Gloves or grips?

[trueblu]

Which is better. Logic says although more convenient and always available, grips only heat the inside of the hand. It is the exposed part that gets cold.

[eddiemack]

Both! If you ride down into the 20's (F) you'll need both for comfort.

[dond]

Yup, Both is the ...snicker..hot setup.

[Highrider]

Depends on how you ride.... I use heated gloves below 45 degrees, 45 - 55 degrees I don't plug them in. Above 55 my warm weather gloves are fine for all-day riding. The heated gloves are all I need in the coldest riding weather (10 to 20 degrees). Some like the heated grips as they offer convenient intermediate comfort at the flick of a switch.

Dave

[sport_tourer]

Grips and when its not warm enough, slip on the hippo hands. Now, as far as hippo hands go, some are "easy" to get into, some "not easy". I have a pair of Bagman hippo hands from snowmobiling which work great. I simply cannot stand thick gloves on my paws.

[Bones]

Given the choice of one (not both), I'd opt for grips. They're always there.

Given the option of both, I'd go for both.

Cold hands really suck.

[2005c6]

I just put heated grips on my goldwing, so maybe it's too soon to tell. But here are my thoughts at this point. Even though the cold air hits the outside of your hands, the heated grips make a huge difference. The heat on the inside seems to offset the cold hitting your hands.

Second, I hate wearing bulky gloves, so with the heated grips, I can still wear gloves that are comfortable to handle the controls with. I have never used headed clothes of any type, but don't like the idea of plugging myself in when I ride.

[crazykz]

If you're comfortable wearing bulky gloves and it doesn't affect your riding then use gloves.

I have small hands and I loose grip or have a hard time with grabbing the levers when using bulky heated gloves so I use a more all purpose waterproof glove and heated grips.

Curt

[Fireball18]

What you use sort of depends on how cold it is or gets where you ride. Personally, I think the heated gloves are the way to go because they heat the whole hand, not just the palms. And if you have the Heattroller, you can infinitely control how warm you want them, or even just turn them off. Besides, Gerbing now has a lighter, less bulky set of heated gloves for those who don't like bulky gloves. I may investigate those, as I don't care for bulky gloves either, but, then, I also hate cold hands.

[korals]

I find that heated grips are great with summer gloves with the temperature about 40F. Below 30 I use winter gloves which actually insulate well enough that you can't feel the heated grip unless its in position 4.

[curmudgeon]

I guess I don't agree that temperature is what's important. I think it matters more what your tolerance to temperature is. I rode today with temps around 39 most of the time, and wore lighter JR Ballistic gloves. I had to turn the symtec grip heaters off as they were too much even in low position. I never had grip heaters until I traded my ST11 for a 1300. Not sure I really need them, but kind of nice to know they are there just in case. I sold my only pair of winter gloves as I never used them, and can't stand bulky gloves.

Phil

[2005c6]

By the way, what kind of grip heaters are ya'll buying? I bought a set from "the Electrical Connection" for my Goldwing. They make nice fog light and heated grip kits for the Goldwing that uses existing wiring on the bike, and the grip heaters are only $59.

What other options do we have for the ST?

[curmudgeon]

I used the Symtec grip heaters from California Sport Touring, and BMW grips. I can't imagine the Honda heaters being worth the extra cost. The Symtec heaters have the added advantage of being able to use any grip you want.

Phil

[eddiemack]

Honda OEM grips on mine. They pump out the heat, but trust me... when temps are at or below freezing you'll need heat AND a good set of gloves for rides longer than the corner store.:tb1:

[Lake Cle Elum]

Just do the grips....A friend of mine had the heated gloves. I could be half way to town while he was still gettting everything plugged in. Often, he held up group rides at gas stops dicking around with his wiring....He finally said 'the hell with it' and went to heated grips like the rest of us....

What's good about the grips is: Often in the morning you take off on high heat with light gloves, later switch to low heat and turn it off later in the day. All this w/o having to change gloves or even stop....

[Simmons1]

I have both and I haven't plugged in the gloves since before I installed the grips heaters.

The grip heaters are way more convenient on a daily basis as you just turn them on and go with out having to screw around with wiring. Also on a day that starts warm and then cools off you can get away with wearing light gloves and turning on the grips when it cools off.

If I was going to be on a long ride, 100+miles and the temps were going be 30F or below I would probably use both at the same time.

[jeff4912]

Symtec skeptic......

I could not believe that those little milar sheets with heat grids could heat my grips...boy was I wrong! Just finished wiring them in and they get very very warm. Unbelieveable for $26!
I had hotgrips brand before on my wing and they were $110+shipping, they worked well but these Symtecs seem just as good.
BTW, don't notice a heat difference between throttle and clutch side and I did not insulate the clutch side.
Used a small four lead trailer plug at the switch so when I take the left side middle cowl off, I can just unplug the trailer plug and the cowl won't hang up on the grip heater switch.