Another Heated Grips Question

Its starting to get cold up here, so my first purchase for the new bike was heated grips. (necessity up here) I bought a set of Oxford Hot Grips ($80.cdn versus $350. for the OEM Honda grips) Not sure how good they are and I can still take them back if they're junk. Although the Honda grips would likely look better, install easier and work better, I need to save some $$ for some ergonomic upgrades. (Helirisers, Utopia back rest etc). Can someone please tell me where I can connect the wiring for the grips? Although wiring directly to the battery terminals would be the easiest by far, its a bad idea for someone as forgetful as me - for obvious reasons. I've read about references to a Quad harness - is this a Honda part? Even so, where do you tie in the harness? I've found the fuse blocks on the left side of the bike, and am thinking that would be a likely spot to tie in. Any guidance from the experienced members would be greatly appreciated. ps. I also have a Stebel horn that I'd like to hook up as well so that I can get the attention of jack ___ talking on their cell phones while driving.

Best Regards,

I recommend you buy the Honda Quartet accessory harness (C$30) as it gives you many power options for future farkles. Installs under the left side fairing, see other threads on this subject. You will need some connectors, to terminate your grips or other accessories, and plug into the connectors on the quartet harness.

I wired my hot grips off the ACC fuse in the second fuse block. I tapped the red/white wire just off the OEM fuse if I recall correctly. This allows preheating the grips with the key in the ACC position but does not allow leaving the grips on when you remove the ignition key or turn the key to the OFF position.

In my case, I used an accessory fuse block and the grips don't energized unless the bike is on. From my experience, buying a less expensive solution was a good move.

John

Ray, Dave, John: thanks for the good advice on the subject. As I have a few other goodies in mind for the bike, I'll look into the Quartet and see if one is available at the local dealer at a reasonable price in a reasonable amount of time. I'd like to install the grips and Stebel this weekend if possible.

Best Regards,

+1 on the quartet harness. It's an easy install (although it will take some time - I'd budget a half day) and it leaves you with lots of options.

While you're doing that job, I'd consider other items you want to add to the harness and buy what you can afford now. A lot of the time involved in doing this job is taking the Tupperware off the bike and, frankly, I think that's a pain in the patoot. The more work I can get done while the bike is disassembled, the happier I am.


Here are a few docs to help you with this job. Good luck!

Ok I am going to go against the grain again. I started many of my electrical farkles using the quartet harness but it became quickly apparent that it did not supply anywhere near the power I needed for all the accessories I have added. I also found it to be a poor choice for electrical power for any device connected to my intercom as it carried a lot of noise. Now the quartet supplies my radar detector for power and I got the control power for the power block relay from there too. I don't even use it for the Honda power outlet anymore. Once I got past the 10 amps available from the quartet I just realized a power block was going to be necessary anyway and moved my accessory loads there. Now if you keep your accesory power need to less than 10 amps great. but lights, grip heaters, 2 vest heaters are already way beyond 10 amps and the quartet wiring is not routed to mitigate engine noise on audio gear.

I use the quartet harness to power a relay that gets it power from the battery, this then powers my fuse panel.

Consider www.dualstar.com grips.

E The B, thanx for the PDF's they'll help to clarify the install. BCST1300, thanks for the good advice. I only plan to install the grips and horn and perhaps a powerlet at this point. I'm an iPod kinda guy, so I dont plan on installing any devices that would be affected by electrical noise from the system. Hojo, thanks for the advice as well.

BeST Regards,

Robb said:

E The B, thanx for the PDF's they'll help to clarify the install. BCST1300, thanks for the good advice. I only plan to install the grips and horn and perhaps a powerlet at this point. I'm an iPod kinda guy, so I dont plan on installing any devices that would be affected by electrical noise from the system. Hojo, thanks for the advice as well.

BeST Regards,

Click to expand...

Robb, go with the fuse panel. Trust me.
If you ever plan on adding anything else, such as a GPS, you'll have it all in place.
Don't bother with the quartet harness. Take power (and ground) for the fuse panel right from the battery, with a relay tapped into the rear running light so that everything will be keyed. Mount the fuse panel under the rear seat and it's out of the wet and easy to get to.

I installed the double set powerlet with bracket, and ran that hot right off the battery. Now when I put the bike up for the winter, I just plug the trickle charger into one of the powerlet outlets -- no unbolting the access panel and no hassles pulling out a battery.

Never understood the appeal of the Quartet Harness, either. After all, it's just some wires with connectors on 'em, disigned to make the installation of certain official Honda accessories plug-n-play. If you're not installing those specific Honda accessories, you are probably better off running your own wires, fuses and relays anyway. The connectors to do this are available, as is the wire, from various aftermarket suppliers...

Ciao,