Heated grip installation

[bigoltool]

OK so my wife bought me a set of grip grip heaters for Christmas. This is the dual star style set with the round rocker switch. My question is where is the best place to tap into the wiring for these? They advise adding an inline 5 amp fuse to protect what ever circuit you choose and they state that they only draw a total of 36 watts. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[MoFoTShirts]

the hot grips website suggests tapping off of the headlight circuit. 36W = 3amps on a 12v system, so 5 amps is going to cover you, and shouldn't cause any problems on the light circuit

 

[manatrader]

I woud go directly to the battery, I have done that with all my accesories on my bike and they have there own on off switch too. Very easy to do and you do not have to touch any of the factory wiring.

 

[HT_USMC]

I woud go directly to the battery, I have done that with all my accesories on my bike and they have there own on off switch too. Very easy to do and you do not have to touch any of the factory wiring.

+1

It's a little more work but in the long run there wont be any warranty, wiring, or fuse issues.

 

[bigoltool]

My only concern with going straight to the battery would be inadvertently leaving the heaters on with the ignition off. Sure would be cool if they would put a switched output on the fuse panel for this.

 

[Tio Loco]

My only concern with going straight to the battery would be inadvertently leaving the heaters on with the ignition off. Sure would be cool if they would put a switched output on the fuse panel for this.

+1

If coming out to a dead battery doesn’t bother you hook up directly to the battery. It is so easy to forget to turn them off so tap into the headlight power source you shouldn’t have any problems. I’ve used the dual stars in the past and they work well for the price. They will be on high most of the time and they do get warm faster when the bike is moving.

 

[Professor]

Run the power directly to the battery and fuse it. Break the connection with a relay by connecting the relay trigger to something that comes on with the key turned on.

I'm getting readt to connect up 2 sets next week.

 

[Schism]

Run the power directly to the battery and fuse it. Break the connection with a relay by connecting the relay trigger to something that comes on with the key turned on.

I'm getting readt to connect up 2 sets next week.

the professor is right! that is what i did w/ my "hot grips". u r gonna love them, trust me.

 

[rockonabusa]

Run the power directly to the battery and fuse it. Break the connection with a relay by connecting the relay trigger to something that comes on with the key turned on.

Dont understand why the extra work. If you use a 2 part wire tap you wont have to "cut" into you headlight wire and it will still be switched. Using a relay is ok but if you are going to cut into the factory wiring to hook in a relay then it defeats the purpose of running it straight to the battery to avoid posible warrenty issues. Am I missing something? If you need taps get em from autozone of I can send em to for free.

 

[frisbee]

Post some pics when you are done

 

[TheAtomicAss]

Run the power directly to the battery and fuse it. Break the connection with a relay by connecting the relay trigger to something that comes on with the key turned on.

Dont understand why the extra work. If you use a 2 part wire tap you wont have to "cut" into you headlight wire and it will still be switched. Using a relay is ok but if you are going to cut into the factory wiring to hook in a relay then it defeats the purpose of running it straight to the battery to avoid posible warrenty issues. Am I missing something? If you need taps get em from autozone of I can send em to for free.

Actually, that might work out, if done properly. Take some stock connectors and make a custom wiring harness for the relay, and then the relay could also be used for other accessories...

But those wire taps are still gonna create a "hole" in the wire, which, if the warranty issue focuses on the area where the tap was, may uncover the fact that the wire was tapped, whereas what I just described would be quicker to install and remove, all without leaving a trace.

I wonder if there'd be any interest in a tutorial? Relays are my specialty. Who wants to volunteer their time (and busa) so I could make one?

 

[Professor]

Run the power directly to the battery and fuse it. Break the connection with a relay by connecting the relay trigger to something that comes on with the key turned on.

Dont understand why the extra work. If you use a 2 part wire tap you wont have to "cut" into you headlight wire and it will still be switched. Using a relay is ok but if you are going to cut into the factory wiring to hook in a relay then it defeats the purpose of running it straight to the battery to avoid posible warrenty issues. Am I missing something? If you need taps get em from autozone of I can send em to for free.

You need to figure the gauge of the wire and the load you intend to pull. The stock headlight is already pulling 4.5 amps. I'm not even sure what it is fused at.

 

[bigoltool]

I think I am just going to bite the bullet and tap the headlight circuit. I went to Radio shack and bought an in-line fuse and also a little red LED. I was thinking I would put the LED next to the switch just to be certain that they weren't left on by accident. I can't muster up the courage to destroy my inner fairing panels yet so I fabbed up 2 different mounts for it already.

 

[Professor]

Just a FYI on what I bought. I do not know if it is the better or worse than others out there but I do know a few people that have used this kit and they are very pleased with it.  This kit is unique because it has two heated grids on each grip. This allows a high and low setting with out using a resistor. Some kit will pull the same amount of power regardless of the setting. On high it uses 15 watts, on low it uses 7.5 watts. The kit is designed for GL1500/GL1800 Gold Wings. It comes with a harness, each grip plugs into the harness to allow an easy disconnect for servicing. I bought an extra connector to wire into my Hayabusa harness that matches the Wing factory connector. It uses a bit less power than some (less heat) so draw on a headlight circuit would be less. It should pull about 1.3 amps max. My HID saved about that much, so it should be perfect in my application.

Here is a link  

The switch has a watertight cover that is clear. The pictures make it look like a chrome ring around the switch.  

This is the extra connector I also ordered. PN-02651

I already had the correct crimping tool.



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[bigoltool]

Well I got the grip heaters installed last week. I have everything basically the way I want it. I have not added the Power LED yet as I got anxious and wanted to try em out. They work great! I did not use the Epoxy recommended by the Manufacturer to glue the grips back on but otherwise everything is cool. I did add the inline fuse to it just to be safe.

 

[bigoltool]

Forgot the pic