Oxford Heated Grips

[joe camarda]

Price seems right. Most heated grips Ive used seem to have too large a diameter which has been a put-off for me.

 

Any experience with these? Or any other recommendations?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OXFORD-Heat...sspagenameZWDVW

[Foxy]

They're not too shabby at all, especially this latest version that cuts power to the grips if battery voltage drops too low. One of the few genuinely good bits of kit Oxford make - good enough for Honda to rebadge and sell as their own grips.

[Guzzirider]

Helen has those exact grips fitted to her V11- work well and not too expensive.

[pete roper]

They're not too shabby at all, especially this latest version that cuts power to the grips if battery voltage drops too low.

 

Ha! Don't try it on one of the newer bikes withe the so called *Clever* computers. Once the battery voltage on the Gris has dropped to the point the grips turn off the 'pooter goes into fail-safe mode an just turns everything off! Prick of an idea! Of cpurse if I was sensible I'd rig them into a starter operatd circuit, (Like the cretinous park light!) but really I can't be bothered so in winter I'll still occasionally make a complete prat of myself

 

Pete

[doug123]

Dont trust the automatic cut out. Wire it so when the ignition is switched off they are off. I found this out to my cost.

[Tracey]

Joe:

FYI

I installed a set called "Hot Grips" on my Lemans. No fancy cut outs, just a hi-low-off switch. A small diameter grip and they work quite well. My set was about $60.00 a couple years ago. My local BMW shop has them for about $80.00 now.

 

I also insatlled them on a Quota I had several years ago, a friend still has the bike and the grips still work. Just a suggestion...

 

[Guest sonic]

got a set on my other bike (aprilia caponord) used all day for my job and have hands as warm as toast but as said dont trust the auto cut out same thing happens as with the griso nothing works!!!

[bikelee]

I have a set on my zx-14 and C-14 Kaws and they work great.They do get real hot if you need it on those extra cold days. I highly recommend them. Lee

[dlaing]

Dont trust the automatic cut out. Wire it so when the ignition is switched off they are off. I found this out to my cost.

Good point. It is nice that they have an automatic shut off feature, but they set the cut off point to 11.5V which is almost useless. Maybe it will help when starting, but that is about it.

If they had set the cut off point to about 13V that would have made a lot more sense.

If RPMs dropped too low, it would shut off. Maybe even the newer bikes like the Griso could probably use it if the cut off point was above the cut off point of the Griso computer.

[mznyc]

I have a set of these http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/Heated...it-p-16539.html, on my VFR and think their the bee's knees.You can put any grip over them and add a switch with a LED for under $50 clams

[Darius]

I have been using a set of these for a couple years (older style with dial knob for heat setting) They work well but the one thing I don't like is the wires stick out in a forward direction like cables. Other grips I have seen have much more discrete wiring. I just bought a set like the Aerostich described above for another bike - like the idea of using any grip. Important thing with these is to get the insulation for the clutch side on aluminum bars.

[Greg Field]

Here's my approach to heated grips on V11s:

 

1) V11s have minimal excess electrical capacity, so efficiency is key.

 

2) Because efficiency is key, you should not even consider any system that uses a resistor to effect the "low" setting. Why? Because such systems use basically the same amount of power on "low" as on "hi" settings. More sophisticated heaters have two circuits built in to each grip—one for hi and one for low. These consume less power on the low setting, which you will likely use most often

 

3) Another efficiency consideration is differential heating of left and right grips. The foil-type heaters, when mounted directly to the steel of the left bar waste a lot of energy heating the handlebar (the throttle-side element is thermally insulated from the handlebar by the throttle tube). The cheapest foil grips have identical elements for both sides, which means your left hand will get less heat than the right, if mounted conventionally. More sophisticated foil heaters have differential elements such that the clutch side puts out more heat, which also means it consumes more electricity.

 

4) Yet another efficiency consideration is getting the most heat to your fingers for each watt consumed. The closer the heating elements are to your skin, the more heat you will net per watt consumed.

 

Based on all this, I think the best system for the watt-challenged Guzzis is to use foil-type heaters designed for ATVs and to mount them on top of the grips. The ATV grips have separate built-in hi/lo circuits and put out the same amount of heat to both grip heaters. I mount them over my rubber grips and then cover them with a foam over-wrap (for the guys who like fatter grips) or with shrink-tubing (for those who like thinner grips). If the person wants the best way to control the grips, I hook them up through an electronic controller (the type that varies heat by varying the duty cycle, not through variable resistance). This way, I just hook the controller to the hi circuit, and leave the lo circuit unwired. This controller allows dialing the right amount of heat and using no more scarce power than necessary to produce that heat. For guys who do not wnat to spend the extra money for the heat controller, I just wire in the hi/lo switch.

[Greg Field]

Here's my approach to heated grips on V11s:

 

1) V11s have minimal excess electrical capacity, so efficiency is key.

 

2) Because efficiency is key, you should not even consider any system that uses a resistor to effect the "low" setting. Why? Because such systems use basically the same amount of power on "low" as on "hi" settings. More sophisticated heaters have two circuits built in to each grip—one for hi and one for low. These consume less power on the low setting, which you will likely use most often

 

3) Another efficiency consideration is differential heating of left and right grips. The foil-type heaters, when mounted directly to the steel of the left bar waste a lot of energy heating the handlebar (the throttle-side element is thermally insulated from the handlebar by the throttle tube). The cheapest foil grips have identical elements for both sides, which means your left hand will get less heat than the right, if mounted conventionally. More sophisticated foil heaters have differential elements such that the clutch side puts out more heat, which also means it consumes more electricity.

 

4) Yet another efficiency consideration is getting the most heat to your fingers for each watt consumed. The closer the heating elements are to your skin, the more heat you will net per watt consumed.

 

Based on all this, I think the best system for the watt-challenged Guzzis is to use foil-type heaters designed for ATVs and to mount them on top of the grips. The ATV grips have separate built-in hi/lo circuits and put out the same amount of heat to both grip heaters. I mount them over my rubber grips and then cover them with a foam over-wrap (for the guys who like fatter grips) or with shrink-tubing (for those who like thinner grips). If the person wants the best way to control the grips, I hook them up through an electronic controller (the type that varies heat by varying the duty cycle, not through variable resistance). This way, I just hook the controller to the hi circuit, and leave the lo circuit unwired. This controller allows dialing the right amount of heat and using no more scarce power than necessary to produce that heat. For guys who do not wnat to spend the extra money for the heat controller, I just wire in the hi/lo switch.