grips,vest and where did you get them Etc. Etc... When I do this I will post details and photos to show how it is done. I searched the archive and it returned one post that actually ah the words intall heated grips. There should be more.

I like and use DualStars, $30 for the entire kit. :thumbsup:

[image: View Post]scout18, on Sep 24 2007, 06:49 PM, said:

So riding to work today I was a little chilly and rather than get warmer gloves I am going to install heated grips. and possibly an outlet for a heated vest. I spend a lot of time on my VFR and would like to do so in more comfort over the next months. So Has any one out here in the Pacific Northwest installed heated grips,vest and where did you get them Etc. Etc... When I do this I will post details and photos to show how it is done. I searched the archive and it returned one post that actually ah the words intall heated grips. There should be more.

I ride through all kinds of nasty cold weather, including the occasional snow in Alberta. Down to 0C, heated grips are fine, below freezing, heated gloves are in order. I use "Hot Grips" http://www.hotgrips.com/. Good quality and you never have to remember to bring them (which is an issue with heated gloves). Heated grips do nothing about the back of your hands.

For gloves I used heated units from Widder which are ok. There is a significant loss of throttle feel with heavier insulated gloves, but it is also hard to get much throttle feel when your hands are frozen.

I use an Airvantage electric vest from Rider Wearhouse. You put it on and blow it up and it fits perfectly. Great unit. http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/Aerost...st-p-18911.html (expensive).

For wiring everything up, I got a great 5 fuse pannel from Rider Wearhouse (the Areostitch people). It mounts perfectly under the seat beside the rear brake resevoir. Use a relay (so that the unit is only energized when your bike is on) and take the power directly from your battery).

Stay warm

Symtec with the rocker switch is my choice!

[image: View Post]dutchinterceptor, on Sep 24 2007, 08:37 PM, said:

Symtec with the rocker switch is my choice!

:+1:

The rocker switch looks classy, and autozone has similar switches if you want to go for a "look" in the switches.

http://www.dual-star...d_grip_kit1.htm

This is where I got mine right down the road from work, Once you get heated grips you will love it! Very easy to install. Good Luck

[image: View Post]V-FORE, on Sep 25 2007, 11:05 AM, said:

http://www.dual-star...d_grip_kit1.htm

This is where I got mine right down the road from work, Once you get heated grips you will love it! Very easy to install. Good Luck

I just noticed that the Symtec kit, from CA Sport Touring seems to have the same componants, yet it already comes with the rocker switch for less than the price of the dual star kit that required the rocker switch be added on at an additional charge.

Has anyone seen the two kits side by side in person?

+1 what dutchinterceptor said. I just received my Symtec heater kit from casporttouring, but will probably be a couple weeks until I have time to install. I recommend Gerbing heated gear, they are located in Union, WA and I like to support local folks as much as possible. I have the heated jacket, and my wife uses the jacket, pants, socks, and gloves. We both love their stuff and never any problems. I have the permanent controllers mounted on the wing. I'll mount the default adapter to the battery and have it dangle from under the seat on the VFR and use separate controller.

[image: View Post]dutchinterceptor, on Sep 24 2007, 09:37 PM, said:

Symtec with the rocker switch is my choice!

:+1: Same here, great product, and looks factory when installed. Just add a relay as the kit doesn't come with one. This is actually the exact same kit as the Dual Stars, but has the nicer switch. :thumbsup:

Symtec and Dual star heaters are generally OK, but they still have a DIY/cobbled together approach to them. I have the Symtec system installed on my grips and have worked fine....so far. I say "so far" because I do have concerns about the reliability of the heaters. I'm afraid that the wires that go to the heating elements, specially on the throttle side, will eventually fail from constant flexing at where they make a 90 degree turn to get under the grips. OEM type systems have reinforcing rubber flex sheaths at this point to take some of the stress from the power wire flexure. I'm still looking to maybe eventually upgrade to a Honda OEM system that's better designed than the Symtecs. I recently found one in a Honda dealership for the ST1300 that will fit on the VFR bars and has nice additional features like an LED display and quality switching/control gear. Unfortunately, the sucker costs like $230 bucks! At least ten times the Symtecs/Dual star systems! I'm really getting tired of having to paying too much to play all the time so it will be Symtecs on my bike till they eventually fail. I just hope my bike does not turn into one big electrical fireball when it does.
JMOs

Beck
95 VFR

One of the wires on the throttle side of my Symtec's recently failed. It lasted for about 40k miles.

[image: View Post]ZoomerAB, on Sep 25 2007, 01:34 AM, said:

I ride through all kinds of nasty cold weather, including the occasional snow in Alberta. Down to 0C, heated grips are fine, below freezing, heated gloves are in order. I use "Hot Grips" http://www.hotgrips.com/. Good quality and you never have to remember to bring them (which is an issue with heated gloves). Heated grips do nothing about the back of your hands.
+1 on Hotgrips They are a local company here in NH (close to where WDGAH is held). I added the variable valve controller to allow more choice than high/low/off. The controller allows you to set the temperature like you would on a heater in your car, just turn the knob.

Cost a bit more, but I've never had a problem in 4+ years

I have the Symtec setup with rocker. So far so good. Easy install.

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/uploads/1181712032/med_gallery_2144_2760_129915.jpg

Heated grips and vest are a must for multi day trips in the cold. I wired them into a relay controlled aux fuse box.

+2 on the hotgrips. I have had them on my VFR since new (04) and have not had a problem...if they have any weakness at all it's that they get a bit too hot when on high. I'll take that over not hot enough any day though.

FWIW... I bought Gerbings, and installed a battery harness on both bikes. I guess I'm lazy, I kind of like having one solution work for both. Bought the jacket liner instead of the vest, since I have the Kilimanjaro Air jacket with mesh sleeves. I didn't want to wear a jacket, jacket liner and vest. The glove plugs tuck into nifty zipper pockets in the jacket liner sleeves so there's less fussing with wires. With the dual controller, I can heat gloves, jacket or both...

Have thought about heated grips but like having the heat on the back of my hands so I opted for the heated gloves instead.

GypsyCat

I just order the dual star set up and was wondering from the guru's out there what happens with the plastic rib on the throttle tube. Its the one that holds the grip on. I bought some Pro Grips and they don't have a recess for this.
Thanks

Wow great feed back. Good question stinky. I take it that the heating element fits alright under the right grip. Any one from Portland have a place to get them? Should pro-caliber r action motor sports have them? Any photos of the vest /jacket connector install out there? Do motorcycle shops carry a fused relay controlled terminal block?

Has anybody switched from heated gloves to heated grips?. I have a pair of Widder gloves that are getting kinda ragged and am thinking about going with something like the symtec's. The gloves keep the back of your hands warm, but since the grips are cold, your palms don't warm up. I'm thinking it's gonna be the opposite with heated grips. Probably not a big deal as they should still help keep the blood flowin...

Tim

Symtec released in January their new "Heat Demons", the heating elements goes inside your handlebars so that should eliminate the wire flexing/breakage issues. and the controller fits up nicely to the MC clamp on my '01 VFR.

I am going to give them a try this winter and will report back as to how the install went and how they work.

http://www.symtec-in...m/heatdemon.htm

[image: View Post]Beck, on Sep 25 2007, 06:50 PM, said:

I recently found one in a Honda dealership for the ST1300 that will fit on the VFR bars and has nice additional features like an LED display and quality switching/control gear. Unfortunately, the sucker costs like $230 bucks! At least ten times the Symtecs/Dual star systems! I'm really getting tired of having to paying too much to play all the time so it will be Symtecs on my bike till they eventually fail. I just hope my bike does not turn into one big electrical fireball when it does.
FYI, the individual ST1300 heated grips (UKP31 ea.) and controller are available separately from Honda (if not in the USA, then at least from David Silver Spares in the UK). The rather expensive kit (UKP160) also includes some wiring, wire ties and different bar ends. (The electronic controller isn't cheap, but it sure is nice!) I installed them on my ST1300, which is actually the bike they were designed for, but I'm sure they'll fit others.

Ciao,

Oxford Heaterz system, looks oem, very nice kit, dial t-stat with on/off at a click, red led , it looks like the Honda euro set up, I left mine on bike all summer, used once or twice in rain, high mt peak,
was very cheap on ebay, see cyclebitz I think, mine was a lucky $39 , a great kit

So looked around for a some grips naf found some at a local motorcycle shop called Dr. Browns. I found a fuse block and Relay to hook up to the battery for a few other options like radar detector , heated vest, maybe a 2way radio setup. Here is what I have so farhttp://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/uploads/1190922839/gallery_10647_3296_48192.jpg
grips1.jpg

[image: View Post]SeanB, on Sep 26 2007, 04:56 AM, said:

Symtec released in January their new "Heat Demons", the heating elements goes inside your handlebars so that should eliminate the wire flexing/breakage issues. and the controller fits up nicely to the MC clamp on my '01 VFR.

I am going to give them a try this winter and will report back as to how the install went and how they work.

http://www.symtec-in...m/heatdemon.htm

That looks pretty good! I like the look of those controls.
Might be a bit tricky to drill the holes for the wires on the aluminum clip-ons. Note that these are shown installed on regular tubular bars. Still something to check out though, just in case it could be made to work on VFRs.

Beck
95 VFR

Ok, I finally put the heated grips on a couple of weeks ago and I am in love with them. The whole thing took about 4 hours with a break or two to watch some OPB Woodwright shop and coffee up. that includes mounting the relay and fuse block to actually get power to the grips. I was going to do a writeup and photo shoot but the whole thing was so straight forward with the directions that came with the kit I just went for it and got it all done. I can post photos of the end result if anyone is interested.

I use Hotgrips. There pretty nice, I like the way they feel and they can get pretty darn warm. But as mentioned above, they do nothing for the back of your hands.

[image: View Post]Beck, on Sep 25 2007, 05:50 PM, said:

Symtec and Dual star heaters are generally OK, but they still have a DIY/cobbled together approach to them. I have the Symtec system installed on my grips and have worked fine....so far. I say "so far" because I do have concerns about the reliability of the heaters. I'm afraid that the wires that go to the heating elements, specially on the throttle side, will eventually fail from constant flexing at where they make a 90 degree turn to get under the grips. OEM type systems have reinforcing rubber flex sheaths at this point to take some of the stress from the power wire flexure. I'm still looking to maybe eventually upgrade to a Honda OEM system that's better designed than the Symtecs. I recently found one in a Honda dealership for the ST1300 that will fit on the VFR bars and has nice additional features like an LED display and quality switching/control gear. Unfortunately, the sucker costs like $230 bucks! At least ten times the Symtecs/Dual star systems! I'm really getting tired of having to paying too much to play all the time so it will be Symtecs on my bike till they eventually fail. I just hope my bike does not turn into one big electrical fireball when it does.
JMOs

Beck
95 VFR

Just read this for the first time. What did you do?

Here is a source for cheaper ST1300 grips. Lots cheaper but still pricy.
hondadirectlineusa.com

I bought my Honda grips for the Goldwing from these folks - works great with big lettering for the demographic :unsure:

Controller on the right!
http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/2499/2283539560099738507S600x600Q85.jpg

I happy with the Symtec heaters on my VFR but you never know..............

I have Hot Grips on both my VFR and Hayabusa. One of the best mods I've made to any of my bikes. The best gloves I've found to get the most out of your heated grips is the PCM (Phase Change Material) lined gloves. They help distribute the heat through out your hand.