Heated Driven D3 aluminum grips with R1 tube?

[Audiomaker]

Hi All,

I've been getting ready to change out my stock rubber grips and I'd like to do "all-things-grip" at once.

I have ordered a set of Driven D3 aluminum grips. They ship Monday.

I would like to heat these so I guess I'm looking at buying one of those "film" type grip heater kits.

I also have read here on the board that the R1/R6 tubes are a good mod' so while I'm there, I guess I'd like to do that too.

I have Hellibars and a Throttlemeister by the way.


So....

If you were doing this install, which heater kit is the best and why?

Should I track down a R1 tube or an R6 and why?

Are the aftermarket R1/R6 tubes OK?

What obstacles/problems/mod's do you think I might have to deal with using this combo?

Any advice... even speculation would be greatly appreciated before I jump into this.

I use this bike as a daily driver so I'd like to be prepared and not have the bike waiting on parts or whatnot, or discover something won't fit.

By the way, I have a lathe if the D3's or anything needs to be bored/turned.

Many Thanks
Sean
02' Turbo in the Pacific Northwest.

 

[cheferman65]

Don't know about the R1-R6 tubes but the stockers on the Hayabusa needed trimming quite a bit. Also, on the addition of the Throttlemeisters, the friction ring was no way fitting under the D3 grips. It took quite a bit of trial and error to get the throttle to perform properly in the lock position. It was worth the effort!

 

[kromdom]

ditch the "heater kits" and go with heated gloves instead.

 

[Audiomaker]

Don't know about the R1-R6 tubes but the stockers on the Hayabusa needed trimming quite a bit. Also, on the addition of the Throttlemeisters, the friction ring was no way fitting under the D3 grips. It took quite a bit of trial and error to get the throttle to perform properly in the lock position. It was worth the effort!

That looks Awesome! Thanks much for the pic's! Could you tell me how you worked around the friction ring?


Kromdom: Why would you suggest ditching the heated grip aspect of this install? I'd love to wear thinner gloves in the winter if I could.


Thanks Much fellas

Sean
P.S. I own a machine shop so... can mod' if needed.

 

[Audiomaker]

Oh...and one more thing...

Are there tubes on both bars on the Busa or just the throttle?

I bought my bike used and there is no tube on the clutch side.... grip moves too.

Just thought I'd ask in case i should be ordering a clutch side tube that is missing.


Sean
(I hope that's not the stupidest question ever asked on this board, but if it is... do I get a prize?)

 

[Freechance]

Ya u might get a prize for that question..
Only one throttle tube..its on the right ..
I have d3 grips on my bike and with the stock tube, i filed down the ridges and the ring on the throttle tube to get those grips to fit..but if your going a r1 or r6 tube u dont have to do anything but glue the grip on..

 

[cheferman65]

That looks Awesome! Thanks much for the pic's! Could you tell me how you worked around the friction ring?


Kromdom: Why would you suggest ditching the heated grip aspect of this install? I'd love to wear thinner gloves in the winter if I could.


Thanks Much fellas

Sean
P.S. I own a machine shop so... can mod' if needed.

I cut the friction ring so it was flush with the bar end. Normally it would slide under the grip. That wouldn't work as the billet ring on the grip end wouldn't allow for any extra room. Had to glue it on and it's held well for the past 12 months. It'll have to be re-glued once I swap out the grips but that's no worry. Hope that helps.

 

[kromdom]

Kromdom: Why would you suggest ditching the heated grip aspect of this install? I'd love to wear thinner gloves in the winter if I could.

Gloves heat BOTH the palm and backside of the hand plus you can use gloves with more than one bike.
P.S. The current generation of heated gloves are actually NOT bulky.

 

[Audiomaker]

Ya u might get a prize for that question..
Only one throttle tube..its on the right ..
I have d3 grips on my bike and with the stock tube, i filed down the ridges and the ring on the throttle tube to get those grips to fit..but if your going a r1 or r6 tube u dont have to do anything but glue the grip on..

WooHoo! I like prizes!

Yeah, I know. It's the fact that when I read about these (tubes), they often get referred to in the plural ("You have to cut the stock tubes") combined with the fact that my clutch side is darned loose enough that you could get a tube in there. Just wanted to be sure.

Oh...and... throttle is on the right side... got it.

 

[Audiomaker]

I cut the friction ring so it was flush with the bar end. Normally it would slide under the grip. That wouldn't work as the billet ring on the grip end wouldn't allow for any extra room. Had to glue it on and it's held well for the past 12 months. It'll have to be re-glued once I swap out the grips but that's no worry. Hope that helps.

That makes sense. I was wondering if you had gone without it somehow and found another way to lock the throttle. I would imagine that without it that the slip would be very strange if it would slip at all with brass on aluminum.

I'll have a look at it when it gets here. Perhaps I'll turn a groove in the end of the billet ring if it's thick enough and install an O-ring in the end, or turn out the ID enough to fit the sleeve portion of the factory friction ring.

The brass ring on the Throttlemeister seems pretty stout... might be enough meat to turn a groove in that and install an O-ring, but a pretty expensive mistake if it doesn't work right off.

Thanks for the info'.

Sean

 

[Audiomaker]

Gloves heat BOTH the palm and backside of the hand plus you can use gloves with more than one bike.
P.S. The current generation of heated gloves are actually NOT bulky.

Good point Kromdom. The heated part of this install might indeed prove to be too tricky since the grips aren't rubber and there is likely no way to stretch one over heating elements... I'll keep the heated gloves in mind.

Thanks
Sean

 

[Audiomaker]

Well I managed it, but I will have to get back to you on if I recommend it.

The D3 grips work fine on their own.

The Moose grip heaters work fine too.

The problem is that the "Gel" rubbers of the grips might get too soft under heat (at least on high) and deform.

Since it's a fresh install, some of this impression might be to the adhesives not setting yet.

I was going to do a photo write up, but I'm going to wait about a week to see if it's something I would recommend.

The install is a little complicated since we are talking Helibars, D3 grips, heaters, and Throttlemeisters all at once.

If I had straight bars, I would definitely go with inside-the-bar heaters since I don't like that wires get moved (and eventually stressed) on the throttle side with each turn of the wrist.

One thing that makes the D3 install harder is that the wrap around heaters assume rubber grips and the stretch they provide. Solid aluminum would be easier too (even if they needed to be bored). Because the D3 grip are a combination of the two, they are very tight at the collars, but soft at the rubber, so you end up trying to push a very rigid part on with a very soft area (I hope that makes sense?).

The install took about 5 hours... which is considerable considering it really should take just a couple.

The R1 tube makes a difference. It's nice... not twitchy or ill-behaved at all on the street. The response just feels a little better and so far it does feel like the throttle slack is gone (which drove me nuts in low speed corners).

I did need to glue these on, so it's unknown if I would be able to get these off intact. I used hi-temp silicone and the tolerances are so tight that it's basically a dab on the finger spread as a film. The silicone before it dries is of course slick and aids in getting the tight grips over the heaters.

My install here is a little different and a little more expensive because I ordered 2 R1 tubes and cut the clutch side tube simply to act as a OD increaser. I also ordered a full set of replacement rubbers for the D3's. That was so I could use two throttle side rubbers (same I.D.). Point? To have equal materials and diameters on both the left and the right side. I had to shrink tube the clutch bar so that the tube would not rotate of course.
I also ordered ATV heaters (thumb throttle type) because they have equal heating elements, where the twist throttle type tries to compensate for different grip thicknesses by using two different wattage heaters.
I was a little OCD on getting even heat between left and right. It probably would have been fine doing it the normal way, but I didn't.

I never had heated anything before on a bike. The heated grips are pretty neat. They are quite warm and allow me to use thinner gloves. It's an odd sensation at first though... like the bike must be overheating. I never realized before that my hands were a temperature sensor to the brain.

Anyway...

Next....levers

 

[sixpack577]

If the heated grips don't work out for you, buy a good pair of heated gloves, like Gerbings.
Gloves are better too in that some of them(like the Gerbings)have heaters on the backs of the hands too.
Your hands actually stay warm, as opposed to being cold while hanging on to a warm grip.
I was riding through the Blue Ridge Parkway at sunset last night at only around 3k ft and mid forties. It got chilly in the shade quick and it didn't take long for my hands to get cold either.
I plugged my gloves in was good until I got out of the mountains.
Money well spent!

 

[Audiomaker]

If the heated grips don't work out for you, buy a good pair of heated gloves, like Gerbings.
Gloves are better too in that some of them(like the Gerbings)have heaters on the backs of the hands too.
Your hands actually stay warm, as opposed to being cold while hanging on to a warm grip.
I was riding through the Blue Ridge Parkway at sunset last night at only around 3k ft and mid forties. It got chilly in the shade quick and it didn't take long for my hands to get cold either.
I plugged my gloves in was good until I got out of the mountains.
Money well spent!

Agreed. Heated gloves have been suggested, and I'll look into those.

However, this was really about changing grips and adding the R1 throttle tube. Since I was going through the effort, I figured for $44 I'd add heaters and have another bell and whistle on the bike.

It hasn't gotten cold enough in my area, nor have a ridden far enough to experience cold hands. I would say with my lined gear, that I've experienced "cooler" hands ( and helmet....lol), but I'm not freezing or anything.
That was before the grip heaters.

Now with the heaters, you (and Kromdom) are correct. it does feel like holding onto something warm instead of having a fully warmed hand, but I do feel some of that heat transfer into my hand. It's just physics.

Currently, my warmest riding gloves are Held Rain Stars, which are a lined, but not insulated glove. The leather is a little thicker than my Held Agadirs and with the Goretex liner and thicker leather (and less air intakes), they hold heat a bit better. I will know around January if the Rain Star glove combined with the grip heaters reaches the temp' limit of where I'll be taking the truck. If it does, that would be great because getting less "feel" than these gloves have gets into the realm of "bulky". If an additional measure is required to stay warm, I'll probably add silk or Outlast liners to my gloves, but that's about the limit I think before I'm on 4 wheels.

Regards
Sean

 

[Audiomaker]

Following up:

Sorry to say but D3 grips should not be used with grip heaters. It was an experiment that has failed.

While the grips get nice and warm, the silicone compound rubber parts of the grips deform easily when warmed.

This is interesting when you warm the grips, ride, and shut the bike off, then the next morning you have finger grooves in your grips!

Sadly, I don't think they will last long like this.

While it works fine for now, I'll probably change them out in the summer. I would also be cautious using these grips in really hot weather or leaving them too long in direct sunlight.


Just thought you should know.

Sean